mark and ann

(S02E12) This week's episode of Parks and Recreation was bittersweet-- but mostly sweet. After being MIA for several episodes, Louis C.K. returned, only to say goodbye. However, sweet scenes between April and Andy, Mark and Ann, and the entire office finally realizing how much they need Leslie, made up for the sadness.

It wasn't all sappy, though. When you have a councilman who gets a babysitter pregnant and then proceeds to have sex with four delivery-room nurses and a woman who's husband is getting a liver transplant, there is bound to be some funny-- and apparently an ass shot or two.

(S02E10) This episode is nice, because Leslie finally gets what she's wanted since the very beginning of the series: to be one of the guys. I know I talk about this a lot, but it's just because the writers have done such an exceptional job: I love how Leslie is actually competent in some areas, instead of being the bumbling fool they wrote her as at the beginning of the first season.

When she says she's an excellent hunter, it's not just self-delusion: she's actually an excellent hunter. Well, we really don't see enough to determine whether or not she's "excellent," but she totally bagged a quail on her first try and she didn't shoot Ron in the head, so she's at least pretty good compared to the rest of her hunting party.

(S02E08) All I'm saying is that it's about time someone took down those smug bastards in the library system. What, with their providing citizens with books and resources for free and their stupid desire to turn abandoned lots into more branches where they can sling their literacy propaganda at an unsuspecting populace. Disgusting.

I loved seeing Megan Mullally on primetime again. After the disastrous In the Motherhood (of which she was by far the best part), it's great to see her in a show I actually enjoy. As Tammy, she gives further credence to the theory that Leslie Knope isn't actually crazy: City government in Pawnee, Indiana really is as dog-eat-dog and cut-throat as she seems to think it is.