Parks and Recreation

And now it's time to bid farewell to a television show for the first time in 2015. Parks and Recreation concluded its seven-season run on NBC (which means that a show can be in its seventh season if it debuted in 2009...good lord...) on February 24th and I finally feel ready to talk about it. This is one of the most bittersweet traditions on the blog. Recapping the series finale of a show and talking about how much it means to me and beginning the whole post with the title of the show and its theme song. And Parks and Rec truly had a great theme song. It exemplified an amazing cast, the same cast that Seth Meyers said, "I would fight anyone who says this isn't the best cast on television," about. He's absolutely right.

I'm going to recap Parks and Recreation's series finale, One Last Ride, the same way the episode moved through it. By character.

*MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD*

Donna Meagle

Donna's farewell look into the future probably had the least impact on me. But that's not to say it wasn't emotional as hell. As we flashed forward, we saw Donna living happily with Joe in Seattle. She became a successful real estate agent who used her high commissions to fund a non-profit with Joe called "Teach Yo'Self." I dig it. In one of the scenes, we saw April giving advice to Donna and she just happened to have a baby bump.

April Ludgate and Andy Dwyer

But the baby bump did not come with initial unanimity. April was reluctant to take the next step in her relationship with Andy, who was very eager, especially after handing out candy to kids on Halloween. (One of the kids just happened to be dressed as Chris Pratt's character from Guardians of the Galaxy, Star-Lord.) After having dinner with Leslie and Ben and an inspirational speech from Leslie, April decided she wanted to have a child with Andy. And she would have that child...on Halloween...while listening to Monster Mash. Oh, and they named him Bert Snakehole Ludgate Karate Dracula Macklin Demon Jack-O-Lantern Dwyer. Or Jack for short. One of the best television couples came to an end.

Craig Middlebrooks

And with Craig, we were introduced to a new couple. Continuing to work at Tom's Bistro, Craig met Typhoon, the hairdresser, there one night. Over the course of time, he married Typhoon (the latter's best man was Ron Swanson so yeah it's pretty great) and lived a long and happy life with him. (I smell a spin-off!) While on an airplane with their old age, Craig and Typhoon drank from a bottle of wine that bore the name, Jean-Ralphio.

Jean-Ralphio Saperstein

We were taken into Jean-Ralphio's future at a very blunt point. A tombstone. Jean-Ralphio's funeral. And I was weirdly not upset by the death of my favorite recurring character (sorry, Perdverts). But it was revealed that Jean-Ralphio was merely faking his death with his sister Mona Lisa for insurance money. He also revealed to Leslie that he loves her. She Han Solo-d him with the response, "I know."

Tom Haverford

Jean-Ralphio's best friend had a bit of a different go at life. Due to the success of Tom's Bistro, Tom decided to expand the restaurant into a chain. Unfortunately, it failed. But it was while lamenting his failure that Tom came up with his next, globally-celebrated idea. He became a motivational speaker en route to writing two self-help books that featured personality quizzes. One of my favorite lines of the episode came from Ron when he said, "Tom, I took your quiz. I am a Ron." So good. Ben also took the quiz and got Tom as his result, which forced Tom to re-calibrate the test.

Ron Swanson

Speaking of Ron, he received my favorite goodbye of the night. Following the enormous success of the Very Good Building Company, Ron resigned as CEO, citing his disillusionment with working in an office as his issue. After this, he visited Leslie and told her that he was at a personal crossroads and he wanted her advice after making the mistake of not being honest with her in the past. I love the relationship between Ron and Leslie so much and that's why the episode from earlier in season seven appealed to me so much. You know, when it was just them resolving their differences after they realized they were both in the wrong. It ended with a classic, "Why would anyone ever eat anything besides breakfast food?" "Because people are idiots." I will forever treasure that episode. And I will also forever treasure the fact that Ron went to Leslie when he needed help. And she gave it to him. She gave him the job of taking care of the park she spent so much of the show working to build and protect. From scratch. Now, Ron walks around it all day and gets paid for it. Laugh with me, buddy. (When this song played, I damn near cried.)



Garry Gergich

Another ending for a lovable guy came to Garry/Larry/Terry/Jerry Gergich or whatever the hell his name is. His perfect life (besides work) continuing to become even more perfect as he served ten consecutive terms as mayor of Pawnee, Indiana. We then flashed ahead to his one hundredth birthday where he thanked everyone who made his life so wonderful. Gayle didn't age a bit. He died that night and Leslie and Ben attended his funeral all the way in 2048. At which point, Secret Service agents approached the two and told them they should depart the funeral.

Leslie Knope and Ben Wyatt

Two of the all-time great characters were left with an open-ended question as to their future. WHICH ONE WAS PRESIDENT?! Mike Schur never revealed that to us. (It was Leslie...we all know it was Leslie.) But we were still given a great story of their future. They kept their children total at three while pursuing further political careers. Ben won the election to the Senate and in 2025 at the Biden household, Leslie was approached by the DNC to run for governor of Indiana. She won the election and begrudgingly received a library named after her. During this time, she delivered two speeches to her friends about how much they all meant to her. The best one came when Ann Perkins and Chris Traeger returned to the parks department and the whole gang was back together. We were treated to some amazing lines like, "Chip Traeger, you brilliant bastard!" and "Ann, it's happening. Our kids are falling in love." The best of all of these came between Chris and Leslie.

Leslie: "What's that on your wrist?"
Chris: "Watch." *scans his face.*
Watch: "You are one hundred percent healthy!"
Chris: "I do it literally fifty times a day!"
Leslie: "Aren't you worried about getting cancer?"
Chris: "Well, now I am..."

It was so literally amazing to have Ann and Chris back in Pawnee. They also revealed that they'd be moving back! But when it was time for Ben and Leslie to flip a coin to see who would run for governor of Indiana, Ben looked at his beautiful, tropical wife and declared that she'd be the one running. Relationship goals. Those two make my heart melt.

And then we flashed back to the past and celebrated as the parks department finished repairing the swing as one last public service to Pawnee with a lackluster expression of gratitude from the civilian. Jerry then asked for a group photo and everyone delivered one last line of gold as Leslie looked to the sky and responded (with the last line of the show), "Yes. I'm ready," to Ben's query.

Then this played:



A dedication slide to Harris Wittels flashed across the screen and that was it. Parks and Recreation was over. I mean, we got the amazing after-show on Late Night with Seth Meyers where Chris Pratt revealed he wanted Andy to die because he was locked in a hot car and Jim O'Heir made out with Aubrey Plaza who deadpanned, "I'm not very good at talking" which warranted an Amy Poehler cackle.

But as for Parks and Recreation, I am so sad that I had to say goodbye. I love this show so much and it was such a privilege to embark on this remarkable journey with remarkable people and characters over the course of seven years. From bowling alleys to Snorkjuice, I have loved every moment of this magnificent journey. Parks and Rec means so much to me and I will never not be able to resist tuning into FXX to watch whatever marathon they're airing that day. At its heart, Parks and Rec was about one person, Leslie Knope, and the effect she had on the people around her. And that's why her touch meant so much. That undying optimism that people still matter and can still have an impact on friendship and life in general. That friendship matters. That we can be a Leslie by being driven and caring or a Ben, intelligent and passionate, a Tom, creative and always true to yourself, a Donna, tolerant and fun, a Jerry, happy and cooperative, an April, open and closed at the beautifully same time, an Andy, purely kind and generous, a Ron, loyal and giddy and stoic, a Chris, optimistic and hopeful, or an Ann, supportive and lovely. We can be any one of these people or we can be a blend. Which is what Pawnee was. I love you all. I love you, I love you, and I like you.

Bye bye...Li'l Sebastian...