Last season, the finale's big question was whether or not you were better off than you were a year later after Leslie Knope was elected into city council, which ultimately lead to her recall vote being announced. That question fits better this season, as Leslie Knope is now head of the National Parks Department in Pawnee! Everybody is certainly better than they were last year, or should I say three years! The finale's big twist brought us into 2017 where the National Parks Department is a huge success, Leslie and Ben's triplets were born (two boys and a girl), and Leslie fires Don Draper! Who knew Matthew Weiner would let Michael Schur get a hold of the Mad Men ending where Don is frozen! However, let's back up a bit first.
The season premiered with a two parter called "London", which was one of the season's best episodes. It started out right where Season 5 left off with Ron and Diane getting married on short notice at town hall right after Diane tells Ron she's pregnant. Three months later, Leslie, Ben, Ron, Andy, and April to London for an award Leslie won, while back in Pawnee Tom finds out Jean Ralphio's dad (Henry Winkler) is looking to buy Tommy's Closet and Ann and Chris are progressing their relationship. Since Chris Pratt was shooting "Guardians of the Galaxy" at the time, Andy went out on a business trip and returned for "Filibuster" and came back full time in "Second Chunce". From there the season was hit or miss until midseason with some great episodes ("Doppelgangers" and "The Cones of Dunshire"), good episodes ("Gin it Up!" and "Recall Vote"), and meh episodes ("The Pawnee-Eagleton Tip Off Classic", "Filibuster", and "Flouride").
These episodes had a trend: the main story was great but the subplots lacked or vice versa. The only time all the storylines were great where "Doppelgangers" and "The Cones of Dunshire". We were introduced to two new recurring characters in "Doppelgangers": Craig (Billy Eichner) and Ron Dunn (Sam Elliot). I hated Craig in his first few appearances, but as the season progressed he got better, and by the finale he had some really funny bits. Ron Dunn was awesome, and he was the exact opposite of Ron Swanson. Sam Elliot appeared again in "Flu Season II", and I'm really hoping he appears again next season.
Three major events happened in this part of the season: Jerry got a new name, Pawnee and Eagleton merged ("The Pawnee-Eagleton Tip Off Classic") and Leslie was recalled from City Council ("Recall Vote"). In a classic Jerry move, he said his name was Larry Gengurch. To my surprise they called him that all season, and I've become quite accustomed to the new name. The merger storyline on a whole was interesting and executed well enough (more on this later). Amy Poehler gives a tour deforce performance in that episode, hitting all the right comedic and dramatic notes.
This part of the season had two major flaws: Chris and Ann and the lack of Andy. Chris and Ann had barely anything to do this season, and I'm glad they were written off. They'll probably guest star next season of course, but the decision to remove them was a great one. The lack of Andy is something that the writers did their best to fix, but his lack of presence was felt big time.
After those episodes the show hit it's 100th episode called "Second Chunce" where Leslie tries getting back in City Council and Chris and Ann find out they're having a boy. This was a very sentimental episode and was a big character development. For once, Leslie said no and moved on from City Council. The next episode "New Beginnings" was by far the weakest episode of the season. Sure, Ben became City Manager, but the episode was very, very boring to get through. We're talking Season 1 levels here folks. Fortunately, the next two episodes were the best of the season (until the finale).
"Farmer's Market" was full of laughs as Leslie and Ben try to prevent the farmer's market from becoming too adult, Andy, Ann finally got something to do, and Andy's stage persona Johnny Karate was born (it was also Adam Scott's directing debut). The next episode "Ann and Chris" was Rashida Jones and Robe Lowe's last episode as regulars and they went out on a high note. Leslie breaks ground on the Pawnee Commons with Ann and the guys try finding Chris gifts. It was a very bittersweet (but necessary) departure. "Anniversaries" dealt with the aftermath of their departure as Ben tries to do the things Leslie did with Ann but ends up doing most of them with Larry, while April tries hiding a secret from Donna and Ron writes letters to everything he hates such as vegans and Canada. Unfortunately, this was the last great episode for a bit.
The show was on a slump from there. The following episode "The Wall" dealt with Leslie being offered a new job at the National Parks Department in Chicago after her proposal she sent at the beginning of Season 5. We also find out Ron's baby was born and his name is John Swanson, and Tom is looking to start up an Italian restaurant called "Tom's Bistro".
Things start picking up in "Flu Season II" where Leslie finds out she's pregnant, and in the following episode "1 in 8,000" she finds out she's having triplets! At first glance, sitting through another pregnancy storyline next season would be awful, but fortunately the time jump fixed that.
"Moving Up" was hands down the best episode of the season. Full of plot twists, cameos, and laughs, this episode felt like Parks and Recreation. The twist to 2017 was a big advantage, but at the same time a bad one. On one hand, we won't have to sit through another pregnancy storyline and we won't need to spend a season watching the National Parks Department and Tom's Bistro progress, but at the same time we won't get to see how the Pawnee Commons came along. It broke ground during "Ann and Chris", but after that it was non-existent.
Overall, this was a very mixed season with a lot of buildup. Fortunately, the payoff was more than worth it and makes me forgive the boring episodes this season. Next season is most likely going to be it's last, but I'm hoping we get 13 great episodes or 22 great episodes instead of 13 great episodes with 9 meh episodes.
Overall grade: B
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