Parks and Recreation Episode Commentary: The Comeback Kid

Running parallel to the nation, campaign season has hit Pawnee, Indiana. Leslie Knope is soldiering on with her run for city council, despite losing her professional advisors and being reprimanded by the city government over her relationship with Ben Wyatt, and now it’s time to get organized.

Like always, Leslie works with what she has, and once again that is the loyal staff of the Pawnee Parks department. She hires Ann Perkins as her campaign manager in lieu of Ben Wyatt, who is “poison” due to their illicit relationship, and sets about organizing her first rally.

You might think you can imagine how badly this comes off, but you really need to watch the episode to find out. Considering the spectacular success of events such as the Harvest Festival and the funeral of L’il Sebastian, it’s a bit surprising just how incompetent the Parks crew turns out to be, though probably more believable. After a few seasons of rooting for them, and seeing them come out on top more often than not, it’s hard to say whether it’s funny or excruciating to watch. Whatever the case, whoever’s job it was to cue Gloria Estefan’s “Get On Your Feet” at the rally is a textbook sadist.

Meanwhile, Chris Traeger stops by Ben Wyatt’s place to see how he’s handling unemployment. Chris is usually portrayed as a caricature, but Rob Lowe gets the chance to show him genuinely caring for Ben and wanting to help him out, and surprisingly enough, there appears to be a person beneath all that jogging and vitamin-popping, although he does make amazing use of an herbal smoothie.

“The Comeback Kid” is not a great episode, but at least it makes good use of all of the characters without the disorienting and fractured storylines we’ve seen so often this season. The title is ironic, as both Ben Wyatt and the Knope campaign hit rock bottom simultaneously, so maybe it’s silly to expect it to be “feel-good” like the aforementioned episodes, but it lacked the big laughs that, perhaps unfairly, fans have come to expect from the show every week. Additionally, the last episode before the holiday break seemed to be the kick-off for the season’s real story, and to come back after a month and get another expository episode is a bit frustrating. Here’s to hoping the writers start breaking some