After a seven-season run and over five years after the final episode date, Parks and Recreation is back with one episode that features the old gang with a new story.
Leslie Knope (Amy Poehler) and the rest of the Parks and Recreation cast got together through their electronics in the midst of the quarantine and the coronavirus pandemic to provide an educational form of entertainment.
The entire episode was a way to raise donations to help fight against the coronavirus. Audience members could go to feedingamerica.org/parksandrec to donate or scan the QR code on the side of the TV that popped up initially. The show and partner State Farm were matched donations up to $500,000.
The episode begins with Bobby Newport (Paul Rudd) introducing the Parks and Recreation reunion, and in his character’s true fashion, he’s completely confused as to what’s going on.
As Leslie and the rest of the original Parks and Recreation crew has split up all over the world, she has implemented a “phone tree” where they all take turns calling each other in a rotation during the quarantine to stay in touch.
The tree starts with Leslie and Ben (Adam Scott) talking about their respective jobs. Leslie is still with the national parks, and Ben is still a congressman. Depression Ben comes back with his Cones of Dunshire and claymation people. Meanwhile, Leslie has shut down all of the national parks to ensure safety and has created several committees to help fight COVID-19.
Next, she checks in with Ron Swanson (Nick Offerman), who is camped out at his cabin, making jerky and drinking Lagavulin. He calls April (Aubrey Plaza) and Andy (Chris Pratt) to catch up, and all of them put off calling Gary (Jim O’Heir). They call Ann (Rashida Jones) and Chris (Rob Lowe) and find out that Ann is volunteering as a nurse, and Chris is donating blood because he is deemed one of the healthiest people on the planet.
Leslie joins the call and has a solo friendship moment between just her and Ann, which is everything. Then they call Tom (Aziz Ansari), who was supposed to be in Bali after his book tour finished. Due to the quarantine, he’s just using a green screen and drinking to pretend he’s on his vacation. They discuss some of his new entrepreneurial ideas, like mini iPads for each finger, and eventually, the conversation leads to calling Donna (Retta), which brings up a great conversation about how much teachers should be praised for the work they’re doing throughout the pandemic. Finally, they call Gary, who ends up making a fool out of himself with the filters on his computer camera.
The writers do a great job of explaining why the couples who are supposed to be married and living together aren’t physically together in the videos. Leslie is at work while Ben is at home; Ann is quarantining on one side of the house, and Chris is quarantining on the other side; Andy has locked himself in the shed and is using his Burt Macklin FBI skills to break out while April stays in the house, letting him figure it out.
Throughout the episode, the audience sees familiar faces like Joan Callamezzo (Mo Collins) doing her show from home; Dennis Feinstein (Jason Mantzoukas) with a commercial for cologne called “The Cure,” which he is advertising to effectively cure the coronavirus; Jeremy Jamm (Jon Glaser) doing a commercial for his dental practice; and even Jean Ralphio (Ben Schwartz) doing a commercial about himself, including his personal phone number for people to call him because he’s sad. Tammy (Megan Mullally), Offerman’s real-life wife, also makes an appearance, trying to infiltrate Ron’s cabin.
There’s even an episode of Ya Heard? With Perd! featuring Perd Hapley (Jay Jackson) interviewing Leslie and Ben about the seriousness of the coronavirus and safety precautions to take. Perd also features Andy’s alter-ego, Johnny Karate, who sends a message to all the Pawnee, Indiana, kids telling them to wash their hands and help karate chop the virus away.
The episode ends with everyone coming together for one big group video call to cheer Leslie up during the quarantine. Andy and the rest of the group sing his classic song dedicated to Li’l Sebastian, “5000 Candles in the Wind.” After everyone says their goodbyes, Leslie and Ron stay to share one last moment together before they go.
“Leslie, don’t spend all your time looking after other people,” Ron said. “Look after yourself once in a while.”
Finally, Poehler and Jones give a beautiful outro, with the rest of the cast telling the audience to stay safe and they loved them. The episode was fan service galore, an interesting story and completely well done by all. It’s certainly the reunion that everyone in quarantine needed to act as a small gesture of a pick-me-up.
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