'Parks & Recreation' Finale How Did the Pawnee Gang End Up? Recap

After seven seasons, "Parks & Recreation" came to a close tonight. So, how did everything end up for the Pawnee gang?

The episode featured a lot of time jumping. One storyline took place in the "present" (which is actually a few years in the future), another took place about five years later, and others took place ten years later or more.

In the present, Leslie rallies the troops one last time for a quick project: fixing a broken swing at a local park. During this time, Leslie has a heart-to-heart with all of her close friends and we get a look at their futures.

DONNA

Donna and her new husband Joe (guest star Keegan Michael Key) move to Seattle, where Donna kills it in the real estate business. They use her big bucks to travel the world, but when Joe starts having issues with his school ("they stopped teaching math" he says), Donna goes non-profit and uses their vacation money to fund an after-school program that April helps put together through her new job.

Tom gives Donna crap later for going non-profit, but Donna's watch clearly shows that she still knows how to treat her self.

APRIL & ANDY

Andy starts to want kids, but April is less than enthusiastic about the idea. She's excited about all the weird stuff it'll do to her body, but she's mostly concerned that since kids always end up the opposite of their parents and since she and Andy are so cool, her kids will be totally lame.

After some encouragement from Leslie, April and Andy end up having not one, but two kids. April also gives birth to the first on Halloween in full zombie makeup, as she should.

CRAIG

Even Craig gets a flash-foward! He marries Typhoon, who just became Ron's new barber even though he's a chatty stylist. They live a long and happy life together, even though Craig regrets his trout.

TOM

Tom comes up with a plan to expand Tom's Bistro nationally with 20 new locations across the country, and both Ben and Ron are on board with Tom's fiscally sound plan. But sadly, Tom has some bad luck and loses everything...again.

Luckily, Tom rallies and, with the support of Lucy, writes a book about his failures that becomes a bestseller. Tom Haverford, bestselling author. Has a nice ring to it.

JEAN-RALPHIO

Jean-Ralphio comes up with an insurance scheme and fakes his own death so that he and his sister can open a casino in Tajikistan. It is awesome and Jean-Ralphio is the best.

GARRY

Jerry/Garry/Barry/Larry Gergich ends up getting re-elected as mayor of Pawnee pretty much for the rest of his life. He lives to be at least 100...and his wife (played by Christie Brinkley) still looks amazing.

RON

Ron quits Very Good Building and Construction Co. seemingly on a whim, later revealing to Leslie that he thought he had accomplished all that he needed to and resigned.

Later on he finds himself struggling to decide on what to do next, but luckily Leslie has his back. She shuffles a few things around and sets Ron up as the new superintendant of the national park that Leslie landed for Pawnee. Ron looks surprisingly good as a park ranger.

ANN & CHRIS

Ann Perkins is still a long list of odd compliments that only Leslie can describe, and Chris is still obsessed with his health. One of their kids is hopefully falling in love with one of Leslie's kids though, much to Leslie's joy.

LESLIE & BEN

At a dinner at Joe Biden's house(!) both Leslie and Ben are simultaneously approached with an offer to run for governor of Indiana. Despite many lists of pros and cons and such, they can't decide who should take the offer...until Ben makes an executive decision and cedes to Leslie.

She wins of course, and ends up giving a commencement speech at the University of Indiana and getting a library named after her.

Was it a perfect ending? Not quite, since Leslie didn't become the first female president of the United States (that we know of). But it was damn near close to perfect.

The wonderful thing about the "Parks & Recreation" finale, and indeed the entire show, is the hope it puts on humanity. There's a reason why our heroes spent so much time toiling in the Parks Department with almost no thanks: it shows us that anyone can make a difference, no matter how small.

If the future is as bright as "Parks & Rec" predicts it to be, then we're all going to be just fine.