Parks and Recreation 3.01 “Go Big or Go Home” Review

“We’re back!”

With those two words, Leslie Knope (Amy Poehler) drove around Pawnee to get the parks department band back together. The stellar second season of the show ended with uncertainty, as the Pawnee government was shut down and the parks were closed. Season three kicks off with optimism that builds as Leslie’s car fills up. I especially loved Tom (Aziz Ansari) working at Foot Locker and hitting on the ladies (as always) and Leslie throwing Jerry’s (Jim O’Heir) great painting out into the water, to his disbelief. New season, same Jerry – the butt of the joke.

State auditors Ben (Adam Scott) and Chris (Rob Lowe) eased into the show late last season, and already it seems as if they’ve been around since the beginning, as the two talented actors have blended right in with the rest of the great cast. Ben reveals that though they’re back, they’re only back in maintenance mode. Well, that isn’t any fun. That just doesn’t suit Leslie at all, and she knows something big needs to happen.

My favorite part of the episode was Ron (Nick Offerman) and Andy (Chris Pratt) coaching basketball. Ron looked and played the part of Bobby Knight, from the red sweater to the famous chair toss, while Andy took the coaching job considerably less serious, kicking the basketball around the gym for his kids to chase and eating pizza. I loved that Tom was the referee for the game, presumably because he looked the part in his Foot Locker uniform since he knew nothing about the game. Upon seeing his ex-wife with Ron, he decided to start calling fouls on every player in a red jersey (“foul on number three for taking a number two on number four!”) and ejecting them from the game one by one until they were forced to forfeit.

Meanwhile, Chris continued to hit on Ann (Rashida Jones) who continued to turn down his request for a date. Leslie, sensing an opportunity to get money for the parks, puts Ann up to saying yes and asking for the money on the date. On their date, we find out why Chris is always so positive – a trait that Lowe always plays just right – it goes back to his childhood and he’s simply extremely thankful to be alive. Jones and Lowe have some real good chemistry and look good together, which we may see more of after Ann admitted to liking Chris.

In the end, Leslie proposes they bring back the Harvest Festival, and she’s willing the bet the entire department on it. Betting the department is betting more than her livelihood, as this job is what makes Leslie who and what she is; no one is prouder in their work. Earlier in the episode, she made the comment that while the government was shut down, it was horrible for her to have nothing to do, something she wouldn’t wish on her worst enemy. Leslie needs her job, her town and her co-workers; she is nothing without the purpose they bring to her.

I wasn’t really feeling the Andy / April (Aubrey Plaza) scenes, though I can’t help but feel that April, stubborn as she is, will soon give in and say yes to him…even if he can’t ask her Friday because he has to visit his cousin. I did love that Andy first called Venezuela “across the pond” but then thought it was a city in Mexico.

Everything else in the episode clicked for me. The episode’s title (“Go Big or Go Home”) obviously refers to Leslie betting everything on the Harvest Festival (which also sets the arc for the season in motion) but I can’t help but also think of it in terms of the show. Having The Office as its lead-in should help viewership, and the sky is the limit with this show which is, in my opinion, the best, funniest and smartest of the new NBC Thursday night lineup. If you were already a fan of the show, I’m sure that like me, you’re glad to have it back on the air. Office fans tuning in for the first time got a small glimpse of just how good this show can be, and I hope they keep deciding to keep NBC on at 9:30 every Thursday night. It looks like there’s another great season ahead. Grade: A