Parks and Recreation - Episode 6.21 & 6.22 - Moving Up - Review

I don’t know what more I can say about that Parks season finale except that I can’t wait to see what happens next.

…Never mind, I thought of a few more things.

Although there were some misgivings around the interwebs regarding Leslie’s pregnancy, and then the subsequent triplet reveal, they proved to be nothing to worry about. Since when has Parks ever repeated a storyline in the same way? Parks and Recreation tells stories like Leslie Knope throws parties -- they are all tailored to fit the characters individually. You don’t give an Ann Perkin’s pregnancy storyline to a Leslie Knope! Since the reason that Ann was moving away had to do with her impending motherhood, it made sense to feature that on the show as the focus of her life at the time. For Leslie, pregnancy/motherhood was another factor to consider in trying to pursue her goals, so once that decision was made, it made sense to go on and show the result of that.

The finale was packed to the brim, and I’m sure there were a lot of cuts that had to be made to fit a TV hour (aka, 43 minutes). Overall, so many fun cameos (one great Ham-eo -- sorry, I’m tired), and too many awesome moments to discuss here, unless you’d be interested in reading a tome.

Ron’s story was short, presumably victim to some of the cuts, but did a nice job of highlighting his journey over the past year. He started by finding out his girlfriend was pregnant and marrying her on the spot, and now he has a happy family life with three kids, and is sometimes willing to have a little bit of fun. Including exposing himself to be Duke Silver at the Unity Concert during an ensemble performance of “5000 Candles in the Wind” (something Leslie will NEVER forgive him for keeping a secret except now she’s forgiven him and can he teach her to play the saxophone?). It’s always great to see Lucy Lawless again, especially to contrast with crazy Tammy 2, a recurring mistake of Ron’s past that he’ll clearly never make again.

April was on top of her game in this episode, encouraging people all over the place. She helps get Mouse Rat back together for Andy (though she gives the credit to Ginuwine), she tells Leslie that she loves her (though she won’t move to Chicago because she likes doing nothing with no one), she forces Tom to get his act together with his restaurant, and she threatens, I mean, helps convince Grant that Leslie should stay in Pawnee and run the National Parks Division from there. Also, April and Andy might be getting/got divorce in order to get married again. Oh, those crazy kids.

Tom’s Bistro opens a little early to grand failure, as Larry makes his biggest mistake yet by printing the menus with pictures of his dog’s rectum. I’ll admit, Larry certainly deserves whatever he gets for doing that. It’s nice to see Tom actually try and finally succeed at something though, when he kicks off the restaurant to a “celebrity” crowd after the first night of the Unity Concert (which was a success, if anyone actually cared about that).

Leslie and Ben’s relationship is always a delight to watch, and the two had some wonderful moments throughout the hour. The sweetest one being Ben’s hike/pep talk for Leslie, showing her the actual reality of what her new job would entail, and helping her to understand how important and amazing the opportunity is. Of course his speech works so well that she calls Grant right away, accepts the job, tells him she loves him, and signs off as Lester Kanopf. What? She panicked! Ben’s support of his wife, even though he’ll have to change jobs for like the fifth time in four years is touching, as is the support of the entire Parks department, when they demonstrated nothing but excitement for their fearless leader and her new position. Though it does make their gift a little awkward, as her plague speaks of never abandoning the town, complete with a quote from Ms. Knope herself that “only an moron would live anywhere other than Pawnee, Indiana.” Luckily she doesn’t have to leave, because Ron fixed up the third floor! Nice mid-season plant there Parks, I’ll admit I didn’t see that one coming.

CUT TO: Three Years Later, and suddenly we find ourselves in the middle of a glitzy walk and talk as Leslie Knope manages some sort of crisis or big event with finesse. Although the visual shift was a little jarring, it helped communicate the difference between the Lelise/Pawnee of 2014 and that of 2017, as did Leslie’s power-bangs. She appears to be in the best version of The West Wing (or as I’m going to call it -- The Third Floor), confidently and competently doing her job, while maintaining a loving and supportive relationship with her husband, and raising three adorable children. It’s like Sorkin, but better, because she is not only a brilliant professional, but she’s also got a great personal life, a feat I’m not sure any of his characters ever managed… Also, Ben and Leslie’s coordinated turn in the elevator during the final few moments was brilliant -- those two are as in sync as the Chinese Olympic diving teams, amiright?

The time jump was not particularly unexpected, though to be honest I assumed it would be somewhere between like 8 months and a year. That being said, the three year time jump gives the opportunity that the show wouldn’t have if it played out in “real time.” This amount of time not only skips past the insanity of dealing with infant triplets (which was probably not a fun time to be around Ben and Leslie), and also allows for further career development. Leslie gets to be successful and in charge and comfortable with her job at this point, it looks like Ben is doing something important (he’s wearing a tux after all), and who knows exactly where the other characters are at in their lives.

Parks and Recreation has never been afraid of change, of resetting the parameters, which helps to create new stories and allows the characters to change in really interesting and exciting ways. Television is a long-form storytelling, which allows for the opportunity to explore the same characters over a long period of time -- surely part of the reason that people get so invested in them. Whereas more traditional sitcoms always set the reset button at the end of an episode, Parks follows the characters as they screw up, and learn, and succeed, and it’s definitely a better show for it. Letting Leslie move up without moving out, as well as fast forwarding three years into the future, allows the show to continue without detriment to her life and career. It would certainly be very difficult to have Leslie and Ben in Chicago while everyone else is in Pawnee, but if she didn’t take the job than it would be mostly the restraints of putting on a TV show that is responsible for her stagnation.

One of the great things about Parks and Recreation is that everyone is a super big nerd about something. Ron makes a reference to someone I’ve got to assume is a carpenter/chair builder of some sort, much in the same way that Leslie freaks out over meeting LIAM BONNEVILLE (that’s right, the Department of the Interior’s resident bad boy) and Rebecca Varuvian. Ben made a super-nerdy board game, and then proceeds to completely dominate in it. Almost everyone’s obsessed with Li’l Sebastian (except Ben, of course, who clearly doesn’t have a heart). These little beats reflect the enthusiasm present in the show. Nobody’s derided for being passionate or interested in something. As opposed to reflecting a general attitude of cynicism, or the trend of liking something ironically (come on guys, you can like the irony present in something, but you still like it), Parks celebrates enthusiasm and passion.

It’ll certainly be very interesting to see where everyone’s passions have taken them over the last three years. Parks, I may not know where you’re going next, but I’m totally ready for it.

What did you think of the finale? Did you guess that Leslie would get to have her cake and eat it too re: job/Pawnee? Are you excited or nervous about the time jump? And did you hold out hope, even if just for a moment, that Li’l Sebastian had actually returned? Let us know below!

About the Author - Kimberly

Kimberly is a college student studying Writing for Film & TV, and a big TV nerd - willing to talk any show, any time. Her tastes are various and sundry, but she’s got a soft spot for comedy. She currently writes the SpoilerTV reviews for Parks and Recreation, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, and About a Boy.