Portlandia, Season 3, Episode 7: Interim Mayor, Review

Roseanne Bar attempted to unseat President Obama in November, gathering nearly 50,000 votes as the candidate for the Peace and Freedom Party. The former sitcom diva turned actress might not have the resume to win the presidency (sixth place is pretty impressive though), but there is a job opening in Portland to get her political career off the ground.

In “Interim Mayor” Roseanne guest stars as Portland’s new interim mayor in the wake of the scandal that rocked the city in last week’s episode. To no one’s surprise, Portland fills its city government positions with a Temp Agency and Roseanne is available to step in when she gets the call. There are only a select few who are capable of handing a city as diverse as Portland and as Rosanne notices, the city isn’t quite what she expected.

“It doesn’t remind me of any other city I’ve been to,” she says.

“It seems like everyone is lost in a dream world.” 

Roseanne wants to change the unique way of life in Portland by actually making the people work. The sitcom diva imagines a city where coffee shops are for drinking coffee only, a city with fewer bike lines, fewer businesses for dogs and with the pee smell that graces New York and Chicago. She even cuts the cord on the Internet, essentially becoming a power thirsty dictator. It is clear that Roseanne doesn’t belong in Portland. So when Fred tricks Roseanne into resigning, no one sheds a tear. We want the Mayor back!

Catch Phrases:

“He’s Mexican but that’s cool… he goes over the boarder and she goes over the boarder.” Mayor Roseanne 

“Did Rosa Parks move?” 

“Stupid in a good way.” 

Underrated Skit of the Week: 

Portlandia takes a break from standard definition actors and goes the animation route. Rats, the city’s most unwanted inhabitant, decide to stand up for themselves and write a manifesto. Sure their book doesn’t catch the big-time publishers eye, but these days any one can self-publish. The rat skit was successful, so we hope to see more risks from the Portlandia crew in future episodes. We learn a few things from this skit: 

Just because wise owls talk slow doesn’t mean they are smart and “[people] poop in water for no reason.” 

Hipster Moments:

Hate those annoying customers who don’t understand the sanctity of the coffee shop? When the Barristas and Coffee Shop Workers of Portland meet in a dark lair in Portland’s underground, they lay down the rules for anyone who dares to order a latte: 

1. No chatter at counter;

2. Don’t knock on the bathroom door because “of course someone’s taking a huge shit, we make coffee;”

3. Absolutely no cell phones.