February 24th, 2015 was a sad day. NBC – without so much as asking for a letter of consent – aired the series finale of Parks and Recreation. For seven seasons we watched oddballs and weirdos navigate the Parks system in Pawnee and each other. Every character in this show did something impactful and for that (and a word count limit) we’d like to give all the crazies that gave Parks and Rec its heartbeat a general honorable mention. Consider yourself mentioned in general. You’re welcome. Moving on.
We are all familiar with the dopeness that Leslie Knope embodies and her husband, Ben, has been crowned Most Adorable Humanoid in the Universe. Forever. The definition of manliness has changed to reflect a picture of Ron Swanson. Thanks to Andy Dwyer, you can now interchange joy and Johnny Karate. Tom is king of name mashing (Ron-doleezza Rice, anyone?) and CEO of naming foods. Donna almost put Tony Robbins out of business by coining “Treat. Yo. Self.” The Douche set the bar for aspiring punmasters. Case in point: “My oral office. I’m going to turn the Mayoral office into my oral office. Boom.” Boom, indeed.
As remarkable as all the aforementioned characters are, none are as near and dear to our hearts as April Ludgate, played by Queen of Deadpan Aubrey Plaza. And that’s not only because she’s half Puerto Rican… ok, fine… it’s mostly because we’re afraid she’ll cut us in our sleep.
April Ludgate, by way of a list of reasons why we’ll miss you the most, Remezcla salutes you.
Your modern day manners.
“I declare that everything you are saying is stupid.” Emily Post has nothing on you.
Your existence pushed the envelope on diversity.
A half wolf, Puerto Rican vampire?! Who might also be a wizard?! On a major TV network?!
You married for emotional intelligence. And embraced role-play openly.
Let’s face it plain old intelligence does not suit Andy, everything else does. Particularly FBI jackets.
You made loyalty on the DL a thing.
Because not everyone is comfortable being openly nice.
We won’t get to see you raise your spawn, Jack.
You put make-up on after going into labor. Xoxo forever.
Finally, the portals to hell, a.k.a. your eyes.
So much more than mere seeing devices.
In the words of Leslie Knope, April, you have turned into a very beautiful, wise, and fertile government employee and we love you very much. We miss you very much. Now let’s go carve out somebody’s eyes and fill the sockets with glow-worms!
Parks and Rec is streaming on Netflix and hulu.com.