‘Parks and Recreation’ Recap (Season 4, Episode 14): “Operation Ann”

Leslie tries to find Ann a date for Valentine’s Day in another great episode of NBC’s Parks and Recreation

I thought last week’s episode of Parks and Recreation was perfect. How do you follow up a perfect episode? When I saw that today’s episode focused on Ann, probably the weakest (or at least the most inconsistently written) character in the show, I was worried. But… I have learned never to doubt the writers of this show. “Operation Ann” was another fantastic episode of my favourite sitcom.

Ann seems to have had relationship problems since she was first introduced. All she wants is someone who will make her laugh and be nice to her. What if the perfect man has been in front of her this whole time? Last week, Ann got closer to Tom due to his bowling “accident,” and a lot of people suspected that maybe the two would get together. I dismissed it; Ann and Tom? That won’t work. But guess what: the two go on a date set up by April at the end of this episode and they don’t actually hate it. Whether their relationship continues or ends immediately remains to be seen but I wouldn’t be opposed if the two actually got together now.

While everyone’s at a giant Valentine’s Day party, Leslie has sent Ben off on a scavenger hunt. Ben accidentally recruits Ron and Andy to help him and the three get into some amusing hijinks. There’s even an appearance from Martin Starr as an employee at Pawnee’s snow globe museum, which makes for a nice Party Down reunion when Ben turns up looking for clues. Ben, Ron and Andy are probably my three favourite characters in this show so I loved seeing the three together.

Last week I said Jerry’s daughter breaking up with Chris made him feel more human. Chris has been my least favourite character since he was introduced simply because he was always the upbeat guy and that’s it. After his break up, Chris is no longer upbeat, which means we finally get some nice character development (and Chris hints at an attraction to Jerry because he shares 50% of his DNA with his daughter).

I liked that “Operation Ann” took a break from the campaign storyline (which has pretty much dominated this season) and focused on the characters and their relationships with one another. I think Parks and Recreation features the best cast on TV so the more time we get to spend with them (and they with each other) makes me happy. I love this show so much.

Image credit: NBC