Saying goodbye to "Parks and Rec"

By Alexandra Hummel

After seven hilarious years, NBC’s Parks and Recreation has begun its final season. Over the years, fans of the show have grown to love the town of Pawnee, Indiana, to eat more waffles, and to slip “zerts” and “treat yo’ self” into their everyday language. Unfortunately, the beginning of the end of this pop culture phenomenon is here.

Parks and Recreation follows the shenanigans of dedicated public servant Leslie Knope and her coworkers. She works for the extremely conservative Ron Swanson, who believes that the government as a whole is useless and who loves bacon. Leslie is married to Ben Wyatt, city manager and inventor of the famed board game “Cones of Dunshire.” The show is unabashedly silly, yet its clever charm turns casual viewers into avid fans.

Leslie and her friends have faced many challenges in the past: the tragic death of Pawnee’s much-loved miniature horse Lil’ Sebastian, Ron’s crazy ex-wife Tammy II, and many a jam with the obstinate Councilman Jamm. Through all this, the friends have stayed together, but the Season Seven premiere springs us three years into the future, to the shiny new world of 2017.

It is a completely different game for Leslie and the gang. Leslie is the Parks Director of the entire Midwest, Jerry is now also called Terry, and Ron has his own contracting company, “Very Good,” that has been hired by the tech company “Gryzzl.” Ron and Leslie have become adversaries, rather than allies. The Newport family is selling their land, and Leslie wants to buy it for a new national park while Ron wants the land for “Gryzzl”. Their former coworkers have moved on to better things: Tom is a business mogul, or at least describes himself as one; Donna owns a real estate firm; and Andy has his own Johnny Karate TV show. The Parks and Recreation family is divided, and its members are taking sides. These dramatic changes have everyone on the edges of their seats. Don’t be too distraught, however; the past isn’t completely lost.

Mike Schur, the show’s producer, plans to bring back as many familiar faces as possible. Fans can expect to see more of Ed’s incompetence, John Ralphio and Mona Lisa’s outrageousness, and Tammy II’s torturing of Ron. Interestingly enough, the actors who play these characters, Nick Offerman and Meghan Mullaly, are married in real life! We can only hope that their off-screen relationship is smoother than the one we witness here. NBC is airing the final episodes of Parks and Recreation back-to-back, leading up to an hour-long finale just a few weeks from now. This shortened season has fans caught up in the whirlwind.

Season Seven of Parks and Recreation has the laughs, the energy, and the excess of breakfast food that fans have loved so much for the past seven years. Everyone loves the town of Pawnee—pet obesity and all—and is eager to see Ron and Leslie reconcile their differences. We can hardly wait to keep watching.

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