Today Rob Lowe and Alan Yang have a huge show for a small horse when recapping the season three finale of Parks and Recreation. In "Li'l Sebastian" Leslie and the Parks Department organize a memorial for a departed friend. In this episode you'll find out how an awkward encounter in the writer's room caused one of the funniest jokes on the show, which character is like Colossus from The X-Men, why changing Tom's career trajectory was important, an update on Biff Yeager, and a huge bombshell is revealed by producer Greg! Come for the Parks and Rec trivia, stay for the AC/DC trivia!  Got a question for the Pawnee Town Hall? Send us an email: ParksandRecollectionTownHall@gmail.com Or leave a 30-Second voicemail at: (310) 893-6992
 

Leslie announces Li'l Sebastian, Pawnee's beloved celebrity mini-horse, has died and the parks department will hold a memorial service for him. Tom suggests they hire Entertainment 720 for the event, a production company recently started by his friend Jean-Ralphio. Jean-Ralphio encourages Tom to come work with him at the company, but Tom isn’t sure if he wants to leave his city hall job. Meanwhile, the extremely health-conscious Chris finds out he has tendonitis, and takes the news so seriously that he questions his own mortality. Leslie and Ben continue their romance despite a no-dating policy at city hall, but they have difficulty keeping it a secret. Ron finds out and warns them that Chris will fire them if he learns about it.
 

As the city prepares for the memorial service, Leslie and Ben are caught making out by a maintenance worker named George (Biff Yeager), so they send him home with a gift certificate in exchange for his silence. What Leslie and Ben didn’t realize was that George had the propane for Li'l Sebastian's eternal flame, which results in later confusion behind the scenes, which they struggle to fix throughout the night. Jerry is sent to get propane for the flame but buys lighter fluid instead; this causes a huge fireball to shoot into the air when Ron lights it, which singes off most of his facial hair. Leslie and Ben are relieved, however, when the crowd applauds in the belief the fireball was staged. Entertainment 720's show also proves to be a hit with the crowd, which makes Tom further contemplate quitting his job.
 

At a party afterward, Andy receives praise for his Li'l Sebastian tribute song, "5,000 Candles in the Wind." April sells many Mouse Rat CDs at an inflated price, which spurs Andy to ask her to become the group's manager. Indirectly responsible for nearly killing Ron, Leslie and Ben agree to no more secret displays of affection at work. Ann, who previously dated Chris and had trouble getting over him, offers comfort to Chris for his depression. This makes him appear romantically interested in Ann once again. A conflicted Tom decides to resign and accept a job with Entertainment 720. Meanwhile, Ron is confronted by his evil ex-wife Tammy (Megan Mullally) at the party—but both Ron and Tammy are horrified to learn his other ex-wife, also named Tammy (whom he calls "Tammy 1") has also arrived in town.
 

Leslie is approached by scouts looking for potential candidates for elected office, which has always been one of her dreams. Impressed by the memorial service and the harvest festival Leslie previously organized, they believe she would be a good candidate for upcoming city council seats, or possibly the mayoral position. With the expected increased media attention on her personal life, the scouts ask whether Leslie has any secret scandals in her life. She denies any such scandals exist, thus omitting her secret relationship with Ben, and the scouts promise to contact her about preparing an electoral run.

The hilarity is popping in Pawnee, when Rob Lowe and Alan Yang discuss S3E15 of Parks and Recreation! In "The Bubble" Leslie's mom makes a pass at Ben, not knowing that he and Leslie are dating. On today's episode the team share how fun it is to have Chris interacting with all of the parks department, Greg gives insights on his first writing credit, and why it took so long to get Marlene back in an episode! All of this and some surprising data about opening credits. Got a question for the Pawnee Town Hall? Send us an email: ParksandRecollectionTownHall@gmail.com Or leave a 30-Second voicemail at: (310) 893-6992
 

The Parks Department welcomes Ann Perkins to her new office at Pawnee City Hall and fills it with balloons, much to the chagrin of her cranky officemate Stuart. Leslie and Ben are dating, but they are keeping their relationship a secret due to a no-dating policy at work. They are enjoying what Leslie calls "the bubble", or the beginning of a relationship when everything is simple and fun.
 

The Bubble is threatened when Ben has a meeting with Leslie's mother Marlene Griggs-Knope, a notoriously tough politician in the Pawnee school system, who wants Ben to approve the purchase of four new school buses despite a difficult budget season. Afraid of ruining the bubble, Leslie initially tells Ben she is not related to Marlene. Right before Ben's meeting, however, Leslie admits Marlene is her mother, making him nervous and causing him to capitulate to all of her demands during the meeting. Marlene considers Ben weak, so Leslie becomes determined to prove that he is a tough boss to impress Marlene.
 

Chris has enacted numerous changes to the Parks Department: he promotes Jerry to Public Relations Director, appoints April as everyone's assistant, places Tom Haverford on the nightmarish fourth floor with Andy as his temporary assistant, and makes Ron sit in the middle of a circular desk after the removal of his office, to force him to interact with people. Ron believes everything will eventually go back to normal as it has with past city managers that implemented changes. However, Donna is concerned that the overly-determined Chris will not do so and demands that Ron talk to him. On the fourth floor, Tom's attempts to charm some of the elderly women, including Ethel Beavers and Muriel into doing his work but fails miserably, as they ignore him and all adore Andy and April.
 

Leslie trains Ben for his next meeting with her mother. He impresses Marlene so much with his tough negotiation skills that she becomes flirtatious with him. An uncomfortable Ben tells Leslie they should tell her about their relationship, but Leslie does not want to lose the bubble. Fed up, Ben storms into Marlene's office and tells her that he is dating her daughter and asks her to keep it secret. Marlene laughs off the situation and tells Leslie that she approves of Ben.
 

Ron tells Chris the changes do not play to his staff's strengths and decides to compromise: if Chris returns everything to the way it was, he will remain at/in the desk for another week. Chris complies. Nevertheless, Tom is frustrated with the experience and begins to contemplate leaving his City Hall job to pursue his own entrepreneurial interests.

Grab your banjo and put on your seatbelts because today Rob Lowe and Alan Yang are watching S3E14 of Parks and Recreation! In "Road Trip" Chris sends Leslie and Ben on a trip to the capital while Tom's new game creates tension between April and Andy. In this episode you'll hear why the rare bonding moment between Ann and April was important, Mike Schur's love of Neutral Milk Hotel and hate for hot fruit, how RoLo's Banjo improv came to be, and why creating a mix CD is a true artform. All of this and a subtle lesson in mainland Mandarin! Got a question for the Pawnee Town Hall or do you eat Cheez-its with raisins? Send us an email: ParksandRecollectionTownHall@gmail.com Or leave a 30-Second voicemail at: (310) 893-6992

Leslie still harbors strong romantic feelings for Ben, but cannot date him due to Chris Traeger’s strict policy against workplace dating. Just as Ann suggests to Leslie that she should avoid being alone with Ben, Chris asks Leslie and Ben to drive to Indianapolis to pitch Pawnee as the next host of the Indiana Little League Baseball tournament. Leslie and Ann devise numerous boring conversation topics for the trip to prevent it from becoming romantic. After an awkward drive to Indianapolis, Leslie and Ben speak before the Little League Commission, which seems reluctant to choose Pawnee for the tournament. Ben delivers a heartfelt speech about the town, but also appears to be secretly speaking about his feelings for Leslie.

 

Meanwhile, Tom asks Andy, April, Jerry and Donna to participate in a new game show called Know Ya Boo, that he is hoping to pitch to networks; he admits that it is a rip-off of The Newlywed Game. It quickly becomes clear that Jerry and Donna know much more about each other than the recently married Andy and April. When April reveals her favorite band is Neutral Milk Hotel and not Andy's band Mouse Rat, Andy angrily leaves the game. April and Andy have a big fight which causes him to quit his music. April seeks advice from Ann because, although she dislikes her, Ann previously dated Andy for several years. Ann tells April she has to be supportive of Andy no matter how she feels. The next day, April brings the other members of Mouse Rat to city hall and surprises Andy by singing one of his songs. A thrilled Andy reconciles with April.
 

In a separate C Story, a young girl named Lauren (Alyssa Shafer) asks to interview Ron for her school's field trip assignment to city hall. Ron initially resists, but soon espouses his libertarian beliefs to her. He illustrates the concept of taxes by eating 40 percent of Lauren's lunch, to compare his actions to those of the government. She eagerly accepts his anti-government views. The next day, Lauren's furious mother reveals her daughter's assignment was "Why Government Matters", and that Lauren simply wrote "It doesn't". Ron apologizes, and later tells Lauren she should keep her views on government to herself until she gets older.

 

Ben’s speech clearly impresses both the judges and Leslie, and Pawnee is ultimately selected for the tournament. Leslie reluctantly accepts Ben's invitation to a celebratory dinner that night, where Ben brings up his feelings for her. She slips away to call Ann for advice, and Ann urges Leslie to act on her feelings. Just as Leslie decides to do so, she is surprised to find Chris has arrived at the dinner to congratulate the two personally. He insists they sleep at his home in Indianapolis, ruining their night. The next day, Leslie and Ben run into each other alone and Ben reveals Chris is out for the day. Ben then immediately kisses her, to which Leslie reciprocates, leaving her simultaneously delighted and nervous about their future.