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"The Wall" is the fifteenth episode in the sixth season of the NBC television series Parks and Recreation, and the 105th episode overall. It premiered on March 6, 2014 to 2.95 million viewers.

Synopsis[]

Leslie's efforts to take down the wall separating Eagleton and Pawnee yield unexpected results, Ben and Tom meet with possible sponsors for the concert, Ron finds a new hobby in the office.

Storyline[]

The Pawnee/Eagleton Unity Concert planning is in full swing. Leslie Knope hopes to use the concert as a last ditch attempt to prove that the Pawnee-Eagleton merger was a success. Leslie books a meeting with Grant Larson, the Director of the Midwest Branch of the National Parks Service, to ask him to declare Eagleton Hills a national park as the grand finale of the Unity Concert. Later, Leslie holds a press conference at the park that borders Pawnee and Eagleton to announce the Unity Concert. However, the wooden fence that separates the two sides is riddled with crude graffiti, so she decides to have the dividing wall knocked down. At the press conference, she declares that the concert will commemorate the merger between Pawnee and Eagleton, and that the three-day festival will end on a day that will be called New Founders' Day, an official beginning to the new town. At the end of her announcement, she has two Eagletonians do the honors of striking the fence first as a way of starting the process of "tearing down the wall". However, directly behind the spot where they hit is a beehive, causing hundreds of bees to scatter over those attending the press conference. The majority of those stung are Eagletonians, leading to the Pawnee media assuming Leslie set up the bees as a practical joke. Leslie insists that was not the case, but the Eagleton media holds her to it.

As a result of the bee attack, three Eagletonians are hospitalized. She personally visits the victims in hospital and presents them with gift baskets as a way of apologizing. As it so happens, Councilman Jamm was also stung, and she runs into him at the hospital. The Eagleton media subsequently ambush Leslie and report live that she and Jamm are concocting a Pawnee secession movement. A fight breaks out between Jamm and the Eagleton reporters, and as a result, Leslie is accidentally punched in the face. The following day, she comes into work with a black eye, and to her luck, Grant Larson is at City Hall ready to meet with her. Upon finally sitting down with Grant, she formally requests to turn some of Pawnee's new land into a national park. Grant unfortunately denies the request, but admits he actually wanted to meet with Leslie before she called him. He presents Leslie with her grant application – a proposal to clean up the Pawnee river – that she submitted to the Department of the Interior two years earlier (in "Ms. Knope Goes to Washington"). He informs her that her report is legendary and that it was easily the most throughly researched and passionate grant request that he has ever seen. He and his colleagues are so impressed with Leslie and her work that, with a new office opening in Chicago, Grant offers Leslie a job running a branch of the National Parks Service. Leslie is incredibly grateful for the offer, but her love for fixing Pawnee despite the uphill struggle is what has kept her in Pawnee for so long. She tells Grant she is very interested, but she needs to "finish what she's started" before even thinking about the possibility of actually leaving Pawnee and the Parks Department.

Meanwhile, Tom Haverford holds a Unity Concert sponsorship seminar in order to entice local businesses to pledge their support to the event and become corporate sponsors. Tom's pitch sees him reel in 16 sponsorship offers, including one from Mitch Savner, owner of Savner Bleaches and Chemicals. He is impressed by Tom's presentation and feels he is an ideas man. A keen investor, Savner offers Tom the opportunity to pitch his best idea to him in a day's time. Tom's best idea is a restaurant venture, but Ben Wyatt reminds him just how risky opening a restaurant business is today. Tom therefore regretfully agrees to have Ben come up with a solid business idea, even though it's not something he's passionate about. Ben puts together a solid start up business plan for a Dry Cleaning Chemical Transactional Holding Company, but after Savner points out that businesses only succeed when passion is involved, Tom ditches Ben's idea during the meeting and delivers a flawless pitch for a new restaurant called Tom's Bistro. While Savner admits restaurant start-ups are risky, as long as Tom is running it, he's in. Ben is upset Tom sold him out mid-meeting, but is happy for Tom and agrees to be his second investor.

Elsewhere, Ron Swanson is a new father. He brings his newborn son, John, into work with him, but he quickly grows tired of his co-workers constantly prowling around John and denying him peace and quiet. He takes John up to the third floor of City Hall where no one can bother them. There, he finds a faulty radiator, and with a nearby tool box, he happily fixes it. Ron's passion for construction and woodworking entices him to relieve the crew working on the floor and refurbish the place himself. He begins work immediately, teaching his newborn son all the tricks of the trade along the way.

Cast[]

Quotes[]

Ron: [introducing the Parks Department to his newborn son] Everyone, I'd like to introduce you to my son, John Middle Name Redacted Swanson. John was born sometime ago, weighing multiple pounds and several ounces. Much like his father, he is a fan of silence. Please keep your voices down.

Larry: Look what Gayle made for the baby. [holds a baby onesie with a logo on it] It says, "Property of Pawnee Government"! Ain't that adorable? [Ron takes the onesie, crumples it up and slams it into his wastebasket]

Leslie: Today might be the day that I finally crowd surf. I should probably empty my pockets, just in case.

Ron: [bringing his son to the third floor - abandoned and in need of renovating] The third floor is silent, empty, and completely free of government work. [tearing up] I can't think of anything more beautiful to share with my son.

Leslie: Thank you so much, everyone, for coming. And a special thank you to the city council for their support.
Jeremy Jamm: I was told there'd be a free barbecue buffet.
Leslie: [tosses some beef jerky at him] Just take some beef jerky and hush.

Leslie: A few years ago, Eagleton put up this wall along the border. Now, it is time to tear down this wall. [everyone applauds] In the name of unity, I have given some former Eagletonians the first strike. Take it away, guys! [two men pick up sledgehammers and strike two holes in the wooden wall; everyone applauds again] It's such a great day for- [suddenly, bees appear] BEES! BEES! OH! NOBODY PANIC!! [everyone panics]

Jeremy Jamm: [recording with his smartphone, laughing] Oh, man! This is amazing, man! The stupid Eagletonians are totally getting pwned by these bees! I'm gonna send this straight to Tosh! [he promptly gets stung] OW! F**K! F**K!

Andy: [covering April] Don't worry, babe, I will protect you! I got stung once - I'm immune. [to the bees] Go ahead and sting me, bees! It does nothing!

Tom: [going over ideas with Ben] Okay, how about this one: LASIK for fingernails. You cut your fingernails once, you never have to cut them again. All we need is a complicated laser I have no idea how to build.
Ben: Seems impossible.
Tom: [goes to next idea] Alright. Wuh-oh! Saltweens! Saltines for tweens.
Ben: Seems unnecessary.

Leslie: [after getting punched] OH! MOTHERPUNCHER!!

Ron: Most people in this world, John, are assh***s.

Ron: [as he renovates the third floor] This is the best day I have ever spent in a government building. And luckily, my son was here to share it with me. He now has that satisfied look that only comes with the pride of labor. ...Or he pooped.

Trivia[]

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