Season 2 Wrap

Season 2:

A lot of Ann's arc in this season is concerned with her relationship with Mark and Leslie plays the dating field, so a few episodes stray away from what we'll call "Bechdel territory". Donna and April emerge in their roles on the show, which helps diversify the types of conversations that pass the test. There's also a tendency for some of the great women guest stars (Tammy 2, Marcia Langman, Marlene, Jessica Wicks, etc.) to have conversations with Leslie about all sorts of subjects.

It's nice to see that Ann continues badgering Leslie about the park even after she and Andy have broken up; this indicates that Ann's hope of a park being built in the lot is not about a concern for Andy's wellbeing. Many of the earlier episodes in this season pass because of this park.

A notable question that came up unusually often in this season is whether or not a conversation about animals are about men if the animals are male. These include Tux & Flipper (the penguins) and Fairway Frank. Lauren's argument (and I agree) is that since this is a human-centric universe, animals as subjects of conversation do not disqualify it from passing the Bechdel test.

Overall: 6 episodes fail, 4 might pass, 10 pass and 4 pass several times.