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"Fluoride" is the eighth episode in the sixth season of the NBC television series Parks and Recreation, and the 98th episode overall. It premiered on November 21, 2013 and had 2.81 million viewers.

Synopsis[]

Leslie tries to tackle some of her goals, such as hosting an event with the Indianapolis Colts and adding fluoride to Pawnee's drinking water. Chris and Ron build a crib for Ron's upcoming child.

Storyline[]

Pawnee now has access to Eagleton's reservoir and water treatment supply. Because Eagleton's water has fluoride in it, Pawnee is set to have fluoride in its water for the first time in its history. Leslie Knope, having been voted out of office, only has days left as a city councilwoman, and plans to use her remaining time completing as many projects as possible. However, as usual, Councilman Jamm has no intentions of letting Leslie accomplish anything positive. She attempts to get her Pawnee-Eagleton reservoir merger bill approved, but Jamm counters with a bill that prohibits adding anything to Pawnee's water supply forever, as he loves Pawnee's fluoride-less water because it leads to his dental practice receiving an abundance of people with cavities. To get the public on his side, Jamm uses scare tactics by accusing Leslie of wanting to put a dangerous chemical into the water supply.

Realizing there are no consequences to her actions (seeing as she has already been recalled), Leslie begins to fight back with ferocity and recruits Tom Haverford to help her spice up the idea of fluoride. Tom effectively re-brands fluoride into TDazzle, which the public loves. However, her idea backfires when it inspires Jamm to go even further by teaming up with Sweetums to replace the "boring municipal water" with sugary flavored water. This leads to Leslie publicly slamming Sweetums and their practises, which inadvertently leads to Sweetums firing her husband Ben Wyatt from his role as director of the Sweetums Foundation. Her loose cannon ways have just made things worse, and the only way for Ben to get his job back would be to go back on her words and apologize publicly. Ben does not want her to do that, and she instead uses Tom to re-brand fluoride again and slam Sweetums' alternative, thus winning the public over.

Meanwhile, Ron Swanson discusses his latest wood working project with his staff: a crib for his upcoming child. Chris Traeger is blown away by Ron's brazenness and believes he is ignoring every known crib safety standard – Chris has been reading numerous parenting help books and follows them to the T. He insists Ron accompany him to Bloomington so he can show him where he bought his crib, "the safest crib in the explored universe". At Bloomington's baby boutique store, Chris is shocked to find out that the super crib he bought was just recently recalled after a hazardous chemical was discovered in the glue. Chris results to wanting to do things the "Swanson way" and Ron agrees to teach him how to build a crib at his woodshop. Chris feels he can learn parenting tips by simply being in Ron's presence, but Ron insists he is not metaphorically teaching Chris anything; he's merely building a crib. Ron's finished product is superb, and he donates it to Chris as a gesture of good will.

Elsewhere, April Ludgate, Donna Meagle and Craig Middlebrooks are glossing over Animal Control's new dog adoption website. Noticing how some of the dogs pictured resemble certain members of the office, the trio start a fun game where they pair a dog with everyone from the Parks Department. It's all well and good until April chooses a dog for Donna for all the wrong reasons. Donna is upset that April doesn't know anything about her, despite having worked alongside each other for many years. April subsequently quizzes Donna on a variety of things in order to paint a better picture of her; that way she can choose a more suitable spirit dog. However, she comes to realize that Donna doesn't resemble a dog, but rather a cat as she is temperamental, unpredictable, complex and hard to read; and she makes people work before she lets them in, but if they put the time in and prove that they care, then she opens herself up to them. This is evident almost straight away, as Donna is thankful for April's efforts and embraces her with open arms.

Cast[]

Quotes[]

Chris: Ron, what's this?
Ron: The crib I built. I'm giving it to you and Ann. It's perfectly safe - I tested it by hitting it with my truck. [points to his truck, with the front pretty banged up]

Ron: Does the white whale actually symbolize the unknowability and meaningless of human existence? [chuckles] No, it's just a f**king fish.

Trivia[]

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