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Spoiler Alert!
This article contains spoilers for the Parks and Recreation show. Continue at your own risk. |
| The best way to figure out what kind of spice that is... is roll it up into a joint and smoke it. |
| â Tom Haverford |
"The Stakeout" is the second episode of season 2 of the NBC television series Parks and Recreation. It originally aired on September 24, 2009 to 4.22 million viewers.
In the episode, Leslie conducts surveillance on a community garden in an attempt to find out who planted marijuana there. The episode was written by Rachel Axler and directed by Seth Gordon. It marked the first in a series of guest appearances by stand-up comedian Louis C.K. as Dave Sanderson, a Pawnee police officer who develops a romantic interest in Leslie. A scene in which Sanderson arrests Tom Haverford in his own van mirrors the real-life controversial 2009 arrest of Henry Louis Gates.
Storyline
Ann Perkins, who is preparing for her first date with Mark Brendanawicz, worriedly asks Leslie Knope if she has any reservations, since Leslie previously had feelings for him. Leslie insists she is fine. Later, Leslie and Tom Haverford visit Leslie's community garden that she established in the pit. The pair discover someone has planted what appears to be marijuana. Hoping to keep their discovery out of the papers, Leslie and Tom don black and watch the pit from a van in order to hopefully catch the culprit. Leslie eventually spots Ann and Mark leaving for their date, and starts snapping photos of them. Later, Leslie and Tom see Ann's ex-boyfriend Andy Dwyer in the pit. They assume he is the kingpin, but he insists he is actually living in the pit and eating the vegetables from the garden.
Back at city hall, Ron Swanson's hernia causes excruciating pain if he moves thus rendering him immobile in his chair all day. Ron remains well into the night even after the janitors turn the lights off on him. The intern, April Ludgate, returns to check on him, and wheels Ron out to the car on his office chair to take him to the hospital.
Back at the pit, Leslie and Andy walk off to get fast food and Tom gets locked out of his van. Ann and Mark return from their date and call the police after they see Tom, assuming him to be a prowler, trying to break into the van. Officer Dave Sanderson arrives and confronts Tom, who mouths off at Dave until he places him under arrest. Leslie, Ann and Mark go to the police station to retrieve Tom. There Leslie reluctantly explains why she and Tom was staking out the pit and insists they were trying to catch the person planting marijuana in the garden. Dave releases Tom, who thanks Leslie for sticking up for him. The next day, Leslie and Dave go to the garden, but they find no marijuana. Dave guesses Leslie orchestrated the whole thing to spy on Ann and Mark. Later, Dave privately admits he is attracted to Leslie.
Related episode
It is later implied/revealed/hinted, in the episode "Summer Catalog", that a former head of the Parks Department was the culprit who planted the marijuana. In a confrontation with Ron, Michael Tansley admits to Leslie that he planted marijuana in community gardens across Pawnee. However, this fact goes unnoticed amongst the characters.
Cast
Main Cast
- Amy Poehler
- Rashida Jones
- Paul Schneider
- Aziz Ansari
- Nick Offerman
- Aubrey Plaza
- Chris Pratt
Guest Stars
- Louis C.K. as Dave Sanderson
- Frank Crim as Janitor
- John Deignan as Tow Truck Driver
- Jim O'Heir as Jerry Gergich
- Retta Sirleaf as Donna Meagle
Animals seen
- various pigeons in courtyard
Quotes
Leslie: Ron! Did you get my text?
Ron: No.
Leslie: Did you get my emails?
Ron: Mmm.
Leslie: Did you see that I paged you??
Ron: I-I did not.
Leslie: Did you get my voicemail?
Ron: I didn't.
Leslie: We have a criminal emergency on our hands. Someone planted a gateway drug in the community garden.
Ron: Okay. Call the cops.
Leslie: That will lead to the press. Then there will be an investigation, and they will find my fingerprints on the manure, and then we will lose our funding.
Ron: I have a hernia. I've had it for a while. And I have been ignoring it... successfully... but, uh, this morning, I made the mistake of sneezing. [Ron sneezes, then groans in pain] But as long as I sit still and don't move my head or torso... I'm good, I've got this.
Ron: April!
April: Yeah?
Ron: Get my lunch for me, please?
April: Okay, can I order you something?
Ron: No, get it. From there. [points to his meal that's at the end of his desk]
April: Is this some kind of weird power trip?
Ron: Please. [April hands the meal over to him] Thank you. That will be all.
April: You're welcome. [Ron then attempts to eat his burger by tossing it toward his mouth, but misses]
Leslie: What kind of spice is this?
Tom: The best way to figure out what kind of spice THAT is ... is roll it up into a joint and smoke it.
Leslie: I want to be president someday, so I have not smoked marijuana. I ate a brownie once. At a party in college. It was kind of indescribable really. I felt like I was floating. It turns out that there wasn't any marijuana in it, it was just an insanely good brownie.
Janitor: [noticing Ron is still in his office] Working late?
Ron: [lying] Yep. [they both continue staring at each other until the Janitor leaves]
Ron: [after the lights in his office automatically turn off] Motion sensors.
April: Do you live here?
Ron: April?
April: Yeah. Do you live here?
Ron: No.
April: Catch. [throws a highlighter at Ron's face; he doesn't move as it hits him] Yeah, I thought so. I went home, but I had this strange feeling there was something wrong with you so I came back.
Ron: It's just a minor medical issue.
April: AIDS?
Ron: No, I'm safe.
April: Blindness?
Ron: No.
April: Is it, like, a parasite or a virus or something that you get from a bee?
Ron: I have a hernia.
April: Do you have syphilis?
Ron: I said it's a hernia.
April: I know. It's possible to have two things.
April: Do you need a ride to the hospital?
Ron: Yes, please.
April: Okay. But I rode my bike here, so I have to go home to get my dad's station wagon.
Ron: Thank you.
April: Bye. [pretends to leave]
Ron: You still here?
April: Yeah. Just wanted to see if you could tell. [turns and leaves]
Ron: ...Are you still here?
April: Yo! I had to wait 'til my dad fell asleep so I could steal his keys. [she holds them up] You ready?
Ron: I was born ready. I'm Ron f***ing Swanson. [April looks at the camera]
Ron: [April is wheeling him down the hall in his chair] Easy. Careful. [groans] Careful!
Officer Dave Sanderson: Ma'am, as I told you, this is a police matter.
Leslie: Well, it doesn't seem to MATTER. To the POLICE!
Officer Dave Sanderson: Okay, nice job with that.
Ann: When Andy and I used to go the movies, he would always try to guess the ending of the movie. And he would always guess that the main character had been dead the whole time. Even when we saw Ratatouille.
Trivia
- To see the expanded trivia, go here.