Tom's Divorce
Encyclopedia
"Tom's Divorce" is the eleventh episode of the second season
of American
comedy television series Parks and Recreation
, and the seventeenth overall episode of the series. It originally aired on NBC
in the United States on December 3, 2009. In the episode, Tom
gets a divorce and Leslie
tries to cheer him up, unaware it was a green card marriage
. Meanwhile, Andy
challenges Mark
to a game of pool with the hopes of winning back Ann's affections.
The episode was written by Harris Wittels and was directed by Troy Miller
. Although officially entitled "Tom's Divorce", it has also been referred to in some media reports as "The Fourth Floor" in reference to the pre-credits sequence in which Leslie visits the horrifying and grotesque fourth floor of the Pawnee Hall, a scene that was praised by television reviews.
According to Nielsen Media Research
, "Tom's Divorce" was seen by 4.83 million viewers, an increase over the previous episode, "Hunting Trip
". The episode received generally positive reviews, particularly for the development of Tom's character, although commentators voiced less praise for the subplot involving Ann, Mark and Andy.
(Nick Offerman
) sends Leslie
(Amy Poehler
) to run an errand at the DMV
in Pawnee Hall's fourth floor to run, a dark and unsettling place that includes probation offices and divorce filings. A reluctant and frightened Leslie navigates past reprobates and blood stains on the floor and spots Tom
(Aziz Ansari
) leaving the divorce office with his wife Wendy (Jama Williamson
). Unaware that their relationship was a green card marriage
to prevent Wendy from being deported back to Canada
, Leslie later tries to comfort Tom, who insists he is fine. Nevertheless, Leslie persists in her efforts to cheer him up, in part by ordering a singing horse telegram to cheer him up. Ron, who knows about Tom's fake marriage, suggests Tom act sad so Leslie can feel like she cheered him up. When Leslie sets up a social event to cheer him up, Tom suggests a strip club, but Leslie follows Jerry's (Jim O'Heir
) suggestion they go to the dinosaur-themed restaurant, Jurassic Fork.
The parks employees eat several dinosaur-themed entrees, like "Tyranna-Ceasar Salads" and "Surf and Turfasaurus". Tom seems so cheery that Leslie begins to suspect he is faking being sad. Ron pulls Tom aside and asks whether he could ask Wendy on a date once the divorce is finalized. Tom consents, but is visibly disappointed. Determined to cheer him up, Leslie agrees to compromise her morals and take Tom to his favorite strip club, the Glitter Factory. Leslie is horrified by the club and tries to encourage the strippers to change their lives. Ron is also uninterested in the strippers, but happily consumes the free breakfast buffet.
Tom remains depressed even after Leslie hires a stripper (Cheryl Texiera) to give him a lap dance
and "grind the sorrow out of him". A drunken Tom tells Leslie that Ron plans to ask out Wendy, prompting an angry reaction from her. When Tom passes out at the bar, they take him to Wendy's house, and Leslie is shocked to find she is on a date with another man (James Ball). She storms out after expressing her disgust with Wendy and Ron. The next morning at work, Tom confesses to Leslie that it was a green card marriage, and that he only recently realized he really likes Wendy.
Meanwhile, Andy
(Chris Pratt
) continues his efforts to break up the relationship between his ex-girlfriend Ann
(Rashida Jones
) and her new boyfriend Mark
(Paul Schneider
). Andy challenges Mark to a game of pool with the hopes of hustling
him, but Mark turns out to be an excellent player and wins multiple games. Mark and Andy make one final wager: if Andy wins, he gets Ann, but if Mark wins he has to leave them alone. Mark dominates the game but loses when he scratches on the 8 ball. Initially delighted, Andy becomes confused when Ann leaves with Mark anyway. The next day, he tells Mark and Ann he will no longer be bothering them, and says a final goodbye to Ann.
. Although officially titled "Tom's Divorce", it was referred to in some media reports by the name "The Fourth Floor". Aziz Ansari said "Tom's Divorce" was his favorite episode of the series so far. He said, "It was really fun because there was some serious acting for me to do, compared to my usual dick jokes."
"Tom's Divorce" included several references to previous Parks and Recreation episodes. Tom and Wendy's green card marriage was first identified in the episode "Practice Date". During the final scenes of the episode "Greg Pikitis
", Tom expresses sadness when Wendy mentions that the couple will eventually get a divorce, which set the scene for this film. Television reviewer Alan Sepinwall, television columnist with The Star-Ledger
, said this allowed the show to humanize and further develop Tom's character. In certain shots in "Tom's Divorce", it appears the back of Ron's head is missing patches of hair. This is a reference to the previous episode, "Hunting Trip
", in which he is accidentally shot in the back of the head while hunting. The episode also features scenes with Ron describing his admiration for strong women and his immense enjoyment of the strip club's complimentary breakfast. Both of these refers to the elements of Ron's character that were conveyed in the episode "Ron and Tammy
", which involves Ron's romantic life and includes dialogue about his love of breakfast foods. Ron also identifies tennis player Steffi Graf
and basketball player Sheryl Swoopes
as ideal romantic partners. He previously declared Steffi Graf a "perfect ten" on his attractiveness scale in "Practice Date".
The notion in "Tom's Divorce" that the fourth floor refers to tetraphobia
, the superstitious fear of the number four. Jokes about this have been featured in such pop culture works as the 1999 film Being John Malkovich
and the NBC comedy series 30 Rock
. The song "Unskinny Bop
", a 1990 single by the band Poison
, plays during one of the strip club scene. Leslie said Tom hides his emotions behind "a very thick layer of Axe body spray
", a reference to the real-life male grooming product. The Parks department employees eat at a restaurant called Jurassic Fork, a reference to the Steven Spielberg
dinosaur adventure film Jurassic Park
, which was adapted from a novel of the same name by Michael Crichton
. During one scene, Tom refers to Ron as "Rondoleezza Rice", a reference to former United States Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice
. At the strip club, Leslie mistakenly refers to a stripper named Sierra by the name Seabiscuit
, a champion thoroughbred racehorse. Reflecting on his marriage, Tom said, "At least we lasted longer than Avril Lavigne
and that guy from Sum 41
", a reference to the pop singer's short-lived marriage to Sum 41 guitarist Deryck Whibley
. Tom says one of the strippers also works at Quiznos, a sandwich fast-food franchise; Tom says of her: "She's really nice to me here, but really mean to me at Quiznos." Andy said he has a T-shirt that is "literally priceless" because he was wearing it when he tackled American singer Eddie Vedder
.
. This amounted to a five percent ratings increase over the previous week's episode, "Hunting Trip
". "Tom's Divorce" drew a 2.1 rating/6 share among viewers aged between 18 and 49. The episode received generally positive reviews, particularly for the development of Tom's character and the "fourth floor" pre-credits sequence, although commentators voiced less praise for the subplot involving Ann, Mark and Andy. Steve Heisler of The A.V. Club
said the episode addressed two of the show's more downbeat stories (Tom's divorce and Andy's failed attempts to woo Ann) but "managed to do so by keeping its plucky, upbeat sense of humor intact". Heisler praised the growth of Tom's character and the fourth floor joke, which he said "started with yet another delicious chapter in behind-the-scenes Pawnee lore".
Time
magazine television critic James Poniewozik
said Ansari did "an excellent job" at showing a new side to Tom, and complimented the staging of the fourth floor sequence. Alan Sepinwall of The Star-Ledger said "Tom's Divorce" was "by design, more melancholy" than previous Parks and Recreation episodes, but served to develop Tom's character and proved Aziz Ansari "could tone it down and play a quieter, sadder Tom for once". Sepinwall said the Mark, Ann and Andy subplot was not as funny as in previous episodes. Entertainment Weekly
writer Sandra Gonzalez said she had been awaiting a storyline centering around Tom, and said the episode "makes us love the show more". However, she said Andy's continued obsession with Ann was growing tiresome and expressed hope his character should go in a new direction. Matt Fowler of IGN
said the episode further added to the strong character development that has been consistent throughout the show's second season
. Fowler also enjoyed the frightening portrayal of the fourth floor, which he said helps establish Pawnee as "a place where both the engrossingly real and the entertainingly surreal can co-exist". GQ writer Dan Fierman praised the episode, particularly Ron's character and the singing telegram "divorce horse".
set in the United States on November 30, 2010. The DVD included deleted scenes for each episode.
Parks and Recreation (season 2)
The second season of Parks and Recreation originally aired in the United States on the NBC television network starting September 17, 2009, and ended on May 20, 2010. The season was produced by Deedle-Dee Productions and Universal Media Studios, and series co-creators Greg Daniels and Michael Schur...
of American
Television in the United States
Television is one of the major mass media of the United States. Ninety-nine percent of American households have at least one television and the majority of households have more than one...
comedy television series Parks and Recreation
Parks and Recreation
Parks and Recreation is an American comedy television series on NBC that focuses on Leslie Knope , a mid-level bureaucrat in the parks department of Pawnee, a fictional town in Indiana. Created by Greg Daniels and Michael Schur, the series debuted on April 9, 2009; it has run for three seasons and...
, and the seventeenth overall episode of the series. It originally aired on NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
in the United States on December 3, 2009. In the episode, Tom
Tom Haverford
Thomas Montgomery "Tom" Haverford , born Darwish Sabir Ismael Gani, is a fictional character in the NBC comedy Parks and Recreation. He is a sarcastic, underachieving government official for the city of Pawnee who is revered for his high levels of swagger and unmatched entrepreneurial skills...
gets a divorce and Leslie
Leslie Knope
Leslie Barbara Knope is a fictional character in the NBC comedy Parks and Recreation. She is portrayed by Amy Poehler. Poehler garnered two Emmy Award nominations for Best Lead Actress in Comedy Series for her role.-Background:...
tries to cheer him up, unaware it was a green card marriage
Green card marriage
Green card marriage is a neologism that refers to the phenomenon of a marriage of convenience between a legal resident of a country and a person who would be ineligible for residency but for being married to a resident.-Description:...
. Meanwhile, Andy
Andy Dwyer
Andrew Maxwell "Andy" Dwyer is a fictional character in the NBC comedy Parks and Recreation. He is Ann Perkins' ex-boyfriend, a talented-if-yet-unsuccessful musician, a shoe-shiner at Pawnee City Hall, and April Ludgate's husband. He is portrayed by Chris Pratt.-Background:At the start of the...
challenges Mark
Mark Brendanawicz
Mark Brendanawicz is a fictional character in the NBC comedy Parks and Recreation. He is the city planner for Pawnee, Indiana, one of Ann Perkins's ex-boyfriends, and Leslie Knope's colleague. He is portrayed by Paul Schneider...
to a game of pool with the hopes of winning back Ann's affections.
The episode was written by Harris Wittels and was directed by Troy Miller
Troy Miller
Troy Miller is an American film producer, director and screenwriter. Miller is best known for his work in directing.- Stand-up comedy :Miller has produced and/or directed comedy shows and specials for a variety of comics including Robin Williams, Martin Short, Katt Williams, Jim Gaffigan, Brian...
. Although officially entitled "Tom's Divorce", it has also been referred to in some media reports as "The Fourth Floor" in reference to the pre-credits sequence in which Leslie visits the horrifying and grotesque fourth floor of the Pawnee Hall, a scene that was praised by television reviews.
According to Nielsen Media Research
Nielsen Ratings
Nielsen ratings are the audience measurement systems developed by Nielsen Media Research, in an effort to determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States...
, "Tom's Divorce" was seen by 4.83 million viewers, an increase over the previous episode, "Hunting Trip
Hunting Trip
"Hunting Trip" is the tenth episode of the second season of American comedy television series Parks and Recreation, and the sixteenth overall episode of the series. It originally aired on NBC in the United States on November 19, 2009...
". The episode received generally positive reviews, particularly for the development of Tom's character, although commentators voiced less praise for the subplot involving Ann, Mark and Andy.
Plot
RonRon Swanson
Ronald Ulysses "Ron" Swanson is a fictional character played by Nick Offerman in the American comedy television series Parks and Recreation on NBC. Ron is parks department director in the Indiana city of Pawnee and the immediate superior of protagonist Leslie Knope...
(Nick Offerman
Nick Offerman
Nick Offerman is an American actor best known for his role as Ron Swanson in the NBC sitcom Parks and Recreation. He is also a skilled woodworker.-Early life and career:...
) sends Leslie
Leslie Knope
Leslie Barbara Knope is a fictional character in the NBC comedy Parks and Recreation. She is portrayed by Amy Poehler. Poehler garnered two Emmy Award nominations for Best Lead Actress in Comedy Series for her role.-Background:...
(Amy Poehler
Amy Poehler
Amy Meredith Poehler is an American comedian, actress and voice actress. She was a cast member on the NBC television entertainment show Saturday Night Live from 2001 to 2008. In 2004, she starred in the film Mean Girls with Tina Fey, with whom she worked again in Baby Mama in 2008. She is...
) to run an errand at the DMV
Department of Motor Vehicles
In the United States of America, a Department of Motor Vehicles is a state-level government agency that administers vehicle registration and driver licensing. Similar departments exist in Canada...
in Pawnee Hall's fourth floor to run, a dark and unsettling place that includes probation offices and divorce filings. A reluctant and frightened Leslie navigates past reprobates and blood stains on the floor and spots Tom
Tom Haverford
Thomas Montgomery "Tom" Haverford , born Darwish Sabir Ismael Gani, is a fictional character in the NBC comedy Parks and Recreation. He is a sarcastic, underachieving government official for the city of Pawnee who is revered for his high levels of swagger and unmatched entrepreneurial skills...
(Aziz Ansari
Aziz Ansari
Aziz Ansari is an American actor, writer, and stand-up comedian. He currently stars as Tom Haverford on the NBC show Parks and Recreation....
) leaving the divorce office with his wife Wendy (Jama Williamson
Jama Williamson
Jama Williamson is an American actress. She was active in New York City theater throughout the early 2000s, during which she appeared in such shows as Avery Crozier's Eat the Runt, Hunt Holman's Spanish Girl, A. R. Gurney's Sylvia and Simon Mendes da Costa's Losing Louis...
). Unaware that their relationship was a green card marriage
Green card marriage
Green card marriage is a neologism that refers to the phenomenon of a marriage of convenience between a legal resident of a country and a person who would be ineligible for residency but for being married to a resident.-Description:...
to prevent Wendy from being deported back to Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, Leslie later tries to comfort Tom, who insists he is fine. Nevertheless, Leslie persists in her efforts to cheer him up, in part by ordering a singing horse telegram to cheer him up. Ron, who knows about Tom's fake marriage, suggests Tom act sad so Leslie can feel like she cheered him up. When Leslie sets up a social event to cheer him up, Tom suggests a strip club, but Leslie follows Jerry's (Jim O'Heir
Jim O'Heir
Jim O'Heir is an American actor. He was active in the Chicago theater during the 1980s and 1990s as part of the theater group White Noise, and appeared in such plays as The Book of Blanche, Stumpy's Gang and Ad-Nauseam with the group...
) suggestion they go to the dinosaur-themed restaurant, Jurassic Fork.
The parks employees eat several dinosaur-themed entrees, like "Tyranna-Ceasar Salads" and "Surf and Turfasaurus". Tom seems so cheery that Leslie begins to suspect he is faking being sad. Ron pulls Tom aside and asks whether he could ask Wendy on a date once the divorce is finalized. Tom consents, but is visibly disappointed. Determined to cheer him up, Leslie agrees to compromise her morals and take Tom to his favorite strip club, the Glitter Factory. Leslie is horrified by the club and tries to encourage the strippers to change their lives. Ron is also uninterested in the strippers, but happily consumes the free breakfast buffet.
Tom remains depressed even after Leslie hires a stripper (Cheryl Texiera) to give him a lap dance
Lap dance
A lap dance is a type of sex work performed in some strip clubs in which a naked or topless dancer performs an erotic dance either in immediate contact with a seated patron, or within a very short distance. With full-contact lap dances, the stripper may engage in non-penetrative sexual contact...
and "grind the sorrow out of him". A drunken Tom tells Leslie that Ron plans to ask out Wendy, prompting an angry reaction from her. When Tom passes out at the bar, they take him to Wendy's house, and Leslie is shocked to find she is on a date with another man (James Ball). She storms out after expressing her disgust with Wendy and Ron. The next morning at work, Tom confesses to Leslie that it was a green card marriage, and that he only recently realized he really likes Wendy.
Meanwhile, Andy
Andy Dwyer
Andrew Maxwell "Andy" Dwyer is a fictional character in the NBC comedy Parks and Recreation. He is Ann Perkins' ex-boyfriend, a talented-if-yet-unsuccessful musician, a shoe-shiner at Pawnee City Hall, and April Ludgate's husband. He is portrayed by Chris Pratt.-Background:At the start of the...
(Chris Pratt
Chris Pratt
Christopher Michael "Chris" Pratt is an American actor, best known for his roles as Harold Brighton "Bright" Abbott in the television series Everwood, the recurring character Winchester "Ché" Cook in season 4 of The OC, Andy Dwyer in the television series Parks and Recreation and for portraying...
) continues his efforts to break up the relationship between his ex-girlfriend Ann
Ann Perkins
Ann Meredith Perkins is a fictional character in the NBC comedy Parks and Recreation. She is a nurse and best friend of Leslie Knope. She is portrayed by Rashida Jones.-Season one:...
(Rashida Jones
Rashida Jones
Rashida Leah Jones is an American film and television actress, comic book author, screenwriter and occasional singer. She played Louisa Fenn on Boston Public and Karen Filippelli on The Office as well as roles in the films I Love You, Man and The Social Network...
) and her new boyfriend Mark
Mark Brendanawicz
Mark Brendanawicz is a fictional character in the NBC comedy Parks and Recreation. He is the city planner for Pawnee, Indiana, one of Ann Perkins's ex-boyfriends, and Leslie Knope's colleague. He is portrayed by Paul Schneider...
(Paul Schneider
Paul Schneider (actor)
Paul Andrew Schneider is an American film actor.-Early life and career:Schneider was born and raised in Asheville, North Carolina. He graduated from the North Carolina School of Arts...
). Andy challenges Mark to a game of pool with the hopes of hustling
Hustling
Hustling is the deceptive act of disguising one's skill in a sport or game with the intent of luring someone of probably lesser skill into gambling with the hustler, as a form of confidence trick...
him, but Mark turns out to be an excellent player and wins multiple games. Mark and Andy make one final wager: if Andy wins, he gets Ann, but if Mark wins he has to leave them alone. Mark dominates the game but loses when he scratches on the 8 ball. Initially delighted, Andy becomes confused when Ann leaves with Mark anyway. The next day, he tells Mark and Ann he will no longer be bothering them, and says a final goodbye to Ann.
Production and cultural references
"Tom's Divorce" was written by Harris Wittels and directed by Troy MillerTroy Miller
Troy Miller is an American film producer, director and screenwriter. Miller is best known for his work in directing.- Stand-up comedy :Miller has produced and/or directed comedy shows and specials for a variety of comics including Robin Williams, Martin Short, Katt Williams, Jim Gaffigan, Brian...
. Although officially titled "Tom's Divorce", it was referred to in some media reports by the name "The Fourth Floor". Aziz Ansari said "Tom's Divorce" was his favorite episode of the series so far. He said, "It was really fun because there was some serious acting for me to do, compared to my usual dick jokes."
"Tom's Divorce" included several references to previous Parks and Recreation episodes. Tom and Wendy's green card marriage was first identified in the episode "Practice Date". During the final scenes of the episode "Greg Pikitis
Greg Pikitis
"Greg Pikitis" is the seventh episode of the second season of Parks and Recreation, and the thirteenth overall episode of the series. It originally aired on NBC in the United States on October 29, 2009. In the episode, Leslie attempts to catch a suspected teenage vandal in the act of defacing a...
", Tom expresses sadness when Wendy mentions that the couple will eventually get a divorce, which set the scene for this film. Television reviewer Alan Sepinwall, television columnist with The Star-Ledger
The Star-Ledger
The Star-Ledger is the largest circulated newspaper in the U.S. state of New Jersey and is based in Newark. It is a sister paper to The Jersey Journal of Jersey City, The Times of Trenton and the Staten Island Advance, all of which are owned by Advance Publications.The Newark Star-Ledgers daily...
, said this allowed the show to humanize and further develop Tom's character. In certain shots in "Tom's Divorce", it appears the back of Ron's head is missing patches of hair. This is a reference to the previous episode, "Hunting Trip
Hunting Trip
"Hunting Trip" is the tenth episode of the second season of American comedy television series Parks and Recreation, and the sixteenth overall episode of the series. It originally aired on NBC in the United States on November 19, 2009...
", in which he is accidentally shot in the back of the head while hunting. The episode also features scenes with Ron describing his admiration for strong women and his immense enjoyment of the strip club's complimentary breakfast. Both of these refers to the elements of Ron's character that were conveyed in the episode "Ron and Tammy
Ron and Tammy
"Ron and Tammy" is the eighth episode of the second season of Parks and Recreation, and the fourteenth overall episode of the series. It originally aired on NBC in the United States on November 5, 2009. In the episode, the library department tries to take control of a vacant lot where Leslie plans...
", which involves Ron's romantic life and includes dialogue about his love of breakfast foods. Ron also identifies tennis player Steffi Graf
Steffi Graf
Steffi Graf is a former World No. 1 German tennis player.In total, Graf won 22 Grand Slam singles titles, second among male and female players only to Margaret Court's 24...
and basketball player Sheryl Swoopes
Sheryl Swoopes
Sheryl Denise Swoopes is an American professional basketball player who, subsequent to being waived into free agency, signed to re-join the WNBA to play with the Tulsa Shock in 2011. She was the first player to be signed in the WNBA when it was created. She has won three Olympic Gold Medals and...
as ideal romantic partners. He previously declared Steffi Graf a "perfect ten" on his attractiveness scale in "Practice Date".
The notion in "Tom's Divorce" that the fourth floor refers to tetraphobia
Tetraphobia
Tetraphobia is an aversion to or fear of the number . It is a superstition most common in East Asian regions such as Mainland China, Taiwan, Japan, Korea and Vietnam....
, the superstitious fear of the number four. Jokes about this have been featured in such pop culture works as the 1999 film Being John Malkovich
Being John Malkovich
Being John Malkovich is a 1999 American black comedy-fantasy film written by Charlie Kaufman and directed by Spike Jonze. It stars John Cusack, Cameron Diaz, Catherine Keener, and John Malkovich, who plays a fictional version of himself...
and the NBC comedy series 30 Rock
30 Rock
30 Rock is an American television comedy series created by Tina Fey that airs on NBC. The series is loosely based on Fey's experiences as head writer for Saturday Night Live...
. The song "Unskinny Bop
Unskinny Bop
"Unskinny Bop" is a song by American glam metal band Poison, which was released as the first single from their 1990 Flesh & Blood album.The song peaked at #3 on the US Billboard Hot 100, #5 on the Mainstream rock charts, #15 in the UK and #7 on the Australian charts. This made it the band's second...
", a 1990 single by the band Poison
Poison (band)
Poison is an American glam metal band that achieved great success in the mid-1980s to mid-1990s. To date, Poison has sold over 30 million records worldwide and have sold 15 million records in the United States alone. The band has also charted ten singles to the Top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100,...
, plays during one of the strip club scene. Leslie said Tom hides his emotions behind "a very thick layer of Axe body spray
Axe (grooming product)
Lynx is a brand of male grooming products, owned by the British/Dutch company Unilever and marketed towards young males.-History:Axe was launched in France in 1983 by Unilever...
", a reference to the real-life male grooming product. The Parks department employees eat at a restaurant called Jurassic Fork, a reference to the Steven Spielberg
Steven Spielberg
Steven Allan Spielberg KBE is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, video game designer, and studio entrepreneur. In a career of more than four decades, Spielberg's films have covered many themes and genres. Spielberg's early science-fiction and adventure films were seen as an...
dinosaur adventure film Jurassic Park
Jurassic Park (film)
Jurassic Park is a 1993 American science fiction adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg. The film is based on the novel of the same name by Michael Crichton. It stars Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum, Richard Attenborough, Martin Ferrero, and Bob Peck...
, which was adapted from a novel of the same name by Michael Crichton
Michael Crichton
John Michael Crichton , best known as Michael Crichton, was an American best-selling author, producer, director, and screenwriter, best known for his work in the science fiction, medical fiction, and thriller genres. His books have sold over 200 million copies worldwide, and many have been adapted...
. During one scene, Tom refers to Ron as "Rondoleezza Rice", a reference to former United States Secretary of State
United States Secretary of State
The United States Secretary of State is the head of the United States Department of State, concerned with foreign affairs. The Secretary is a member of the Cabinet and the highest-ranking cabinet secretary both in line of succession and order of precedence...
Condoleezza Rice
Condoleezza Rice
Condoleezza Rice is an American political scientist and diplomat. She served as the 66th United States Secretary of State, and was the second person to hold that office in the administration of President George W. Bush...
. At the strip club, Leslie mistakenly refers to a stripper named Sierra by the name Seabiscuit
Seabiscuit
Seabiscuit was a champion Thoroughbred racehorse in the United States. From an inauspicious start, Seabiscuit became an unlikely champion and a symbol of hope to many Americans during the Great Depression...
, a champion thoroughbred racehorse. Reflecting on his marriage, Tom said, "At least we lasted longer than Avril Lavigne
Avril Lavigne
Avril Ramona Lavigne is a Canadian singer-songwriter. She was born in Belleville, Ontario, but spent most of her youth in the small town of Napanee. By the age of 15, she had appeared on stage with Shania Twain; by 16, she had signed a two-album recording contract with Arista Records worth more...
and that guy from Sum 41
Sum 41
Sum 41 is a Canadian rock band from Ajax, Ontario. The band was formed in 1996 and currently consists of members Deryck Whibley , Tom Thacker , Jason McCaslin and Steve Jocz .In 1999, the band signed an international record deal with Island Records...
", a reference to the pop singer's short-lived marriage to Sum 41 guitarist Deryck Whibley
Deryck Whibley
Deryck Jason Whibley is a Canadian musician and producer, best known for his work as the guitarist, lead vocalist, songwriter and producer of the Juno Award-winning rock band Sum 41. Whibley married fellow singer Avril Lavigne in 2006. The couple occasionally performed together, and they have...
. Tom says one of the strippers also works at Quiznos, a sandwich fast-food franchise; Tom says of her: "She's really nice to me here, but really mean to me at Quiznos." Andy said he has a T-shirt that is "literally priceless" because he was wearing it when he tackled American singer Eddie Vedder
Eddie Vedder
Eddie Vedder is an American musician and singer-songwriter who is best known for being the lead singer and one of three guitarists of the alternative rock band Pearl Jam. He is widely considered a cultural icon of alternative rock.He is also involved in soundtrack work and contributes to albums...
.
Reception
On its original American broadcast on December 3, 2009, "Tom's Divorce" was seen by 4.83 million households, according to Nielsen Media ResearchNielsen Ratings
Nielsen ratings are the audience measurement systems developed by Nielsen Media Research, in an effort to determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States...
. This amounted to a five percent ratings increase over the previous week's episode, "Hunting Trip
Hunting Trip
"Hunting Trip" is the tenth episode of the second season of American comedy television series Parks and Recreation, and the sixteenth overall episode of the series. It originally aired on NBC in the United States on November 19, 2009...
". "Tom's Divorce" drew a 2.1 rating/6 share among viewers aged between 18 and 49. The episode received generally positive reviews, particularly for the development of Tom's character and the "fourth floor" pre-credits sequence, although commentators voiced less praise for the subplot involving Ann, Mark and Andy. Steve Heisler of The A.V. Club
The A.V. Club
The A.V. Club is an entertainment newspaper and website published by The Onion. Its features include reviews of new films, music, television, books, games and DVDs, as well as interviews and other regular offerings examining both new and classic media and other elements of pop culture. Unlike its...
said the episode addressed two of the show's more downbeat stories (Tom's divorce and Andy's failed attempts to woo Ann) but "managed to do so by keeping its plucky, upbeat sense of humor intact". Heisler praised the growth of Tom's character and the fourth floor joke, which he said "started with yet another delicious chapter in behind-the-scenes Pawnee lore".
Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
magazine television critic James Poniewozik
James Poniewozik
James Poniewozik is an American journalist and television critic. He writes Times Tuned In column and has a blog with the same name.Originally from Monroe, MI, Poniewozik attended the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, graduating with a BA in English. He subsequently attended the graduate program...
said Ansari did "an excellent job" at showing a new side to Tom, and complimented the staging of the fourth floor sequence. Alan Sepinwall of The Star-Ledger said "Tom's Divorce" was "by design, more melancholy" than previous Parks and Recreation episodes, but served to develop Tom's character and proved Aziz Ansari "could tone it down and play a quieter, sadder Tom for once". Sepinwall said the Mark, Ann and Andy subplot was not as funny as in previous episodes. Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
writer Sandra Gonzalez said she had been awaiting a storyline centering around Tom, and said the episode "makes us love the show more". However, she said Andy's continued obsession with Ann was growing tiresome and expressed hope his character should go in a new direction. Matt Fowler of IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
said the episode further added to the strong character development that has been consistent throughout the show's second season
Parks and Recreation (season 2)
The second season of Parks and Recreation originally aired in the United States on the NBC television network starting September 17, 2009, and ended on May 20, 2010. The season was produced by Deedle-Dee Productions and Universal Media Studios, and series co-creators Greg Daniels and Michael Schur...
. Fowler also enjoyed the frightening portrayal of the fourth floor, which he said helps establish Pawnee as "a place where both the engrossingly real and the entertainingly surreal can co-exist". GQ writer Dan Fierman praised the episode, particularly Ron's character and the singing telegram "divorce horse".
DVD release
"Tom's Divorce", along with the other 23 second season episodes of Parks and Recreation, was released on a four-disc DVDDVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
set in the United States on November 30, 2010. The DVD included deleted scenes for each episode.
External links
- "Tom's Divorce" at the official Parks and Recreation site
- "Tom's Divorce" at TV.comTV.comTV.com is a website owned by CBS Interactive. The site covers television and focuses on English-language shows made or broadcast in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland and Japan...