Entertainment

We'll Get You Up To Speed on 'Parks and Rec'

by Rachel Paige

Currently, my least favorite phrase is, " Parks and Recreation farewell season." Cue the tears, cue the incoherent babbling about breakfast food and Li'l Sebastian. It's something I don't want to admit, let alone accept. I'm slowly coming to grips with the fact that we only have 13 more episodes together in Pawnee. So maybe if we all promise to stick together through this, and offer up shoulders to cry on when it's all over, we'll all come out stronger on the other side. Sound like a plan? So before we move forward, what happened in Season 6 of Parks and Rec ?

Season 6 followed two HUGE stories for our girl Leslie Knope. For one, her position as City Councilwoman was challenged, and she was ultimately recalled from the role. But, that little bump in the road didn't stop Leslie — she was then offered a super prestigious position with the National Parks Association, where she'd basically be in charge of all the Midwestern parks. After much back and forth between Leslie and her soulmate Ben Wyatt, she decided to take it — but not before she convinced the National Parks Association to let her keep her office in Pawnee. It worked — she stays put in the town that's first in friendship, fourth in obesity.

Also, Leslie and Ben have triplets! That was the last big bombshell to come out of Season 6, especially when we fast forwarded three years into the future, so the kids are already walking and talking.

And let's not forget Leslie also fired Jon Hamm.

But Leslie's not the only one who had a monumental year in Pawnee. What about the rest of the Parks and Rec crew?

Ben Wyatt

First up, Ben gets fired from Sweetums. It sends him into a little bit of a downward spiral, but he does create Cones of Dunshire, the best board game we all secretly want to play.

Thankfully, Ben isn't unemployed for long, and Chris offers him the position of City Manager, which he accepts. In a bid to get the entire town of Pawnee free Wi-Fi, he finds himself playing the very game he created, Cones of Dunshire, against some techies who are impressed that he's the "creator." Ben wins the game, and all of Pawnee wins free Wi-Fi. Ben Wyatt, what a nice guy.

Ann Perkins & Chris Traeger

The beautiful angel fish finally found her beautiful sea urchin. After many ups and downs, and one of the nicest breakups ever, Ann and Chris finally became a full fledged "thing." Then, Ann got pregnant. She explained to Leslie — waffles included — that she wanted to be closer to her family while raising the baby, and her and Chris decide to move to Michigan. When they leave, we cry just as much as Leslie.

They name their son Oliver Perkins-Traeger, which is PERFECT.

Andy Dwyer & April Ludgate

First up for Andy, he "stayed in London for a while," aka became a Guardian of the Galaxy, which is why he was MIA for the first half of Season 6. When he returns, he's still got the lingering idea of becoming a rock star stuck in his head, but he's a much better Johnny Karate — and previews for Season 7 suggest that he becomes the highlight of all kids' birthday parties.

Meanwhile, April had been accepted to veterinary school, but decided against attending (I still think she should, hopefully she does in the future?). Neither one of them has plans to leave Pawnee for the foreseeable future. Also, Andy and April might get divorced, just so they can get married again. Oh, young love.

Donna Meagle

Donna accidentally starts the whole #BitchBoss twitter-gate of the Parks Department, when she leaves the Parks twitter signed in by accident (and that's what she calls Leslie when she's mad at her). But don't worry, she also tweets #BossBitch when she's praising Leslie.

There's also a little something-something going on between Donna and a schoolteacher, Joe (played my Keegan-Michael Key), and most fans are rooting for that relationship to last into Season 7.

Jerry

Jerry became Larry who then became Terry. That's all you really need to know.

Tom Haverford

If there's one character that's blossomed just as much as Leslie over the last six seasons, it's Tom. Gone are the days where he and Jean-Ralphio are printing their own money and hitting party buttons at their leisure.

Tom, after having Tommy's Closet bought out once and for all, decides his new idea is Tommy's Bistro. It could have gone horribly wrong, and it almost did. But somehow, Tommy's Bistro becomes a huge hit. Our little Tom has finally grown up.

Of course when Parks and Rec returns for Season 7 on Tuesday, it'll be three years into the future, so some of these characters could be in completely different places than where we last saw them.

Images: Ben Cohen/NBC; Giphy (7)