Lil' Sebastian meets Tom and Jerry

I have to say, something felt like it was missing from Parks and Recreation this week. What was it? It was actually a who. Chris Traeager played by the ever lovable Rob Lowe. His character has brought an amazing amount of laughs to the show since he debuted last season and with him gone to Indianapolis, there seems to be a void on the show.

Anyhow, the episode centered around the Harvest Festival that Leslie has been trying to set up for ages. It is finally coming to fruition. But there is an issue...the carnival they have planned takes place on a sacred Native American ground where a huge battle took place. The chief of the current tribe pleads with Leslie to move the carnival, but after she refuses, he says he hopes his dead family members won't curse the Festival. "There are two things I know about white people - they love Matchbox 20 and they are terrified of curses."

Good laugh. But is it true? All of a sudden everything starts to go wrong at the Festival. Tom loses Lil' Sebastian (a tiny horse who is apparently a Pawnee celebrity) and then blames it on Jerry, there are power outages, the media keep trying to cause drama, etc. Whatever will they do?

In romance news, April tells Andy that she loves him. To which Andy response: "Dude, shut up! Awesomesauce!" and attempts to give her a high five. Amazing response, I think. She didn't like it. Ann Perkins tries to get over Chris by making out with a Ronnie from Jersey Shore lookalike. I'm not sure how this will go, and I'll say it emphatically: bring Chris back.

In addition to no Rob Lowe, this episode was also lacking another usual Parks and Rec gem: great lines from Ron. Where was the ultra conservative deadpan we've all come to love from Mr. Swanson? There were no great one-liners about meat, the size of the government, or anything else amusing. The closest it came was when he called everyone out on the Ferris wheel and when he leaves Jerry lost in the Corn Maze while he grabs a bratwurst.

In the end, Leslie convinces the Native American chief to come and remove the fake curse in front of the media, and to lend them a generator to put the power back on, and the festival is a big hit. Andy tells April that he loves her - "it's what makes the sauce so awesome" (amazing line).

Overall, this was not my favorite episode but it got the job done. Now we can move onto another Leslie Knope crazy plan, rather than focusing on the Harvest Festival each week.

Until the next episode...
Chris