Most of Parks and Recreation’s sixth season focused
on the major changes in Leslie’s life, like being
recalled from the office she’d worked so hard to
reach, receiving a great offer for a new job in
Chicago, and discovering that she was pregnant with
triplets. And in that regard, “Moving Up” felt more
like a series finale than a season finale as it wrapped
up several ongoing storylines, including Leslie’s
career decision, the Unity Concert, and Tom’s new
restaurant venture. It also featured cameos from
almost everyone who’s ever appeared on the series,
and it was full of wonderful surprises—from a Li’l
Sebastian hologram to a Mouse Rat reunion to a
surprise appearance by Duke Silver to a cameo by
Jon Hamm. But perhaps the biggest shocker
came when the series jumped three years into the
future in the final moments of the episode, and
LESLIE HAD BANGS.
Oh yeah, there was also the bit about how she took
the job with the U.S. National Park Service, but
convinced her new boss to let her live and work in
Pawnee instead of Chicago (it’s a good thing Ron
spent so much time fixing up the third floor of City
Hall instead of, say, doing his actual job). Ben and
Leslie’s children are now toddlers, Ben has a fancy
new job (might it have something to do with
the Cones of Dunshire game, which
is apparently sweeping the nation?), and Jerry-Larry
is now named Terry. There were so many new things
thrown our way in that time jump that I barely had
time to appreciate Jon Hamm, whose character felt a
bit like a poor man’s Chris Traeger with his good
looks, positive attitude, and use of the word literally.
However, I don’t know that Hamm’s cameo—which
I’m glad the show kept a secret after announcing
literally every other guest-star—beats out Michelle
Obama’s cameo. Leslie’s reaction to meeting the
FLOTUS was actually more entertaining than
anything Lady Obama actually said or did, but it was
definitely a highlight of “Moving Up.”
If Parks and Recreation hadn’t already been
renewed for Season 7, “Moving Up” would’ve been a
perfect series finale. It had the series’
trademark heart and humor, in addition to a fake
concert that looked like so much fun that I
was actually upset it wasn’t a real event I could
attend. By the time Mouse Rat reunited and sang
“5,000 Candles in the Wind,” I was depressed that I’d
missed such a fabulous show. That was fake. And on
television. Which is why I think we should all relive it
right now:
Now that Parks and Rec has jumped forward in time
—a difficult thing to pull off, especially for a sitcom—
it has a fresh new canvas on which to paint what will
almost certainly be its final season. This is probably
for the best, because the show definitely started
to stall a bit in Season 6. Chris and Ann had a child
and moved to Ann Arbor, Tom grew up (a bit) and
become a (sometimes) savvy business man, and Ron
and Diane had a baby. I’ve loved spending time with
the truly wonderful and wacky people of Pawnee, but
their stories are obviously winding down a bit. By
skipping ahead three years, Parks and Rec has
created the perfect opportunity to regroup and craft
a true ending to this journey. I don’t know that the
real series finale will be able to top “Moving Up” in
terms of how it made me feel as a longtime fan, but
I’m willing to stick around to see what the writers can
come up with. Parks and Rec truly feels like
the comedic version of Friday Night Lights in the way
it tells stories about a community and makes me tear
up with embarrassing bouts of happiness, so I’m
really glad I don’t have to say goodbye to it just yet.
– “From now on, everyone call me Kristen, ’cause I
am wigging out.”
– “Obviously, we’re no Akron. I mean, we’re more like
Dayton. But with your help, we can become
Toledo.” (As a native Ohioan, I give this joke an A+.)
– “Moving Up” was brought to you by pizza: “You’re
so good at reminding me where pizza is.” Also: “We
lead the country in online pizza ordering.” And: “I
ordered a small cheeseburger and both the buns
were pizzas.”
– “Can you bring back Power Rangers? I don’t know
what you do, but you seem important enough to get
that done.”
– Joan’s signature drink is a tumbler full of gin with
aspirin sprinkled around the rim.
– The Quackson Five!
– I will probably never get tired of Jean-Ralphio.
Sorry, I’m not sorry.
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