Pawnee Zoo

Pawnee Zoo

Season

Episode

2

1

Airdate

September 17, 2009

Written by

Norm Hiscock

Directed by

Paul Feig

Rock Show

Pawnee Zoo

The Stakeout

"Pawnee Zoo" is the Season 2 premiere of the NBC television series Parks and Recreation. It originally aired on September 17, 2009 to 5 million viewers.

In the episode, Leslie Knope accidentally takes a stand in favor of same-sex marriage when she holds a marriage for two male penguins during a publicity stunt for the zoo.

The episode was written by Norm Hiscock and directed by Paul Feig. It received generally positive reviews, with several commentators claiming it showed improvement and growth compared to the show's first season, which received lukewarm reviews. According to Nielsen Ratings, "Pawnee Zoo" was watched by 5 million households. Among viewers aged between 18 and 49, the episode was seen by 30 percent less viewers than the first season pilot episode.

Plot

The episode opens with Ron Swanson saying to Leslie, "Here's the situation...", prompting her to go into a full rendition of the rap "Parents Just Don't Understand". Afterward, he tells her someone is on fire at a park and needs immediate assistance. Later, Leslie holds a marriage for two recently acquired penguins to help promote the Pawnee Zoo. Immediately after the marriage, the two penguins begin having sex in front of a crowd of children, who realize both penguins are actually males. The Bulge, a gay bar in Pawnee, later send Leslie a wedding cake with two penguins on top to thank her for supporting the gay community. April Ludgate introduces Amy to her boyfriend Ben, who himself also has a boyfriend named Derek, much to Leslie's confusion. They declare her their "hero" for holding the gay penguin wedding, but Leslie insists it was simply a publicity stunt, not a political statement. Nevertheless, Marcia Langman, a member of the Society for Family Stability Foundation, demands she annul the penguin wedding or resign from the parks department.

Ann Perkins, who has been nursing Mark Brendanawicz at the hospital since he fell into the pit, says he has acted much nicer since the incident. Ann also reveals she has broken up with Andy Dwyer. Mark and Leslie nearly kissed before he fell, but both insist they are just friends. Mark tries to ask Ann out, but she declines out of respect for Leslie's friendship. Meanwhile, the Bulge holds a party in Leslie's honor, which she attends along with Tom Haverford to announce she has not taken a political stand. However, she accepts the free drinks they offer her and ends up getting drunk and having a great time. The next day, she is invited to go on the Pawnee Today talk show to discuss her supposed stance on gay marriage with Marcia Langman and television host Joan Callamezzo.

Meanwhile, Andy shows up at Ann's house wearing a fancy suit. He tells her he has matured, gotten an office job and would like to get back together, but Ann declines. The camera follows Andy as he leaves, revealing he is actually living in a tent inside the Sullivan Street Pit. During the Pawnee Today show, Leslie and Marcia argue fiercely. Leslie insists she has not taken a political position, even after Marcia brings up the recent party at the Bulge. They take several callers, all of whom agree that Leslie should resign. Fed up, Leslie adamantly insists she will not resign, nor will she annul the penguin wedding. Later, she visits Ann and insist that Ann go on a date with Mark. The episode ends with Leslie driving the penguins from the Pawnee Zoo to a zoo in Iowa, where gay marriage is legal.

Cast

Main Cast

• Amy Poehler
• Rashida Jones
• Paul Schneider
• Aziz Ansari
• Nick Offerman
• Aubrey Plaza
• Chris Pratt
  • Pratt is no longer listed as a guest star

Guest Stars

• Mo Collins as Joan Callamezzo
• Josh Ducendeck as Ben
• Darlene Hunt as Marcia Langman
• Blake Lee as Derek
• Jim O'Heir as Jerry Gergich
• Retta Sirleaf as Donna Meagle

Animals seen

• various pigeons in courtyard
• the Green-winged Macaw celebrating its birthday
• the poo-flinging, college graduate chimpanzee
• Tux and Flipper, the South American Black-footed penguins

Quotes

April: This is my boyfriend, Derek, and this is Derek's boyfriend, Ben.
Ben: Hey.
Leslie: Hey...oh...wait, sorry. What's the situation?
April: What do you mean?
Leslie: How does this work?
April: Derek is gay but he's straight for me, but he's gay for Ben, and Ben's really gay for Derek. And I hate Ben.
Derek: It's not that complicated.

Leslie: The thing about youth culture is that I don't understand it.

Ron: Leslie. Some guy who owns a gay bar sent you a cake.
Leslie: Pawnee has a gay bar?
Ron: The Bulge. It's behind my house.
Leslie: The Bulge is a gay bar? The nights I've wasted there ...

Trivia

• Ron enters Leslie's office to tell her the situation, Leslie guesses that it's:
  • his parents are on vacation
  • they left the keys to the brand new Porsche
  • then, she white-girl-raps part of "Parents Just Don't Understand" as Tom accompanies her with a little beat-boxing
• after she finishes, Jerry and Donna stand just outside her door and applaud her
• basking in their admiration, she asks Ron what he wanted
  • he tells her someone is on fire in Ramsett Park and they need her to get down there "right away"
• Leslie has spent her summer doing promotions for the zoo
• the penguins names are, Tux and Flipper
  • they are South African Blackfooted Penguins
• April attends the mock penguin wedding ceremony holding the bouquet and wearing Chuck Taylors and a white gown with a ruffled lacy collar
  • over a purple t-shirt
• Tom also attends wearing a business suit
• Leslie presided over the wedding asking, "Tux, do you take Flipper to be your lawfully wedded wife?"
  • she pronounces them "husband and wife" by the power vested in her "from the Department of Parks and Recreation"
• Leslie plays Mendelssohn's "Wedding March" on a small boombox
• the marriage is immediately consumated
  • April watches intently
  • Leslie says "okay, well at least they're married"
  • a young white, bespectabled boy in the front of crowd asks if they are "making babies"
• a man wearing safari-like khaki clothing (including a hat, shirt and shorts), and who presumably works for the zoo (he also has a name badge), informs the young boy, "not those two; those are both boy penguins"
  • technically, he tells Leslie, "you should have pronounced them husband and husband"
  • April thinks it's "awesome"
• Leslie pronounces that you "couldn't have asked for better weather"
• back in the courtyard at city hall, Leslie playfully punches Mark Brendanawicz's arm as she walks by, calling him a "big sandwich eater"
  • aware of the presence of the documentary filmmakers, Leslie and Mark make abundantly clear that there is no romantic element to their relationship whatsoever
• Mark characterizes the night with Leslie at the pit as hitting "rock bottom"
  • he literally fell to the bottom of a pit and hit a rock
  • he reflected on how he got where he's at and how he's still single and how he needs morphine
• Mark says Leslie's latest activity with the two male penguins is
  • making history
  • sticking her neck out
  • out of the mainstream and consequently cool
  • Leslie defensively says it was accidental and that she's in the mainstream not out of it
• Mark calls her a "social activist"
  • Leslie adamantly denies this
• Leslie explains that people don't like their government employees to be activists
  • a garbage man was suspended for wearing a Live Strong bracelet
• Jerry enters the Parks Department "bullpen" with a cake for Leslie
  • the cake is from a mann who owns a gay bar
  • it is a 1/8th sheet, covered in white frosting with two penguins in the center
• Leslie was not aware that Pawnee had a gay bar
  • Ron states that yes there is and it's behind his house
• Pawnee's only gay bar is called The Bulge
• Tom reads the card that accompanied the cake,
  • "Leslie; Hey girrrrrrrrl. (with 8 rs) Thank you for supporting the cause of gay marriage. You rock. The boys at The Bulge."
• Leslie asks Tom to come into her office
  • Tom reminds her it is also his office

Ron's appearance

• hair parted on his left
• wears a polo shirt and dress slacks

In Leslie's office

• the framed gavel above her light switch has been replaced by Hillary Clinton's official State Department portrait
• the number on the door is 125

Opening credits

• the show title is shown when the piccolo begins
• the 20 second version of the theme plays
• Chris Pratt is no longer listed as "Guest star"

Projects Leslie has worked on

Summer zoo promotions, including:

• a 60th birthday party for a Green-winged Macaw
• college graduation ceremony for the smart chimpanzees
  • Leslie was hoping they would fling their hats instead of their feces, but they didn't, much to the horror of the on-lookers
• marriage ceremony for the two newly arrived South American Blackfooted penguins
  • because they mate for life

The penguin wedding ceremony

• presided over by Leslie Knope, with the power vested in her "from the Department of Parks and Recreation"
• Tux and Flipper walk out of a miniature pink, rose and white wedding chapel, down the red-carpeted aisle and under a miniature ivy-covered, white trellis
• a pink banner with the words "Together Forever" with cartoon male and female penguins "kissing" inside a darker pink heart
  • the cartoon penguins are between the two words
• a stand-in is available for novelty photos
  • where people's place their heads as 'stand-ins' for the two small penguins inside a lavender heart or the larger penguin one holding a tray like a waiter
• t-shirts are also available for purchase
  • with a silkscreen of 2 penguins beak-to-beak inside a heart outline; above it are the words "Tux & Flipper", below it is the Pawnee Zoo logo
  • available 4 colors: black, white, pink and electric blue