By Christina Murphy

Columnist

The future makes me nervous. Ugh, I know that’s such a cliché thing to say, but it’s true. This year, the future is all Parks and Recreation had us thinking about. As if setting the entire 7th season in 2017 wasn’t enough stress for me, the series finale went so far as to let us watch all the characters descend into old age, and even death for some.

Every time Leslie’s hand touched one of the friends, she was saying farewell to we were given a glimpse into their futures. The flash-forwards were a nice way to round out the series, but left little to the imagination of the viewer. Not to mention, every transition into the future would give me a slight heart palpitation, causing me to spend far too much time calculating how old I would be and imagine what parallel life I would be living.

Despite my miniature panic attacks, I’ve come to grips with this being the best possible ending for Parks and Recreation to have. Isn’t that what we all secretly want from a series finale? Little glimpses into the lives of the characters you’ve devoted the past seven years of your life to. It’s the least a show could do.

No one was sitting in a jail cell, Journey wasn’t playing out the series and Garry wasn’t revealed to be Gossip Girl. Yet, I still heard how some people had qualms with how predictable and corny the finale was. My only response to this is, “WHO CARES?” That’s what Parks and Rec is! It’s a treat, something that makes you smile, can turn around a bad day, and maybe even restore your faith in humanity for 30 minutes.

It’s sweet and easy to swallow, much like a heaping stack of waffles smothered in syrup and whipped cream from JJ’s Diner.

Even if you didn’t love the series finale, it’s pretty hard to deny that Parks and Recreation had one of the smartest final seasons in television history. The cast was at it’s strongest, the futuristic concept was genius and each episode was drenched in it’s most biting political commentary yet.

I don’t want to give away too many spoilers, but what I can say is that everything was resolved. Well, almost everything. We may never know for certain if Leslie becomes president, but one can hope. April and Andy start a Halloween themed family, Garry finally gets the appreciation he deserves (and people are calling him by his actual name), Craig finds someone who can love himself as much as he does, Donna learns how to give back, Tom turns his failures into the ultimate success story, and Ron gets his dream job-and yes, it involves a canoe.

Everyone learns a lesson, and everyone has really elegant grey streaks in their hair. Everything worked out for each character because, honestly, it would just be weird if it didn’t. They owe it to the cultish band of weirdos they call fans to give us a happy ending.

Sticking through Parks and Recreation’s odd, disjointed and at times offensive first season was no cakewalk. It took a lot of faith and confidence in the superhuman abilities of Amy Poehler and also a lot of not wanting to get up to shut the TV off after 30 Rock.

In the end, Parks and Rec did what it was always slated to do: Make something beautiful that can be enjoyed by the public from something weird and vacant. Be it a pit to a park, a group of workplace proximity associates turned friends or a television show to a comforting weekly ritual, and one that I will miss very much.