Parks and Recreation is my all-time favorite show. It brings me an immense amount of joy and when I rewatch it, I always wish I was experiencing it for the first time. Pawnee forever!
The show came to an end 10 years ago and fans left Pawnee behind. That doesn’t mean we ever stopped talking about it. Created by Greg Daniels and Mike Schur, Parks and Recreation stars Amy Poehler as Leslie Knope, the deputy director of the Pawnee Parks and Recreation department. Her boss, Ron Swanson (Nick Offerman) is a man who hates the government and wants to do the bare minimum in his job. Leslie is the opposite.
With iconic characters like April Ludgate (Aubrey Plaza), Andy Dwyer (Chris Pratt), Tom Haverford (Aziz Ansari), Donna Meagle (Retta), and more, the show ended up becoming one of NBC’s biggest hits. Well, unless you talk to fans of The Office who think that it is better than Parks. Those are not my friends. (Just kidding we love all mockumentaries here!)
All this to say that I was filled with joy when writer and creator Shea Serrano asked a simple question: “what’s your single favorite P&R moment?” There were many that fans agreed on. Like the Snake Juice episode. “The snake juice episode is the best single episode of any sitcom ever released,” one X user wrote.
Others were more specific to their favorite couples, like Ben Wyatt (Adam Scott) realizing that Leslie Knope was a powerhouse.
Others included Chris Pratt’s iconic improved line of “Leslie, I typed your symptoms into the thing up here and it says you could have network connectivity problems.” Point is: Everyone has their own favorite moment and I, as the number one fan of Parks and Recreation, have two very specific moments.
Ben Wyatt is always my guy
The minute I think about moments in Parks and Recreation, I often think of the love of Ben Wyatt and Leslie Knope. I have my favorite joke moments but there is a lot to love in Ben and Leslie’s love story. But there are two very specific moments that are my favorite from the series as a whole when it comes to Ben Wyatt and Leslie Knope.
First, honorary mention goes to the episode “Partridge” where Ben goes back home to Minnesota and is high on pain meds and tries to feed a statue of an eagle. But my favorite moment in the series happened in the finale. And the only reason it is my favorite is because of a lot of little moments between Ben and Leslie.
One of my favorites is when Ben finally tells Leslie how he feels about her and the two kiss with the receipts. I love “Smallest Park,” I love when they pass their box back and forth with opportunities for each other, and more. Which led to the moment I love most of all: Ben knowing that Leslie should run for governor of Indiana.
When I watched the finale for the first time, I was shocked I wasn’t emotional and wasn’t crying. And then Ben made the decision that Leslie would take the governor position and I lost it. Sobbed uncontrollably because I knew that this man loved his wife so much and would do anything for her.
That’s the kind of love I want, two people who know each other so deeply and will do anything for one another. Ben Wyatt and Leslie Knope showed me what was possible and I love them for it.
What’s your favorite Parks and Recreation moment? Let us know in the comments below!
(featured image: NBC)
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