(S02E03) This is how I know Parks and Recreation is growing as a show: Leslie Knope has not only stopped being a one-dimensional season one Michael Scott impression, but she has grown into a character with whom I can identify. If I ever found myself judging a beauty contest with a chick in a hooker dress talking about how if it were up to her and her family, it would be called "Ourmerica," and not "Theirmerica," I would have a difficult time holding my brains inside of my head.

I don't think I would have an elaborate, laminated scorecard with a section for the "Naomi Wolf effect," but I could definitely see myself in a room arguing with my fellow judges about the brains of the other contestants. And Like Leslie Knope, I probably would have lost. Such is life.

I'll have to check some past episodes, but I think this is one of the first times if not the first time I've laughed out loud at something from Parks and Recreation. It features Amy Poehler turning something her boss says into a reason to sing an entire rap song.

I love how it goes on a little longer than you expect and gets a bit surreal. Making the coffee in the middle of it is a nice touch.

(S01E06) Ah, so that's how they're going to do it. While the pit was still the underlying thrust of the episode, the stories were more about the characters and relationships. And realizing even more what a big dumb sap Mark is. It's really more a testament of Leslie's own insecurities and issues that she's so hung up on him because he is even more lame than Tom. At least Tom is charismatic and charming, in his own creepy way. Mark is just creepy, a lot older than he seems to think and kind of a doofus.

(S01E05) Man, Leslie Knope is a dope. But Tom is the bomb! Okay, I'm sorry. There's no excuse for that kind of crap. Still, though, Tom was hilarious in his speech to Leslie's mother, who will always be Jericho's Gail Green to me, at the banquet. Certainly it was smoother than Leslie's. But then Ron's speech of facts was better than Leslie's painful attempt at name-dropping.

It's amazing that Leslie and her mother are related, considering how vastly different they are. Her mother is shrewd and calculating, and clearly willing to muck around in the dirt to further her own agenda (i.e. a politician), while Leslie is an optimistic do-gooder who's more heart than smart ... oh crap, I did it again, didn't I?

(S01E04) Just when you start to think that virtually everyone around Leslie and Ann are depraved jackasses, you learn new things. We continued to expand our explorations of the cast this week. There appears to be more to Ron than he would have us believe. Sure, he wants to come across as this anti-government, gruff hardass, but there's a heart in there. And Ann's boyfriend Andy? Well, he absolutely blew me away this week.

There was a certain perception of Andy that had been developed over the past three weeks, and as a guy it was all too familiar. But tonight he showed another side of himself, and it was sweet to see that there's more to him than making a mess and making Ann do everything for him. He genuinely cares for her. And he really went out of his way to try and prove that.

Ladies and gentlemen, it's the return of Subtle Subtitles! If you haven't seen our game before, we give you a picture from a recent episode of a TV series, and you provide the funny caption! Our first photo is from last night's episode of Parks and Recreation. I haven't laughed at this show too much yet (sorry), so I'm sure you can come up with something even funnier than the episode for this picture of Leslie Knope pointing. We'll have a new one every Friday and announce the winner (and the new contest) the following Friday.