As a fellow TV lover, there is nothing I enjoy more than watching great shows in their prime. Meaning a show no longer needs to try things out to see what works and what doesn't work. The characters are fully developed and the tone is just right. Normally this will happen after the first few seasons, and if a show has enough juice it can last a long time. Think The Office (US) Seasons 2-4, The Simpsons Seasons 4-8, and Seinfeld Seasons 4-7. For Parks and Recreation, I would say Seasons 3-4 is the show in its prime. Pretty much every
episode showcases the show at its absolute best, and we get many classic moments and scenes. So without further ado, let's dive into Season 3's opener "Go Big or Go Home."
The episode begins three months after the events of the last episode. The Parks department has re-opened, but now is on an even tighter budget than before. As far as season openers go, I think the show has had stronger ones (Season 4 & 6), but this one isn't too far behind. It is a very funny episode that
does a great job of balancing all these great characters. With the addition of Rob Lowe & Adam Scott, this cast is even bigger than it was last season, but somehow this episode is able to give each character a moment to shine.
Love seems to be the main theme here that is driving a lot of these early Season 3 storylines. The tables have turned and now Andy seems to be the one trying to win April's love where in Season 2 it was April that was trying to get Andy to like her. Chris seems to really like Ann, and they go on a first date, but things don't turn out as well as they hoped. As Chris states "I've just had my first bad date." And Ron's relationship with Wendy (Tom's ex-wife) seems to be getting more serious, which angers Tom, because he still has feelings for her, despite being in a new relationship with Lucy. All this creates conflict for the characters which ignites most of the humor that we see throughout the episode.
My favorite sequence in the entire episode is Ron coaching his youth
basketball team as he introduces the "Ron Swanson's Pyramid of Greatness."
This is a perfect example of how clever and hard-working the writers are
where they would go out of there way to create an entire pyramid just for one throw-away scene. I also love Andy's way of coaching which is pretty much the complete opposite of Ron's. As someone who has played basketball for a long time, I found it very funny seeing Tom ref the basketball game despite him not knowing jack squat about the sport.
The episode has a nice climax that sets up an arch that will last for 7 episodes. Things clearly are starting to click and the show is starting to show its true colors that will last, well, until the remainder of its 7 season. This was a nice start to the season, and it gets even better in the next episode, so stay tuned!
