Jerry is retiring and no one knew about it, Leslie tries to save face while everyone else tries not to become the next Jerry.
We spend no time getting to the retirement as Jerry is all packed up and ready to go and while everyone's oblivious nature to this news is hilarious, Leslie's reaction is a welcome and predictable one as she tries to make things right. Taking Jerry on a trip of missed dreams, based off his early employment papers, Leslie (and a begrudging Ben who is supposed to have a day off with his wife) tries to make the most out of the last minute reveal of Jerry's departure. The day is delightfully appropriate for everyone's favorite whipping boy. He can't get into his sad goal of eating at the Executive Dining Hall, the Mayor of Pawnee he wanted to meet is not only dead, but a disgrace ("His real cause of death was being thrown out of a helicopter while handcuffed.") and his going away cake sets him on fire. Poor Jerry. It is great to see Jerry take it all in stride though and the writing team continues to wrap up their stories wonderfully in this episode. The cheeriness of the Gergich family is creepily hilarious and unsettling when Leslie stops by for breakfast, but I love that the feelings of family infected her enough that she suggest she and Ben talk about starting their own. A fitting send off for Jerry, even if he isn't going away entirely, and a fine jumping off point for a possible season ending arc for Ben and Leslie.
The fallout of Jerry leaving hilariously evolves into a search for the next office "Jerry." Tom is the perfect candidate after an unfortunate misspoken moment. The story isn't really that complicated, everyone makes fun of Tom while he tries to pin someone else as the new Jerry, but the writing is so sharp and hilarious no one should be complaining. A giddy Ron is always a joy, but it was great to see him reach out a helping hand to Tom, giving us yet another fatherly wrinkle to his character. It was also a nice showcase for Ansari as Tom who has regained a lot of strength as a character in this season's latter half.
The C story of the week is Ann and Chris re-sparking their romance as their awkwardness rolled into sex over having to actually commit to the acts needed to create an artificially inseminated baby. They decide to go the more natural way towards a baby and Lowe and Jones have some excellent chemistry as their characters rekindle their love. Again, plenty of great humor here from Chris over his athleticism and the awkwardness of a sperm donation, but it is the rekindling of their romance that is the most important factor here. Moving plot with humor is always a strong suit for the Parks & Rec team and their concise story telling in their C stories is being executed masterfully.
Another very good episode of Parks & Rec this week, only diminished by it being paired with an excellent episode right before it. The writing has been so strong this season on the show and it will be a damn shame of we are in the final fun of episodes this series. There are only two episodes left this season and we won't know if it gets picked up for another till later this summer. If this is the end, at least they are going out on a very high note.
Some Random Notes: -"Even the saggy ones."
-Poor Jerry.
-"What the **** is happening?"
-"Jerry was here?"
-"Okay, see ya tomorrow Jerry!"
-"Yes, I get that a lot."
-"I stand by it."
-"Ha, nature!"
-"Hello, my fallopian princess!
-Current Champion, great stuff.
-"We may destroy this government one day."
-"Gross Jerry!"
-"See you tomorrow, Jeremy." Has Andy always called him that?
-"You purse is shaped like a waffle."
-"You so get it."
-"I have fur underwear."
-"Where am I?"
-"What are you doing here Jerry, I thought you were fired?"
-"Classic new guy."
-"As I expected, air tight."
-Awe, sweet ending.
-"Was she a Russian spy?"
