On the season finale of Parks and Recreation, Leslie, Andy and Ben went to California, Tom opened his restaurant and the Unity Concert happened.
I love Parks and Recreation. After this finale, I actually hoped that Parks would end. This was the perfect series finale. I don’t know how Leslie’s life could get any better. It closed every storyline and even gave us a peek at what her future held.
What can the next season of Parks actually hold? Leslie has a great job, a family and everything that she’s always wanted. Sure, Leslie wants to be president but everything is perfect. And that is why I want Parks to end.
The episode began with Andy, Leslie and Ben standing outside Alcatraz. Andy thinks that Michael Bay built it just for The Rock. Ben said that he couldn’t believe that Andy could quote Pain and Gain.
Meanwhile, Tom and the rest of the gang are preparing for the opening of Tom’s new restaurant. Tom says that he’s never worked this hard before but is excited for his opening. However, the released date is being bumped up because his investor wants him to have the place open during the Unity Concert.
Tom asks everyone to pitch in. April, Donna and Craig have to become part time employees. Ron has to hurry up with the chairs. Everyone has to go into hyper mode.
Back with Leslie, although she’s been avoiding Grant, he runs into her at the conference. He says that he needs to know about the job and that he was going to take her to lunch. At the lunch, everyone praises Leslie’s plan and Leslie freaks out like a fan girl. You know, typical Leslie business.
After lunch, Leslie meets Michelle Obama. Michelle plugs her Let’s Move campaign and talks about how important national parks are. So, Leslie decides that she is going to take the job. She tells Ben and he is excited.
Ben wants to get Pawnee free wifi as a going away present. In order to do that, he has to get it from Gryzzl. They don’t give it to him because they want to give wifi to bigger towns. Ben, seeing the game that he invented, decides to play the Gryzzl creators to prove that Pawnee is great and that he is the creator of the game. He won and got Pawnee the wifi.
When Leslie is presenting her merger plan, the audience laughs at her. While Leslie thought that her merger would be easy, it took others more than eight years to succeed. She freaks out because Leslie doesn’t have that long because she’s moving.
Tom hits a bump when his opening is a complete failure. His investor, Mitch, backs out and says that Tom will fail. But, instead of quitting he decided to go all out. He got Mona Lisa and John Ralphio to invite all of the VIPs that they could and they were going to have a huge party.
Leslie changed her mind about taking the job. However, Ben took her to the Golden Gate Bridge and gave her perspective on the job. She tells Grant that she’s going to take it and leave Pawnee.
When Leslie retuned, she told everyone about the new job. However, it was awkward because they built her a statue that said that she said that she would never leave Pawnee.
The Unity Concert went great. The music was great but Andy was feeling empty. While he loved performing as Johnny Karate, he missed his band Mouse Rat.
Leslie talked with Grant and he told her that she could hire two people. She asked Ron to come and he didn’t want to. She asked April and Andy and they didn’t want to.
Tammy 2 was at the Unity Concert. She talked to Ron and said that she didn’t believe he had really changed. Ron said he did.
At the concert, Mouse Rat performs the best song ever “Bye Bye Lil’ Sebastian.” It even included a hologram Lil’ Sebastian. And, Duke Silver jumped in for his own sax solo.
Tom’s opening night went fantastically. All of the VIPs went and everyone was happy. Jon Ralphio and Mona Lisa’s father offered to be an investor in Tommy’s Bistro.
Leslie tells Grant that everything would be better if she worked in Pawnee. So, Grant agreed. Leslie got everything she wanted. She got the great job and she got to stay in Pawnee.
Flash to three years later:
Leslie has her dream job. She has a new Jerry. She has triplets that Andy and April watch. And, it is Ben’s big night. What is that night? Cliffhanger.
Did you catch all of the celebrity cameos? John Hamm was the Larry of Leslie’s new job. Michelle Obama played herself and plugged her Let’s Move campaign. Workaholics’ stars Blake Anderson and Maribeth Monroe worked for Gryzzl, the company that provides free wifi. We finally saw Donna’s cousin, Ginuwine. Letters to Cleo and The Decembrists played at the Unity Concert.
Quote of the night: “From now on everyone call me Kristin because I’m wigging out!”
What did you think of the Parks finale? Do you think it was a great series ender or is there more story to tell?