'Parks and Recreation' Review/Recap: "Gryzzlbox"/"Save JJ’s"

Laura Tormos ’18 / Emertainment Monthly Staff Writer

Gryzzlbox

This week, Parks and Recreation returns with two more solid episodes, keeping it’s final season momentum going strong after last week’s amazing “Leslie and Ron.”
In “Gryzzlbox,” Pawnee citizens became outraged at having received gifts from Gryzzl, a company full of millennial hipsters whose company motto reads “Wouldn’t It Be Tight If Everyone Was Chill To Each Other?”, via flying robots (“Your novel has come true!”) that have been tailored to their specific interests. Interests Gryzzl couldn’t have known about unless they breached their clients’ privacy and used their private information. Hilariously enough, this issue seems to be one both Pawnee’s citizens and Leslie Knope actually agree on, and she is pleasantly surprised that she will not have to be fending off any of their usually ridiculous attacks against the Parks department—which made for a very nice and positive change of pace. Having the town citizens voluntarily reveal embarrassing personal information—like the one guy that collects celebrity pig dolls—was hilarious (“They have no right to give me something I will treasure forever.”)
Leslie saw this as an opportunity to expose Gryzzl’s illegal activities to Pawnee so she could get her national park. This plan, however, was thwarted when Ron, upon reading the user agreement license more thoroughly, reveals that Gryzzl slipped a data-mining clause into the Pawnee contract when Ben was out watching Episode VII (“Is Star Wars the one with the little wizard boy?”)—the lowest of low in nerd sabotage. This produces a brief Icetown-esque panic within Ben, but Leslie assures him this is not his fault.

Enter The “Perdples” Court, where Perd Hapley now resides over some of Southern Indiana’s lower court cases. Having no leg to stand on legally, Ben settled on accusing Rosco (Jorma Taccone) of not being “chill,” which earned them a mistrial.
Meanwhile, Tom and Andy continued their adventures: Tom was looking to distract himself from pining over Lucy as she visited her boyfriend (which we later find out she dumped), and decided to do so by helping Andy get a better financial deal as Johnny Karate, a popular kids’ TV Show he apparently does virtually everything for—from writing, to producing, to set design, and, of course, starring in it—and only makes $100 weekly on. This resulted in some pretty funny scenes, and Tom and Andy make a pretty hilarious pair.
Back in the office, Craig, who’s now on Dr. Richard Nygard’s relaxation plan, asks April to talk to his new interns—and anything involving April is bound to be hilarious. She, having just turned 30, has started resenting her past ten years in the Parks Department, and has been struggling with this since the first episode of the season. Upon meeting Jen—a new intern that is much like herself and who she tells she wants to adopt—April makes it her mission to scare her off and convince her to quit in favour of doing “funner” things. Craig, predictably, is furious at this, and reminds her that she was lucky to have the job she had and a boss like Leslie to learn from. And this went unsaid, but she did meet Andy there—and she is pretty fond of him.
Lastly, the ending scene with Ron arriving at Ben and Leslie’s door carrying a shot-down Gryzzl flying robot after it had delivered a present for his four-year-old son in the rain was perfect.
Overall Episode Grade: A-

Save JJ’s

There are still a few stories remaining for the rest of this final Parks season, but “Save JJ’s” pretty much resolved the entire Gryzzl vs. National Parks Service feud. Which was admittedly unexpected, but definitely welcome—just like Ron and Leslie feud’s quick wrap-up. The Newport Trust arc was finally settled after some fierce brainstorming by Leslie and Ron—which was also a sight for sore eyes.
Not only that, however, but Dennis Feinstein (Jason Mantzoukas) returned this episode—and most importantly, TREAT YO SELF IS BACK.
Treat yo self 2017! In Beverly Hills! And those hilarious and vague 2017 references make a comeback, and, apparently, Bruce Willis and Christina Aguilera are married.
“Save JJ’s” was an excellent episode with a lot of throwbacks and true Parks and Rec hilarity. Especially Craig’s short reign as Tom’s new restaurant manager (“I’m happy with the decisions I made and the people I fired.”)

This episode brought a lot of things together—Leslie and Ron’s new alliance, Jonathan Karate (Johnny’s serious older brother), Tom and Donna treating themselves in Beverly Hills, and the bad PR Gryzzl got from the data-mining. Which resulted in Gryzzl essentially buying the land for Leslie—a proposal Leslie and Ron made them to earn them some good rep when trying to save JJ’s Diner from closing due to Dennis Feinstein. I guess answers often come in strange ways.
Although “Save JJ’s” didn’t close off Tom’s storyline with Lucy, it did put an end to his pining. After a severe Treat Yo Self session with Donna, she got real with him, telling him to treat his heart while eating at a swanky restaurant that serves sushi that contains fish previously owned by celebrities. Also hilarious: Josh Groban ordered a “Me Soft Shell Crab,” which Tom cited as one of the most “baller” moves he’s ever seen.
All in all, these two episodes were amazing, and it almost seems that the Parks and Recreation writing staff has been sifting through our tweets and text messages, because it’s as if they know exactly what we want to see. In any case, we all better start tweeting about bringing Jean-Ralphio back sooner, because at this point, I’m sure we’re all getting impatient.
Overall Episode Grade: A