- Leslie: I am a goddess, a glorious female warrior, queen of all that I survey. Enemies of equality, hear my womanly roar!
Ron is the troop leader of the Pawnee Rangers. Leslie is the troop leader of the Pawnee Goddesses, which she started when the Rangers' leadership wouldn't allow girls into the club. Ron and Leslie have taken their groups out camping at the same grounds, and Leslie is determined to prove her group is better to avenge the past rejection. Andy is assisting Ron, and Ann and April are assisting Leslie.
Ben goes over the Parks Department paperwork with Donna and Jerry. They are surprised that he is a bit cranky and Ben has been wondering what is keeping him in Pawnee now that he has broken up with Leslie. Tom drops by the office and he and Donna prepare to go out on their annual "Treat Yo Self" trip, where they spend a day treating themselves to extravagant material goods, spa trips, and luxurious food and drink. On their way to the mall, they see Ben is eating lunch by himself and looking rather down, prompting Donna to bring him along despite Tom's protests.
On the camping trip, Ron's leadership style is to teach his boys how to survive in the wild, but they aren't given much else to do to pass the time. Leslie teaches her girls crafts and makes fun plans for her group in front of Ron's group, trying to make the boys jealous.
When Chris arrives at the Parks Department, Jerry is the only one there. Chris gives Jerry the day off. Jerry plans to go to lunch with his daughter Millicent and invites Chris. Chris initially declines, but when he meets Millicent and sees she's very attractive, he agrees to have lunch with them.
One of the boys in Ron's troop approaches Leslie and asks to join the Goddesses, who appear to be having a lot more fun on the trip, as they have puppies, pillow fights, and candy, while the Rangers are only given a can of beans to eat and told to build a meager shelter. Leslie gloats that her club is the best while telling the boy, Darren, that her club is only for girls. Several of the girls point out to Leslie that she's doing the same thing that was done to her five years ago in keeping the opposite gender out of the club. The girls suggest holding a public forum on the issue with the boys.
Tom and Donna try to teach Ben how to loosen up at the spa, but he has a very hard time relaxing and nearly hurts himself during a round of acupuncture. When they go to the mall, Tom complains when Ben buys himself some socks, but Donna figures maybe they should let Ben do "Treat Yo Self" his way and asks him what he would like to splurge on for himself. Ben buys himself a Batman costume, and then breaks down crying, admitting that his depressed state was caused by a recent break-up. Donna and Tom reassure him he'll get through this and he has their support, which cheers him up.
At lunch, Chris and Millicent hit it off. Back at the Parks department, Chris asks Jerry's permission to go out with Millicent. Jerry says that Millicent is a grown woman and that he trusts them both.
At the "public forum" between the Rangers and the Goddesses, Ron tries to convince the boys that he's teaching them valuable skills, but when the puppies arrive, the boys (including Andy) desert him. The boys are allowed to join the Goddesses. Later, Leslie sees Ron sitting all by himself and starts to feel bad. She tries to reassure him that he's a good Ranger leader, but he laments that children no longer want to learn tough survival skills and admits her group is better. This doesn't give Leslie the satisfaction she thought it would.
A week later, Chris informs Jerry that he's gone out on a date with Millicent and gives Jerry much more information than he wanted about what went on during it.
When Ron arrives at his office, there are several children waiting for him for their club meeting. He sees that Leslie has set up a hardcore outdoor survival skills club for boys and girls for Ron to lead called The Swansons.
Tropes
- Actually Pretty Funny: Ben (in full Batman getup) actually chuckles at Tom's Joker impression.
- Birds of a Feather: Chris and Millicent hit it off quickly due to sharing many similar interests.
- Butt-Monkey: Ann fills this role in this episode. The girls in Leslie's club clearly don't appreciate her and everything she tries to do to integrate herself results in either failure or her being given the cold shoulder. Subverted at the end when she bonds over catching a mackerel with the club. Double subverted when she reveals she bought it at the supermarket for that very reason.Ann: Pathetic? Maybe.
- Cheer Up Episode: Donna and Tom notice that Ben is sad and they invite him to join their Treat Yo Self Day (self-care plus shopping spree and indulging yourself in every imaginable way). Ben is unable to enjoy himself but opens up after buying and wearing a Batman costume. He breaks down crying and admits he's depressed because he can't deal with his break-up with Leslie.
- Eating Lunch Alone: Ben does this on a bench with a cup of microwavable soup. Donna feels sorry for him when she sees this, prompting her to bring him along on her and Tom's Treat Yo Self trip.
- Fashion-Shop Fashion Show: Tom and Donna do this annually with their "Treat Yo Self" day.
- The Generation Gap: Played for Laughs when Ron laments how he doesn't understand kids these days."When did kids become interested in fun?"
- Gone Horribly Right: Played for Laughs when Leslie laments she taught her "Goddesses" the value of equality a little too well. She's still proud of them though.
- Hypocrite: After Leslie made her own all-girls ranger group in protest of the Pawnee Rangers not accepting girls, she refuses to accept a boy with the exact same argument. The girls call her out on this. Additionally, she wants to prove that girls can be good with the outdoors too, but she winds up just reinforcing stereotypes by having them do stereotypical girly things like pillow fights and "puppy parties" instead of actual wilderness survival activities.
- It's All About Me: Leslie spends the entire episode trying to get Ron to admit her club is better.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: When Ben breaks down and admits why he's miserable, Tom and Donna immediately support and comfort him, showing they really do care for him even if they find him a bit of an uptight dork.
- Macho Disaster Expedition: Played With. Leslie formed an all-female camping group since the Pawnee Rangers wouldn't accept female members. On their joint camping trip, the girls (led by Leslie) have tons of fun because they get to eat candy, do arts and crafts, and play with puppies while the boys (led by Ron) are bored and miserable due to Ron forcing them to learn stoic survivalist methods and not bringing anything else for them to do.
- Mundane Made Awesome: Ben comes out of his room, unplugs and replugs the broadband router, and fixes the house's internet connectivity issues. To make this awesome, replace the word "Ben" with "Batman". The way he flourishes his cape when he's finished is also epic.
- Pet the Dog: Donna is usually shallow and aloof, but when she sees Ben eating lunch by himself and looking despondent, she immediately brings him along on her and Tom's shopping spree, and while he's breaking down over his sadness from his break-up, she immediately comforts and reassures Ben and lets him know he's not alone.
- Scout-Out: The Pawnee Rangers are classic outdoors scouts, while Leslie's Goddesses are a bit more fun-centered. When the Rangers collapse, The Swansons come into being.
- Shout-Out: Ben's idea of a big shopping splurge treat for himself is a full, comic-accurate Batman costume. In that same scene, Tom also quotes the Joker's "Why so serious?" line from The Dark Knight.
- The Spartan Way: Combined with Misery Builds Character, this is Ron's method of leading the Pawnee Rangers.
- Start My Own: Leslie started her own all-girls outdoor group, the Pawnee Goddesses, when the Pawnee Rangers refused to allow girls to join, decrying the policy as sexist. When one of the boys from Ron's troop wants to join, she tries to refuse, using almost the exact same arguments. However, the girls call her out on her hypocrisy and convince her to change the policy. The two groups end up merging into Leslie's fun-focused version with a new (also coed) group called "The Swansons" established as a successor to Ron's all-practical-skills version of the Rangers.
- Stunned Silence: To be fair to Andy and April, seeing your usually quiet roommate who prides himself on being a mature and responsible adult just emerge from his room in a full Batman costume could merit no other response.
- That Came Out Wrong: This talking heads segment from Ann when she's fishing with the Pawnee Goddesses:Ann: I bought this mackerel at the supermarket. I've been standing in the water with the fish on my hook for 30 minutes. I saw it on an episode of I Love Lucy. Pathetic? Maybe, but it feels pretty good to have a bunch of little boys be super into me. (beat) That came out wrong.
- Too Much Information: Chris feels obligated to inform Jerry about everything that happened during his date with Millicent, up to and including the fact that they spent the night together.
- The Ugly Guy's Hot Daughter: Chris is rather surprised to see that Jerry's daughter Millicent is very beautiful.
- Vengeance Feels Empty: Leslie wanted nothing more than to prove her Pawnee Goddesses scout group was better than the Pawnee Rangers, but after Ron says she's better with the kids, she finds that it's not quite as satisfying as she'd hoped.
