| "Ron and Tammys" | |||
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| Parks and Recreation episode | |||
| Episode no. | Season 4 Episode 2 |
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| Directed by | Randall Einhorn | ||
| Written by | Norm Hiscock | ||
| Original air date | September 29, 2011 | ||
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| List of season 4 episodes List of Parks and Recreation episodes |
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"Ron and Tammys" is the second episode of the fourth season of the American comedy television series Parks and Recreation, and the 48th overall episode of the series. It originally aired on NBC in the United States on September 29, 2011. In the episode, Ron Swanson (Nick Offerman) deals with the arrival of his first ex-wife, "Tammy One", with the help of Leslie Knope (Amy Poehler). Meanwhile, Ben Wyatt (Adam Scott) is recruited to manage the accounts for Tom Haverford (Aziz Ansari) and Jean-Ralphio Saperstein's (Ben Schwartz) business. Also, Ann Perkins (Rashida Jones) and Chris Traeger (Rob Lowe) attempt to film a Public Service Announcement.
Written by Norm Hiscock and directed by Randall Einhorn, the episode marks the return of guest stars Patricia Clarkson and Megan Mullally as Ron's two ex-wives, as well as the introduction of guest star Paula Pell as Ron's mother, all of them named Tammy.
According to Nielsen Media Research, "Ron and Tammys" was seen by 4.33 million viewers.[1]
The episode received positive reviews from critics, with much praise particularly going to the performance of Nick Offerman.[2]
Leslie (Amy Poehler) is preparing for the "battle royale," a big meeting between all departments where they argue over funding. Ron (Nick Offerman)'s intimidating presence and libertarian beliefs are pivotal for the parks department to succeed in getting more funds over other departments, but he is too busy preparing for his upcoming tax audit served to him by his first ex-wife, Tammy I (Patricia Clarkson). Leslie, Andy (Chris Pratt), and April (Aubrey Plaza) help Ron but discover he has few actual receipts, just notes of purchase that he wrote himself and photographs of gentlemen's agreements. He does, however, have large amounts of gold that he has buried all over Pawnee. Ron explains that Tammy I had been present throughout most of his young life: she delivered him as a baby, was his teacher, and she even took his virginity. However, she was cold and controlling, which forever turned Ron off to blonde women after their divorce.
Tammy I is horrified at Ron's recordkeeping and demands access to every part of his life for the audit. Tammy I's strict maternal nature intimidates everyone into following her orders, which impresses April. Over the course of the next week, Tammy I moves back in with Ron and assumes complete control over him. Ron shaves off his moustache, becomes kind, and refuses to do anything without Tammy I's approval. Leslie needs Ron to be his usual gruff self for the battle royale and confronts Tammy I about the audit, which she admits is fake - she decided to take Ron back after learning about all the gold he had.
Leslie asks Ron's second ex-wife Tammy II (Megan Mullally) for help, but even she is scared of Tammy I after she attacked her with acid. They decide to ask Ron's survivalist mother, Tamara (Paula Pell) - nicknamed Tammy, or Tammy 0 - for help and she agrees. Tammy 0 challenges Tammy I to a "praerie drink-off" of highly alcoholic Swanson family mash liquor, but Tammy 0 says Ron will return to the farm forever if she wins. Leslie enters the drinking contest to save Ron from his mother and ex-wife, but the liquor immediately makes her too drunk to continue. Ron, finally fed up over people controlling him, chugs the jug dry and tells both Tammys to leave him alone.
In a subplot, Tom (Aziz Ansari) asks Ben (Adam Scott) to look over the finances of his company, Entertainment 720. Ben discovers that Tom and Jean-Ralphio (Ben Schwartz) are wasting large amounts of money on a state-of-the-art office, giving employees high salaries with full benefits, and paying Detlef Schrempf and Roy Hibbert to play basketball all day, despite having no income. They ignore Ben's warnings that the company will go bankrupt in a month, but Tom later apologizes to Ben after discovering that he was right. In another subplot, Ann (Rashida Jones) asks Chris (Rob Lowe) to film a quick Public Service Announcement about diabetes, but the overly-enthusiastic Chris spends all day doing countless takes, making Ann wonder why she even dated him in the first place.
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