Parks and Recreation Begins Their Farewell Season

Parks and Recreation season 7 premiered on January 13, 2014. Courtesy of insidetv.ew.

By Kerrie Defelice, Sports Editor
January 16, 2015

The seventh and final season of Parks and Recreation has finally aired on Tuesday, January 13. Last time we saw our favorite working crew, they had fast forwarded to the year 2017. If you missed the premiere for the best comedy still on TV, here is a recap on where our favorite Pawneens are now.

Leslie Knope

Leslie confronts Jam about the councilmen vote in the 2-hour premiere "Ron and Jammy." Courtesy of NBC.
Leslie confronts Jam about the councilmen vote in the 2-hour premiere “Ron and Jammy.” Courtesy of NBC.

Now a mother of three toddlers, Leslie Knope, the workaholic, is currently employed as the head of the Midwest Parks Service Pawnee branch for the National Parks Service. Life seems to be going great for Leslie in the beginning of the premiere; she knocked it out of the park with having triplets, has her dream job, and still gets to live in her favorite town, but our worst Parks and Rec nightmare has finally came true. Leslie and Ron Swanson are at war over the mysterious ‘Morning Star’ project that happened during the lost 3 years. The Parks and Recreation final season is only 13 episodes long and with two episodes off the calendar, I just hope that the Leslie/Ron feud ends as soon as possible.


Ben Wyatt

Ben Wyatt begins the season with being honored as Man of the Year. Courtesy of NBC.
Ben Wyatt begins the season with being honored as Man of the Year. Courtesy of NBC.

Ben Wyatt is a father to three, city manager, and was honored as Man of the Year 2017 due to his superior work on the Pawnee Bicentennial Celebration. This award is the biggest achievement since the dreaded Ice Town incident. Life for Ben Wyatt in the year 2017 can get no better.

Ron Swanson

Leslie and Ron go head to head when fighting over a National Park. Courtesy of NBC.
Leslie and Ron go head to head when fighting over a National Park. Courtesy of NBC.

  Ron Swanson had a total 360 last season when he got married, got two step daughters, and had a son of his own, but this season Ron continues to change. In the season 7 premiere, we learn that Ron has quit the Parks department 2 years ago and started his own building company called Very Good Building and Development Company, and he’s at war with Leslie which is probably the worst thing that could have happened to the finale season.

Tom Haverford

Tom has finally become a business mogul but begins to feel lonely until he visit's Lucy his old flame. Courtesy of NBC.
Tom has finally become a business mogul but begins to feel lonely until he visit’s Lucy his old flame. Courtesy of NBC.

Now a business mogul, Tom Haverford has reached everything he’s dreamed of. Tom’s Bistro has taken off; he was named one of 35 under 35 by Indiana Business Monthly, owns four eateries, and works for Ron. Tom believes he has everything, but soon figures out that he is lonely. Conveniently, at the same time Tom’s ex girlfriend, Lucy, reaches out to catch up, and he immediately becomes infatuated with her again. Tom then asks Lucy to leave Chicago and come work at Tom’s Bistro. When she complies, Tom’s joy is short lived when he finds out she has a boyfriend. I think we can all agree that we just want Tom to find someone to vent to and love.

Donna Meagle

Donna shows for her bling when announcing her engagement to Leslie. Courtesy of NBC.
Donna shows for her bling when announcing her engagement to Leslie. Courtesy of NBC.

The outspoken Donna Meagle has returned. Donna is continuing to run her realty company Regal Meagle Realty and has joined Tom in working with Ron. In the season 7 premiere, we also learn that Donna’s extensive dating life has come to an end when she reveals that she is engaged to elementary school teacher Joe.

April Ludgate-Dwyer

April and Andy want to excite their boring lives and buy a house that use to be an insane asylum. Courtesy of NBC.
April and Andy want to excite their boring lives and buy a house that use to be an insane asylum. Courtesy of NBC.

  Starting off the season, April and Andy have done the unthinkable; they are now a boring couple. They have become a couple who cleans out the gutters, uses crock pots, and takes Zyrtec in order to prevent heartburn. When April realizes that they have gone to far, Andy and herself plan regain their spontaneity. First order of business is to go out on a whim and buy a beaten down house that used to be an insane asylum. Second thing to do is to break the Frisbee plates again. During the second half of the premiere, April begins to question if she really likes her job. So she visits a mortuary with Ben to investigate the job but is turned off at the fact that she can’t touch a dead body until her second year.

Andy Dwyer

With an actual job this season, Andy portrays his alter ego Johnny Karate in a children's T.V. show. Courtesy of tvrecaps.ew.
With an actual job this season, Andy portrays his alter ego Johnny Karate in a children’s T.V. show. Courtesy of tvrecaps.ew.

  If you watch Parks and Rec religiously, you would never imagine the day that Andy Dwyer had a real job and acted like a real adult, but yet again, Andy Dwyer has surprised us. Starring as Johnny Karate in his new TV show The Johnny Karate Super Awesome Musical Explosion Show, Andy is finally a grown up. Soon he has the realization that being an adult is boring, so Andy goes back to his crazy antics that lead him to nearly streaking during a black tie gala.

Terry/Larry/Jerry Gergich

Terry a.k.a. Jerry makes a cameo on Andy's new television show. Courtesy of NBC.
Terry a.k.a. Larry a.k.a. Jerry makes a cameo on Andy’s new television show. Courtesy of NBC.

Due to the fact that the National Parks Service already has an employee named Larry, we now introduce you to Terry. Terry still works for Leslie under the National Park Service and is cameos in Andy’s tv show as a mailman who occasionally gets beat up by little ninjas. In season 7, we can expect that Terry will remain like Larry.


Parks and Recreation will conclude this masterpiece of a show on February 24, 2015.