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

Season 3, Episode 4: “Ron and Tammy: Part Two”

Ron Swanson’s ex-wife makes many appearances throughout the seven seasons of Parks and Rec, and each time she shows up, Ron’s life is thrown into chaos all over again. Viewers officially meet Tammy during the second season of the series, but her bizarre influence over Ron becomes clearest during season 3’s “Ron and Tammy: Part Two.”

During the episode, Tom attempts to seduce Tammy to pay Ron back for dating his ex-girlfriend. He does this at a Parks Department party for the Police Department, but his plan backfires, as Ron and Tammy wind up leaving the party together. From there, Ron winds up married to Tammy once again and in jail. He even replaces his usual hairstyle with dreadlocks and shaves a part of his mustache—and you know things are bad when Ron is willing to shave his iconic mustache.

To reign Ron back in, Leslie holds an intervention for her boss. Leslie sits Ron down with the other members of the Parks Department, and they go around the room telling him why he needs to put an end to his relationship with Tammy. Of course, most of them botch the whole thing. Tom compliments Ron’s skin, Andy has no clue what’s going on, and Jerry even offers the man a wedding gift.

This intervention captures the spirit of the show, as much of Parks and Rec‘s comedic value stems from its characters’ cluelessness. In addition to that, it’s always a treat to see a different side of the seemingly impenetrable director of the Pawnee Parks Department, and his incidents with Tammy make up some of his wackiest moments onscreen.