The Tom And Ron Detail In Parks And Recreation Season 4 Fans Can't Help But Love
Of all the characters that make up the ensemble of NBC's "Parks and Recreation," there are perhaps no two people as different from one another as the extroverted, self-indulgent Tom Haverford (Aziz Ansari) and the stoic outdoorsman Ron Swanson (Nick Offerman). That is perhaps exactly why nearly every interaction between the two is downright hilarious.
These colleagues have certainly quarreled plenty of times throughout the series, such as the time that Tom rigged a youth basketball team that Ron was coaching or when Tom brought Ron to a bar that served alcohol in the form of hand lotions and gas clouds. Of course, there was also the incident where Tom accidentally shot Ron while the two were hunting. Despite the fact that they seem to butt heads constantly (mostly due to Tom's absurd behavior), the pair also established a mutual respect for each other as time went on. In fact, Ron was actually one of the first people to invest in Tom's company when the latter decided to start his own business.
Despite their immense contrast in personality, there are plenty of moments throughout the series in which Tom and Ron manage to put aside their differences and work together — including a small moment in Season 4 that you might have missed if you weren't paying close attention.
Ron uses Tom's luxury insoles to flag an oversized load
Early on during the Season 4 episode "The Comeback Kid," Tom explains that he has an obsession with the luxury of walking down a red carpet. So much so that he has actually made the insoles of his shoes out of the material so that he is always walking on red carpet no matter where he goes. It may sound ridiculous, but Esquire actually highlighted this ingenious invention in a rundown of Tom's iconic and outlandish fashion sense. Regardless, later in the episode, while Ron is transporting some wooden boards in the trunk of a small car, we can see that he is using one of these insoles to flag the oversized load. Although we never see it happen, it's implied that Tom either gave Ron his sliver of red carpet to use on short notice or that Ron simply took it from him in the interest of saving time.
Fans on Reddit absolutely loved this tiny detail, mainly because it is so subtle you might never have caught it upon first watching. "Wow, I noticed the red but never caught that it was Tom's sole. Great catch," wrote u/business*** in a thread where one user pointed out the callback detail. "Omg. I've seen the show at least a dozen times and I've never caught that until now!" echoed u/Fred_the_skeleton. Many more users chimed in to express just how enamored they were by this clever, tiny detail, especially since almost none of them had noticed it despite being "Parks and Recreation" superfans.
In any case, this subtle touch is an ingenious and hilarious way to bring back Tom's throwaway line from earlier in the episode, and it's clear to see why people love the little red sole nailed to the back of the team's car.