'Parks and Recreation' Season 4, Episode 11 Recap - 'The Comeback Kid'

One of the many nice things about "Parks and Recreation" is that despite Leslie's seeming incompetence in most aspects of life (especially the social ones), when it comes to doing her job, she's an absolute pro. But after watching "The Comeback Kid," it's clear that Leslie might not as good at running a campaign as she is at building parks.

 

Neither is Ann (though she might not be great at building parks either), as we see when Leslie names her campaign manager. The rest of the gang pitches in to put together Leslie's first big independent rally: Ron will build a stage, Jerry will bring in the people, Tom will get the red carpet, Ann is in charge of getting Pawnee basketball legend Pistol Pete to dunk, and Andy and April will get a three-legged dog named Champion, I guess.

 

Thankfully for us, everything goes wrong: Ron gets pulled over in his lumber truck, Tom doesn't get enough carpet, and April fails to confirm that the basketball court is actually a basketball court, so instead it's an ice rink. What follows is simultaneously one of the funnies and most painful scenes in the history of the show, as the gang makes the long, slow walk across the ice and hoists Leslie awkwardly onto her platform. And yes, they made sure to put her former campaign advisors in the audience to make things extra awkward.

 

All of this is to set up the idea that Ben has to come on to be campaign manager. Ben, who is, as Chris determines, clearly depressed. Ben, who has been reduced to making calzones and working on a claymation video.

 

Everything turns out okay of course, and it's good to see that there's still some use for Chris in this post-Leslie-Ben-scandal world. Here I was thinking they wouldn't know what to do with Rob Lowe anymore.

 

Will Leslie actually make a "comeback," or will this end up being one of those depressing but uplifting deals where Leslie loses but we all learn something? After today, I'm not so sure which one we'll see.

 

Notes and quotes:

 

-"I don't want to paint with a broad brush here, but every contractor in the world is a miserable, incompetent thief."

-"Everywhere I go, I'm walking on red carpet."

-"Be a man and sit on that girl's lap."

-"Where are you? My mother's butt--oh, that's really helpful."

-"With my claymaysh?"

-"Windows are the eyes to the house."

-"I'm holding the dog, he is peeing. He is now peeing."