The Master Plan (Parks and Recreation)
"The Master Plan" | |
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Parks and Recreation episode | |
Episode no. | Season 2 Episode 23 |
Directed by | Dean Holland |
Written by | Michael Schur |
Original air date | May 13, 2010 |
Guest appearances | |
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"The Master Plan" is the 23rd and penultimate episode of the second season of the American comedy television series Parks and Recreation, and the 29th overall episode of the series. It originally aired on NBC in the United States on May 13, 2010. In the episode, Pawnee's major budget problems result in state auditors (Adam Scott and Rob Lowe) arriving to make major cuts, much to Leslie's horror and Ron's delight. Meanwhile, Andy contemplates asking April to be his girlfriend, and Tom seeks a new girlfriend.
The episode was directed by Dean Holland and written by series co-creator Michael Schur. "The Master Plan" featured the first series appearances by Scott and Lowe, who became permanent cast members as characters Ben Wyatt and Chris Traeger. The episode also introduced Natalie Morales as Lucy, Tom's new girlfriend, and featured guest appearances by Ralph Richeson as "the ghoulish man"[1] and regular series guests Ben Schwartz, April Marie Eden and Alison Becker.
The idea of Pawnee's governmental problems were inspired by news reports at the time of a number of states shutting down schools, parks and other services due to the
This episode features six characters (five main characters) meeting their eventual spouses for the first time. Ann and Chris meet, Leslie and Ben meet and Tom and Lucy meet.
According to
Plot
Leslie (Amy Poehler) excitedly prepares to present the parks department budget proposal, or "master plan". However, city manager Paul (Phil Reeves), announces due to Pawnee's huge budget deficit, all proposals will be postponed indefinitely. State auditors have been sent by the governor to solve the impasse, which makes Leslie fear severe cuts. Ron (Nick Offerman) is delighted because he hates any government spending, which leads him to have heated arguments with Leslie. Meanwhile, April (Aubrey Plaza) is turning 21 and is having her birthday party at Tom's (Aziz Ansari) favorite nightclub, the Snakehole Lounge. Andy (Chris Pratt) debates whether to ask April to be his girlfriend, but worries about the age difference because he is 29. Ann (Rashida Jones) has broken up with Mark (Paul Schneider), and they meet for lunch to discuss the end of their relationship. Mark is confused as to why Ann has decided to break up with him because they never fought and everything seemed to be going perfect and smoothly. Ann explains that their lack of fighting was actually a bad thing because it meant their relationship had no passion, and she adds that Mark isn't used to dating anyone for a long period of time and over-stated the relationship's strength for that reason.
State auditors Chris Traeger (Rob Lowe) and Ben Wyatt (Adam Scott) soon arrive, and the extremely cheerful Chris paints an optimistic picture of how they will fix the budget, but leaves the details to the more serious Ben. When Ben explains they will need to slash the budget of every department by nearly 40 or 50 percent, Leslie angrily lashes out at Ben, who responds to her that the poorly managed government is to blame. Later, at April's party, Tom desperately tries to pick up women, but to no avail, while Leslie and Ann get extremely drunk together. Andy and April appear to be getting along, but when he goes to the bar to get a drink for April, a drunken Ann flirts with him. An upset April flirts with Tom's annoying friend Jean-Ralphio (Ben Schwartz) to make Andy jealous. Andy gets upset, believing he misread April's signals all along, and April later regrets what she did. Ben arrives at the party and tries to smooth things out with a drunken Leslie, but she again angrily lashes out at him.
The next morning, Ann fears she made out with someone at the party but cannot remember. She eventually learns she made out with Chris, who shows a romantic interest in her. Tom returns to the Snakehole Lounge to close his tab, where he meets the bartender, Lucy (Natalie Morales), who makes fun of his efforts to pick up women. The two get along and Lucy gives Tom her phone number, to his immense pleasure. Leslie decides to apologize to Ben, and he invites her out for a beer. As they finally start to get along, Leslie realizes Ben was the mayor of a small town called Partridge, Minnesota. It was national news because he was only 18 when elected, and he promptly drove the entire government into the ground. Ben became a state auditor to prove he can be responsible and restart his political career. Later, at the parks department budget meeting, Chris and Ben reveal Pawnee's budget crisis was far worse than previously thought and that the Pawnee government will shut down until further notice, horrifying Leslie and delighting Ron.
Production
Writing
Most cities and towns in the country right now are going through these rough patches involving plummeting tax revenue and layoffs. So we're doing a torn-from-the-headlines thing.
Michael Schur,
Parks and Recreation co-creator[2]
"The Master Plan" was written by
"The Master Plan" marked the end of the romantic relationship between Mark and Ann, which had lasted throughout the entire second season. This allowed for the eventual departure of Paul Schneider, who was leaving the series at the end of the second season.[2][8][9] The title of "The Master Plan" stemmed from the fact that real-life municipal planning documents in small American towns are often called the "master plan", like the one Leslie refers to in the episode. Schur said of this, "It seems so funny to call the municipal budgets and planning documents for a small city in Indiana the 'master plan'." Schur said the Parks and Recreation writing staff believed the title of the episode was appropriate because the subplots of "The Master Plan" revolved around the various plans of the characters. While Leslie is dealing with the literal master plan for the Pawnee budget proposal, April's plan is to seek a romantic relationship with Andy, and Tom's plan is to find a girlfriend at April's birthday party.[6]
The idea of Ann making out with Chris Traeger was not part of the original screenplay, but was added after the first cast read-through of the script. The writing staff felt that while Ben was immediately connected to Leslie and the other characters through his role in eliminating wasteful spending at Pawnee, Chris still needed something to more strongly connect to the cast, and the subplot with Ann was determined to be a funny way to do it. In one scene, after Ben explains the need for severe budget cuts at Pawnee, Ron asks Leslie, "What's a not gay way to ask him to go camping with me?" That line was not in the first draft of the script, but was added during filming as a possible alternative line for the editors to choose from later. The staff found it so funny, however, that they chose to use it and the original line was never filmed.[6]
During another scene at the Snakehole Lounge, a drunken Leslie angrily yells to Ben, "I just talked to everybody in this bar and nobody wants you here." That line was written by Harris Wittels, who wrote past screenplays for other Parks and Recreation episodes.[7] During the end credits, Andy sings a song he wrote for April called "November," which includes the lyrics, "Let's spread our wings and fly on a date." This is also a reference to "Woman of the Year," in which Andy explained every song he writes includes either the lyrics, "Spread your wings and fly" or "You deserve to be a champion." Schur, who wrote the words to "November", said it was especially challenging working one of those phrases into a love song.[6]
Casting
"The Master Plan" marked the first appearance of Adam Scott, who also appeared in the subsequent season finale "
It was like, if he had just got into Pawnee on day two he would walk into Starbucks and every single person would know him and he'd be like, "Jimmy, how's the dog?' 'Hey did you catch anything when you went fishing?' He would know everybody.
Screenwriter Harris Wittels,
about the Chris Traeger character[7]
The episode also featured the first in a string of guest appearances by actor Rob Lowe, who had recently departed from the
"The Master Plan" featured several other guest appearances. Ben Schwartz returned to his recurring role as Tom's fast-talking friend, Jean-Ralphio.
Filming
"The Master Plan" was directed by Dean Holland, his third directorial credit after "Greg Pikitis" and "Sweetums". The script read-through and filming took place in March 2010.[30][31] Rob Lowe's first day of filming took place on his birthday, March 17, which was the same day the scene where he kissed Rashida Jones was shot.[30] The original cut of "The Master Plan" was a full 30 minutes and had to be cut down to 22 minutes for broadcast. The staff of Parks and Recreation had difficulty editing the episode down because the script involved so many interconnected subplots between the characters. Screenwriter Harris Wittels said, "As soon as you'd cut one thing, you had to cut something else because it was tied to another piece."[7] Among the scenes cut were an extended cold open in which Ron gives April a handgun for her 21st birthday, much to the chagrin of Leslie. Also cut was a scene in which Ron chastises Leslie for yelling at Ben at the Snakehole Lounge and orders her to apologize to him so she will not be fired. Instead, the episode was changed to reflect that Leslie decided to apologize to Ben herself, with the line from Leslie "I have to go swallow my pride" added just before she spoke to Ben.[6]
During one scene, Ann and Mark have a discussion at J.J.'s Diner, a Pawnee restaurant that had previously been featured in the episodes "The Reporter" and "Summer Catalog". In all three episodes, a different interior set is used, although the exterior building shots are the same.[32] At the Snakehole Lounge, Tom flirts with a woman by giving her a bottle cap "to remember him by", then later unsuccessfully tries to find her again in the nightclub. This was not part of the script, and was conceived and added to the episode about 10 minutes before the scene was shot. During one of the final scenes, when Ben informs Leslie and Ron that the Pawnee government will be shut down, Ron looks directly at the camera and makes a comical grin. Although Leslie is supposed to be horrified by the news, the scene had to be re-shot many times because she kept laughing at Ron's facial expression.[6]
Cultural references
Andy says of Jean-Ralphio, "That Ralph Macchio guy's a total douche." This is a reference to Ralph Macchio, an actor who appeared in the 1983 drama film The Outsiders, which also starred Rob Lowe.[29] The line was improvised by actor Chris Pratt.[6] In another scene, Ben tells Leslie the song he played after getting sworn in as an 18-year-old mayor was "Whoomp! (There It Is)", a 1993 hip hop song by the duo Tag Team.[29] The episode features several quotes from author and outdoorsman Jack London. Among them, which Leslie reads from her master plan proposal, is, "You can't wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club," and "So I say the function of man is to live, not to exist. I would rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dry-rot." The original script included about one dozen different London quotes, but most were cut from the final draft.[7] Schur said he used London quotes because he believed the author was one both Leslie and Ron would admire.[6] At one point in the episode, while discussing April's birthday, Leslie says, "Damn the wheel of the world! Why must it continually turn over?" to which Ron replied approvingly, "Jack London." The line was improvised by actor Nick Offerman.[7]
Reception
In its original American broadcast, "The Master Plan" was seen by an estimated 4.28 million household viewers, according to Nielsen Media Research.
Overall this was a solid episode with a couple of great new characters, but it was the quieter character moments that really stood out. Andy thinking April had ditched him for Jean Ralphio. Leslie and Ben bonding over Ben's "Teen Mayor" back-story. Tom meeting Lucy. These are great examples of the reason why Parks and Rec has become so well-rounded.
"The Master Plan" received generally positive reviews. Matt Fowler of
DVD release
After "The Master Plan" aired, a producer's cut of the episode was featured on the official NBC website. It included eight extra minutes, which consisted of deleted scenes, an extended ending and additional footage with Lowe and Scott.[38] This version of the episode, along with the 22-minute television version and the other 23 second season episodes of Parks and Recreation, was later released on a four-disc DVD set in the United States on November 30, 2010. The DVD included deleted scenes for each episode.[39][40] It also included a commentary track for "The Master Plan" featuring Nick Offerman, Adam Scott, Dean Holland, Michael Schur, Harris Wittels and Parks and Recreation producer Morgan Sackett.[40]
References
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- ^ New York Daily News. Archived from the originalon May 10, 2011. Retrieved November 28, 2010.
- ^ Sepinwall, Alan (September 17, 2009). "Parks and Recreation: Interviewing co-creator Mike Schur". The Star-Ledger. Archived from the original on August 19, 2010. Retrieved November 28, 2010.
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- ^ Sepinwall, Alan (March 5, 2010). "'Parks and Recreation' lands 'Party Down' star Adam Scott". The Star-Ledger. Archived from the original on June 5, 2011. Retrieved November 27, 2010.
- ^ a b Sepinwall, Alan (June 24, 2010). "Interview: Adam Scott on leaving 'Party Down' and going to 'Parks and Recreation'". HitFix. Archived from the original on September 23, 2010. Retrieved November 29, 2010.
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- ^ a b c d Sepinwall, Alan (May 13, 2010). "'Parks and Recreation' - 'The Master Plan': Whoomp! (There it is)". HitFix. Archived from the original on December 27, 2010. Retrieved November 27, 2010.
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External links
- "The Master Plan" at the official Parks and Recreation site
- "The Master Plan" at IMDb