The Bubble (Parks and Recreation)

Written by Greg Levine and Brian Rowe and directed by Matt Sohn, "The Bubble" originally aired back-to-back along with "Li'l Sebastian".

In a cold open scene, the parks department welcomes Ann to her new office in city hall and fill it with balloons, much to the chagrin of her cranky officemate Stuart.

"The Bubble" was directed by Matt Sohn and written by Brian Rowe and Greg Levine, the latter of whom regularly works as a writers assistant on the series.

[2][4] The concept of the fourth floor of Pawnee's town hall as a dark and horrifying place was introduced in the second season episode "Tom's Divorce", and has been a running joke with the show ever since.

'"[8][9] "The Bubble" marked a progression of Tom Haverford that had been building throughout the third season, in which the character begins to consider leaving his city hall position to pursue his own business ambitions.

That storyline is advanced in "The Bubble" through Tom's frustration with his assignment by Chris, and culminates in the season finale "Li'l Sebastian", in which he ultimately quits the parks department.

[11] Leslie prepares Ben for her meeting with Marlene by describing some of her favorite conversation topics, including industrialist Andrew Carnegie and Calvin and Hobbes cartoonist Bill Watterson.

[12][14] In its 10 p.m. timeslot, "The Bubble" was outperformed by the fourth season finale of the ABC medical drama series Private Practice, which was seen by 7.45 million household viewers.

The Atlantic writer Scott Meslow called the episode "a fine example of Parks and Recreation at its funniest" and along with "Li'l Sebastian" served as an "ideal capper to a remarkably strong third season of the series".

[7] Henry Hanks of CNN called it a very funny episode and said scenes of Ron swiveling around his circular desk to avoid talking to members of the public were "masterfully executed".

He praised the comedic and romantic chemistry between Amy Poehler and Adam Scott, and said the subplot with Chris imposing changes on the parks department was "great fun".

[2] Joel Keller of TV Squad said he enjoyed seeing Ron stand up for the parks department, which proved that despite his hatred of government, he knows his co-workers well and is a good boss.

[8] Nick McHatton of TV Fanatic said although he believed the no-dating policy was little more than an unnecessary device meant to create friction between Leslie and Ben, he enjoyed the lengths with which they were going to keep their relationship secret.

Club called "The Bubble" an excellent episode that went a long way in fleshing out the Leslie and Ben romance, but primarily set the scene for the superior "Li'l Sebastian".