Title: Woman of the Year (04 Mar 2010)
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| Episode cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| Amy Poehler | ... | Leslie Knope | |
| Rashida Jones | ... | Ann Perkins (credit only) | |
| Paul Schneider | ... | Mark Brendanawicz | |
| Aziz Ansari | ... | Tom Haverford | |
| Nick Offerman | ... | Ron Swanson | |
| Aubrey Plaza | ... | April Ludgate | |
| Chris Pratt | ... | Andy Dwyer | |
| Andy Milder | ... | Fred | |
| Jim O'Heir | ... | Jerry Gergich | |
| Retta | ... | Donna Meagle | |
| Ben Schwartz | ... | Jean-Ralphio | |
| Ian Roberts | ... | Ian Winston | |
| Maribeth Monroe | ... | Elise Yarktin | |
 |
Andrea Hutchman | ... | Lisa |
|
|
William Pawlak | ... | Soccer Player #1 |
Leslie is outraged when Ron wins a "Woman of the Year" award for a project she started. Meanwhile, Tom is desperate to find some money to invest in a local Pawnee club. Written by NBC Publicity
"Woman of the Year" is the perfect example of a Parks episode that is perfectly executed and simply has no weaknesses. It works because the premise is great, it showcases the characters at their absolute best, and every storyline is equally strong. No one storyline slows the episode down or towers over the other ones. "Woman of the Year" flows like a fine wine.
I think the one relationship that holds the entire show together is the relationship of Ron and Leslie. These two characters clearly are completely different people. They look and act different; they have different political views; one is outgoing and extroverted while the other is reclusive and introverted. However, somehow these two characters find a way to set a side all their differences and agree on the greater good. Despite how dissimilar they are, they still find ways to care about each other. What I'm trying to get at is this episode perfectly showcases the complicated, but affectionate relationship that these two characters have. It's the first episodes in the series to put it front and center, and I don't know about you, but I think it deserves a lot of props for that.
There's many great things to get out of just this episode alone. Ron's domineering pranks about winning the award instead of Leslie. His attempt to teach Leslie a lesson about how foolish award ceremonies really are. "I still think awards are stupid. But they'd be less stupid if they went to the right people." We get another great guest appearance from everyone's favorite douchebag Jean-Ralphio Saperstein. It's amazing how Ben Schwartz makes this guy entertaining and dare I say captivating? And last but not least, we get more scenes with April and Andy, who are starting to form a nice relationship, even though Andy can't catch a hint that April likes him. C'mon Andy!
Overall, "Woman of the Year" works like gangbusters. It's tightly written. It pairs characters together who work the best off one another: Leslie and Ron, Andy and April, Donna and Tom. And it even teaches us a lesson or two about award shows in general. How people shouldn't get caught up in winning awards and instead be proud of the work you put in regardless of whether you get recognition or not. It's a very underrated episode and one of the best of Season 2.