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"Two Funerals" is the eleventh episode in the seventh season of the NBC television series Parks and Recreation, and the 123rd episode overall. It premiered on February 17, 2015.

Synopsis[]

Leslie helps Tom prepare for a big evening; April and Ben conduct interviews; Donna and Andy assist Ron with a life change.

Storyline[]

The episode opens with the news that Donna and Joe have closed on a house in Seattle, Leslie and Ben will be splitting their time between DC and Pawnee for Leslie's new job, April and Andy have found a place in DC as well, and Gary is retiring (again). Then comes the news that the heretofore unseen Mayor Gunderson (Bill Murray) has passed as well.

At the memorial, the characters process their grief in different ways. Ben Wyatt enlists April and Garry to help find an interim mayor. Leslie attempts to convince Tom Haverford to propose to Lucy. Ron Swanson, while unaffected by the death of the Mayor, collapses upon hearing his barber, Salvatore, has passed as well. Finally, Ethel Beavers reveals that she has been Mayor Gunderson's lover for forty-six years since he was in an open marriage, and that she regrets not expressing her love for him sooner.

In Leslie and Tom's plot, they order a last-minute banner, where Leslie reminds the banner store owner that she has spent over $100,000 at his store, which caused her credit card company to call and ask if she was mentally stable. The two then begin filming an action movie in Ted's store (complete with stunt doubles and Jean-Ralphio as the villain). However, as soon as Lucy arrives in Pawnee, Tom throws out his old plan and proposes to Lucy at the Snakehole Lounge, where they first met, using items from their first date. She accepts.

Ben, April, and Garry begin interviewing potential interim Mayors, starting with Bobby Newport, who declines since he is too busy partaking in space tourism. After moving through several other notable Pawneans, including Joan Callamezzo (who declines due to her claimed youthful age, 27), Dr. Saperstein (declines for lack of time due to his mogul status), and The Douche (reverts to Douche persona), April suggests Ben himself.

However, after finally accepting the Ice Town fiasco from his past, Ben decides to pass the mayoral position onto Garry, who is overjoyed. He even receives an amazing inauguration celebration, including a throne, red carpet, choir, Roman legions, hot air balloon, and fireworks (all strongly suggested to have been for Tom's original proposal plan).

At Salvatore's funeral, Ron declares that the three most important people in a man's life are his barber, his butcher, and his lover, and places $8 dollars, the cost of a haircut, lovingly in Salvatore's coffin. It later emerges that Ron's sadness truly stems from his fear of change and the amount of change happening around him; with all his friends moving away, Salvatore was the one constant left in Ron's life. After some sage words from Ron Dunn, Donna gets the idea to take Ron to Typhoon. While Typhoon is much more talkative and flamboyant than Ron's former barber, Ron quite enjoys Typhoon's disdain for Europe and bicycles, and it becomes clear that he has found his new barber.

Cast[]

Quotes[]

Ben: [to the gathered citizens] And now here to say a few words is Mayor Gunderson's longtime friend and co-worker, Ethel Beavers.
Leslie: [to Tom] This is gonna be so sad; they worked together for a long time.
Ethel Beavers: I'll be brief - Walter Gunderson and his wife had an open marriage. [Tom looks perplexed] It kept him happy, it kept his wife happy - hi, Evelyn - and it definitely kept me happy.
Leslie: [stunned] Whaaaat is happening? [Tom looks grossed out]
Ethel Beavers: Because for 46 wonderful years, he spent night after night exploring every nook and cranny of my body. [The citizens groan in shock as the camera pans over to Gunderson's casket, with Gunderson having a satisfied-like smile] Grow up, you prudes. We're all adults.

Ethel Beavers: My only regret is that I never told him how I really felt. So I'll say it now. I loved that man, and not just because he was a dynamite lay. [The citizens groan some more; Garry and April are taken aback]

Ethel Beavers: [leans down and kisses Gunderson's head, her voice breaking] Good night, you animal.

Ben: I can't believe I'm about to be the mayor.
Garry: I can't believe I'm about to notarize it. [April looks awkwardly at the camera] Okay, so look - just sign right there and then we can let the notary fireworks begin!

April: Who's gonna be the mayor for the next two months, then?
[the camera pans from Ben over to Garry; Ben comes up with the answer]
Ben: Garry Gergich. [Garry looks at him] How would you like to be the next mayor of Pawnee, Indiana? [Garry gasps as he looks at Ben, then at April, and finally at the camera]
April: NOOOOOOOO!

Ron: I've never been a fan of change. Salvatore was a constant in my life.
Ron Dunn: [sitting nearby] In my experience, the only constant is change.
Ron: Oh, s**t.

Andy: [to Ronn Dunn] Hey, you look awfully familiar. Have we met before?
Ron Dunn: I'm sure our souls have collided in one lifetime or another.
Andy: No, that's not it. Are you in my frisbee-golf league?
Ron Dunn: Oh, yeah! I play for the Super Spinners!
Andy: Oh, I'm on the Frisbee Champs.
Ron Dunn: Oh, cool!

Ron: Andrew, stop speaking to this man. He's the worst human being on Earth.
Ron Dunn: Oh, come on. Death makes brothers of us all.

Andy: Who cuts your hair?
Ron Dunn: Nobody. Whenever my hair feels it has completed its journey, it simply sheds itself off.
Ron: I hate you... so much.
Ron Dunn: And I love you, my brother. [Ron looks slowly at him, unsure of what to say]

Leslie: [after seeing Tom propose to Lucy and she accepts] Oh, my God, that was so sweet!
Jean-Ralphio Saperstein: It really was.

Ron: So, Typhoon, what do you like to do for fun?
Typhoon: I'm running an electric opera about Brittany Murphy. And I do the chandelier design for my friend's drag puppet show.
Ron: No further questions.

Typhoon: All I really want to do is dance, except lately all the good warehouse raves are filled with Eurotrash.
Ron: [piqued] Eurotrash? I like that. It is, indeed, a garbage continent.
Typhoon: Yeees! Oh, my God, I had the worst time in Berlin last May - everyone was on their stupid bikes and I was like "Eww".
Ron: [laughs] Please talk more about how you hate Europe and bicycles.

Trivia[]

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