Camping (S3E8)

Pack your bags because Rob Lowe and Alan Yang are heading to the Disney Ranch to recap S3E8 of Parks and Recreation! In "Camping" Leslie takes the whole department camping in order to brainstorm new ideas. On today's episode find out how this episode mirrored the writer's room retreats, why team building exercises didn't always help build the team, and some insider knowledge on a filming technique called the Texas Switch. Come for the Parks and Rec recap, stay for the NCIS lore! Got a question for the Pawnee Town Hall? Send us an email: ParksandRecollectionTownHall@gmail.com Or leave a 30-Second voicemail at: (310) 893-6992

The episode opens with Pawnee’s city manager, Paul, touting the success of the Pawnee harvest festival, then immediately collapsing from a massive heart attack. While Paul recovers from Octuple bypass surgery, Chris is brought back to Pawnee from Indianapolis to fill in as City Manager and tasks Leslie with coming up with some new large-scale revenue producing ideas for Pawnee.

Always up for a challenge, Leslie organizes a mandatory camping trip for the less than enthusiastic Parks Dept to help brainstorm ideas to generate new revenue. Ann tags along in an attempt to avoid an awkward run in with Chris—and Andy decides to join the trip in order to have a romantic getaway with April out in the woods.

Once at the campsite, Tom reveals his audacious camping set-up complete with a large screen TV, fro-yo machine, and of course DJ Roomba. As the group settles in and everyone starts pitching their ideas, Leslie starts to panic and it becomes clear she cannot think of anything that would top the harvest festival. Meanwhile, Andy has set up his love nest in the wrong campsite miles away, forcing him to trek through the wilderness and leaving April miserable and stuck with the rest of the group without Andy.

As night falls, the group sits around the campfire listening to Ron tell ghost stories about government bureaucracy. Chris emerges from the woods during his evening jog and Ann decides to go for a walk with him to clear the air of their recent and confusing breakup. With morale low, everyone decides to scrap the trip and go home, but much to their dismay, due to Tom’s siphoning of electricity from the group’s van for his many Skymall luxury camping amenities, the van’s battery is now dead and they have no way to get home.

Luckily, Jerry remembers seeing a small bed and breakfast down the road. The group hikes to the creepy cat infested Quiet Corn run by a strict old lady named Elsa Clack, where Leslie reveals to Ron that she’s totally blocked. Ron reacts by locking Leslie in her room to get a good night’s sleep. Meanwhile, Andy finally catches up with the group at the inn and recreates his romantic tent setup for a smitten April. After a restful seven hours of sleep, Leslie emerges recharged with a fresh set of new ideas that Chris ends up loving. The episode ends with Ben revealing straight to camera that the bed and breakfast owner Elsa Clack, died the night before shortly after playing the group a song on the piano.