The Possum (S2E18)

Call animal control! Today Rob and Alan are talking about the 18th episode of season two. In "The Possum" Leslie puts together a task force to catch a famous town-possum. In this episode you will hear all the similarities between animal control and classic clowning, who Harris Wittels was originally cast as, and the Parks seed that grew into Oscar nominee Paul Raci's incredible career! All of this, and some pretty darn interesting facts about our animal friends the possum. Got a question for the Pawnee Town Hall? Send us an email: [email protected] Or leave a 30-Second voicemail at: (310) 893-6992

After the infamous possum "Fairway Frank" bites Mayor Gunderson's dog at a golf course, mayoral representative Evelyn (Judith Moreland) asks Leslie to form a task force to capture it. Leslie, Tom, Andy and two incompetent animal control workers, Harris (Harris Wittels) and Brett go to the golf course and quickly find the animal. The animal control workers are useless and Tom immediately runs away, but Andy dives toward the animal and captures it. Evelyn is impressed with Leslie and promises her a special favor from the mayor's office. However, Leslie sees a second opossum and fears they have captured the wrong animal. She later finds out that the mayor doesn't care about catching Fairway Frank, but rather about securing a trophy animal for his bathroom.

Back at the department office, reporter Shauna Malwae-Tweep (Alison Becker) interviews Andy for a newspaper article. After he brags about the capture, the reporter suggests his heroics might win him back the affections of Ann, his ex-girlfriend, much to Andy's excitement. April , who has romantic feelings for Andy, overhears this and leaves. Evelyn demands delivery of Fairway Frank. Leslie responds that there is uncertainty about the identity of Fairway Frank. She refuses to hand over the captured opossum and creates a ketchup-blood diversion so that April can escape with the caged animal.

Leslie and April take the opossum to Ann's home, where April has been paid $50 to housesit. April lets the opossum out of its cage, and it causes havoc and minor damage. While hiding from the animal, April reveals her feelings about Andy to Leslie for the first time. When Leslie refuses to hand over the opossum, Evelyn angrily takes back her promise of a favor from the mayor's office. Andy, still oblivious to the reasons behind April's jealousy, delivers coffee to April, as well as the day's newspaper, containing a story which credits April for providing moral support to Andy. It is later revealed that Leslie has donated the opossum to the Pawnee zoo.

Meanwhile, Ron plans a woodshop expansion in his home and seeks the approval of city planner Mark. Mark informs Ron that an inspection is needed to ensure that the facility meets all current zoning code standards, and an obviously lying Ron claims it does, clearly underscoring his vexation with governmental regulations. During the inspection, Mark finds numerous code violations, including oily rags placed above a wood-burning fireplace and a long-outdated fire extinguisher. Later, Mark takes a half-day off so that he can help his friend's woodshop meet city code. Ron thanks Mark by building a wooden canoe and leaving it in his office.