Parks & Rec 6×18 “Prom” Recap

I see what you did there Parks & Rec writers. You snuck a story about moving on and dealing with aging into an episode about a PROM! Very stealthy of you. We’ve already gotten a season renewal, but it’s truly making me wonder if Leslie is going to take the job in Chicago. Hmmm.

I should really get to my recap – This episode was great! I love seeing Ron and Leslie play tug-of-war with each other, and this was a classic example. Ron laid out his 10-point scale on how he grades Leslie’s crazy. Hilarious. I tend to agree with him. In this case, they were arguing over whether Allison Gliffert (played by Kelly Washington, reprising her role from “The Treaty“) should take an unpaid summer internship, or work for money at a sawmill.

Ron is acquainted with her father, who owns the hardware store – so he pulls strings to get her the paying gig, knowing she has experience in the wood-crafting field. On the other side of the coin, she’s SUPER interested in Government – and Leslie wants to mentor her so she can grow into a larger role someday. Leslie is of course channeling the insecurities she’s feeling by considering leaving Pawnee in the hands of someone new to take the job in Chicago.

A short scene where Ron and Leslie are called into the Principal’s office was amazingly funny – mostly because Leslie cannot stand to be censured by any authority figure.

The tussle over Allison ends when Leslie finds out that her boyfriend is none other than Greg Pikitis (played again by Cody Klop). I seriously did NOT see that coming, and I nearly spit out my soda when he clicked a stapler to indicate he’d secured Leslie’s dress to a tablecloth. Leslie of course decides Allison is a horrible human being because of her choice in men, and abandons her immediately.

Meanwhile, Ben and Tom have been tasked with DeeJaying the dance. Tom is dismayed at the start, while Ben takes things in stride. Tom knows he’ll give the kids what they want, and he poopoos all of Ben’s choices. There’s not a whole lot to their story, but the kids end up liking Ben’s Classic rock over Tom’s just-out-of-fashion dance music. It forces Tom to realize that he’s grown up and he’s more out of touch than he’d like, but that’s okay.

Then we saw Andy escort April to the dance. She didn’t attend hers, and he wants to show her a good time like he had. It’s adorable how clueless he is and how aware April is. She most likely wouldn’t have gone, except that Leslie forced her – and going with Andy makes her question how compatible they are for each other.

As she watches him fit in seamlessly and have an unabashed fabulous time, she sits on the sidelines with Donna and muses about the differences between them. Donna tells her to just be honest with him as she sends her own date out to the car. LOVED seeing Donna in one of her Alpha-female relationships for once. Usually it’s just alluded to, but this guy was there – cowering – in the flesh! Well, for 30 seconds or so at least.

When April decides to get into her own Prom spirit and fix the election to make Andy Prom King, he crowns her his Queen and they run out as rebels which delights both of them. So apropos – and fitting for their relationship.

So overall, it was a really great ‘classic’ feeling Parks & Rec outing. Stand-alone except for the mentions of the Chicago job-offer, and I’m really intrigued to find out where that storyline is headed.

Tune in next Thursday, April 10th at 8:30/7:30c to see “Flu Season 2“!