Parks & Rec: The 10 Worst Things Jean Ralphio Did

While fans are most likely to talk about the main characters in Parks and Recreation, when fondly revisiting Pawnee in their minds, there’s also a soft spot for certain secondary characters… especially Jean Ralphio. Originally introduced as a candidate for the position of Ron’s assistant, Jean Ralphio became Tom’s friend, and a regular part of the show.

He was a terrible person, of course. Spoiled, rude, loud, stupid, and routinely dragging Tom down with him, Jean Ralphio was far from a great guy. However, that meant that he was a truly great character, and there was something charming about him despite all the awful things he did.

10 Stalked A Woman

Jean Ralphio loves to tell crazy stories, and he’s usually utterly cheerful while doing so – even when they make him sound like an awful person. At one point, he says that he hung outside a woman’s house for days… before realizing that it was the ‘wrong’ woman. So not only does this guy have no problem being a stalker, but he’s not even smart enough to stalk his intended victim!

9 Faked His Own Death

In the flash-forward at the end of the series, it looks (for a  moment) like Jean Ralphio has met his end… until he is seen sneaking away from his own funeral (we assume he couldn’t resist seeing who came to mourn him). Turns out, he doesn’t even draw the line at faking his own death when it comes to schemes to get more money in his pockets.

8 Considered Incest

If there’s one character who is actually more annoying and selfish than Jean Ralphio, it’s probably his sister, Mona Lisa. This awful woman is manipulative, a liar, and frighteningly spoiled… and on top of all that, she has absolutely zero concept of what is acceptable, as proven when she walks into a room and suggests group sex with the men in there. Including her own brother.

What’s worse, Jean Ralphio isn’t immediately appalled. In fact, he appears to actually be considering this offer for a minute, before they get on to other things. There’s close siblings, and then there’s this. Yikes.

7 Lies. Constantly.

Jean Ralphio has zero integrity, and whenever he opens his mouth, there’s a solid chance that whatever comes out is going to be a lie. He lies about his money. He lies about where he works (Lady Footlocker, not quite the glam image he would like). He lies about relationships, cheating, his family, his friends, and even his own life (when he fakes his death).

6 Wants To Cheat With Married Women

He is seen throughout the show constantly cheating and wanting to have affairs, and he references hitting on married women far too often. In some characters, this could be seen as a joke, and in others, an affair could be sympathetic, with characters accidentally falling for each other. But in Jean Ralphio, this is just creepy… not to mention his overall creep-factor around women, and how quick he was to ‘dance up on’ a blackout drunk Leslie.

5 Whatever He Was Under House Arrest For

Jean Ralphio was the first person to get two ankle monitors for house arrest – and even though it’s never explained what those are for, it’s safe to say that you would have to do something pretty terrible to be put on any house arrest… let alone a record-breaking one. There’s a bit of a hint that this could be a counterfeiting charge, too, which is pretty appalling.

4 Allowed His Dad To Try And Take Down Tom

Fans are torn between feeling for Dr Saperstein for having such awful, awful children… and hating him for indulging them to the extent that he does. While he seems to have a few moments of clarity, for the most part, he sees his kids as angels, and believes whatever they tell him.

So when Dr Saperstein decided to believe that Tom was treating his kids badly, he decided to try and take his business (Rent A Swag, at the time) down… and Jean Ralphio let him. He even encouraged him a little, despite the fact that Tom was meant to be his best friend.

3 Pretty Much Every Interaction He Has With Women

We’ve already touched on how he tries to constantly have affairs, how he treated Leslie when she was blackout drunk, and his wildly inappropriate behavior with his sister, but these are far from the only sexist offences. Jean Ralphio is basically a sexual predator – he wants to get women as drunk as possible, he hits on every possible woman in his bar, he’s constantly lying and faking around them.

2 Ran From The Cops And Hid In A Dumpster

At one point, Jean Ralphio comes crashing into Ron’s place, demanding a place to ‘crash’, because he ran from the cops, hid in a dumpster, and is technically homeless. The fact that he says all this with a smile and then sings the ‘homeless’ part doesn’t make this any better. Knowing Jean Ralphio and his laundry list of crimes, it’s likely there was another one involved here, and demanding a place to stay (from someone who can’t stand him) is ultimate entitlement.

1 Is A Terrible Friend To Tom

Finally, we’ve got to talk about his friendship with Tom. Tom Haverford is a smart guy, and incredibly well-intentioned, even if he’s easily swayed by all things glittery and cool-looking. But Jean Ralphio brings out the absolute worst in Tom – he lies to him, burns through his money, and leaves him almost bankrupt. He is the furthest thing from a good friend, to a guy who would have been a phenomenal partner.

About The Author

Rose Graceling-Moore
(1516 Articles Published)

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Rose Graceling-Moore has been writing about film, TV and comics since 2013, when she began writing for a local print magazine in Vancouver, BC. Since then, Rose has written for Horror Honeys, Moviepilot and Quirkbooks as well as Screenrant, increasingly focusing on comic books and live-action comic adaptations, as well as diversity and representation on screen. Rose also co-hosted the DC Movies Podcast, and has guested on other nerd and entertainment podcasts over the past five years.

Rose’s love of comics began all the way back in the early ‘90s, when she discovered the X-Men while living in Africa (where there wasn’t a whole lot to do but read!), and since then has had an on-again, off-again love affair with not just Marvel, but DC and indie comics as well. You can follow her on Twitter: RoseMooreWrites for tweets about comics, movies, and more.

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