Season 6: Eps 1 -11 Catie and Tristan

Reflections

(Tristan)

Analyzing Parks and Rec showed me another side to narratives that I never expected. Semiotic and inductive readings allow for quality interpretations and extractions of theme and meaning that a superficial reading would not allow. Yes, it’s definitely easy to watch Parks and Rec to have a laugh with Ron and laugh at Leslie’s failures, but it’s equally as fun to see 21st Century class struggles in the form of comedy. The genre creates a more digestible outside to swallow a message of class struggle and personal gain of petty politics.

This exercise has broadened my horizon to understanding all mediums to having more layers than just fun. This semiotic approach to narrative has helped me examine other mediums with the same lens, allowing for a better understanding of my favorite art pieces than my cursory experience. Consider it character development: I no longer hate Drake. Originally, I did not appreciate Drake’s music. In the beginning of the semester, I detested it. After getting through Parks and Rec, I realized Drake’s Nothing Was The Same was much more than just the unoriginal love story many rappers use to sell albums and go platinum. It contains literary allusions to old school rap which talks that talks about class struggle, and even though Drake makes very surface level observations, he calls back to artists who viewed the concept in depth, demonstrating a higher level of understanding he leads the viewer to believe. Parks and Rec proved to me that semiotic reading benefits everywhere; from video games to trap music.

(Catie)

Going into this assingment initially, I was really excited to try an analyze something different than I'm accostomed too - I'm a senior, so I've done my fair share of analyzing literature. I thought using a sitcom as a method of looking at the reoccuring structure of something was a fresh take on what we do already.

I was really excited to do Parks and Rec - I was a fan of the show before this class (and it hurts my heart that a lot of people in our class don't like it) so I was interested to see what type of structure I would find. Before starting this project, I tried to remember the different episodes and seasons, and if there was any sort of structure I could identify. All I could remember were the cold opens, and different relationships of the characters. But, using the format we had in class was super helpful and surprisingly (to me atleast) prevalent in all of the episodes.

I'm not sure if it comes as a disappointment that many sitcoms are structured so simply, or if it is super cool. It may be disappointing that many sitcoms have a common narrative sequence and shows that I used to really enjoy watching are now being analyzed by me to find a common structure. It is cool, though, that something so simple could turn into something cool, funny, scary, dramatic, whatever.

In terms of Parks and Rec specifically, it was cool to realize that Leslie will always be the hero. That sounds really cliche and simple, but it's cool to watch how the events unfold around her, and it's fun to try and anticipate which character will be her helper that episode. It is also cool to analyze the villians - the fact that they are constantly changing throughout the episodes keeps it fun.

This project was really fun overall!

Semiotic Binary Oppositions in Parks and Rec

1. Professionalism vs. Personal
   1. Most evident in episode 2. Leslie refuses to put her personal feelings behind her and Ben is professional and helps Eagleton. She ends up compromising and living for both, putting her in a strange gray area that she will not succeed in. Episode 5, they clash again when Leslie has to leave a surprise party she plans to filibuster and she shows up in her skating gear.
2. Working Class vs. Middle Class
   1. Found in the clash between Pawnee and Eagleton. Pawnee is depicted as working class, crass people and Eagleton as middle to upper class, stiff upper lip gentry. Working class typically associated with personal, Middle class with professional.
3. Future vs. Present
   1. Leslie and Ben ask the question which is more important in episodes 5 and 6 by wondering if they should continue their political careers or settle down. Also asked by April. Also present in episode 1 with Ron. In the later episodes, a big issue with Leslie is deciding whether or not to continue fighting for her position in Pawnee, or if she should just move on to bigger and better things, specifally a bigger position in a new town.
4. Men vs. Women
   1. In the later episodes, Leslie's main opposition is councilman Dexhart. He stands in her way for essentially every thing she tries to accomplish. Ben also can fall under this category, because even though he is in a romantic relationship with Leslie, he values his job as city manager, effectively putting his job over his relationship and denying Leslie some of the things she wishes to accomplish. Same goes for Ron - their core desires are different in that Leslie believes in a strong government, and Ron believes in almost no government.
5. Optimism vs. Pessimism
   1. Leslie has hopes for a better Pawnee throughout the entire series. Her plans are typically put to an end by people who essentially do not think that her dreams are possible, or by people who simply do not care.

Deconstructing Parks and Rec

Episode 1:

Summary

• Leslie is dealing with “Recall Knope” dumbos
  • April nominated Leslie for an award to make her happy, She won it, It’s held in London
• Leslie, Ben, Ron, April, Andy all go
  • Break up into teams
  • Leslie and April awards
• Awards ceremony, everyone is liked by their town
  • Leslie is passive aggressive
  • Kicks back, it’s streamed everywhere, April cheers her up by reading her the sweet note

Actors

• Hero: Leslie
• Helper: April
• Villain: Recall Leslie people?

Sequence

• Hero plans (to beat Recall Knope)
• Helper gives Hero advantage (Award in London)
• Hero assembles group (In London)
• Villain blocks plan (Recall Knope people)
• Hero and helper consult (April and Leslie get together)
• Helper revises plan (Make mean speech)
• Villain threatens hero (Recall Knope)
• Hero’s plan fails (They listen to mean speech)

Episode 2:

Summary

Leslie tells Ben wants to use her speech to bash Eagleton

• She’s losing the recall election
• She hosts the tip-off classic basketball game
• Ingrid DeForest is her enemy
• Says if Eagleton wins, Pawnee will give a basket of apples
  • If Pawnee wins, Eagleton will give 700k worth of crystal oranges
• Leslie dodges question of how to win by bashing Eagleton
• Chris finds out Eagleton has finance issues
  • Ben and Chris are gonna do it
    • Leslie invites herself
  • Ben and Chris offered to actually help Eagleton
  • She apologizes at the game
    • Says sorry to Ben after he was helping, she actually does feel bad
    • Thanks Leslie
    • Leslie is so petty she wont give her the apples

Actors

• Hero: Leslie
• Villain: Ingrid
• Helper: Ben

Sequences

• Hero plans
• Helper gives Hero advantage
• Hero assembles group
• Villain blocks plan
• Hero and helper consult
• Helper revises plan
• Villain threatens hero
• Hero’s plan fails

Episode 3:

Summary

• Eagleton is absorbed into Pawnee
  • Everyone in department is given Eagleton buddy
  • Jerry wants to be called Gary
  • Too many people in department, needs to cut down
    • Tom convinces Eric is a bad guy
      • ERIC is Eagleton Reservation Information Center
  • Eagleton is full of dumbos
• Ann says she is going to move away sometime soon
  • Leslie acts like kid
    • Grows up has mature conversation like last episode
• Ben and Chris get their date!

Actors

• Hero: Leslie
• Villain: Ana
• Helper: Ben

Sequence

• Hero plans (to solve financial problems)
• Helper gives Hero advantage (he will help find corners to cut, like eagleton’s expenditures)
• Hero assembles group (all original Pawnee workers)
• Villain blocks plan (Ana says she is going to quit, which helps finance troubles but Ana is one of their best workers)
• Hero and helper consult
• Helper revises plan
• Villain threatens hero (Ana will quit)
• Hero’s plan fails (Leslie loses good worker)

Episode 4:

Summary

• Group wants to recall Leslie and canvasses against her
• She is broke unlike them
  • Can’t oppose very well
• Councilmen openly oppose her
  • Waste her time
• Donna tweets from parks account “hope you like tounge baths you big nasty firemen”
  • LMAO
  • Councilman use this as excuse to bash Leslie
  • Have a trial
  • Donna on trial
  • They snoop through Donna to notice she hates Leslie
  • Donna and Leslie say no more meetings

Actors

• Hero: Leslie
• Villain: Councilman
• Helper: Donna

Sequence

• Hero plans (to deal with the tweet in court)
• Helper gives Hero advantage (Donna can testify for Leslie)
• Hero assembles group (The Trial)
• Villain blocks plan (Finds Donna’s twitter, uses bad words)
• Hero and helper consult (Donna decides to go help Leslie)
• Helper revises plan (To win trial)
• Villain threatens hero
• Hero’s plan is left at a standstill

Episode 5:

Summary

• Councilman wants to ban Eagleton voters from voting in Pawnee elections
• This will screw over Leslie’s recall election
• Leslie throws a birthday party for Ben
  • She can’t come
  • Needs to filibust Councilman in her party stuff lmao
  • Councilman does stuff like offer a margarita and make the room hot
  • In filibuster, Eagleton citizens come in
    • They want to vote in an Eagleton person, not Leslie
  • Leslie still filibusts
    • Ingrid is going to be her replacement lmao

Actors

• Hero: Leslie
• Villain: Councilman
• Helper: Eagleton

Sequence

• Hero plans (to table discussion)
• Helper gives Hero advantage (Eagleton might vote for Leslie, meaning she’d win seat)
• Villain blocks plan (Untables discussion)
• Hero and helper consult (Eagleton comes in, says they won’t actually vote for Leslie)
• Helper revises plan (Filibust anyway)
• Villain threatens hero (thermostat, etc)
• Hero’s plan works, not true victory

Episode 6:

Summary

• Recall election day
  • Makes city hall haunted house
  • Emotional outlet is haunted house
    • Ben and Ann help
• She loses recall
• Leslie is mad af
  • Takes it poorly
  • Comes to work like a slob
  • Leslie and Ben think they plateau
  • Ann says there’s 30 days left

Actors

• Hero: Leslie
• Villain: Councilman
• Helper: Ben
• Helper 2: Ann

Sequence

• Hero plans (to win election)
• Helper gives Hero advantage (Ben plans out haunted house to alleviate stress)
• Villain blocks plan (She loses election)
• Hero and helper consult (She and Ben think they peak, Ann changes their mine)
• Helper revises plan (Ann says this dumb, they decide to keep trying, she will use last 30 days of office well)
• Villain threatens hero (they will block what she does)
• Hero’s plan fails (She is not going to get work done)

Episode 7

Summary - Leslie wants to clean the reservoir that is now merged with Eagleton with flouride. This proves to be more difficult than she thought, because Jamm does not want to introduce flouride to the water because it would affect his business as a dentist. Jamm and Leslie go head to head with different tactics to get their own way, eventually with Leslie winning.

Opposition - Man vs Woman

• Cold open - Leslie brings in children to get a chance to play with the Colts - team embarasses her
• Credits
• Newly accessible reservoir is dirty - Leslie wants to clean water with fluoride
• Leslie strategizes to clean water with fluoride
  • Assembles team - city council
• Leslie’s plan is blocked by villian (Jamm)
  • Jamm proposes his own clean water bill
  • Jamm speaks out against Leslie on television
• Leslie consults with helper (Tom)
• Leslie executes plan - Rebrands the fluoride image (with the help of Tom - helper)
  • Town meeting - debating with Jamm
  • Seems to go well at first
• Leslie fails - Sweetums takes over Pawnee’s drinking water
  • Water is filled with sugar, is the exact opposite of what Leslie wanted
• Leslie recruits to repair - appeals to public in town meeting
  • “Down with Sweetums”
• Repair fails - Ben gets fired from Sweetums
• Helper fixes - Tom creates new advertisement for H2-Flow
  • Appeals to public
• Equilibrium Restored - H2-Flow is a hit - essentially what Leslie wanted in the beginning

Hero - Leslie

Helper - Tom

Villain - Sweetums Corporation & Jamm

Episode 8

Summary - Leslie wants funding for Pawnee Commons, but Jamm is in her way. With the help of Chris, she tries to sweeten Jamm up by doing various tasks in order to get the lockbox in his possession. Leslie reveals to Chris that she actually wanted funding for the Commons because it held a sentimental value including Ann. This touches Chris, and he gives Jamm an I.O.U that he does not intend on keeping.

Opposition - Man vs Woman

• Cold open - Ben has no job and is now trying to occupy his time with games
• Credits
• Leslie plans - wants funding for Pawnee Commons
• Leslie strategizes - Plans to take down Jamm
  • Recruits Chris
• Leslie consults - with Jamm and Chris (?)
• Leslie executes - wants the lockbox
  • Goes to Jamms house
  • Bargains with Jamm
• Leslie fails - Jamm tricks her; does not give her the money right away like she wanted
• Leslie recruits to repair - tries to appeal to Chris using Ann
• Repair fails - Ann and Chris have already signed the lease
• Helper fixes - Chris bargains with Jamm
  • Gives him an “I.O.U”
    • 5 IOU’s and Jamm agrees
• Equilibrium restored
  • Vote passed!
  • Ben is new town manager

Hero - Leslie

Helper - Chris

Villain - Jamm

Episode 9

Summary - Leslie realizes she wants to be back on city council. With the help of Ben, Leslie eventually comes to realize that she can do more good for Pawnee if she expands her network and services, and she ultimately chooses to give up the position.

Opposition - Future vs Present

• Cold open - Andy and April are on opposite schedules - interfering with their relationship
• Credits
• Leslie plans - wants to defeat Dexheart in election
• Leslie strategizes - plans how to get back on City Council
  • Recruits the help of Ben
  • Starts making a banner for the campaign
• Leslie consults - with Ben and Jen Barkley
  • Ben recruits the department to offer advice
• Leslie executes - starts to write her speech to get back on city council and defeat Dexhart
• Leslie fails - Jen talks Leslie out of her original plan
• Helper fixes - Leslie decides not to run
  • Convinces Leslie that she is better than that
  • Takes her to Paris
• Equilibrium restores

Hero - Leslie

Helper - Ben

Villain - Dexheart

Episode 10

Summary - Back into her old job, Leslie settles back into doing the tasks she had started before she ran for city council. Leslie does not think Tom is capable of performing the job Stu is leaving behind, so she appeals to Stu to stay instad of retiring. However, Ron talks to Leslie in favor of Tom, and she reconsiders her perspective of Tom's work ethic.

Opposition - Personal vs Professional

• Cold open - Leslie wants Ron to interview her, he refuses
• Credits
• Leslie plans - new meeting with department? Plans to get back on track with how they were running before
• Leslie strategizes - wants to get back on track with how things were before she left
  • Delegates tasks to group members
• Leslie fails - Tom isnt doing what she wants him to do
• Leslie recruits to repair - appeals to Stu, wants him to keep working instead of retire
• Helper tries to fix - Ron gives Leslie a different perspective
• Repair fails - Tom gets the job over Stu, which is what Leslie originally did not want
• Helper fixes - Makes Leslie feel better
• Equilibrium restored

Hero - Leslie

Helper - Ron

Villain - Tom

Episode 11

Summary - Leslie has worked hard to bring a farmer's market to the town of Pawnee in order to get people to eat healthier. However, this plan is pushed aside by the Chard people, who do not act as wholesome as Leslie would like. Leslie wants Ben to help her in eliminating them from the market, but from the position of city manager, Ben is unable to help Leslie because she does not have much of a case. They argue, until eventually reaching an agreement not only with the Chard people but with their relationship.

Opposition - Personal vs Professional

• Cold open - Ben and Leslie being cutesy as co-wokers
• Credits
• Leslie plans - Leslie wants the Chard people gone
• Leslie strategizes - asks Ben to look into it
• Leslie consults - tries to come up with a plan with Ben
• Leslie executes - Creates a new Farmer’s Market Rule Book
• Leslie fails - Ben is not on-board with Leslie’s new rules, does not revoke the Chardbodies license
• Leslie recruits to repair - wants Ben to give into her plan
• Repair fails - Ben tells Leslie that he cannot do this as city manager because she does not really have a care
• Equilibrium restores - Leslie is alright with the outcome of the market

Hero - Leslie

Helper - Ben

Villain - Chard