‘Parks and Recreation’ recap: ‘Are You Better Off?’

The season 5 finale of Parks and Recreation, “Are you Better Off?” begins with the Parks Department sitting outside Ron’s cabin and talking about Founder’s Week. Leslie says Founder’s Week is a time to celebrate all the great things about Pawnee. She asks April and Donna what they like best about Pawnee, but neither is helpful. Mona Lisa shows up and takes Tom away to go have sex in a tree. Leslie asks him why he brought her, and he says he has no power in their relationship.

At the Parks office, April is talking on the phone and seems off, but tells Donna she’s fine. Andy comes in acting strange. He tells the audience he left a shirt at Ron’s, and when he went to get it back, he found a pregnancy test in the trash. The test is positive. Andy is trying to figure out which of his friend’s is expecting a baby. He says it must be one of the five women who were at the cabin: Leslie, April, Donna, Ann, or Mona Lisa. He automatically crosses off April because he believes she would have told him right away. He assumes his role as Burt Macklin, FBI, again to tackle the case.

Chris, Leslie, and Ben hold a public forum about the Founder’s Day. Chris announces the “prettiest pig” competition for Founder’s Day has been replaced with a pork rib barbecue competition because of “a tragic misunderstanding.” Ben thanks everyone and Leslie comes in and asks citizen’s “Are you better off now than you were a year ago?” The Pawnee Restaurant Association’s Kathryn Pinewood stands up and says no. She says the government is taking away rights from citizens. Leslie says she did make it so restaurants couldn’t serve pop in 512oz cup. Some of the townspeople agree with Kathryn.

At Rent-A-Swag, the business is doing very well and Tom says he may leave the Parks Department, or expand his business. Mona Lisa comes over and asks if she can leave because her stomach is upset, and she hates working. She gives him a note from a lawyer that called. Tom goes to the lawyer, who says he has a client who is interested in the business. Tom looks over the papers and is excited that Diddy is interested in Rent-A-Swag. The lawyer tells him the client isn’t Diddy, but Tom doesn’t seem to believe him.

Andy is still trying to find out who is pregnant. He goes to visit Ann and congratulates her on the pregnancy. She says she isn’t pregnant and he shows her the pregnancy test he found. Ann is a bit upset because she wants to get pregnant, but someone else got pregnant first. She tells Andy she wants to join his investigation and offers to pay for lunch, so he agrees.

At the forum, Ben sticks up for Leslie’s decision to ban the giant soda cups, saying she was thinking of the health of the citizens. Kathryn continues to say Leslie is trying to take away freedom from the townspeople. Other people come up and complain about changes Leslie has made to the town. The only people that stick up for her do not make her look good in the eyes of the public.

Andy and Ann go and talk to Donna. They rule out Donna, so now the only two left according to Andy are Leslie and Mona Lisa. Andy and Ann come to the forum and accuse Leslie of being pregnant. She says she isn’t, and they leave.

Tom talks to his financial backers, Donna, April, Jerry, and Ron, and tells them someone wants to buy Rent-A-Swag. Donna says sell, Ron says don’t sell, and April says to “burn it for the insurance money.” Andy and Ann go to Tom and ask if Mona Lisa is pregnant. Tom thinks it’s Mona Lisa. He goes to ask Mona Lisa and she says she’s pregnant, but then she say’s she was lying. Ann tells Andy it has to be April because she’s the only one left on the list.

Ben tells Leslie she’s in politics, and so the backlash will happen no matter what. Chris comes to talk to Leslie at the parade and tries to tell her there’s a float in the parade mocking her. Leslie gets angry and goes on stage to say the float is not fair. Kathryn says the float was made by a bunch of business people and they want to recall Leslie from office.

Ben and Leslie talk and he tries to make her feel better. He asks if she thinks the town is better now and she says yes. Leslie has a press conference and says “bring it on.” She gets the Parks Department together to go clean a river. Leslie and Ann talk about Ann’s relationship with Chris, which is going well this time.

Andy talks to April, but she says she isn’t pregnant. She does tell him she got into vet school. She says she isn’t sure if she should go because she would have to leave Andy since it’s in another city. He tells her to go for it because it’s her dream to become a veterinarian.

Tom goes to the lawyer and tells him he isn’t going to sell Rent-A-Swag. The lawyer says the client is going to open a store across the street, since he won’t sell.

Andy goes to talk to Ron about April leaving.Andy asks Ron about the pregnancy test and after that, Ron’s girlfriend Diane comes in. She asks to talk to him in private and Andy turns to look at the camera, indicating he finally figured out who is pregnant.

Quotes and Comments:

“You somehow convinced the school board that napkins are vegetables.” “They’re made from plants.” (Leslie and Kathryn about school lunches)

"This feels strangely personal. Maybe because they’re all standing up saying how much they hate me. As a person." (Leslie about the townspeople at the forum)

"Do you know how many pills I take, birth control or otherwise? There is no way I could be pregnant with a human baby." (Mona Lisa to Tom when he thinks she’s pregnant)

This was a great season finale! I really enjoyed Andy and Ann teaming together to try and figure out which friend was pregnant. I was surprised that it was Diane, but that will definitely be a new and interesting chapter in Ron’s life. I thought the Leslie storyline was not surprising given how the townspeople of Pawnee are often attacking her ideas. If there’s a sixth season, I hope she once again proves how much she loves her town and that she is changing it for the better. I felt bad for Tom. I’m wondering who the client is, perhaps Dennis Feinstein?

Photo Courtesy of NBC Universal