Parks and Recreation Episode 7.05 Gryzzlbox

It might be a first: a downtrodden Leslie Knope. But with the prospects dimming for getting the Newport family land donated for a national park, Leslie's spirits are definitely down. Ben looks to cheer her up, but they both know it's a tough sell. And then it appears to be game over: Jessica Newport Hicks announces that Gryzzl has upped its offer to $125 million for the parcel. Despite the Newports' prior reluctance to deal with Gryzzl amidst allegations of privacy malfeasance, the new offer is just too good to pass up. The deal is done. As Ben and Leslie lick their wounds at home, a drone arrives at their front door. It's a personalized gift basket from their friends at Gryzzl.

At Tom's Bistro, Andy asks Tom to review a proposed new contract from the community access TV station where he writes, produces and stars in the Johnny Karate Super Awesome Musical Explosion Show. Tom gives it a quick once over and notices that Andy's only making $100 per week. He volunteers to be Andy's manager; it'll help him keep his mind off his beloved Lucy and her boyfriend, Conrad.

Tom and Andy take a meeting with station manager Hank Muntak. Tom gets some immediate concessions, but Hank balks when Tom pushes him for $500 a week for Andy. Muntak tries to kick them out of his office, but Tom holds tight; he's a master negotiator. The biggest sticking point is over who owns the rights to the character Johnny Karate. Hank won't budge. The negotiations reach an impasse. But later, Tom comes back to meet privately with Hank, crying and pleading for the character rights, even promising Hank free meals at his restaurant. It works. Andy owns Johnny Karate through and through.

Donna tells Leslie that she, too, got a gift box from Gryzzl - and it's so personalized that it's creeping her out. Gryzzl seems to know the private pet names she and her fiancé Joe call each other. Leslie opens her Gryzzl box. Inside is a impressive selection of gifts that only Leslie Knope could love, including Joe Biden's new book of poetry and a portrait of the U.S. Supreme Court justices recreating a cast shot from Friends. Ben realizes that Gryzzl is data mining, extracting ostensibly private information to develop seemingly personal connections with their customers. Gryzzl is analyzing countless emails, texts and behavior patterns without their customers' knowledge. It's more than an invasion of privacy, Ben tells them; it's a breach of Gryzzl's service agreement with Pawnee. Could this be a silver bullet in the bid to get the Newport land?

Leslie calls a public hearing titled "Gryzzl: is chill as they say they are?" The quick answer: no. Citizen after citizen speaks up, revealing horror stories of Gryzzl climbing inside their medical histories, private hobbies and worse. Donna, Ben and Leslie brief Ron, assuming he'll be even more appalled than they are. But he's not. He considers Gryzzl a private company, so those who use Gryzzl's technology deserve whatever happens to them.

Donna arranges for Leslie and Ben, in disguise, to tour Gryzzl to learn just how deep its data mining goes. Posing as architects, Ben and Leslie get a sweeping tour from Gryzzl VP Roscoe and learn that the company mines everything from banking records to purchase behavior. But Roscoe knows that Ben and Leslie are there to gather evidence that Gryzzl is overstepping; he welcomes the attention and even agrees with Leslie that a public debate on the matter might be in everyone's interest. The debate venue: The Perdple's Court, Perd Hapley's local court show.

At the Parks office, Craig asks April to give the incoming interns an inspirational welcome speech. April, already feeling she's wasted her 20's, at first refuses, but then agrees to talk to them. Her first words of wisdom? "You're all gonna die in here!" But among the fresh faces is a disaffected girl named Jen. She explains to April that the only reason she's doing the internship is for college credit - even though she considers college stupid. Hmmm, this kid has the potential to have almost zero potential, April thinks. The two hit it off; April convinces her to quit the internship.

Leslie preps for her appearance on The Perdple's Court. But as she's getting ready to go on, Ron rushes in with bad news. He's found an addendum to the master user agreement the city signed with Gryzzl, a clause that grants it permission to gather and use information in any way it chooses. Gryzzl sneaked it in as a change when Ben wasn't paying attention back in December 2015. Ben's crushed: this could be Icetown all over for him.

But Leslie forges ahead, trying to convince Judge Perd and the audience that Gryzzl is not as benign as its representatives claim. Ben jumps in, telling Perd that Gryzzl knows its policy is wrong - that's why the company sneaked the change into the master agreement. It's a compelling enough argument, but Perd is stumped and declares a mistrial. Hmmph.

Back at home, Leslie and Ben remain as desperate as ever. But salvation literally comes knocking at the door. They open the door to see a soaked Ron Swanson, shotgun over one shoulder, holding a Gryzzl drone that's been riddled with buckshot. It seems Gryzzl delivered a gift box to his four-year-old son, even though Ron would never let his kid near a Gryzzl device. Ron subsequently shot the delivery drone out of the sky. Suffice it to say, Ron is now fully onboard with the effort to stop Gryzzl.

Lucy comes by the Bistro. Tom makes small talk but Lucy's got big news: she finally broke up with Conrad. Tom asks if she wants to talk. She does, but not about her relationship; she wants to talk celebrity buzz. Tom invites her to sit down; the night is filled with promise.