[7.1/10] Certainly a pleasant enough episode, though one that takes a fair number of shortcuts.
The main story is fun, though a little disjointed. Getting J.K. Simmons as the mayor of Ben's hometown is a boon, Ben tripping on morphine was a comedic delight, and Leslie's back and forth with the unruly, booing citizens of Patridge made for some great comedy. But the theme -- Leslie trying to get Ben closure on his shame from Ice Town and Ben deciding that he doesn't need it -- only flits in and out. There's good material, but it's all rushed and a little aimless. (Though Ben's sister going "I have to get out of here" was a nice touch.)
The B-story with Ron being sued by Jamm was good for 90% of the way. There's something noble about Ron being willing to suffer from the legal machinations of a dishonest man so long as he and his friends are honest about it. April, Andy, and Tom lying on his behalf, and then telling the truth at his insistence led to some good bits of both comedy and character. But the finish, where the three of them blackmail Jamm into dropping the suit felt like too easy a tie-up and Tom pretending he was assaulted by Jamm was too much.
The C-story was pretty meh. I've already said my piece on the Ann/Chris baby storytline, but suffiice it to say the whole compatibility test angle didn't do much for me. There was some good humor wrung from them giving simultaneous, contradictory answers to their counselor, but otherwise, it was just OK.
On the whole, there's a lot of good material in the episode that keeps it in "good territory" but the sewn-together nature of the episode hurts it overall.
Review by Andrew Bloom
VIP9BlockedParent2017-04-17T21:40:34Z
[7.1/10] Certainly a pleasant enough episode, though one that takes a fair number of shortcuts.
The main story is fun, though a little disjointed. Getting J.K. Simmons as the mayor of Ben's hometown is a boon, Ben tripping on morphine was a comedic delight, and Leslie's back and forth with the unruly, booing citizens of Patridge made for some great comedy. But the theme -- Leslie trying to get Ben closure on his shame from Ice Town and Ben deciding that he doesn't need it -- only flits in and out. There's good material, but it's all rushed and a little aimless. (Though Ben's sister going "I have to get out of here" was a nice touch.)
The B-story with Ron being sued by Jamm was good for 90% of the way. There's something noble about Ron being willing to suffer from the legal machinations of a dishonest man so long as he and his friends are honest about it. April, Andy, and Tom lying on his behalf, and then telling the truth at his insistence led to some good bits of both comedy and character. But the finish, where the three of them blackmail Jamm into dropping the suit felt like too easy a tie-up and Tom pretending he was assaulted by Jamm was too much.
The C-story was pretty meh. I've already said my piece on the Ann/Chris baby storytline, but suffiice it to say the whole compatibility test angle didn't do much for me. There was some good humor wrung from them giving simultaneous, contradictory answers to their counselor, but otherwise, it was just OK.
On the whole, there's a lot of good material in the episode that keeps it in "good territory" but the sewn-together nature of the episode hurts it overall.