Parks and Recreation: "Galentine's Day" (2010)

 

Premiered February 11, 2010.

What’s Galentine’s Day? Oh, it’s only the best day of the year. Every February 13th, Leslie Knope and her lady friends leave their husbands and their boyfriends at home and just kick it breakfast style. Ladies celebrating ladies. It’s like Lilith Fair, minus the angst. Plus, frittatas!
-Leslie Knope

It's the day before Valentine's Day in Pawnee, Indiana.  Leslie Knope (Amy Poehler), Pawnee's deputy director of Parks and Recreation, has gathered her women friends and colleagues for her annual celebration of Galentine's Day. 

 Leslie's friend Ann (Rashida Jones) and her boyfriend Mark (Paul Schneider) are celebrating their first Valentine's Day together.  

Leslie asks her mother Marlene (Pamela Reed) to tell her romantic story about falling in love with a lifeguard who saved her from drowning in 1968.  Marlene fell in love with the lifeguard, they got engaged, but their parents didn't approve of the relationship and she lost touch with him.  Leslie's lawyer boyfriend Justin (Justin Theroux) offers to track down Marlene's long-lost love and reunite them on Valentine's Day.      

Knope and her Parks and Rec staff are also busy planning and organizing a Valentine dance for Pawnee's senior center.  

Justin locates Marlene's lifeguard in Illinois and decides to bring him back to Pawnee.  His name is Frank Beckerson (John Larroquette), he's a bit eccentric, has led a nomadic life and is prone to panic attacks.  When Leslie meets Frank, she changes her mind and tries to prevent the reunion. Unfortunately, Frank sneaks away from them and goes looking for Marlene at the seniors dance.

The music at the dance is provided by Mouse Rat, a local rock band fronted by Andy Dwyer (Chris Pratt).  They perform rock versions of standards like "The Way You Look Tonight" and "Under My Skin."  

April Ludgate (Aubrey Plaza), another Parks and Rec employee, attends the dance with her "gay boyfriend" Derek (Blake Lee) and his boyfriend Ben (Josh Duvendeck).  Derek and Ben spend most of the evening mocking the senior citizens. 

April, who normally joins in with their mockery, gets tired of them and seems to be genuinely moved by the senior couples who are still very much in love. She also seems to be developing a bit of a crush on Andy. 

Will the reunion of Marlene and Frank lead to a rekindling of their youthful passions?  Or will it be a Valentine's Day disaster?  

J.A. Morris says:
This is a good Valentine's Day episode.  It's a tribute to "Galentine's Day" that fans of this series have been inspired to organize their own Galentine's Day celebrations.  

Lots of romantic stories involve "the one that got away."  This episode shows us that sometimes it's best to remember the good parts of the past and not revisit them.  

For Galentine's Day, Leslie gives everyone a mosaic portrait made from the crushed bottles of their favorite diet soda.

For some people, Valentine's Day is treated like a big deal.  For others, it's just a reminder that they're single.  I appreciated that "Galentine's Day" features several different Valentine's Day experiences.  Ann and Mark's relationship is in a good place and they have a good time.  Leslie is beginning to have question her relationship with Justin.  The normally cynical single April is moved by the older couples' love on display at the dance.  

Parks And Recreation had one of the best ensemble casts of any recent series, some of them are still among my favorite actors.  In addition to the regulars, "Galentine's Day" also features John Larroquette and Pamela Reed, two of the best character actors of the last 40 years.  They're both great here and their reunion is a highlight of the episode.  I also liked Mouse Rat's "rock" version of old standard love songs.  

If I have any problems with "Galentine's Day," it's the same problem I had with every episode of this (otherwise great) series.  By the time Parks And Recreation premiered, I'd had enough of the "fake documentary"-style comedy shows, best exemplified by UK and Us versions The Office.  However, being a fan of holiday episodes, the story and acting in "Galentine's Day" make it rise about the series' usual "documentary" storytelling device.  

"Galentine's Day" is recommended for fans of these actors and fans of (somewhat) unconventional Valentine programming.  

J.A. Morris' rating:

3 Valentine Hearts.


RigbyMel says:

"Galentine's Day" is a great episode of a great series.   I must part company with my esteemed co-blogger's objections to the faux-documentary format of the show.   If it's well done -- as it consistently was on Parks and Rec -- it allows for some fun direct address moments. 

I quite like the way that Parks and Rec manages to balance sweetness with the absurd and this episode manages to do well by that balance.  Andy isn't quite sure about performing standards rather than Mouse Rat's original tunes at the senior dance, but manages to do a good job with the standards regardless, thereby feeding into April's growing feelings for him.  I also appreciate that April grows to see that her "ironic" relationship with her gay boyfriend isn't really very fulfilling.   

Leslie loves the *idea* of reuniting her mother with her lost love, until said lost love turns out to be a bit of a disappointment in reality.  The distance between ideas and reality can often throw a wrench into relationships.  

Speaking of said lost love and his quirkiness, John Laroquette gives a great  comedic performance in this episode.  I also appreciated the meta-humor inherent in that Leslie asks Frank if he was ever a lawyer, since Laroquette has played lawyers in several other series over the years (including Night Court, The West Wing and Boston Legal).  However, this character has to answer the lawyer question in the negative.

We see all kinds of different relationships playing out in the course of this episode.  Ann and Mark and celebrating their first Valentine's Day together, senior citizens are still in love after decades of being together, Tom (Aziz Ansari) is unsuccessfully (and rather gauche-ly) trying to get back together with his ex, April is realizing her feelings for Andy, and Leslie is discovering that maybe she and Justin aren't going to work out in the long run.  And of course, there's the main plot point of Leslie and Justin trying to reunite Leslie's mom and her long lost love. They pack a lot of character development into a 22 minute episode but it's so well written that it doesn't feel overstuffed.

I also love that the concept of Galentine's Day -- a celebration of one's female friends as articulated on the show --  has spilled over into real life.   

"Galentine's Day" is recommended for anyone who enjoys smart and well written comedy with a holiday flair. 

RigbyMel's rating:

 4 Valentine Hearts.   

Parks and Recreation: "Greg Pikitis"

Premiered October 29, 2009.
"Every Halloween, someone defaces the statue of Mayor Percy in Ramsett Park.  And I know it's Greg Pikitis, but I've never been able to prove it.  He's like an invisible, adolescent, James Bond, super-criminal mastermind.  Or maybe someone else is doing it.  But I really feel it's this kid!"
-Leslie Knope

It's Halloween in Pawnee, Indiana and Leslie Knope (Amy Poehler), Pawnee's Deputy Director of the Parks and Recreation Department, is preparing to deal with Halloween pranksters.  

Every year, Pawnee High student Greg Pikitis (Cody Klop) defaces the town's statue of Mayor William Percy with toilet paper.  Knope considers Pikitis to be her arch nemesis but has been unable to catch him in the act and is determined to catch Pikitis on Halloween night.

She enlists her boyfriend, policeman Dave Sanderson (Louis C.K.) to tail Pikitis and rides along in Dave's police cruiser.  Leslie also puts local slacker Andy Dwyer (Chris Pratt) on her payroll and tells him to monitor the statue.

Elsewhere, Leslie's friend Ann Perkins (Rashida Jones) is hosting a Halloween party.  She's invited several Parks and Rec staffers, but has specifically not invited administrator Tom Haverford (Aziz Ansari).  Ann's not happy when she learns someone else has invited Tom.

After watching Pikitis for hours, Leslie and Dave decide to stop by her office and find it's been TP'd and covered with graffiti!  Knope believes it must be the work of Greg Pikitis and sends Dave to bring him in. 

PIKITIS!!!!

She persuades Dave to interrogate Pikitis and even brings in some extra muscle in the form of Andy, pretending to be an FBI agent.

Meanwhile, the party at Ann's house isn't going well.  Nobody is interacting and people are mostly just standing around looking bored. 

Tom shows up dressed as T-Pain, declares the party a disaster and says he can fix it.

Can Ann's party be saved?   Will Andy or Dave break Pikitis's nefarious Halloween prank schemes?  Will Leslie get justice?

RigbyMel says: 

I was a bit late to the party with Parks and Recreation as when it first aired, I was of the opinion that there were a few too many TV comedies copping a page from The Office with a faux documentary format and people talking directly to the camera.   But when I finally gave an episode or two a try on Netflix last summer, I found myself hooked, and watched all seven seasons in pretty rapid succession.    The show is generally rather brilliantly funny and well-written.

"Greg Pikitis" is from season 2 of the series and is the first of several holiday episodes.  I really like the Halloween teen prankster story line as well as the more typical sitcom Halloween party subplot.  Leslie's over-the-top determination to "get her man" (even if he is a teenage boy) is relatable, hilarious and a little bit scary.

Cop boyfriend Dave's deadpan reactions to her inappropriate suggestions for how to deal with the problem add to the fun as does Andy's willingness to go completely over the top to help Leslie, breaking out his Burt Macklin FBI agent alter-ego.

"Burt Macklin" meets Greg Pikitis's "mom"

Teen miscreant Greg Pikitis and his interaction with the adults is also very amusing -- he makes Andy cry(!!) --  and the mystery as to how he pulls off his crimes and outfoxes the adults adds another layer of Halloween fun to the mix.

Greg Pikitis demonstrates his "Angry Leslie" face 

Ann's party is also relatable -- we all know the awkward feeling of mixing people from two different circles of friends (in this case, Ann's colleagues from her job as a nurse and the folks from the Parks Department where she's been volunteering).

Halloween is also a time of culturally permitted inversion -- adults can dress up and act silly or even (maybe) engage in some teenage-style pranks of their own, or unctuous administrators like Tom can rescue Ann's party from a gruesome fate.    The way this episode cleverly mines several Halloween tropes makes it stand up well to repeated viewing and I've watched and enjoyed it two Octobers in a row now. 

RigbyMel's rating:

4 jack o'lanterns.

J.A. Morris says: 

I enjoyed this slightly less than my co-blogger, but it's an enjoyable holiday episode.  I've been a big fan of Poehler since her days on the Upright Citizens Brigade TV show and she's great here.  Poehler makes us feel her hatred of Pikitis is real and I found myself sympathizing with Leslie (to a point, of course). 

Jerry (Jim O'Heir) gets tangled in some fake spider webs!

Cody Klop is also great as Greg.  He plays Pikitis as a likeable rogue rather than just a bad kid. 

I'm a fan of Aubrey Plaza's trademark sarcasm.  She's funny in this episode when she expresses her disappointment in attending Ann's party while missing a "Gay Halloween party." 

While I don't condone vandalism, I think Halloween pranks can add a little fun to the occasion.  For people like myself who are too old to be pranksters, watching this episode of Parks and Recreation is the next best thing to TP-ing a statue! 

J.A. Morris' rating:

3 and a half jack o'lanterns.

Free Birds

Premiered November 1, 2013.

"We're going back in time to the first Thanksgiving...to get turkeys off the menu!"
-Jake
 
A turkey named Reggie  (Owen Wilson) lives on a poultry farm.  He discovers that the farmers are fattening turkeys up just to turn them into meals.  When Reggie informs the other turkeys about their fate, they cruelly oust him from the barn to fend for himself rather than listen.   Reggie's misfortune winds up being a windfall as he is chosen to receive the President's annual Thanksgiving  turkey pardon.

Reggie is chosen as the Pardon Turkey

Reggie is taken in as a pet by the President's daughter (Kaitlyn Maher) and and will live with her at Camp David.

Reggie enjoys cheese pizza and telenovelas

While enjoying the good life, watching Mexican soap operas and ordering lots of pizza, Reggie meets a wild turkey named Jake (Woody Harrelson) who (more or less) kidnaps him.   

Jake is fanatically devoted to a prophecy he received from "The Great Turkey"

Jake claims to be the president of the "Turkeys Liberation Front" and says that they must save turkeys from Thanksgiving.  In order to achieve this, they must (naturally) time travel back to the first Thanksgiving to prevent turkeys from ever becoming the main course of the holiday meal.  

Jake says he knows where they can steal a time machine from a military base conveniently located near Camp David.  (Said time machine is called S.T.E.V.E and is voiced by George Takei!) 

Reggie and Jake travel through time

They arrive in Plymouth Massachusetts in 1621, 3 days before the first Thanksgiving feast.  Reggie and Jake find themselves in the middle of a turkey hunt led by Miles Standish (Colm Meaney). 

Standish threatens Governor Bradford

They're saved by local wild turkeys, Jenny (Amy Poehler) and Ranger (Jimmy Hayward)  and taken to the wild turkeys' hideout. 

So our heroes find themselves embroiled (pun intended?)  in the turkey clan's struggle for survival against Standish who is determined to find their hiding place at any cost and the rest of the Pilgrims who are just plain HUNGRY.   

Can Reggie and Jake save future turkeys from their annual thanksgiving holocaust?  

Here is the official trailer for your perusal:



J.A. Morris says:

I'm not the intended demographic, but I thought Free Birds was okay.  Some reviewers have called it Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure, but with turkeys" and that's an accurate description.  But the voice actors are top notch and Reggie is a likable protagonist.
  

Jenny & Reggie observe Earth from the time machine.

I generally enjoy the work of Owen Wilson, Amy Poehler and Woody Harrelson.  And Keith David brings his "voice of God" to the role of Chief Broadbeak.  George Takei is great as S.T.E.V.E., the voice of the time machine.  He even gets to drop his signature "Oh My!" catch phrase.  Colm Meaney makes a good villain as Miles Standish.

The "kids" love Reggie.

I don't want to spoil the plot, but there is a serious (for a kids movie) death scene that might upset younger viewers.  The subsequent turkey funeral scene was actually very moving, you might find yourself tearing up (like I did).  

The real, historical Miles Standish was noted for using excessive force at times, and that's on display here as well. If this blog was a scholarly journal article, I would suggest that turkeys are standing in for Indians who were victims of Standish's brutality...but it's not, so I won't.

Tukeys prepare to battle the Pilgrims.

But it feels longer than necessary.  There's an opening segment that shows how Reggie is a bit of a misfit, which feels like padding.  The movie could have just opened with his Thanksgiving pardon and the story would've worked just as well.  There are also some "fight" scenes between Ranger and Jake that don't seem to serve any purpose. 

Reggie arrives at Camp David

Like other recent animated features, Free Birds has pop culture references that aren't likely to age well.  We even hear the turkeys called "angry birds" at one point.  

If you're a big 3D fan like me, don't bother seeing the 3D version.  I didn't notice anything that was particularly enhaned by the 3D technology.  This was disappointing, since Free Birds was shot in "real" 3D, not just "retrofitted".  

With Christmas movies (and countless new tv specials) released every year, Thanksgiving films are comparatively rare.  So Free Birds is a nice addition to Holiday seasonal programming.  And I imagine it acting as a "video babysitter" during Thanksgiving Dinner preparations in the next few years.  It's a fun, harmless movie, but it's no classic. 

J.A. Morris' rating:

2 and a half pumpkin pies.

RigbyMel says:

I generally agree with what J.A. Morris has to say about this film.  It is an agreeably goofy, but somewhat forgettable holiday offering.   The voice talents are great and the computer animation is very good.   However, the story, while appealing in concept, is rather lackluster in the execution, which is a shame.    If one is going to do a movie featuring time traveling turkeys,  I feel one should make more hay out of the possibilities for paradox inherent.  (Did they think the concept would be too difficult for kids to understand?)

Free Birds is not a complete "turkey", but it is probably not something that will become a perennial favorite.  

RigbyMel's rating:

2 pumpkin pies