Tom's Divorce 

Leslie accidentally finds out that Tom is getting a divorce and tries to lift his spirits by sending him to dinner and a strip club, but Tom doesn't tell her that it was just a sham Green Card marriage.

Director:

Troy Miller

Writers:

Greg Daniels (created by), Michael Schur (created by)

Stars:

Amy Poehler, Rashida Jones, Paul Schneider

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Amy Poehler	...	Leslie Knope
Rashida Jones	...	Ann Perkins
Paul Schneider	...	Mark Brendanawicz
Aziz Ansari	...	Tom Haverford
Nick Offerman	...	Ron Swanson
Aubrey Plaza	...	April Ludgate
Chris Pratt	...	Andy Dwyer
Jim O'Heir	...	Jerry Gergich
Retta	...	Donna Meagle
Jama Williamson	...	Wendy Haverford
James Ball	...	Phil
Jon Paul Burkhart	...	Pantomime Horse
Evan O'Brien	...	Waiter
Richard Dunn	...	110 Year Old Man
David Gerard Robinson	...	Pimp

Storyline

Leslie accidentally finds out that Tom is getting a divorce and tries to lift his spirits by sending him to dinner and a strip club, but Tom doesn't tell her that it was just a sham Green Card marriage.

---

Plot Keywords:

character name in episode title | 

---

Genres:

Comedy

---

Certificate:

TV-PG

Did You Know?

Trivia

The hair on the back of Ron's head still hasn't fully grown back since Parks and Recreation: Hunting Trip (2009), showing that Nick Offerman really did shave part of his head for the earlier storyline, in which he was injured during a hunting trip.

---

Goofs

Leslie mistakenly refers to a government agency as the DMV (Department of Motor Vehicles), when, in fact, this agency is called the Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV) in the state of Indiana.

---

Quotes

Tom Haverford: Leslie, I appreciate what you're trying to do, but once you go in there, you will see things you cannot unsee.
Leslie Knope: I'm a feminist, okay? I would never ever go to a strip club. I've gone on record that if I had to have a stripper's name, it would be Equality. But I'm willing to sacrifice all that I've worked for just to put a smile on your perfect little face. So don't blow this.
Tom Haverford: Alright.
Leslie Knope: Okay, lap dances are on me! I mean I'm paying for them. They're not actually gonna be "on" me.

---

Connections

References Jurassic Park (1993)

---

Soundtracks

Parks and Recreation Main Theme
Composed by Gaby Moreno and Vincent Jones

User Reviews

Things start to get a little serious

One of the many great things about Parks and Recreation is how they are able to develop their characters. Now, I'm not saying that every sitcom has to develop their characters. Some of the very best sitcoms like Seinfeld for example got by just fine by keeping the characters exactly the same. However, when shows are able to simultaneously develop their characters while still remaining consistently funny and fresh, it's a pretty incredible feat. I believe Parks successfully did this in its 7 season run, and it's episodes like "Tom's Divorce" that helped keep these characters multi-dimensional and real despite their quirky characteristics.

"Tom's Divorce" centers around the news that Tom and his wife, Wendy, are separating. Leslie finds this info out in a great cold open where she is sent to run an errand at the creepy and disturbing fourth floor of City Hall. Which includes the DMV, probation offices and divorce filings. Now, up to this point, we know that Tom and Wendy had a green card marriage (not a real marriage), because Wendy is Canadian. What we didn't know is that Tom actually had feelings for Wendy (not mutual by the way), and despite it only being a green card marriage, Tom is very depressed by the separation. The whole episode revolves around the gang trying to cheer Tom up.

Overall, this episode may not be one of the funnier episodes in Season 2, but it does have some great moments and helps to flesh out one of its key characters. Among the better scenes in the episode are the gang dining at Jurassic Fork. The dinosaur puns seem to only get funnier and funnier. Also, they end up at one of Tom's favorite strip-clubs, The Glitter Factor, and we get some great moments there as well. The main storyline is solid, but the scenes with Andy, Ann, and Mark are ok, and the whole Andy being jealous of Mark is starting to get really old. Hopefully that will be the last of that storyline for a while.

Quick side note: Aziz Ansari's acting is surprisingly really good in this episode. He's a really underrated dramatic actor and if you watch his show Master of None you can see even more of his dramatic chops on display.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

3 December 2009 (USA)

Filming Locations:

CBS Studio Center - 4024 Radford Avenue, Studio City, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Deedle-Dee Productions, 3 Arts Entertainment, Fremulon

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1