We've got one episode to go until the much anticipated "Harvest Festival" episode that the season has been building towards. "Indianapolis" is an episode that works because the entire cast is paired up with the people they work best with. Leslie has scenes with Ron, Chris with Ann, Andy with April, and Tom with Ben.
The show centers around Leslie and Ron traveling to Indianapolis to receive a commendation at the Indiana Statehouse for the Pawnee Harvest Festival. Leslie is excited to be given the opportunity to promote the festival even more, but Ron is only tagging a long so he can go to his favorite steakhouse in the entire state: Charles Mulligan's Steakhouse. I love the part where he shows pictures of his times visiting the steakhouse and we see that he has basically never aged a bit even when he was just a kid. The two visit Chris, who has a place in the city, and Leslie investigates his apartment because Ann is suspicious he may be cheating on her with another woman. It's fun getting a glimpse of what Chris' home life is like and how different he is from Ron.
Even though he doesn't have a lot of scenes, Ron Swanson has so many memorable lines throughout this episode. It's the sign of a great supporting character when you don't have to give them a ton of lines, and they still are very memorable anyways. In a scene towards the end of the episode we see Ron ordering food at a diner. It's one of the signature Ron Swanson scenes in the entire series. The line delivery by Offerman is outstanding. It's a shame he never got a single Emmy nomination for his portrayal of Ron Swanson.
The side-plots are great as well, mainly taking place at the Snakehole lounge. I don't think I've ever NOT liked a scene that took place there. Tom is attending a launch party for cologne maker Dennis Feinstein, and he brings Ben a long, because Ben could use a night out. I think the two have great comedic chemistry and it's funny when Tom makes fun of Ben for being a nerd. We also get great scenes with April and Andy, who are finally a couple after a lot of build up going back to mid-Season 2. The chemistry between the two is fantastic and the writers give them a fun scenario (both of them completely broke and searching the club looking for free things) so they can play off one another.
Overall, "Indianapolis" is a very tightly written episode with many classic lines and funny scenes. We finally get to see April and Andy together and Ron Swanson has some of his most memorable scenes in the entire show. The next episode is already the mid-season finale and Season 3 is already looking to be the best season of the series yet.
