Parks and Recreation Coverage: Getting Somewhere

Episode Commentary: “Born and Raised”

“Parks and Recreation,” Season Four, marches on, and “Born and Raised,” the third outing this fall, gave even further evidence that the new season is looking promising.

One of the most appealing things about “Parks and Recreation” is its relevance. Pawnee, Indiana has become a terrific satirical microcosm for America at large. Last season, Pawnee teetered on the verge of financial collapse just as the same thing was happening to the country at large. This episode saw a return to the mythology of Pawnee, which becomes richer and more detailed each time an episode focuses on it, and once again it was used to lampoon events from the real world.

This week, it was birtherism. None other than Leslie Knope, that Pawnee super-patriot, found herself the victim of accusations that she was not in fact born in the town she loves more than anything. Before long, she is faced with demands to produce her “long-form” birth certificate, leading up to the most horrifying possible revelation for Leslie about her true origins.

Buffering this main plotline was the return of catty, narcissistic former Pawnee beauty queen Joan Callamezzo, host of “Pawnee Today.” Tom Haverford’s long-running flirtation with Joan comes to a disastrous climax, also entangling Ben Wyatt. Tom and Ben are becoming a great comic odd couple, and Mo Collins gives a terrific performance as she plumbs the frightening depths of Callamezzo’s shallowness.

For the third straight episode, though, Ann Perkins was left disturbingly on the