Pawnee has to be one of the best fictional towns in television history. Much like Twin Peaks or Springfield for example, the town of Pawnee is almost like a character in itself. It has its own personality and quirks just like the characters do, and it's episodes like "Sweetums" that give the town a unique and distinctive perception.
One of the best running gags in the entire series is how corpulent Pawnee is, and their love for junk food and sugar. This episode showcases this front and center as we see Leslie trying to protest a potential sponsorship deal between the Parks Department and local candy manufacturer, Sweetums. Sweetums is introducing a new "nutritious" snack called NutriYum Bars that are supposedly supposed to be very healthy but turns out are actually terrible for you (8 grams of fat per serving, 4 servings per bar). In the best scene in the episode we see Leslie initiate a public forum to make Pawnee citizens aware of how unhealthy these bars actually are. At this forum we get many great moments. We find out more about Sweetums and their company's CEO, Nick Newport Jr. The citizens of Pawnee voice their opinions on the matter, who seem to agree more with Ron's views on what we should and should not eat. "The whole point of this country is if you want to eat garbage, balloon up to 600 pounds and die of a heart attack at 43, you can! You are free to do so. To me, that's beautiful." This sequence is simply Parks and Recreation at its best.
We get a few side-plots as well, that are not as good as the main plot, but still very enjoyable. We see the rest of the gang help Tom move out of Wendy's home since they recently separated. The highlight of this episode is the introduction of DJ Roomba, Tom's iphone/speaker/vacuum device. We also see April's romantic feelings for Andy blossom a little more. I like the direction this show is going with these two and is bringing out more personality for the characters, especially with April's character.
Overall, "Sweetums" is a very funny and smartly written episode that has many great lines and moments. I love how this episode is a satire on our country's poor eating habits and also very fairly expresses both liberal and conservative views without teaching us a lesson on who is right and who isn't. This is what Parks does best and is something that they will explore even more in later seasons.
One of the best running gags in the entire series is how corpulent Pawnee is, and their love for junk food and sugar. This episode showcases this front and center as we see Leslie trying to protest a potential sponsorship deal between the Parks Department and local candy manufacturer, Sweetums. Sweetums is introducing a new "nutritious" snack called NutriYum Bars that are supposedly supposed to be very healthy but turns out are actually terrible for you (8 grams of fat per serving, 4 servings per bar). In the best scene in the episode we see Leslie initiate a public forum to make Pawnee citizens aware of how unhealthy these bars actually are. At this forum we get many great moments. We find out more about Sweetums and their company's CEO, Nick Newport Jr. The citizens of Pawnee voice their opinions on the matter, who seem to agree more with Ron's views on what we should and should not eat. "The whole point of this country is if you want to eat garbage, balloon up to 600 pounds and die of a heart attack at 43, you can! You are free to do so. To me, that's beautiful." This sequence is simply Parks and Recreation at its best.
We get a few side-plots as well, that are not as good as the main plot, but still very enjoyable. We see the rest of the gang help Tom move out of Wendy's home since they recently separated. The highlight of this episode is the introduction of DJ Roomba, Tom's iphone/speaker/vacuum device. We also see April's romantic feelings for Andy blossom a little more. I like the direction this show is going with these two and is bringing out more personality for the characters, especially with April's character.
Overall, "Sweetums" is a very funny and smartly written episode that has many great lines and moments. I love how this episode is a satire on our country's poor eating habits and also very fairly expresses both liberal and conservative views without teaching us a lesson on who is right and who isn't. This is what Parks does best and is something that they will explore even more in later seasons.
