Parks and Recreation
Season 5, Episode 11: Women in Garbage
– Posted by Sage
If there’s one thing Leslie Knope can’t resist, it’s waffles. If there are two things, they’re waffles and making out with Ben, on his face. And if there are THREE things that Leslie Knope can’t resist, they are: waffles; making out with Ben, on his face; and knocking down gender stereotypes.
Leslie is used to just ignoring some of Pawnee’s more archaic guidelines (i.e., she really shouldn’t be reserving any conference rooms without permission from her husband or father). But after meeting with Pawnee’s first ever female City Council member Paula Hork, she learns two things: 1) it’s time to correct the underemployment of women in all areas of city government and 2) there is probably a calendar of her own menstrual cycle somewhere in City Hall. Leslie picks up the ball and brings the Equal Gender Employment Commission plan to Chris, who, of course, thinks it’s the greatest idea in the history of ideas. He asks every department to send two people to a meeting. And they do – they each send two men. The Pawnee man-pigs think that Chris (“Oh no, it’s just a very beautiful man.”) and “the girl who brought the snacks” are enough of a female contingency, thank you very much. After listening to some ancient lawmakers wax poetic about the frailty of women, Leslie challenges the worst offender of employment inequality, the sanitation department. She and April take over a garbage collection route to prove that women are up to the task. Chris brings his maybe-kinda-sorta girlfriend Shawna Mulwae-Tweep to cover it for the Pawnee Journal.

Leslie’s proving her point by being ahead of the regular timing for the route. April gets to dig through the trash of all her high school enemies. (“She has to use prescription-strength deodorant. This is the best day of my life.”) Arguably having a less awesome time are the misogynistic sanitation dudes, who are being taken to school, and poor Chris Traeger, who is completely at sea in Tweep’s twenty-something world of group hangs and no labels. The garbage dudes make a last ditch effort to hold on to their manhood by sending Leslie and April to move a giant bakery freezer that apparently the regular route guys couldn’t budge the week before. Of course, they don’t tell the girls that, so Leslie is ready to make it happen. (“Easy, breezy, beautiful. That’s the CoverGirl slogan. I didn’t mean to say that.”) They could call them on it, but April wants to WIN, not to tie. So Leslie calls in the ladies from the soup kitchen to take the donation. With all this combined lady power, the freezer gets onto the truck and the sanitation guys start hiring female workers. Joan of Arc would be proud.
Just like Leslie, Tom is doing his best to hang with the boys. His Rent-a-Swag customers are obsessed with basketball, so he recruits (or tricks, whatever) Andy and Ben into teaching him the basics. (Necessarily side flail: BEN’S BASKETBALL OUTFIT. The goggles. The gym socks. I cannot breathe.) Tom isn’t exactly a quick study (“Did I do basketball?”), and the guys get humiliated by some middle-schoolers in a 3-on-3.
Ben shows a depressed Tommy a video of Kevin Durant and Russel Westberg talking to press after a loss to show him that the best pros know how to come back after a defeat. Tom completely ignores that advice, but has his own epiphany. He uses Kids 46 News to position Rent-a-Swag as THE place to get your post-game press conference fashions.
And on more shaking up of traditional gender roles, Ron is playing babysitter to Diane’s little girls, Zoe and Ivy. He’s covered in stickers (courtesy of Leslie, obviously), his shoes are painted red, and his office now looks like something a Justice threw up. Diane asks if he can handle it for another day. After scouring the building for Ann (“I thought your last name was Hanson for some reason.”), Ron ropes her into helping out. Trouble is, beautiful Ann is a complete awkward turtle around kids. (“Hey, dudettes. So, you guys like Coldplay?”) But once she pulls out her medical supplies, the girls are enthralled. Somehow, they lock themselves into the conference room alone, and Doctors Ivy and Zoe perform surgery on each other’s infected hair. Ron has a meltdown and inadvertently reveals his true feelings for Diane. Yes, it’s true: Ron loves Mommy.
His fears of ruining the relationship are unfounded, as Diane remains the COOLEST CHICK EVER and takes the girls’ scissor adventures in stride. She’s so touched by Ron’s concern, that she makes a declaration of her own: Mommy loves Ron. Ron loves Mommy. Ron and Mommy 4-Ever. And Family Love Michael too, why not?
Random Thoughts/B-Stories:
- Did Ron’s post-love declaration mortification remind anyone else of this?
- Jerry meets Zoe and Ivy: “Well, hey girls!” “No.”
- April’s very special brand of feminism: “They provide for us and we must obey them because they’re our masters.”
- Thanks to Tom, I now know that all I need to capture my very own Ben Wyatt is to pretend that I’m in the same room as Michael Stipe. “I couldn’t live with myself if it had been true.” Yet another perfect detail of characterization from your friends at Parks and Recreation.
- I’ve had days where literally my only plan has been to get the new seasonal Pinkberry flavor, so I feel you, Andy.
- Ron and Ann are such a delightful combination. I want more of them all the time.
- “I understand animal sizes.”
- The idea of Ron as a father to those little girls is just too much for my heart to take. I wouldn’t be surprised if he were engaged by the end of the season, especially if the show isn’t renewed by then.
Speaking of the desperate hope for network executive sanity, we should know the fate of our beloved Parks soon. Please continue your daily prayers, rain dances, and/or sacrificial offerings to the Nielsen gods. We’ll get through this together.
As always great review! I really loved that episode dispute the continued lack of Ben and Leslie scenes 🙁
Seconded on Ron and Ann – I’ve loved them since Ron tried to teach Ann home repair at someone’s (Andy and April’s?) party. Also, Bonnie Bartlett! (Yes, I loved “St. Elsewhere.”)
It’s hard enough for Ron to muster up interest in his coworkers, let alone Ann! Always makes for a great B-story. –S
It’s hard enough for Ron to muster up interest in his coworkers, let alone Ann! Always makes for a great B-story. –S
SERIOUSLY, Sage, the first paragraph of this review. It is FLAWLESS. (Friends, waffles, and work.)
Ron and Mommy 4-Ever!!! He can carve it into one of his expertly crafted canoes.
My life is a rain dance for Parks and Rec.