Parks and Recreation: Moving Up Recap

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Parks and Recreation: Moving Up (6×20-21)

Synopsis: As the Unity Concert finally comes to a head, Leslie gets to have her cake and eat it too. Tom opens his restaurant early to varying results. Ben finds out about the popularity of The Cones of Dunshire, and both Andy and Ron have a realization revolving around music.

Rating: ?????

First off, how many series finales is Parks and Rec going to have before the series actually ends? I think we’re up to four now? I think it’s bit of a running gag at this point.

Luckily, this episode alleviated my worst fears for Leslie over the course of the episode. I worried throughout the season that she would find some reason not to take the amazing job offer of running the Midwest division of the National Parks Service in favor of continuing her job that kicks her in the face all the time. However, changing the setting away from Pawnee could have meant a drastic change in the way the show works.

Of course, Leslie being Leslie, she comes up with the most perfect solution ever: bring the job to Pawnee. It seems stupid, but she thinks it through, writes a proposal, and gets her wish in the end of having her dream job, but staying where she loves and with who she loves. How could I have doubted the writers on it?

Also, I gotta love that her decision to take the job is made after an awkward encounter with Michelle Obama. I hope I’m not like that when I meet Kelly Sue Deconnick this summer.

Leslie isn’t the only one moving up in the world though. Tom is too after a lot of trial and error. After a rough soft opening that causes his investor to withdraw, Tom is convinced by April and Ron to try again. Even with the Saperstein family being the most unhelpful, Tom manages to have his success. Maybe this time it’ll stick.

On Ben’s front, he finds out on total accident that The Cones of Dunshire has taken off in a big way across the internet. How? No one knows, but he manages to use his invention to score free wi-fi for Pawnee and the old accounting firm copyrights the game in Ben’s name. Hell yeah! Maybe this means a mass produced Cones of Dunshire in the future? I know a few cons it would be a hit at.

With all the struggles it went through, the Unity Concert goes off without a hitch, being headlined by acts like The Decemberists, Letters to Cleo, Ginuwine, and Land Ho. I wish we could have seen Ben’s face when he found out Letters to Cleo was booked, but that’s what fanfic is for. HINT HINT. Andy tries to convince Ron to play as Duke Silver, but he refuses since he considers his music career private. Meanwhile, Andy realizes that while being Johnny Karate is awesome, he does miss playing in a band. Was I the only one who didn’t realize that Mouse Rat broke up? I feel like the writers could have been way more clear about that.

Andy isn’t in his slump too long though because April is the best wife ever and arranges for Mouse Rat to close out the night with ‘5,000 Candles In The Wind’ with all the other bands, a hologram Lil’ Sebastian, and… DUKE SILVER?!

You can thank Tammy II for that one everyone because after she tries to claim Ron hasn’t changed, Ron decides to prove her wrong and to stop hiding Duke Silver away. All because of Dianne and his family. Awwwww.

There’s also a great scene in the Producer’s Cut of the episode where Ron and Dianne work together to hook up Tammy II and Jeremy Jamm because they are the worst best match for each other. It’s kind of glorious. Though, I might mostly be saying that because we get more of Lucy Lawless. Because it is Lucy Lawless.

Well, I said in my last recap that this finale would make or break the season for me, and oh boy, did it definitely make it. There were several things that worried me or that I generally wasn’t satisfied with, but I think towards the end, it really came together. The finale didn’t grab me as emotionally as it has in the past, but I’m glad it exists and sets a course for Leslie Knope’s better life in season 7.

Speaking of season 7, how about that flash forward at the end to three years later? Is that going to be where all of season 7 takes place or are we going to see what builds up to it? Why is Larry now Terry? How incompetent is Jon Hamm’s character really? What is Ben celebrating? Where are Tom and Ron? SO MANY QUESTIONS THAT I HOPE THEY ANSWER IN THE NEXT YEAR.