10 essential Parks and Rec episodes to watch when you’re missing Pawnee

Season 2, Episode 3: “Galentine’s Day”

Even people who don’t watch Parks and Rec have heard of Galentine’s Day, and all of us have Leslie Knope to thank for the holiday. During the episode “Galentine’s Day,” Leslie introduces the holiday, which takes place on February 13. The entire point of Galentine’s Day is to show appreciation for the women in your life, emphasizing friendships instead of simply focusing on the romantic relationships that define Valentine’s Day.

During the episode, Leslie shows her girls some love by going out for dinner with them. In typical over-the-top Leslie fashion, she gifts them all 5,000-word essays explaining why they’re so wonderful, along with bouquets of flower pens and other goodies. Truthfully, we should all be so lucky to have a gal pal like Leslie in our lives.

Since Leslie’s first demonstration of the holiday, Galentine’s Day has actually become a well-known concept both in and out of the television series. Parks and Rec, of course, continues to have Galentine’s Day specials in place of Valentine’s Day ones. But even as Valentine’s Day nears in real life, most of us will see quite a few posts embracing the idea of Galentine’s Day in place of, or in addition to, Valentine’s Day.

It’s part of what makes this episode iconic, on top of the fact that the entire episode focuses on women supporting other women. That alone makes this a necessary rewatch, especially with the show’s anniversary approaching. After all, why not celebrate two “holidays” at once? Leslie would certainly approve.