well, it's all over. though it will live on forever in syndication, i will still miss my weekly dose of pawnee. spoilers.
i liked how they did it - leslie would have some kind of "i'm really proud of you" moment with someone from her former life in pawnee and then you would see a glimpse of that person in the future and how things ended up for them. basically, everyone gets a happy ending - even crazy craig, marrying a dude and is last seen on a futuristic plane, drinking champagne with his husband from a bottle that has jean-ralphio's name on it.
(though you do see that he tried to fake his own death beforehand)
donna and joe live in seattle - joe still teaches, but donna, after becoming mega successful in real estate, goes non-profit with a "teach yo self" program. but she is still fabulous - you learn that she was once kicked out of en vogue - or as she puts it - they were the ones kicked out.
tom finally finds success by writing a book about his failures. it's funny how you see the world changes in the future - his restaurants fail not only because of the economy, but because the world finally ran out of beef. there are only 8 corporations in the world and schools no longer teach math. anyway, lucy is still with tom and he's still got his fame and swag.
i was kind of disappointed that april and andy went traditional and had kids - they could have gone off in a dozen different crazy directions. but i didn't feel as bad when i saw april in labor on halloween:
what april and andy do for a living isn't really mentioned, so i assume april is still working in washington d.c. and andy chases birds for a living or something, who knows. they were my favorite couple on the show, even more than leslie and ben, because they were so unpredictable. i miss the april and andy that ate canned chili out of a frisbee, sharing one fork while watching tv. or spitting their used gum into the other's mouth. but they still have champion the three legged dog, so that made up for a lot.
gary (jerry - terry - ?) ended up having a great life. he was elected mayor of pawnee several times and died on his 100th birthday with his family (his wife, gayle, played always by christie brinkley, hasn't aged a bit). but it seemed fitting that they spelled his name wrong on his tombstone.
ah, ron swanson. the epitome of man. he has grown the most - he goes to leslie after resigning from his company, wanting to change careers but isn't sure what he should do. so he reaches out to his most trusted friend, leslie, for help - something ron would have never done when we first met him. and leslie gives him his dream job, running the state national park, where he will be paid to do what he loves most - be outside in nature and not pushing papers for the government.
other than mentioning that one of his step-daughters was soon entering college, there seemed to be no other mention of diane or the other kids, including ron's son. i was disappointed - i really would have loved to have seen a 12 year old son of ron with a full mustache and that same stoic demeanor.
ben and leslie are both approached (at a dinner party where they are going to play charades with joe biden) to run for governor of indianna and can't decide which one should do it. leslie suggests they flip a coin, because she knows whoever gets it will do a great job, but ben announces to their friends that she will be running, and you learn she is governor for two terms.
actually, at gary's funeral in 2048, you see that it looks as if one of them could be president. a guy who looks very secret service in the background informs them that it's time to go, but it is never defined which one it could be, ben or leslie. it was said the writers wanted the viewer to make up their mind about that.
at the end, everyone is together again, in the old parks & rec office where it all began, where ben and leslie tells everyone about her plans to run for governor. even ann and chris return, with their kids (in addition to their son, they have a daughter named leslie).
and we learn chris, ann and their kids will be moving back to pawnee, where ben and leslie will be able to live once leslie is governor. they have a group picture taken together and that is pretty much the end.
they ran a quick, multi-screened gag reel as the credits played and ended with the last scene ending and everyone joining in a group hug -
that got me more than all the happy endings combined.
and they gave a quick shout out to harris wittels, producer & writer for the show, who died earlier this month of an apparent drug overdose. he also played harris, the stoned guy that worked for animal control occasionally on the show and was always funny.
all in all, a good send off, if a little cheesey in places. i think p&r really hit its stride around the 3rd season, but from beginning to end it was always a funny show, very well written. i remember thinking
mehhhh when i heard about it as a sort of spin off from
the office, but unlike
the office, it stayed consistent and ended well.
oh, and i am definitely going to watch
late night with seth meyers with the whole cast so i can see this -