Parks & Rec 6×13 “Ann And Chris” Recap

Okay, now that this episode has aired, I can finally talk about the details. If you’d like to read my sketchy preview article, check it out here.

So, Leslie is doing two HUGE things to send her BFF off with a bang. She’s throwing the Leslie-est party ever, and she’s breaking ground on the park that started off their friendship five years ago. There’s just one hitch, Public Works didn’t give the okay, and Harold is livid that Leslie went over his head to have the ceremony pushed up in order to do it before Ann leaves town.

That means Harold puts up a barbed-wire fence with some interesting signs and even posts a couple of security guards – just to make sure Leslie can’t get around him again. Turns out he can’t be bribed with super delicious cookies. He’s kind of a douche.

Leslie’s party is kickass – she’s set up a HUGE space to celebrate every occasion she and Ann would commemorate throughout the year. She even got the morose Orin to stand around in a bunny suit for the Easter area. One of many little cameos that make this episode exquisitely hilarious.

Speaking of which, this leads very nicely into the ‘Chain of Deals’ Leslie and Ann have to make in order to get access to the lot from Harold. He wants free drinks from Sweetums, which were taken away from Catherine Pinewood – who hates Leslie because she imposed the soda tax. Ann puts Catherine in a headlock, so Catherine tells her that if they can get a spokesperson for their basketball energy drink, she’ll provide the sodas to the Public Works department. Of course, that leads Leslie and Ann to Pistol Pete – the town’s Basketball hero. Sweetums had already asked him and he just isn’t interested.

Once they give up on Pete, they turn to Perd Hapley – who apparently is also some sort of sports legend (?). I’m okay with that, because it lets us in on a little secret. When Ann was in her mad dating phase, she went out with Perd, and they almost kissed! Wow. That kinda surprised me! Not a pair I’d imagine – but then she dated Tom also… so there’s that. With Perd doing it for ‘old time’s sake’, Sweetums is in – Harold gets his free drinks, and Leslie has access to the lot. Leslie scares away the Pawnee racoons, and April tells Ann that she loves her. I hinted at this in my preview – it’s the sweetest part of the episode in my opinion.

The gals wait for the Ceremony guy, but when he doesn’t show – they decide to break ground alone, and it’s the right decision. With hardhats that say “kickass” (they have both parts on each of them this time), they dig in and the former pit is now christened as Pawnee Commons.

The guys have a storyline also. Chris gives each of his friends a ‘buddy box’ that contains something from a meaningful shared experience. They don’t really get him something nearly as good – so they spend the episode trying to make it up to him. Chris, being Chris – says he wants to look to the future, and their friendship will be enough for him. Ben and Ron spark when they hear ‘future’ and they make him a buddy box – a gorgeous thing – for him to store memories he makes with his son. They’ve all engraved their initials in the lid, and this is where Larry’s name joke comes in. He has to burn in “GJLGG” for Gary/Jerry/Larry/Gergich/Gingrich, because he doesn’t know which names he should use. Chris is more than touched, and it turns out to be the perfect gift from his friends.

The notable goodbyes:

• Donna who confesses to Chris that she’s always thought he was hot, and Chris always knew. When he, Donna, and April have a group hug, she manages to get in a butt squeeze – and Chris likes it.
• Tom’s gift to Ann is deleting her from his phone. He tells her that she’s “Finally free of his animal magnetism”. Of course she is.
• Larry has a touching little talk with Ann and she’s summarily bored, but then Ron walks up and says, “I have enjoyed parts of our time together.” to which they both break down into streaming tears.
• Andy realizes that he and Ann dated, to which Ann tells him that yes, they lived together for two years.
• Chris says goodbye to Ben and uses “literally” correctly. He’s literally Chris’ best friend.
• Leslie tells Chris that nobody is good enough for Ann, but Chris is pretty damn close.
• …and more, but man – this episode just wrecked me.

Just before the couple drives away, Leslie stops to let Ann know that she’s packed them some food and decaffeinated tea. She’s also put together  some driving music, but there’s a lot of Sarah McLachlan, so things will get emotional. Once they leave, Ron steps up to offer breakfast – which he knows is Leslie’s comfort food. At first, she turns it down, to which Ron responds, “There has never been a sadness that can’t be cured by breakfast food”. The group breaks up to head to JJ’s I presume, which is a fitting place for them to end up.

And a couple of easter eggs maybe? The trailer Ann and Chris are using to cart their things says “Lerpiss Midwest Moving Company” on the side. Lerpiss is the last name of Dennis Lerpiss, the owner of the Pawnee VideoDome. Leslie got his shop a bailout, and it turned from an independent movie rental outfit into a porn shop. I wonder if his family is also in the storage/moving business? And Rob Lowe in the Kennedy mask. He’s fresh off his portrayal of JFK in “Killing Kennedy” at the tail end of last year – a nod to that perhaps? Also, thanks for the Jennifer Anniston reference. Friends is always relevant. 🙂

Anyway, if you’re a fan of Parks and Recreation, this is as good as it gets. If this episode didn’t make you cry, well, I can’t help you there.

When the show ended on a gorgeous shot of the town of Pawnee as we’ve never seen it – I welled up all over again. Thanks Parks & Rec. This’ll be my favorite.