Parks and Recreation was a truly unique sitcom as seldom comedy’s that came before it had a more memorable ensemble of main characters. Leslie Knope, Ron Swanson, April Ludgate, and the nearly dozen employees of one of Pawnee’s smallest local government branches will forever live in television history.
The comedy may have done a great job of giving audiences a surplus of different subplots that often followed one of the memorable main characters solving a problem that anybody from a small-town could relate too. That being said, the comedy couldn’t perfectly tie up every loose end and left a few side-stories open for audiences to continue wondering about. Here’s a list of 5 subplots that Parks and Rec wrapped up perfectly (and 5 they didn’t).
Perfect: Ron’s Job
Ron Swanson was easily one of the best characters on the show (and arguably in television history) but he made it known from the very beginning of the series that he despised every form of government, especially the one that he worked for. He also made it clear that he was the type of person to dive further into the belly of the beast to gut the monster (local government) from the inside.
However, as good a leader as he was, Ron never really belonged inside an office building, and when Leslie provided him the opportunity to spend the rest of his days wandering around the outdoors, it just felt perfect (even if it was for the federal government).
Not Perfect: Leslie & Ben’s kids
Whatever happened to the Wonder-Triplets? Seriously, while they were only around for the final season, Ben and Leslie’s kids were shown a handful of times and it was deemed that they were basically super-humans who never stopped moving (not surprising based on their parents).
However, the last that audiences ever get to see the trio is when the kids are hanging out in the old Parks & Rec department during the series finale. It’s implied that Leslie’s daughter and Ann’s son might get together, but after that, it’s completely swept under the rug.
Perfect: Bobby Newport
This subplot might not have been wrapped up in the most perfect of ways, but it was cool getting to see Paul Rudd come back for his iconic recurring role as Bobby Newport, heir to the Newport fortune.
The scene wasn’t in the initial airing of the final episode, but it was revealed in a special director’s cut of the finale that Rudd returned for one final scene as the gullible and spacey Bobby Newport. He’s one of the candidates to become interim mayor before it ultimately goes to Jerry, but at least we get to see what Bobby has been up to since he lost the city council election to Leslie.
Not Perfect: Mouse Rat (Andy’s music career)
This particular subplot is more about Andy’s career, in general (not just his music career) because it’s left pretty wide-open what happens to him at the end of the series. Of course, we all know that April decided to move to Washington D.C. for a new job and Andy decided to go with her - but what did he do for a living? Mouse Rat hadn’t been a thing since he came up with his musical alter-ego. So, how exactly was Andy making money?
Did he go back to just doing live concerts for kids? Or did he come up with a whole new character and start a different television show? Or did Mouse Rat actually get back together and he succeeded at becoming a famous rock star? We have questions, that’s all we’re saying.
Perfect: Jerry Gergich’s life/death
In all honesty, Jerry didn’t deserve a lot of the flak that he got throughout the series. It was unfortunate but the show simply needed somebody who could always be the screw-up or the butt of the joke and it simply landed on Jerry’s shoulders.
However, the show’s lovable teddy-bear finally got the recognition he deserved when he was named Pawnee’s interim mayor. In fact, he ended up becoming Pawnee’s greatest mayor and lived to the age of 100 before dying surrounded by dozens of family members. We always felt Jerry deserved better, and it turned out that the creators did too.
Not Perfect: Jean Ralphio champagne label
Jean Ralphio might not have been the show’s main character, but he was definitely one of the most hilarious and memorable as every second he was on screen was then followed by copious amounts of laughter by the audience.
But what actually happens to him at the end of the series is still puzzling for some fans. The series finale, “One Last Ride”, did a great job of trying to tie up every possible loose end the show had, including showing that Jean-Ralphio tried to fake his death. However, eagle-eyed viewers also noticed that the champagne being served to Craig and Typhoon in their flash-forward scene has a label with Jean-Ralphio’s name on it.
Perfect: Gryzzl and the Pawnee National Park
One of the longest-running staples of the show was that Leslie Knope claimed that Pawnee was the best place in the entire world to live and that only an idiot would live anywhere else. While Ron did a great job explaining to her that her ambition would take her away from the town she loved, she could only do so in the right way - and that meant making sure Pawnee was taken care of.
In the first half of the final season, Leslie worked tirelessly to not only get a business conglomerate to put their headquarters in Pawnee to help the economy but also established an official National Park right in her hometown’s backyard.
Not Perfect: Leslie or Ben as President
We get it, some things are better left unsaid and shrouded in a little bit of mystery - but come on. Every single fan of Parks and Recreation was waiting for the day that we got to see Leslie Knope elected President. It had been mentioned several times throughout the series that Ben and Leslie were going to make a run for the white house, and by the end of the finale, they both had stacked political resumes that could have easily earned them a candidacy.
But that’s the problem - they both had equal chances at getting the nomination and the show never specifically stated which one got it (we all know it was Leslie, but some things require clarification).
Perfect: Johnny Karate
While Andy’s career after Johnny Karate may still be left up in the air for fans to try and decipher, there’s no arguing that the entire episode devoted to saying goodbye to Johnny Karate was about as conclusive as you could get. Andy had spent the first several seasons trying to figure out what he wanted to do with his life (besides marrying April) and had finally settled on being a children’s music entertainer, starting with live concerts and then getting his own television program.
When it was revealed that April was going to move to Washington D.C., Andy gave up the character to follow her, but not before the series gave audiences an actual episode of the Johnny Karate show.
Not Perfect: Jon Hamm’s character
We’re sorry, but what was this? The strangest, most out-of-left-field thing that happened on Parks and Rec was when the show brought in A-list actor Jon Hamm for the final season. It was revealed in the season 6 finale that Hamm was going to play a character named Ed in Leslie’s office for the new National Parks Department branch in Pawnee.
However, once season 7 started, it was revealed that Hamm’s character was so inadequate at his job that Leslie fired him before he could get more than three lines in, and that was the end of that. Seriously, was this just some sort of marketing scheme by Subway or was it the show’s plan all along? Either way, we’re still confused.
