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It's hard to believe Parks and Recreation is coming to an end. Then again, it's hard to believe the show lasted seven whole seasons. Thank you, TV gods, for letting us have this treasure of a comedy even though it didn't rake in huge ratings!
And it's also harder to believe where the show went during the last season. I mean ... what the what? Everyone jumps three years into the future and Leslie has triplets! And from there the season finale just got nuttier.
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So, now that we've seen what happens to everyone in the year 2022, what does it all mean?
Maybe it's like what Tom Haverford, the man who found success through failure, said. "The story of America isn't about second chances. It's about fourth, fifth, sixth, twentieth chances."
Or maybe it's about optimism and good will triumphing. I think that was my favorite thing about the show. Even though we love how dark April could be, how cranky Ron could be, how mean everyone was to Gary, and how much opposition Leslie was always fighting, there was always an undercurrent of goodness and decency through all the story lines. It's about community.
"What makes work worth doing is getting to do it with people you love," Leslie says at the end of the show.
And all the major characters in the series find an absurdly happy ending -- while still remaining very much themselves (regardless of Ben's results from Tom's "what kind of person are you" quiz). It's the same thing we wish for ourselves and our loved ones.
Didn't you love Leslie's little speech to Ben? "Whatever's next, you and I are in it together." And then Ben decides to be the man behind the great woman -- because of course he did!
What are your favorite Parks and Recreation memories?
Image via Colleen Hays/NBC
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