Tonight was the season finale of Parks and Recreation and a big day for Leslie: Election Day.
Tensions are running high for everyone who’s been working hard on the Knope campaign (which has spanned this entire season). Everything has basically been building up to this point, and as nerve-wracking as everything feels, there seems to be a lot of hope for Leslie, as Bobby Newport himself said that he would vote for her—although that’s more because he thinks it’s illegal to vote for oneself.
Meanwhile, Jennifer (Bobby’s campaign manager) wants to hire Ben for a congressional campaign she’ll be working on once she heads back to Washington, D.C. At first Ben thinks it’s some kind of a joke, then realizes that Jennifer is being serious. Even though they’re campaign managers for two opposing sides, Jennifer recognizes Ben’s campaigning talent. Unfortunately for Leslie and Ben, if Ben decides to take the job, this would mean that he would have to be in D.C. for at least six months for the campaign.
Parks and Rec is a sitcom, but it’s always had its emotional moments. During tonight’s episodes, there were several. The first one was the scene where Leslie voted for herself. Watching her standing in that voting booth with tears in her eyes honestly made me feel a little weepy. This had been her dream ever since she was a little girl, and for her to be this close, to finally be able to vote for herself was just really amazing to watch (and Amy Poehler pulled off the scene so well).
Now, of course, is the wait, which is always incredibly agonizing. To distract and de-stress Leslie, Ann takes her to a boxing gym (it actually looks like a really great way to get rid of stress; maybe I should take up boxing). While they’re at the gym, Ann asks Leslie what she’s going to do about Ben. She then advises Leslie to tell him how she feels about the situation. While Ann and Leslie discuss the matter, Ben talks to Ron about it. It seems Ron is encouraging Ben to stay in Pawnee with Leslie. Of course, that may be because Ron never wants anything to change. Apparently he even still gets his milk “delivered by horse.” Leslie and Ben finally talk about Jennifer’s job offer, and Leslie straight up tells Ben that she doesn’t want him to go to Washington, D.C., to which Ben replies, “Then I won’t go.”
Finally, the election results come in. I’ll be honest, I couldn’t believe what my eyes and ears were telling me, because they were telling me that Bobby won. It seems even Leslie can’t quite believe it, since she starts laughing. In fact, her laugh is so convincing for one crazed second I got the wild idea that she was almost relieved that she lost. Obviously worried, Ben asks her why she’s laughing, and Leslie replies, “Because my dream is dead.”
Because Bobby only won by 21 votes, Ben is able to get the city to do a recount. Jennifer obviously wants to leave Pawnee as quickly as possible. She even offers Leslie Joe Biden’s home phone number to stop them from having a recount. While they’re recounting the votes, Leslie goes missing. No one knows where she is, although Ron is able to instantly guess where she’s gone. He finds here in the city council room, sitting in the city council person’s chair, saying it might be her last chance to sit in that chair. Leslie tells Ron that if she loses, she’ll never be able to forgive herself because of all the hard work that her friends have put into her campaign. Ron then tells her, “We did it because we care about you.” It’s a great moment between Leslie and Ron—who have a great friendship—because you know it’s true. All of her friends willingly gave up their time for her because they loved her.
After her talk with Ron, Leslie has a chat with Ben and gives him a mini replica of the Washington Monument and tells him, “You have to go to Washington.” She realizes the distance will be hard, but she tells him she doesn’t want to be the one who gets in the way of him and his dream.
At this point, Ann finds the two of them and tells them that the recount results are in. She tells Leslie that there are still 21 votes between the winner and the loser, but that this time, it’s Leslie who has those extra 21 votes. LESLIE KNOPE WON! Honestly, I got a little bit teary-eyed at this point, because to see Leslie achieve something she’s wanted and been working towards for so long was almost too much for me to handle.
Of course, Parks and Rec being Parks and Rec decides that it’s not done making me feel all these emotions. Before Leslie reads her victory speech, she tells Ben that one day—when she’s “more emotionally stable”—she’d like to read the concession speech he wrote for her. The thing is, he never wrote it. When Ben said that I honestly could not take it anymore; I actually had hearts and tears in my eyes. To know that he had such faith in Leslie and that he believed in her to such an extent just made me so happy.
So, all in all, it was a great finish to a great season.
Also, I do realize there are rumors flying around right now that Parks and Recreation will be cancelled after a short season next year (although NBC has yet to confirm anything). I’m still holding onto hope, though. Maybe it’s irrational and overly optimistic, but you know what? Dreams do come true. Leslie’s did. We can only hope that NBC realizes what a gem it has with a show like Parks and Recreation, because if the fifth season is Parks and Recreation's last season, I will be incredibly upset.