Parks and Recreation: Season 7 Review

Parks and Recreation

From The Pit to... POTUS?

ByMatt Fowler

Posted:

Mar 4, 2015 11:40 pm

Warning: Full spoilers for the final season of Parks and Rec follow...Even though NBC's late, great Parks and Recreation always managed to pull out great finales when no one really knew whether or not the show was coming back (closing out the main seasonal arc while leaving some crumbs for a possible additional year), the show being given one final seventh season - with the condition that it would be the last season - wound up being a gift to the producers, stars, and fans alike.

This was a show that, for years, had to treat each season like it could be the final one, so knowing ahead of time that things needed to come to a close allowed for me amazing final character arcs (and career paths), a "greatest hits" feeling with regards to callbacks and great background characters, and a fun leap into the near future.

Parks and Recreation: Top 10 Episodes

I don't know how well the "future" jokes will play when people look back on these episodes years from now, but for right now they were perfect. And they allowed Parks to skewer pop-culture and modern living in an entirely different manner from what they'd been usually doing - from Amazon to Google to Kevin James starring in a Bourne reboot to Shia LeBeouf designing jewelry and wedding dresses.

The season kicked off with Leslie and Ron at extreme odds, having had a huge falling out over a misunderstanding that Leslie, we discovered, unintentionally instigated. They referred to it only as "Morning Star" and many jokes were made by commenters that Ron was probably upset that he'd accidentally eaten a vegan patty. Well, I'm glad they went for something more substantial than that because it led to a great reconciliation bottle episode ("Leslie and Ron") and a touching moment from Rom himself. Which then led to an even greater payoff in the amazing series finale when the two of them actually talked openly about Ron's next, and possibly final, career move.

No, Paul Schneider never returned as Season 1 and 2's Mark Brendanawicz, and Rashida Jones and Rob Lowe only popped up in the finale (with no big reveal about their lives really except that he works in college admissions and they have a daughter named Leslie), but everyone else's final season story was satisfyingly on point. Tom, who vanished for three episodes, had the simplest tale - that of reconnecting with (and marrying) Natalie Morales' Lucy. Donna also got married, April found an whole new unexpected career in D.C., Leslie continued to move onward and upward (with the finale even hinting she or Ben was president), and Ben became a congressman. Which didn't give us a full campaign (thankfully), but did give us a delightful "campaign episode" as a fun callback to the years Leslie spent trying to appease the crazy masses.

An entire episode was devoted to the bliss that is Andy's lovable dimness as we watched him say goodbye to his loyal fans on his final episode of his Johnny Karate show. Plus, Garry (who finally got to go by his real name) wound up having a very warm and emotional arc involving him becoming interim mayor of Pawnee. And I remember thinking as he went up in a hot air balloon to celebrate his appointment that he either better become the best mayor that Pawnee ever had or he better never come down from that balloon ride. Either ending would have been appropriate for the luckiest unlucky guy in town.

With only thirteen episodes, familiar faces came at us fast - like Tammy, Jamm, Perd, Joan, Jen Barkley, Ron Dunn, The Douche, Bobby Newport, Dr. Saperstein (and his rotten kids), Ethel Beavers, Dennis Feinstein, and many more. Also, we got a final Treat Yo Self! day, some Burt Macklin love, a new activist group (Male Men), and a sequel to the Cones of Dunshire. And we finally got to meet Donna's brother Levondrius (Questlove) and Mayor Gunderson (Bill Murray). Even the name Greg Pikitis popped up in the speedy blur that was the Johnny Karate pre-show disclaimer.

The series finale itself was simply spectacular as the writers were wise enough to know that our love for these characters meant that we didn't just want them left at a promising place - we wanted to see how their lives actually turned out. And so Parks sort of got to go out showing us what future hypothetical seasons would have looked like. Hilarious antics and and heartwarming moments abound.

Verdict

Not that Parks' greatness was ever in question, but the charm, humor, and heart if this final season helped cement it as one of the best TV comedies of all time. Perfect closure all around and a testament to the love the creators, writers, stars, and fans had for these characters.[poilib element="accentDivider"]Matt Fowler is a writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter at @TheMattFowler and Facebook at Facebook.com/Showrenity.[widget path="ign/modules/recirc" parameters="title=Recent%20IGN%20TV%20Reviews%3A&type=articles&tags=tv-review&count=6&columnCount=6&theme=article"]