There’s an amusing detail featured in one of the murals depicting Pawnee’s history in Parks and Recreation. The blink-and-you’ll-miss-it detail occurred during season 3 of the NBC sitcom. The series often had a sick sense of humor, which was perfectly encapsulated with this clever gag.
The Parks and Recreation Department, the show’s focus, was located inside the Pawnee City Hall building along with other government municipalities. While working at City Hall, Leslie Knope took a lot of pride in her city and was always keen on improving the area. At times, she would also share the interesting history of Pawnee, but unfortunately the town was involved in numerous, shameful events throughout its existence. Most towns would want to wipe those events from their history, but not Pawnee. A series of murals inside Pioneer Hall serve as a reminder of both the good and the downright awful aspects of the town.
During the Parks and Rec season 3 episode, “Harvest Festival,” Leslie informed Ben Wyatt about the town’s history with superstitions. This was in response to the chief of the local Wamapoke Tribe warning the department that the site of the Harvest Festival was cursed. Ben questioned whether the townspeople really believed in curses, but Leslie explained that a traveling magician once came through Pawnee and pulled a rabbit out of his hat. In response, the citizens of Pawnee burned the man at the stake for being a witch, proving that Pawnee was an extremely superstitious town. This moment in history was depicted on one of Pawnee’s murals, and the quick scene revealed that the magician’s poor rabbit was also a victim.
The Pawnee Mob Also Burned The Rabbit, According To The Mural
As shown on the Pawnee mural, the magician was indeed burned at the stake by paranoid citizens, but they didn’t stop with the traveling magician. On the other side of the stake, a small white rabbit can also be seen tied up, revealing that the Pawnee mob viewed the innocent animal as a form of dark magic, too. The joke was grim, but it’s difficult not to laugh at Park and Rec’s expertise in their planting of small details.
To take the magician mural gag a bit further on Parks and Recreation, the timeline of the event proved curses and superstitions were still fresh in the minds of the people in Pawnee. Burning people at the stake for suspected witchcraft may have happened centuries ago, but the situation in Pawnee actually took place in 1973. The mural depicting this took place in the Pawnee Mall parking lot as an angry mob, including a child, watched and cheered on the man setting the fire beneath the magician and his rabbit.
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