Parks and Recreation Episode 2.01 Pawnee Zoo

Ron comes into Leslie's office to tell her some important news. Before he can get a word out, Leslie busts out with Will Smith's "Parents Just Don't Understand" and does a performance for the whole office. Tom even gets into it, although April seems to be embarrassed. Leslie confidently finishes her rap and Ron tells her that someone is on fire in Ramsett Park. Leslie needs to get down there right away. Hurriedly, she runs off.

Leslie promotes the local Pawnee Zoo by marrying two new penguins. Right after the ceremony, the two penguins consummate their vows. The zookeeper astutely points out that the penguins are both males, to Leslie's surprise. Back at the office, Leslie receives a cake from the local gay club, The Bulge. Trying to be as politically correct as possible, Leslie decides not to eat the cake, worried that the gesture would make her an activist.

Leslie greets Mark with a "friendly" punch on the shoulder and declares there was no form of flirtation or underlying meaning there. Mark says how he really did hit rock bottom the night he tried to kiss Leslie, literally, when he fell in the pit and hit a rock. He tells Leslie that she is making history with the penguin gay marriage. Nervously, Leslie denies being an activist in fear of the town of Pawnee's retaliation against her. According to Leslie, last year, a garbage man was suspended for wearing a "live strong" bracelet.

April introduces Leslie to her boyfriend Derek, and Derek's boyfriend Ben. Derek is April's "gay friend with straight benefits" and Derek and Ben wanted to meet Leslie because of the "stand" Leslie took on gay marriage. April invites Leslie to be the guest of honor at The Bulge. After April tells her what she did was "cool," Leslie starts feeling a little better about the penguin ceremony.

Ann meets Mark in the hospital to give him brownies for Leslie. Ann thinks Mark has been acting nicer since he fell in the ditch. She has not seen Andy since they broke up. She isn't quite sure where he is. The last time she saw him, he claimed to be going mountain climbing in Kansas.

Leslie gets ready for her big night at The Bulge. Before she leaves, Marcia Langman from the "Society For Family Stability Foundation" visits Leslie to ask her to resign. Leslie, flabbergasted, says that the penguin ceremony was supposed to be "cute." Leslie stands by her "cute" defense and Marcia gives her an option to either annul the wedding or resign publicly.

At lunch, Mark casually and awkwardly asks Ann out to a movie. She declines and then goes to find Leslie. While they have lunch together, Ann tells Leslie that Mark asked her out and that she said no. Leslie is taken aback for a moment and eats an Oreo; then realizes Ann is her friend and nothing is going to come between them.

Leslie attends The Bulge's honorary party for her and brings Tom. She tells Tom her intention is to let the gay men know that she has no position on gay marriage. However, once she realizes how much support and love she is getting from The Bulge, she decides to join in the celebration with drinking and dancing to Lady Ga-Ga's "Poker Face." She is having a blast and even gets two bi-sexual guys' phone numbers. In the morning, Leslie is singing along to the songs of last night's party and bragging to Ron that she is "the queen of the gays." Ron tells Leslie that Marcia Langman has requested her on the morning show, "Pawnee Today," to discuss her resignation. Leslie suddenly realizes she has taken a stand on gay marriage and has to defend herself.

Leslie and Tom go to the set of "Pawnee Today" (the "Meet the Press" of the town) where the host, Joan Callamezzo flirtatiously greets Tom. Tom has a history with Joan and the television show, where he likes to ask Joan to invite him over for dinner. Meanwhile, Andy goes by Ann's house for a surprise visit, dressed in a suit. When Ann asks him how mountain climbing was, Andy has no idea what she is talking about.

On Pawnee Today, Marcia essentially calls Leslie a hypocrite because Leslie had stated she was not advocating gay marriage and then was a guest of honor at The Bulge. Leslie stands up for herself and says that she wasn't trying to advocate gay marriage by marrying penguins, but rather trying to get people to come to the zoo through a cute gesture. Marcia wants Leslie to annul the marriage and then resign. Leslie begins to get riled up and stands her ground, saying this is why people don't go into politics.

Andy, dressed to impress, tries to woo Ann back into his heart by telling her how much he misses her as his girlfriend. Hetries to convince Ann he was hired in an office and that he has matured. Andy confesses his love for Ann and apologizes for being the "worst boyfriend ever." Ann, although appreciative of Andy's gesture, says she is standing her ground. Andy leaves her house and when the coast is clear, he wanders down into the pit where he has been living in a tent.

Leslie has stopped trying to be politically correct and is now screaming how "sorry" she is for marrying the penguins. Leslie stands up for herself and says the penguin marriage was cute and that the attendance at the zoo is up by thirty percent. Leslie is so confident that she has callers call in to say whether or not the public thinks Leslie should resign. Unfortunately, all four callers think she should resign. Leslie will do no such thing!

Inspired by the two penguins, Leslie goes to Ann's house and tells her that she can go on the date with Mark. Leslie tells Ann that she is fine with them going out. To Ann's surprise, Leslie has already set something up. Happily, Leslie takes the two penguins to a neighboring more "gay friendly" zoo away from Pawnee.