Parks & Rec 6×13 “Ann and Chris” Preview

Well, I watched a screener (preview copy) of the next episode of Parks and Recreation, but I had to take a small break before writing my review. For some reason, my eyes were basically useless a few minutes ago. Oh, I’ve gotten misty over the years, but to actually have tears running down my face – that’s a rare occurrence. So damn you NBC. (okay, not really – but still…)

When I review P&R each week, I usually remark on how well the writers juggle three stories in the half-hour confines of the show. However, this show didn’t have to do that. It really just had the main story with tiny off-shoots. And it’s a good thing – this episode needed to concentrate on Ann and Chris.

Personally, I just don’t know how Leslie’s going to do it – how she’ll cope without Ann by her side. I know Ben is her rock, but even after he came into the picture, she continued to rely on Ann in many tough situations. And a girlfriend is so much different than a husband. Boy, do I know that. And Ben also has Chris. I know he’s more of a background BFF, but there have been times when the pair were very close. When bailing out Eagleton they had a bromance moment – and it really brought home how close Ben and Chris are.

On the other hand, there’s April. Since that day when she realized there might be something to this Andy guy – she hated Ann with the passion of one-thousand suns. Ann moving away is, and I quote, the “Greatest day of my life”. So April and Leslie go into the goodbye celebrations with the same fervor, but for entirely different reasons. It’s pretty amusing to watch.

There’s a bit of a snag in Leslie’s big surprise though, and at the beginning of the episode, she thinks she has it in the bag. She most definitely DOES NOT – and it’s more a surprise for her than it is for Ann. April gets to drop the bomb on Leslie that the plan isn’t quite ‘going to plan’ – and Leslie scrambles a bit to get it together. Meanwhile, the party is going strong. It’s chaos and amazing all at the same time. 100% Pure Knope.

Now for the guys. Everybody (yes, even Larry/Jerry/Gary (btw, there’s a joke at the end of the ep about his names)) shows up to help him pack, and Chris has ‘buddy boxes’ for all of them. Each box has some sort of trinket that relates to an event that person shared with Chris. It’s really sweet, but the guys only got him a Gift Card for ‘pots and pans’. Chris says they needed some pots, but of course the GC is for pans. Whoops.

So, as the side-story, the boys try to think of some kind of gift they can get for Chris so they don’t seem so ungrateful. There’s a pretty lame attempt, and of course, Chris is okay with it – but something he says to them sparks an idea in Ben, and they bring him the perfect present just before the send-off that caps the guys’ storyline off right.

Okay, so back to the snag in Leslie’s surprise. It’s probably not a shock that it has to do with the park that started Leslie & Ann’s friendship. In order to do what she needs to do before Ann leaves, she has to make a ‘Chain of Deals’ (it’s a fairly popular TV theme) with a few people – savory and unsavory, but at the end of the day – LITERALLY – she gets it done. We also learn a few things about Ann in the process. My eyebrows shot up at least once.

The bench that used to sit beside the pit gets another use as Ann and Leslie have a heart to heart, and then they get a little closure. Heartbreaking and heartwarming all at once. Another shocking thing happens at the lot, but hey, I’m not even going to HINT at that one.

The last scene is the drive-away. It’s just the worst. In the TV world, It’s hard to beat that scene for wrenching in the last few years. Yeah, M*A*S*H was way worse, but this is a sitcom – right? Ugh. The goodbyes… First of all, Chris actually uses the word litrally correctly. (yeah spellcheck, I meant to spell it that way, calm down). And even though some of the platitudes were said at the party, the ones carside were a gazillion times harder to watch.

So this is going to be in my top five Parks & Rec episodes of all time – I just know it. I don’t think it can get much better than this. If you miss it, you won’t forgive yourself.