Parks & Rec 6×19 “Flu Season 2” Recap

Darn you Parks & Rec, you did it again. You had me all geared up to watch an episode about Flu Season, and then you flipped things on its head. tsk. tsk. Well, Larry did spend the episode in a quarantine tent, but that’s pretty much the extent of the flu storyline.

Andy secured Chipp McCapp (played by comedian Bo Burnham), an Indiana Country Superstar, for the Unity Concert. When he backs out in order to get a haircut – they go to him in person to talk him into changing his mind. During this whole epic adventure, Leslie is nauseated, and she assumes she has the flu. They stop at a pharmacy to get some medicine to intercept the symptoms – and the pharmacist tells her it might not be the flu. Leslie spies a pregnancy test, and the light bulb over her head goes off.

They end up hating Chipp, so they tell him off and burn that bridge. I have to admit, Chipp is a Dick and a half. His father is his manager, and he abuses him greatly. Throwing food, badmouthing Pawnee, shooting a paintball gun right in his father’s chest… reprehensible. As Leslie and Andy eat after leaving Chipp’s studio, she inadvertently tells him she’s pregnant, and they come up with a plan to get Land Ho to reunite for the concert. (two unrelated things btw)

Scott Tanner, the lead singer of Land Ho – who is adamant about not getting the band back together – listens to their pitch. Andy tells Scott that Mouse Rat covers some of Land Ho’s songs, but it’s Scott’s son’s recognition of “Johnny Karate” that finally convinces him to join the concert with his old bandmates.

Meanwhile, Tom is scouting for a sommelier for “Tom’s Bistro”, so they go to a wine tasting event at some fancy winery. (I’m still not clear on what the event is – but it doesn’t really matter) He has his eyes on some pretentious professional named “Xander”, and while he’s watching that guy get courted, Craig and April pay to join in and do their best to sommelier-ate.

April is – of course – just doing it for shits and giggles, but Craig is very serious about it. As much as I hated this character at first, I kinda dig his intensity now, and I love his passion for wine in this episode. In the end, Xander is hired by some guy with twelve restaurants, and Craig convinces Tom to hire him – as long as he can make his wine cellar soundproof.

The last storyline also included one of the Eagleton Doppelgängers – Ron Dunn (played by Sam Elliott). But that comes later. Ben gets word that his parents have decided to sell their family’s lake house without consulting the children. He got a check for his portion of the proceeds, but for some reason, he’s upset that they didn’t tell him until after the deed was done.

When he finds out, he’s at the wine tasting near Ron, and – horror of horrors – he tries to open up to him. Ron is having none of it, so he purchases some blueberry wine. It has a very high alcohol content, I’m assuming he’s trying to get Ben drunk so he’ll stop trying to pour his heart out? Perhaps he doesn’t know how alcohol works.

They’re out walking amongst the vines, and Ben is super drunk with a really blue mouth. They decide to walk home, and they run across Eagleton Ron. He’s like a weird Shaman-type guy, which I guess would be Ron’s opposite – except for the cabin in the woods thing. He advises Ben to burn the check, which he does, and then he does this thing where he catches an owl on his arm. Mind-boggling. Anyway, Ben doesn’t feel any better.

Our Ron says that he wants to go home to his wife and kids, and that makes Ben think about the time he spent in the cabin growing up. Now he knows why he’s upset about the sale. He wanted to take his family there as he and Leslie build onto theirs, and he rushes home to tell her about his revelation. Well, you know where that’s headed… She has a revelation of her own. **fade to black**

No literally, they fade to black.

We’ll see what happens next on Thursday, April 17th at 8:30/7:30 Central for One in 8,000.