'Parks and Recreation' Season 4, Episode 6 Recap - 'End of the World'

Sometimes I feel like I've been spoiled by "South Park," whose creators (Trey and Matt) are insane enough to create episodes in just one week, allowing them to be timely and topical to within seven days.

After watching a "South Park" episode yesterday about Occupy Wall Street, it's almost jarring to tune in to "Parks and Recreation" to see an episode mocking Harold Camping and his Rapture predictions.

But that doesn't mean we can't still get a great episode out of it. "Parks and Rec" got cute again last night, seemingly making up for lost "aww" moments by throwing at least three of them at us in a row at the end of "End of the World." I almost OD'ed on cute.

About that Camping stuff: Pawnee has a cult that awaits the arrival of the great Zorp, who will melt everyone's flesh with his volcano mouth and use it for fuel. True story. Every few years, the cult announces that the end of the world is coming up and they hold a candlelight vigil in the park, which means that the department has to oversee the event.

That's fine for Ron, who has a collection of hand-made wooden flutes to sell to the poor saps (side note: I thought I almost saw a twinge of guilt on Ron's face which, if it happened, is a testament to how great Nick Offerman is). It is not so great for Leslie and Ben, who are supposed to be there together and are having some awkward moments that only get worse when Shauna decides that Ben is cute and starts flirting.

That leads Leslie to practically abduct Ben and take him to a gas station that Mick Jagger may or may not have owned in order to keep him away from the reporter and her dimples. Later, she apologizes and sneakily finds out that they didn't sleep together, and we're reminded of the chemistry between these two. Cute moment #1 in the bag.

Tom and Jean Ralphio, meanwhile, are down to just $10,000 of the $450,000 that they started with to found Entertainment 7wenty. Their decision is to invest it in a low-risk mutual fund. SIKE they're throwing a massive "end of the world" party! It has a live tiger, and an inflated bouncy pirate ship, and three different VIP rooms, and a drumline, but Tom's hope for it to be perfect doesn't come true until Lucy shows up.

Lucy! How about that. She's so happy to see him that she gives him a kiss before she leaves, and Tom is ecstatic. Cute moment #2, bam!

Of course, when you're talking about an episode full of cute moments, April and Andy have to be involved. So the two of them decide to go through Andy's bucket list, which includes such items as:

-Remake Kazaam with Shaquille O'Neal and get it right

-Outrun a hippo

-When people are walking by, be like this... *nod and weird chuckle*

-Make the greatest grilled chese ever

-Be an action star

-Win the lottery (he gets $10 from a scratch card)

-Hold $1,000 in his hands

But it all culminates in April stealing her dad's car and the two of them driving off to the Grand Canyon, which even April is awed by. "I'm trying to find a way to be annoyed by it, but I'm coming up empty," she says. Cute moment #3, done.

Other notes:

-"That was a tragic day. Livestrong."

-"The end. By Leslie Knope."

-"I'm a practicing none of your goddamn business.

-"I actually forget they ever dated. I was trying to hit that."

-Tom having shuttles for people too drunk to drive and giving out goodie bags to designated drivers. Now that's a classy party.