Parks and Rec Season 1 Episode 3

The Reporter

Original Air Date: 04/23/2009
Director: Jeffrey Blitz
Writers: Greg Daniels, Michael Schur, and Daniel J. Goor

On a nature hike, led by Jerry, Leslie eats a plant that Jerry explicitly says not to eat- country honeysuckle. Her mouth goes numb. Hah!
Leslie gets a reporter to write an article about the pit by Ann's house.
Leslie gives her subcommittee a debriefing on what to talk about while the reporter is around.  She pretty much just tells them to stay on message. After they leave, Ann takes Mark out to J.J.'s Diner. She thinks she is flirting with Mark, but I'm pretty sure he doesn't get it.
The reporter, Shauna Malwae-Tweep, arrives. When Shauna turns on a voice recorder, Leslie freaks out and continuously turns it off. The reporter interviews other people on the subcommittee.  As she interviews Andy, he reveals he was drunk at the time. Ann is upset because at the hospital that night they gave him anesthesia that could have been dangerous in conjunction with the alcohol.  Andy points out that it's totally safe, as she herself drinks all the time and is on birth control.  What?! LOL  Leslie reminds them to stay on message, thank goodness!

Leslie calls Mark to fix the situation and he takes Shauna out to wine and dine.  Leslie learns of this the next morning when Shauna arrives at the pit in the same dress she wore yesterday.  Shauna also gets a ride from Mark in the morning and shows up with no paper or pencil- how professional.  Leslie realizes Shauna slept with Mark...after awhile LOL, and freaks out. She goes to her car, winds up the window and reclines the chair! Hilarious!

Afterwards, Leslie goes to Ann's house to talk and tells her about Shauna and Mark. She tries to talk to Mark about his unethical actions, but Mark resigns from the subcommittee!  Leslie schedules another interview with Shauna. At J.J.'s Diner, Shauna reveals that Mark told her he thought the park would never be built, among other things.

Ann convinces Mark to ask Shauna not to publish what he said.  Shauna agrees since they are 'romantically involved' but Mark screws it up by telling her they AREN'T romantically involved- Hah! Classy move Mark!

Tom has been playing Ron in Scrabble and letting him win.  One day, April gets on Tom's computer and beats Ron solidly.  When Tom explains to Ron that it was April, Ron pretends not to know Tom is letting him win.  Hah!

Mark comes by and apologizes to Leslie. It's surprising because usually Mark is too okay with being a jerk. Leslie asks if he really believed the park would never get made.  When he answers that the park will get done, she reinstates him on the subcommittee. 

The newspaper article turns out to be mixed. Apparently Shauna mentions that Andy was drunk and that Ann is on birth control, but at the very end she wrote, "We'll see."

Great episode! Classic!


Quotes

Leslie: "The Parks Department has so many programs. Jerry's in charge of our pre-teen nature hikes. For awhile, it was a teenage nature hike, but then we changed it because a girl got pregnant."

Leslie: "It is a classic strategy. The press is a weapon and you can use it to kill people or to feed people. You know the beginnings of projects are very vulnerable and you have to make sure that you get a lot of press cause the momentum of that can kinda keep it alive. Or else it will die. I'm sure you remember the Tucker Park Graffiti Removal Project?"

Leslie: "This is J.J.'s Diner, the unofficial meeting place of Pawnee's political elite. The people who eat here basically run this town."

Leslie: "Well, Shauna, this is our crack team. Tom Haverford, boy genius, smooth like milk chocolate."
Tom: "That's a weird way to describe me."
Leslie: "April Ludgate, nineteen, cool enough to be invited anywhere, and chooses to be here. And finally, we got Ann Perkins and Andy Dwyer. They're the real heroes of this story."

Andy: "Oh yeah, that's, uh, actually a great story. Um, I just finished up a gig with my band, Three Skin, formerly Four Skin, but our bassist left for personal reasons. And I was taking a shortcut home and I thought I saw a toaster lying in the pit and I was like 'maybe I should get that' and I fell in and broke my legs."

Tom: "April, let me ask you something. Do you think I'm in the top five best looking Indian guys in Pawnee?"

Andy: "Men are dawgs!...He was probably thinking with the head of his wiener instead of the head of his brain. Men do that, it's disgusting."

Ron: "I'm not an idiot. I know Tom has been losing to me on purpose, but I like Tom. He doesn't do a lot of work around here. He shows zero initiative, he's not a team player, he's never one to go that extra mile. Tom is exactly what I'm looking for in a government employee."