Tonight is the end of an era for NBC’s “Parks and Recreation” fans. Avid followers of the latest Pawnee happenings, might be having a hard time coping with the fact that seven seasons of hilarity is coming to an end tonight. To help keep it together when the final episode begins at 10 p.m., here are 12 times season seven of Parks & Rec made us cry.
1When we found out that Ron and Leslie weren’t friends anymore
We lost it. What could possibly have happened that could tear them apart? Remember in Season four when Leslie took a crazy-bearded Ron to his cabin to talk him down from yet another run-in with Tammy two? Remember in Season two when Ron spoke the truest words ever spoken to Leslie at JJ’s Diner when she was feeling down? A friendship this true could never end so suddenly.
2When Tammy two makes a re-appearance
Because who wouldn’t want to cry when her crazy eyes pierce holes in the viewer's soul (even through a TV screen).
3When Leslie and Ron finally make up
The tears were so real when finally, after hours of ridiculous antics while locked in the old Parks office (we’re still waiting for Leslie’s version of “We Didn’t Start the Fire” to be on iTunes, aren’t we?), Leslie and Ron cracked open a bottle of Scotch and opened the emotional floodgates. Every true Pawneean was curled up in the fetal position during Ron's story about how he decided to hire Leslie.
4When Tom plans the ultimate pre-wedding “Treat Yo’ Self” day for Donna
We couldn’t help but shed a nostalgic tear as we reminisced about that fateful day that started it all.
5When Andy works so hard to find the perfect job for April
Andy is living the dream. He’s got his own kid’s show, he and April just bought a new house and they have the coolest three-legged dog. But he’s willing to give all that up to find his stressed-to-the-max wife the perfect career. Shedding happy tears is almost impossible after thinking about how far they've come.
6When the master of swag himself kept it simple for his proposal to Lucy
Tommy-Boy is the king of swag. Rent-a-Swag. Snake Juice. DJ Roomba. He’s got enough confidence to co-host “Pawnee Today” with Joan Callamezzo. But even swag-master Tommy can’t keep his cool when he’s trying to plan his proposal to long-time crush Lucy. In the end, he goes with a simple proposal and breaks all of our hearts in one sweeping, swag-less motion.
7When Donna gets married
Yeah, yeah. Everybody knows that Leslie ran the Parks Department with her passion for filling ditches and hometown heroes, but Donna was the queen of the Parks Department. She always had something sassy to say and something fabulous to wear. Seeing her finally settle down is enough to drive even Ron Swanson to shed a single tear.
8When we finally get to see the little Knope-Wyatt triplets
After episodes and episodes of barely missing the little rugrats, we finally get to see them wreaking havoc on the babysitter. We love them. And we’ve never been more sure that three kids were the product of Leslie and Ben than we were in that moment.
9When Leslie talks about how perfect Ben would be for a Congressional candidate
Just when we think we’ve seen every side of Leslie Knope, she hits us straight in the feelings by being super-wife-extraordinaire. Her to-the-camera confessional talking about how badly she wants Ben to run is enough to make us tear up.
10When Garry is appointed temporary mayor of Pawnee
We know, Garry has messed up a lot of things. Ok, fine. Garry has messed up everything. But after seven seasons of Jerry/Larry/Terry/Garry bashing, even we were a little overcome with emotion when we saw the look on his face when he walked into his surprise celebration.
11When April goes all sentimental on Leslie
This is it. The moment that we have been waiting for. April finally tells Leslie how much she means to her, then April hugs Leslie. April showing affection? It was seven seasons in the making, and we bawled.
12When the whole Parks gang joins Andy on his last episode of “Johnny Karate"
Seeing everyone come together to help Andy was not only hilarious, but also a sad reminder that everything is coming to an end. When everyone joined Andy onstage for his final sendoff, we held back tears. But we weren't emotionally ready for Andy to end the show with, “Goodbye, Pawnee! I will miss you!” A karate-chop straight to the heart.
And if these 12 didn’t do it for you, here’s a bonus clip of Chris Pratt (Andy Dwyer) leading the “Parks” cast in a sing-along of “5,000 Candles in the Wind” at the series wrap party. Get your tissues, Pawneeans. It all ends tonight.
