I thought the premiere opened strong and ended pretty well. I thought it fell apart a little in the middle, however, especially as pertains to Ron. His antics at the BBQ were funny up to and including the 'permit' gag but after that it turned into a caricature of the 'real' Ron. The real Ron is hard-headed about many things but-absent an appearance by Tammy-he's an extremely controlled and competent guy. He'd never put on a BBQ that wasn't run like clockwork. Witness his burger challenge against Chris in an earlier season. He certainly wouldn't have a temper tantrum like that. Leslie's arc in DC was good, however, especially her disillusionment at going from big fish in a small, indulgent, pond to tiny minnow in the biggest pond at all. That being said, it still bugs the heck out of me that no one notices the inherent conflict of interest in Leslie thinking she can hold both an elected and appointed position in city government at the same time, especially given that this show has used governmental ethics, and Leslie's attempts to adhere to them, as a plot point so often.
I've seen better episodes, but I love the fact that Parks and Rec is back. The premiere was pretty good, but I'm looking forward to what the season has in store (If it lasts a whole season considering the ratings weren't all that great).
Nice to see it back and I very much enjoyed the episode. I disagree. I think the BBQ was completely Ron. Ron wanted to do it his way, which is very controlled and specific and that was the problem. As Chris pointed out, it wasn't about him, it was about the department. [yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DTTARq6V48M[/yt]
But that was about Ron being hungry, not others being hungry. Ron's stomach is the only thing other than a Tammy that messes his mind up
^ Given he ordered everyone not to have anything before his BBQ was ready and he didn't have any of Chris' "candy", Ron would have been hungry as well. So you have a hungry and annoyed Ron, much like he would have been during Leslie's march with the ex-heads of Park.