Parks and Recreation – Recap & Review – The Trial of Leslie Knope

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Parks and Recreation
The Trial of Leslie Knope

Original Air Date: Dec 1, 2011

Valentina D.– Senior Reviewer
valentina@thetwocentscorp.com

This amusing episode serves to tie up one ongoing storyline: the saga of Leslie and Ben. The good: Ben and Leslie are back on the relationship train. The bad: In addition to the fact that being together might hurt Leslie’s mayoral campaign, they’re now obligated to inform Chris and deal with whatever action he chooses to take.

Get ready for some great callbacks to previous seasons! Someone will lose their job and Jerry’s dark secret will be revealed, one that he’s had ever since he first started at City Hall. Find out what it might be after the jump!

We start out with Leslie and Ben disclosing their relationship to Chris, who seems to take it well until he tells them he’ll have to launch an investigation and they’ll both have to undergo an ethics trial. This is exactly what Leslie and Ben were afraid of, as the consequences are very real. They both show up super early and Ben brings Leslie a gift: a stuffed toy of Lil’ Sebastian (which, interestingly enough, they sell in the NBC online store!) Ben assures her that she’ll just receive a slap on the wrist and that he’ll be on the other side of the wall the entire time. You know, the wall with the painting of the “wrinkled, hideous monster.”

Chris walks in, chipper as ever but says he’s never been so miserable because he dreads putting them through the trial. Chris takes his job very seriously though and immediately goes into prosecution mode, after Leslie denies receiving any perks or special treatment from Ben. He claims he has 14 witnesses and believes that Leslie is lying.

Ann testifies and Leslie makes her open an email attachment sent to her in May and it’s a short film Leslie made to commemorate hooking up with Ben for the first time. Also, it’s a big deal because she learned how to use iMovie. I thought this was a highlight of the episode and definitely something that Leslie would do.

Next up is Tom, who is grilled about his kiss with Leslie, which happened way back in Season Three’s Soulmates. Tom denies any relationship between the two and explains the dating site fiasco and compares kissing Leslie to kissing an elderly aunt. Donna also refutes all the claims, along with Tammy Two in a surprise cameo appearance. Leslie thinks she’s in the clear until Chris calls upon George Williams and Leslie recognizes him. George is the maintenance worker who saw her and Ben kissing during Li’l Sebastian’s memorial service. This might sound all fine and dandy, but Leslie also bribed him (a city employee!) to keep quiet.

George confirms everything that happened, including the $50 spa certificate he received from Leslie. She is granted a thirty minute recess and the parks department employees all rally to find loopholes in the city books. I’ll have to admit, things did not look good for Leslie at this point and the possibility of being fired was very real.

Donna goes to the room next door to look for Ben, where he said he would be, but she tells Leslie he’s nowhere to be found. When Leslie compares herself to the “Good Pawnee/Bad Pawnee,” painting, Ron is there to assure her she’s on the good side because good people own up to their mistakes and move on.

The trial resumes and Leslie’s punishment is a slap on the wrist, just like Ben predicted: paid suspension for two weeks. Leslie is shocked, especially when they tell her the reason for such a light sentence. During the thirty minute recess, Ben asked for a private meeting and took full responsibility for their relationship and resigned, effective immediately. Chris accepted his resignation.

After the trial ended, Chris tells Leslie she’s welcome to look at the transcript of the meeting. Ethel, the courtroom stenographer, reads it out loud, and Ben states losing his job is worth it if he can be with Leslie. With Ethel in tow, Leslie heads to Ben’s house where she finds him sitting outside. She has Ethel read her testimony out loud and they kiss.

Finding out that Jerry’s legal name is Gary was hilarious. It was a perfect gag to add to Jerry’s backstory because he is absolutely the type of person who would choose to not correct someone if they called him by the wrong name. Can’t you do anything right, Gary Jerry?

What did you think of the episode? I love Leslie and Ben but I wish they could have snuck in a really funny B-plot with other Pawnee players for some balance. Personally, I hope that we’ll see more of Leslie’s political campaign now that the relationship issue has been settled.

Next Week: Citizen Knope

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