Parks and Recreation: The Stakeout

Parks and Recreations seems to really be picking up steam in it’s second season. The premiere last week was far better than anything from last season, and this week with The Stakeout things continued in a good direction.

The episode centered around Leslie and Tom finding weed in the garden they had planted in the pit. They decide to have a stakeout that night to see if they can figure out who planted the marijuana. Of course, Leslie brought all the supplies one would need on a stakeout, a camera, bags of candy (including candy necklaces) and a mix tape mostly about watching people.

The other characters were mostly kept busy as well. Ann and Mark head out on their first date after Leslie gave the okay. Back at the office Ron Swanson, who just suffered a hernia, couldn’t move his head or his torso without being in pain. After being stuck in his chair into the night, April comes in suspecting something is wrong and drives him to the hospital. I didn’t really like anything about the Ron Swanson character until this episode. I really got a laugh out of him being stuck in his office as the night cleaner went by.

The real conflict of the episode was when Ann and Mark came home from their date and saw Tom trying to get back into the stakeout van after getting himself locked out. He ends up getting arrested and thrown in jail until Leslie comes to his rescue. I thought the interaction between Leslie and Tom was really great. It made them seem like real people, but it was still hilarious. I think Tom Haverford is one of the funniest characters on TV right now.

The Stakeout was a great way to follow up from a strong premiere. I am now just as excited to watch this show on Thursday nights as I am to watch The Office. The characters are starting to seem more real, and the humor on the show is really being amped up. Hopefully things continue to get better as the season progresses.