Plot
At the beginning of the episode, Leslie (Amy Poehler) proudly announces to the parks and recreation staff that she will be judging the Miss Pawnee beauty pageant, a job she takes very seriously. Tom (Aziz Ansari), excited at the prospective of judging women on the basis of their looks, pulls some strings to get a spot on the judging panel along with Leslie. April (Aubrey Plaza) enters the contest in order to win the $600 prize, despite being disgusted with the concept of a beauty contest. She tries, unsuccessfully, to gain an advantage by sucking up to Leslie. Later, Pawnee police officer Dave Sanderson (Louis C.K.) visits Leslie at work to ask her out on a date. She initially accepts, but when Dave mistakes a photo of Madeline Albright for Leslie's grandmother, Leslie becomes reluctant.
Meanwhile, Ann (Rashida Jones) offers to cook Mark (Paul Schneider) a cheap meal if he will fix her broken shower; Mark accepts what he calls "the weirdest second date ever". That night, the date goes well, until Ann takes her trash outside and finds her ex-boyfriend Andy (Chris Pratt) is spying on her from the construction pit near her house, where he is now living. Back inside, Ann complains about Andy to Mark, who thinks they should invite Andy inside when it starts to rain. Ann reluctantly agrees, and Andy spends the rest of the night interrupting their conversations and spoiling romantic moments. After dinner, Ann kicks him out, but Andy remains convinced the night went very well for him.
Leslie and Tom arrive at the pageant. Leslie, who wants the Miss Pawnee winner to be dignified and graceful, favors Susan (Anne Elizabeth Gregory), a student and children's hospital volunteer. But the other judges favor Trish (April Marie Eden), an attractive but untalented and unintelligent woman. Tom is particularly impressed with Trish, even when she answers Leslie's question about how "we as citizens can improve on the great experiment?" by making fluffy remarks about America and expressing a distaste for immigrants. April puts on an act by pretending to be a shallow beauty contestant, but instantly quits when she learns the $600 prize actually consists of gift certificates for a fence company.
After the contest, the judges deliberate. Tom and the other judges (Susan Yeagley, Frank Medrano, Worth Howe) all immediately agree Trish should win, but Leslie insists on further discussion. She pushes for Susan to win, but the judges eventually settle on Trish. After the pageant ends, Leslie makes a speech congratulating Susan anyway, and claiming the "Susans" of the world will carry on, even when they lose to the "Trishes" of the world. Dave approaches Leslie at the pageant and asks her again on a date. When she hesitates, he tells her she should call him if she changes her mind. As Dave leaves, he bumps into Trish, who he pushes past without much notice, impressing Leslie. They set up a date the next day and Dave tries to impress Leslie by showing he has memorized the names of all the female politicians in her photographs. Meanwhile, Tom has tried to pick up girls at the pageant by giving him his house keys with none of them showing up, but he reveals that he has been robbed twice.
Read more about this topic: Beauty Pageant (Parks And Recreation)
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