But it's hard to feel invested in the bad blood between Leslie and Lindsay, since Lindsay has literally never been referenced until "Eagleton," and since Eagleton itself is less a coherent place than an excuse for poking fun at upper-middle class suburbia.įor whatever reason, Parks and Recreation also tends to get broader and wackier when it features guest stars (think Fred Armisen's turn as a conniving Venezuelan politician in season 2's "Sister City," or Andy Samberg's perpetually-yelling park ranger in "Park Safety"). In theory, the stakes in "Eagleton" should feel high after all, Lindsay used to be Leslie's best friend. (To see this problem taken to its absolute extreme, check out Will Ferrell's guests spots on The Office over the past few weeks).
Parks and Recreation generally plays pretty fast and loose with its documentary-style direction, but there's a realness that makes the appearance of someone as recognizable as Parker Posey inherently distracting, no matter how funny she is as an actress. This affects some shows more than others 30 Rock, which is set behind the scenes of a Saturday Night Live-type variety show, can plausibly drop in Jerry Seinfeld or Tom Hanks without anyone batting an eye.īut the faux-documentary format of Parks and Recreation looks and feels more real than either the anything-goes playfulness of single-camera comedies like 30 Rock or the tightly-structured, three-camera joke machines of old-school sitcoms like Two and a Half Men.
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Guest stars are a tricky proposition for any TV comedy they tend provoke increases in ratings, but their generally conspicuous presence can throw off a show's natural rhythm. As it turns out, Leslie refused the parks director job in Eagleton before it was offered to Lindsay, resulting in an inferiority complex that apparently motivated Lindsay to build the fence (after five years without any contact with Leslie, and seemingly apropos of nothing. And the vain, selfish Lindsay Carlisle-Shea-who literally treats the waffles from Leslie's beloved diner like dog food-fills the role of a bizarro-Leslie. When Lindsay refuses to take down the fence, Leslie resolves to open the park to Pawnee's children again by any means necessary.Įagleton is a kind of bizarro-Pawnee, where the air smells like vanilla and the prison guards offer complimentary scone platters to inmates.
When Leslie learns that Eagleton has erected a fence to keep Pawnee children out of a park, she confronts Lindsay (who happens to be a former Pawnee parks employee-and Leslie's ex-best friend). Unfortunately, "Eagleton" is a strangely uneven episode of Parks and Recreation though still entertaining, the cartoonish A-plot is this season's worst-but the surprising, affecting B-plot is one of the season's best.Įagleton's elitist qualities are personified in its own parks director, Lindsay Carlisle-Shea (guest star Parker Posey). Parks and Recreation has gotten better and better at building a consistent world, and the Eagleton feud seemed ripe for comedic potential. With only two weeks left in its third season, Parks and Recreation is taking a break from its ongoing Leslie-Ben romance to shed a little light on Pawnee's storied rivalry with nearby town Eagleton.
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