We are getting very close to where I believe the show truly turns into top form. "The Banquet" is an episode that shows brief glimpses of the show's brilliance, but ultimately falls flat in the end. I, of course, don't want to entirely bash this episode, because I understand the hard work and dedication that was put into making it. With that being said, I do consider it one of the weaker Parks episodes, so I won't entirely praise it either.
The A-plot shows the Parks crew attend a (you guessed it) banquet where Leslie's mom will receive a public service award. There are definitely some great comedic moments here including Leslie's "dude haircut" and Ann being way over-dressed. There also are some good Ron moments as well, including his unbridled love for bacon-wrapped shrimp; "my number one favorite food, wrapped around my number three favorite food." Quick side note, I kind of find it hard to believe that a type of seafood is his third favorite food, but I digress.
The B-plot shows Tom and Mark go bar-hopping to pick up women. In my opinion, this is a weak side-plot, and I think could have worked way better with a character in Mark's replacement like Andy for example. Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against Mark's character, but I just think he is not the right fit for this type of show. The biggest issue with Season 1, is the inconsistency of tone. It is pretty clear that the writers haven't found the right tone for their show yet, which I think they absouly nail in the next season. In a way, the character of Mark represents the grounded and realistic tone that the show starts to maneuver away from. In a show like The Office, Mark would have been a good fit, but in a show like this one, that is set in the wacky town of Pawnee full of wild, idiosyncratic characters, he just isn't a good fit.
"The Banquet" is not one of the strongest episodes in the series, but I believe is the last below-average episode we get for a very long time. Things finally start to truly get great after this one.
