S06.E21: Moving Up

[Tara Ariano]

In the series 6 finale, Leslie makes a huge decision about her future while working with the Parks Department to put on the Unity Concert. Meanwhile, Tom opens the doors to his restaurant; Ron has another encounter with Tammy 2; and Andy gets to live out a rock-and-roll fantasy.

[stagmania]

Did they really just do that?! 

[Dots And Stripes]

That finale looked like something written before the show knew if they would be back or not. Watching that last scene, I was getting tragic flashbacks to HIMYM. If we find out Ben dies and Leslie ends up with Uncle Jerry, I'll be furious. I did like seeing those triplets though.

 

Definitely not the strongest episodes,but I did like the Cones of Dunshire stuff. Also its good to have some of the job stuff finally cleared away. Good to see Leslie is a success in the future.

 

The Lil Sabastian shout outs were probably my favorite part of the night.

[Lindsey]

I haven't decided yet if that was a genius reboot or a flying leap over every shark ever.  But let's focus on the really important question: What do we think of Leslie's new hair?

[stagmania]

But let's focus on the really important question: What do we think of Leslie's new hair?

 

I think I am not a fan of Knope's new bangs. I hope they retcon that hair next season.

[purplemouth]

Even knowing they were renewed, I found myself questioning my knowledge and wondering if this actually was the series finale!

 

I joked to a friend I was watching with that we should have made a callback drinking game. Cause we would have been druuuuuunk. I think my favorite was Ben's look to the camera when holo-Sebastian showed up. 

 

So are we going to remain three years ahead next season or will we go back? I would be happy to bypass triplet pregnancy.

[TalentedButHumble]

It felt like more happening here than in 20 episodes of some other sitcom, with a bit of a mind-bendy ending. Although I'm not 100 percent sure about the jump into the future, it was good for the obvious baby-related reasons.  I thought the episode was a lot of fun, some great character moments by the regulars and cool guest appearances. And I was cry-laughing for two minutes at the thought of Jerry "only" having to salve the dog's butt every hour for the rest of the pet's life. 

[Kip Hackman]

That finale looked like something written before the show knew if they would be back or not.

 

According to Mike Schur's interview with Alan Sepinwall, they knew they were getting one more season before they decided to do the reboot. I, for one, am glad that we won't be seeing Leslie & Ben struggle with a high risk pregnancy, dirty diapers, or middle of the night feedings. And apparently, the citizens of Pawnee are being pushed to the background next season. I guess we'll just have to wait and see what the new show looks like.

[BoogieBurns]

Mike Schur says they will remain 3 years in the future. 

[Izzyboy]

Wow, not really what to sure about that ending!  Although I've been along for the ride for this long and they've never led me astray, so if its a big time skip for next year then I'm all aboard...

 

Any time they can fit in "5000 Candles In The Wind" into an episode it gets an A at worst from me!

Edited April 25, 2014 by Izzyboy

[Lindsey]

So are we going to remain three years ahead next season or will we go back? I would be happy to bypass triplet pregnancy.

 

I think they're sticking with it.  TV Line had an interview with Mike Schur up today and he mentions not being interested in telling another pregnancy story right after Ann's.

[MMLEsq]

Even knowing they were renewed, I found myself questioning my knowledge and wondering if this actually was the series finale!

Me too -- I clicked on show's description in our Cable Guide just to verify that it did indeed say the "Season 6 Finale" and not the "Series Finale." 

 

So, he is now Garry-Jerry-Larry-Terry Gengurch-Gergich?

 

Maybe I missed it, was it ever explained why Duke Silver agreed to play at the Unity Concert after all?

 

Loved Ben's eye rolling at the Lil Sebastian hologram.

[Tara Ariano]

Here are my thoughts on the episode, and the season!

[DowntonStabby]

I feel like the show would have been OK if it had just ended tonight (as much as I love it). While I'm glad we won't be treated to yet another pregnancy storyline, it definitely had "series finale" written all over it (regardless of what Schur says), from what I could tell (and my husband said it out loud when he saw the ending with me). Hopefully, next season (which Schur has said will most likely be the last) won't be a complete waste, but I don't know else they can do that they can stretch for another 22 episodes.

 

As for the finale itself...my favorite moment had to be Ben geeking out over Letters To Cleo, while wearing a Letters To Cleo t-shirt, but then, after 20 years, "Here and Now" is still my jam (well, one of my favorites, anyway), so I'm a bit biased.

[Omega Mu]

I was an extra in the audience of the Pawnee Eagleton Unity Concert.  Two fun days at a park in Van Nuys listening to music... did you see me?

[scrambled eggs]

There had been hints of a time jump in interviews, but I didn't think it would be that huge. My mind is somewhat blown. I loved the episode but wish we had some Leslie/Ben making out, and also, what are the kids' names?

[Pete Martell]

One thing that I loved about this show early on was that it kept one foot somewhat grounded in the reality of government work and the arcane, bureaucratic policies a government worker has to deal with (for example, Tom getting busted, and punished, for using his government email for personal gain, Leslie having to step off government property to talk about her city council campaign, etc).  Now, they don't even bother - Tom's been spending all his time at City Hall working on his restaurant and it seems everyone in the parks department spends all day helping him.  And this twist of having Leslie sell the federal government on completely relocating the regional office of the NPS is just absurd beyond belief.  It's a government office already staffed with people unlikely to pick up and move to Indiana. (Don't even get me started on how a regional directorship of a government agency would likely never go to an outside candidate over internal career applicants from all over the country unless there was some serious wheel-greasing behind the scenes.) 

 

There's suspension of disbelief and then there's just completely becoming untethered from basic reality.

 

Seasons one through four were brilliant, but this really should have been the series finale.

 

I don't mind the suspension of disbelief so much because I feel like the show has always had a certain foot in that door - for instance, I laughed and laughed at the Greg Pikitis episode, but if I thought that was in any way happening in real life, I'd be horrified.

 

What bothers me about every season since season 4 started is how one-note so many of the characters are (Tom has repeated the same jokes about being lazy and sleazy for years; Jerry is in such a loop that I "literally" cringe every time I see him or hear him; the jokes about Andy being an idiot are incredibly unfunny to me and have actually become insulting). I truly feel like this is a show that after the first few manic years, lost more and more sense of comedy. At times I've felt like these people almost became allergic to knowing how to do comedy. And that's ridiculous of me to say, because they've been doing comedy most of their lives, behind of and in front of the camera, but some of the stuff from 4 to now has just been so cringemaking. There are still some funny moments, but so much of it has been so awkward and forced for such a long time. I just couldn't laugh at some random scene of Leslie firing Jon Hamm. How novel, even though he's done these cameos about 50 times on various NBC shows and I didn't care then either.

 

They still know how to work the heartwarming moments, which is wonderful, because I don't watch sitcoms for bitter, nasty people. It's one of the reasons I gave up on sitcoms like Everybody Loves Raymond. One of the reasons I still like the show is because of the kind, sweet moments between characters. It's nice to see that heart. But a part of that process is allowing characters - all characters - to grow and change. The Mary Tyler Moore Show knew this, as even characters like Ted grew and changed. The opportunity do that now has passed for too many characters. As much as I love the relationships between Leslie and Ben, Leslie and Ron, April and Ron, there's so much dead space. 

 

The only time I laughed tonight was the quick appearance from Tammy II. Megan Mullally has such brilliant comic timing and the show never overused her, the way they have overused people like Jerry or Tom or Andy. 

 

If this is the last season I hope they take advantage of this time jump to truly make character changes, or weed out some of the most played out elements.

Edited April 25, 2014 by Pete Martell

[kccody]

As a Hoosier, I loved the "Bobby Knight Ranger" band- and when they threw the chairs at the end- classic! I have faith in this writing staff, I'm ready for another season in Pawnee.

[Johnny Dollar]

My DVR decided to stop recording just as Leslie and Ben walked into The Elevator of the Future. Can someone clue me in please on what I missed?

[MelsW]

The highlight of the episode for me was the Lil Sebastian hologram and Ben's reaction.

 

This definitely felt like a series finale. OK, so we fast forward a couple years. The third floor of Pawnee Town Hall is where Leslie runs the midwest office of the National Park Service. The triplets are a couple/few years old. Tom's Bistro is probably a success. What else do we do with these characters? I just don't see how they will squeeze one more quality season out of this show. However, I am grateful we get to bypass the Knope pregnancy/birth and what would have been the inevitable sleepless nights/poopy diaper jokes.

[Isazouzi]

I was singing and waving like a lunatic in front of my computer screen during "5000 candles in the wind"! The concert was great.

 

Don Draper being incompetent, was that a private joke or something? I didn't really get the point of his cameo.

 

"Can you bring back Power Rangers?" LOL

[marketdoctor]

The reboot/moving forward might be a way to try to get more life out of a premise stretched thinly, or give them new situations to react to.  it's worth a shot.

[hoosiergirl]

I liked it. Ben's reaction to Lil Sebastian was the best. I liked all the cameos. The only thing that would have made it better for me is if Mark Brendanowicz had also returned in the three year time jump. But I loved the character and the actor. I'm glad we don't have to endure another pregnancy storyline.

[Lawgiver]

Lester Knopf! The Quackson Five! Ben schooling Gryzzl in Cones of Dunshire! I loved the little things in this episode.

[Kip Hackman]

The reboot/moving forward might be a way to try to get more life out of a premise stretched thinly, or give them new situations to react to.  it's worth a shot.

Exactly. I wouldn't be very excited about another season of "Leslie can't get anything done because Pawnee is full of crazy people".  I think they can get one good season out of Leslie working in the Federal Government. (even if it's only 13 episodes)

[April Bloodgate]

Although I agree that this definitely felt like a series finale and I'm not really sure what they'll be able to do from here, I did really like this episode and I'm excited to see where this goes.

[Domestic Assassin]

The only thing that would have made it better for me is if Mark Brendanowicz had also returned in the three year time jump.

 

Apparently, that will never happen.

[DrSpaceman]

i like the episode but agree I just find it hard to believe they would just up and move a regional government office from Chicago to pawnee

[Pete Martell]

I forgot about Ann and Chris. I actually do miss Ann, because I loved her friendship with Leslie and her sweetness + sardonic nature + bitterness really connected with me, but I don't miss the baby story or most of her stories over those last seasons.

 

I did a lot of complaining, but I did enjoy things about the finale. I thought the wrapup of the Duke SIlver story was great, and I always love Leslie's relationship with Ron. And Leslie/Ben are just such a great couple, one of the most believable and most endearing couples on TV, yet never too sappy or too imbalanced. And my heart grew a few sizes when I saw April with those kids. I'm glad they had her in that role and not just saying she hates kids. I think she'd be a great aunt and look out for those kids in a way Ben and Leslie can't quite do all the time.

[eteffi]

I laughed several times during this episode, and it seems like I loved the things everyone else loved about it: the cameos, Ben's underwhelmed reaction to Li'l Sebastian, every second of Jean Ralphio interacting with Joan Calamezzo (including her calling him a "medium drink of water" and him saying "your boy's a question on the bar exam, ya heard???"), etc., etc. But the ending? I HATED IT. Hated the time jumping, hated the inevitable fancy-pantsness of Leslie and her new hair, hated that Ben was wearing a tuxedo and had his hair slicked back, hated the weird Jon Hamm cameo (why?), hated ALL OF IT. I agree with others above who've questioned what these characters are going to do in their new lives, and why the series didn't just end right here. The heart of the show was the small-town-iness of Pawnee and Leslie's commitment to fighting its tiny battles. I don't care to see Leslie fighting bigger battles or losing touch/not dealing with things like Sweetums making everyone fat, or sex ed for old people at the community center, raucous town hall meetings, raccoons, etc., etc. So, I'm bummed. Obviously, I'll still watch next season, but this episode?

[CodeNameDuchess]

The time jump made me excited for season 7.  I was not looking forward to another pregnancy storyline in Pawnee.  Can't wait to see why Ben was in a tuxedo at the end of the episode. 

 

Ginuwine doing a Pony/Lil' Sebastian tribute was awesome.  It was nice seeing a Mouse Rat reunion; 5000 Candles in the Wind has been stuck in my head all day.

 

Hoping there are more Jean Ralphio/Joan Callamezzo scenes next season.  Their bouncy little dance cracked me up.

 

I was wondering when Cones of Dunshire would make another appearance.  Nice to see the Letters to Cleo shirt make another cameo while the band played at the unity concert!

 

[fruittree36]

I loved it. I thought the jokes (and there were MANY) landed. Some really well. The whole Cones of Dunshire segment was brilliant, especially the ridiculousness of the gameplay. I know they would probably love to sell the game commercially, but there's no way the can make it playable based on what we've seen.

I've been very forgiving of Parks missteps, but the show has yet made me angry like The Office or HIMYM did. I was hate watching both those shows for good amounts of time.

More importantly, it still makes me laugh and smile. And it shocked me, I reacted out loud at the jump, something I haven't done since watching Casino Night with Jim and Pam. Well, a positive vocal reaction, I reacted out loud at the HIMYM finale as well.

I'm looking forward to next season with kick-butt Leslie, who also has experienced a lot of growth. And discovering how their world has changed. I'm thankful to skip the pregnancy. I don't mind that they gave them kids, but I'd rather experience new challenges in a new environment. I'm choosing to be positive, much like the show.

Edited for grammar.

Edited April 26, 2014 by fruittree36

[arc]

the employees who had to move or lose their jobs would pitch a fit in the media.

Weren't the other four members of Leslie's new office being transfered from some other Midwest state anyways? I don't think they were already stationed in Chicago.

[romantic idiot]

And this twist of having Leslie sell the federal government on completely relocating the regional office of the NPS is just absurd beyond belief.  It's a government office already staffed with people unlikely to pick up and move to Indiana. (Don't even get me started on how a regional directorship of a government agency would likely never go to an outside candidate over internal career applicants from all over the country unless there was some serious wheel-greasing behind the scenes.) 

 

They made it a point to say that the department was small - only a 6 member team, only 4 of whom were hired, all of whom were new. And I thought it was only Leslie's team was new. So it's a bit of wish fulfilment, but the entire character of Leslie Knope is wish fulfilment, as is the show, so I didn't find it particularly difficult to believe. 

And I loved the twist. They blew past the pregnancy story, and the hilarious hijinks of triplets, to focus on Leslie running Parks and Rec. Since they, once again, took care of all my fears, I am going to trust them with this time jump as well. They've yet to let me down. 

[Myrna123]

Weren't the other four members of Leslie's new office being transfered from some other Midwest state anyways? I don't think they were already stationed in Chicago.

The guy trying to hire Leslie said Leslie would have a support staff of six people--four would be transferring from the Omaha office and she could hire whomever she wanted for the other two spots. I'm not sure I'd be thrilled if I was planning to move to Chicago and it changed to Pawnee at the last minute, but I'm glad Leslie gets to have her cake and eat it too.

[DrSpaceman]

This is supposed to be a regional office for the entire midwest parks department, there is no way its just 6 people that work there for her. I know thats what they said, but still can't believe it. My impression was that would be just the new people working just for her, not the whole department

[Swedish Chef]

I loved the episode. And I love this show. And I feel like this episode healed the part of me that has been livid over a) the awful last season of HIMYM, b) the implosion of New Girl into an unwatchable mess, and c) what Helen Fielding did to the Bridget Jones franchise. Thank you, Parks and Rec, for making me whole again.

[joshleejosh]

It's been a few days, and I've decided that I... nope. I still have no idea how I feel about that ending. I was pretty happy with the episode that got them there, though.

 

A random nice moment: April reads off the absurdly long name for a volunteer committee and gives a Ludgate Death Glare™ to Leslie, who sheepishly admits she thought the hats would be bigger. I like how annoyed April is when she's the sane one. I hope she gets some stories in 2017 (hmm... nope, still totally nonplussed) that involve more than just giving encouragement to Andy.

[April Bloodgate]

I like how annoyed April is when she's the sane one. I hope she gets some stories in 2017 (hmm... nope, still totally nonplussed) that involve more than just giving encouragement to Andy.

Lately it has seemed like her only purpose is to help Tom or encourage Andy, but earlier in the season she had some good story lines about taking over the animal control department, running the animal shelter, and being Donna's boss.

[BoogieBurns]

The extended episode is on hulu now.

[Lawgiver]

The extended episode was well worth watching. I enjoyed the Jammy backstory.

[NoWillToResist]

One of my favourite things to witness is the normallly composed Leslie totally losing her shit and becoming a stuttering crazy person in the presence of her heroes. Her reaction to Michelle Obama killed me. I felt so bad for Leslie but I couldn't stop laughing at her inability to behave like a normal human being.

 

I am so glad that the show found a way to keep Leslie in Pawnee (which was required for the show) without giving up her dream job. When they made her pregnant, I feared she was going to give up the job because she wanted to raise her kids in Pawnee (though fuck only knows why), so I am pleased that she gets the man, the family and the job.

 

So, is Ben rich now that he holds the copyright to that game?

 

Everything involving Ron and the chairs he built for Tom's Bistro was gold.

Edited May 3, 2014 by NoWillToResist

[AudienceofOne]

I've been collecting episodes for the last few months and staying off the internet so when I finally got around to watching I thought this was the final episode. This whole back half had a winding-up feel that you normally get with shows like this. Not their funniest or their best episodes but just nice to see how they're going to wrap it all up.... except they didn't. Or rather they did but it's somehow still going. Enjoyed the episodes but the I think the Jerry/Gary/Larry butt menus went a bit far.

[Sesquipedalia]

I don't know how I feel about most of the episode, but I LOVED the Lil' Sebastian tribute. So heartwarming! I kind of feel like they should have saved that for the end of the series finale, though. It'll be hard to top it for sweetness and sentimentality.