"The Possum" continues a lot of things that have made the show great up to this point. For one, we get a great main storyline about catching a dangerous possum named "Fairway Frank" who likes to roam the Pawnee Municipal Golf Course and cause havoc. A storyline that expands the town of Pawnee even
more. Leslie has been tasked with capturing this possum after it bit the mayor's dog, Rufus. Some people like to think of this storyline as an allegory for capital punishment. I for one never saw it in that kind of way, but after watching the episode again, I can see how it may be interpreted in that way. If that is what the writers were going for than props to them. They have been known to handle controversial topics in past episodes like "Pawnee Zoo" for example.
In this episode we also see the April and Andy storyline continue. Andy is still oblivious to the fact that April likes him, and even flirts with the idea of winning Ann back which infuriates April. Chris Pratt is at his comedic best in this episode and we see a lot of great physical humor including a great scene of him capturing a possum at the golf course.
In a B-story, we see a pairing of Ron and Mark, as Mark does an inspection on Ron's woodshop (Nick Offerman's real woodshop by the way). Unfortunately not even the great Ron Swanson can save this as it is a pretty dull storyline with a few funny lines here and there, but definitely slows down the episode a little and interferes with the better main plot. It's pretty clear at this point that Mark just isn't the right fit for what the show has evolved into, and he struggles to have any good chemistry with most of the characters in the series.
Quick side note: This episode introduces us to the Pawnee Animal Control, who are easily two of the best minor characters in the series. Seriously though, how did these two get hired to run animal control?? It's no wonder there is always possums and raccoons running around everywhere!
In this episode we also see the April and Andy storyline continue. Andy is still oblivious to the fact that April likes him, and even flirts with the idea of winning Ann back which infuriates April. Chris Pratt is at his comedic best in this episode and we see a lot of great physical humor including a great scene of him capturing a possum at the golf course.
In a B-story, we see a pairing of Ron and Mark, as Mark does an inspection on Ron's woodshop (Nick Offerman's real woodshop by the way). Unfortunately not even the great Ron Swanson can save this as it is a pretty dull storyline with a few funny lines here and there, but definitely slows down the episode a little and interferes with the better main plot. It's pretty clear at this point that Mark just isn't the right fit for what the show has evolved into, and he struggles to have any good chemistry with most of the characters in the series.
Quick side note: This episode introduces us to the Pawnee Animal Control, who are easily two of the best minor characters in the series. Seriously though, how did these two get hired to run animal control?? It's no wonder there is always possums and raccoons running around everywhere!
