Leslie and Ron
[1] The story picks up right where "William Henry Harrison" left off: the Parks & Recreation gang finds Leslie and Ron's rivalry cumbersome and locks them in a room together to hash things out.
April, Andy, Tom, Donna, and Terry are also there, supporting Ben's plan for Leslie and Ron to resolve their differences.
Finally, she finds one method that works: playing Billy Joel's "We Didn't Start the Fire" and singing made-up lyrics over the track.
Two months later, Ron's company had announced its plans to build a tall apartment complex next to Leslie's first park, and tear down Ann's old house in the process.
1:57 am Ron walks into the conference room to find that Leslie is neck deep in her search to figure out the true reason for their fallout.
Although they share an amicable conversation about their past, Ron is still not ready to talk, and pulls the fire alarm to avoid confrontation.
He explained that the ensemble nature of the show did not allow many of the actors to "strut their stuff as much as you would like", so he decided to write an episode to showcase the acting abilities of both Amy Poehler and Nick Offerman.
While Parks and Recreation had made heavy use of emotional scenes in the past, "Leslie and Ron" marked one of the first times that an entire episode would largely be built around a non-comedic plot or set piece.
[2] Leslie complains to Ben in the beginning that being locked up with Ron would mean she would miss that night's Game of Thrones episode, where "Khaleesi is marrying Jack Sparrow.
"[5] Leslie attempts to sing along to Billy Joel's "We Didn't Start the Fire", but, because she does not know the lyrics, she makes up her own which reference Harry Truman, the United States, "Red China", Joe Mantegna, Ian McKellen, Freddy Krueger, Oprah, and Peter Piper.
[7] He felt that the episode was able to successfully conclude the four-episode arc concerning Ron and Leslie's feud in a way that was highly emotional.
"[7] Particular praise was directed towards Offerman, whom Wilkins noted "projects such quiet heartache in those flashbacks; his body language and his shuffling gait suggest a man far removed from Ron’s usual hyper virility.
[8] Television reviewer Alan Sepinwall felt that "Leslie and Ron" complemented the previous episode, "William Henry Harrison", because, whereas "William Henry Harrison" was ensemble-based and highly comedic, "Leslie and Ron" was much more rooted in the title characters, their struggle, and their emotions.
Sepinwall wrote positively that Ron was portrayed "as vulnerable as he has ever been in the run of this show", and that Offerman should submit this episode for an Emmy consideration.
[10] Ultimately, Sepinwall felt that the episode "is "wacky, it's sad, [and] it's sweet (particularly the montage of them restoring the original parks department decor, set to Ron's mix CD choice, Willie Nelson's "Buddy")".
