This week Mark and Allen break down the Episode that introduces our favorite court stenographer, Ethel Beavers!  Leslie and Ben are dating, but keeping it a secret because of Chris' no-dating policy. They are enjoying what Leslie calls "the bubble", the beginning of a relationship when everything's simple and fun. The bubble is threatened, however, when Ben has a meeting with Marlene Griggs-Knope, Leslie's mother, a notoriously tough politician in the Pawnee school system, who wants Ben to approve school bus purchases despite a tight budget. Right before Ben's meeting, Leslie tells him Marlene is her mother, making him nervous, ineffectual, and causing him to capitulate to Marlene's demands. Leslie finds out her mom (who doesn't know they are dating) thinks Ben is a pushover, so Leslie trains Ben for his next meeting with her mother to prove he i ...