Fuck Yeah, Louis C.K.

•  Posted: 02/17/2012

When last we saw Dave, played with awkward charm by Louis C.K., he was the sweet and slightly uncomfortable police officer she was dating. But then he went to California and apparently went a little crazy without her. This week, he returned to “Parks & Recreation” (Thu., 8:30 p.m. EST on NBC) where he not only ran into the woman he still loves, but her new boyfriend.

To say that Dave didn’t handle this very well would be an understatement. He was never comfortable doing the faux interview segments on-camera, but he was even worse this time around. The more flustered he got, the more he seemed to be making up words. Add to that Ben’s admitted fear of policemen, and it was just two baskets of awkward fighting over Leslie.

It culminated in the bathroom — after a long discussion over who was going to get to talk to whom and in what order — where Ben said he wasn’t going to step aside to let Dave try and win Leslie back. So Dave, in a clear moment of desperation, handcuffed Ben to the urinal. Only he didn’t take his phone away, so Ben just called Leslie.

He may not have handled himself very well at all, but there’s still something charming about Dave’s earnest sincerity. With his admission that he was also interviewing for the retiring police chief’s position, there’s always the chance his character could come back. With C.K. finding so much success with his own show “Louie,” where he has complete creative control, it would be interesting if he should choose to recur on “P&R.”