The third episode begins with Leslie searching for any reason for the Newport land to be preserved. She meets with Pawnee citizens who want to use the land for anything and everything from religious grounds to an amusement park. One meeting reveals that William Henry Harrison, a former president from Indiana, had a hunting lodge on the land, which would automatically make the land a historic landmark.
Leslie visits the site of the lodge and discovers all that’s left is a pile of bricks. She visits the William Henry Harrison museum, which features other famous Harrisons, including Harrison Ford, more than it does the actual man. She officially declares their search for artifacts to use as “Operation Quantity.”
They find a descendent of Harrison and ask him to speak at their press conference, but he’s not sure that he’s actually a descendent because Harrison is a popular last name. Team Gryzzl, who have recruited Annabel Porter to be the face of their bid, interrupt Leslie’s press conference with a flashy performance.
April still doesn’t know what career she wants, so Andy makes a list of things she likes. Through his list, he discovers that April enjoys helping people one-on-one.
Ben needs to find a notary to approve documents the Leslie and Ron both have to sign concerning the land. Luckily, Terry is now a notary public and agrees to travel with Ben so Leslie and Ron can sign the document separately.
Ron and Leslie run into one another at the press conference and fight, once again. In an effort to solve this problem, the former Parks department employees lock Leslie and Ron in the Parks office all night or until they stop fighting. This ends episode three.
Episode four begins with the two of them still locked in the room. Leslie suggests they pretend they made up so they can leave, but she ends up destroying the baby monitor they were supposed to use to contact Ben.
Ron refuses to talk to Leslie, so she decides to annoy him until he does by covering him in sticky notes and loudly singing along to Terry’s favorite music. She sang all the wrong lyrics, by the way. He eventually breaks and agrees to talk to Leslie about why their friendship ended but only for three minutes.
Their conversation reveals that a park was finally built at the pit, and Ron tore down Ann’s old house to build his Morning Star housing. After they rehash several events that led to their feud, Ron says there’s another reason he left the department, but they’re out of time.
Ron locks himself in his office to avoid talking to Leslie. He later comes out carrying a land mine and attempts to blow up the door. But Leslie had filled the shell with balloons as a birthday surprise for Ron. An angry Ron pulls the fire alarm, but it’s just sprinklers. The fire department removed the actual alarm because April pulled it so many times.
Ron eventually agrees to talk, and we learn that he left the department because everyone he cared about had left the department. He visited Leslie’s office years ago and asked her to lunch because he wanted to inquire about a job so he could work with everyone else again, working for the federal government.
The next morning, the rest of the department find a friendly, and intoxicated, Ron and Leslie. Ron’s playing his saxaphone and Leslie’s singing, poorly.
Ron later gives Leslie a peace offering. It’s a picture of the two with Lil’ Sebastian in a frame made from wood from Ann’s front door. Ron said the wood was the offering because the picture was actually a peace offering from Leslie the night before. The two end the episode by celebrating their friendship the best way they know how, breakfast at JJ’s Diner.
‘Parks and Recreation’ – Season 7 Episodes 3 and 4 – Recap
By Greta Jines
January 20, 2015
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