Freddy Spaghetti

So we have made it to the end of Season 2. What a long, but entertaining journey it has been. With Season 2, the writers were given the opportunity of having a full season to help build upon the much shorter Season 1. They found the right tone, the writing became much stronger, and the characters really came into their own. I think the biggest improvement is how the characters developed and some even changed drastically from how they were depicted in Season 1. A good example is main protagonist, Leslie Knope, who acted very air-headed and foolish in the first season, but has become a much more intelligent and dedicated government employee. Even though they made her more smart, she became funnier as a character. The writers used traits like how caring and hard-working she is in comedic ways.

"Freddy Spaghetti" is a pretty funny episode in its own right, but what it does best is provide closure for a lot of on-going storylines that ran throughout the season. We see April and Andy's "will-they wont-they" storyline reach its conclusion. Tom's new relationship with Lucy is beginning to heat up. And conflict between Leslie and the new state auditors are reaching a boiling point as the Pawene government has temporarily been shut down. My favorite moments in all the "government shutting down debacle", are Ron' child-like glee over the entire situation. Also his gun-fire ring tone is amazing!

Season 2 as a whole is a major improvement over Season 1. I mean, when you have a season that is literally 18 episodes longer, it is bound to be an improvement. With that being said, I think the show really came into its own and has proven to be extremely original and fresh, unlike most other live-action sitcoms. Parks and Recreation is almost like a live-action version of The Simpsons. It has that perfect combination of funny and sweet, and takes place in a town that is almost like a character in its own right. We have seen the show blossom into all this in just Season 2 alone, and things get even more funny and the show expands to even more heights in the next seasons. The third and fourth seasons are in my opinion, the best seasons in the entire series, so if you thought season 2 was great, just wait until you see what's next.

My overall rating for Season 2:

8.8/10

When I watched the first season of Parks and Recreation it did not really wow me so much as show potential that it wasn't really fulfilling. The second season did feel like a massive jump away from that for the most part. We retain the same characters and we have some of the same running plots even though we get more into a distinct story- per-week flow which suits the sitcom better. The show is funny but in the first half of the season it is sporadically funny and amusing for the rest of the time and some of the material felt a little forced or the characters unnatural.

I'm not sure why, but moving into the second half of the season things started to get tighter. Jokes were funnier and hit more frequently; characters worked better and/or were made better use of and the cast generally seemed to respond to the material with good delivery and timing. This isn't to say that the first half of the season isn't fun too, but it really did seem to get going better in the second half. On the way it tries quite a few things that I didn't care for, in particular the frequent famous faces showing up as guests. Some of them work, some of them don't but I did struggle with the feeling of them being marketing-led rather than being really part of the show or episode. So Will Arnett, Justin Theroux, Andy Samberg and Louis CK all come and go for varying amounts of time but their arrival often seems sudden and when some of them are written out it just occurs with one line of convenience – which backs up the feeling of them not really being in there so much as just lending their names to help out.

This is different with the addition of Lowe and Scott, both of whom work well within the show and hopefully will be around for a while; Lowe in particular gives good "asides" while Scott seems like he will be used well as a narrative device – certainly they did not feel quite as "dropped in" as the guest stars earlier in the season. The dropping of Schneider is a good move too since he is less of a funny character and has generally drifted around as a plot device – although it seems rushed, it frees up Ann and brings in a dynamic with Lowe's Chris. Poehler continues to be as good as the material and as it improves, so does she. Same is true of Offerman, who becomes a stronger comedic character the more it plays to his excesses and stereotypes. Jones is funnier and the drifting away from the pit storyline helps her be a more free character now; same happens to Pratt, who is more fun once he is working in the department and is able to have good chemistry with Plaza (who gets the balance right between sarcasm and real person just underneath). I'm not a big fan of Ansari, but he is pretty funny here. O'Heir, Retta and a few others are good in small doses, which is all the show asks of them so far – particularly Retta who I would like to see used a bit better and more frequently.

Parks & Recreation is a show that gets a lot of praise and I had spent the first season waiting for the reason and this continued for much of the second. It was funny but not as tight as it could have been and generally felt a bit unsure of itself. This improved heading into the second half of the season, with better material and some positive changes that will hopefully continue into the third season.