‘Parks and Recreation’ makes a bold, feminist leap forward

This post discusses the sixth-season finale of “Parks and Recreation,” which aired on April 24.

Adam Scott as Ben Wyatt and Amy Poehler as Leslie Knope. (Ben Cohen/NBC)

“Are you ready?” a tuxedoed Ben Wyatt (Adam Scott) asked his wife, Leslie Knope, at the end of the season finale of “Parks and Recreation.” “Not at all,” Leslie told him. “But that’s never stopped us before.”
Whatever challenge was waiting for them at the bottom of their elevator ride was not exactly clear, which was the point. Ben and Leslie were really talking about an audacious three-year leap into the future the show had just taken, fast-forwarding to a moment when Leslie and Ben’s triplets are toddlers, and Leslie is fully entrenched as a regional director for the National Parks Service.

The change to the show is permanent. “We turned our minds toward doing something that would inject another season’s worth of story into the finale,” showrunner Mike Schur told Alan Sepinwall. “It’s a jolt of creative energy, and if you don’t jolt your show with a bolt of electricity every so often it can get stale.” Bolts like that can also fry a show. But in this case, I think “Parks and Recreation” has made a very promising move.