In honor of last night’s tremendous Parks and Rec episode “Leslie and Ron,” we celebrate the best moments from Pawnee’s most unlikely friendship.
Normally, the way we make friends is a pretty simple formula. Find people within the same radius as you, who share similar interests or beliefs and then talk about or explore those interests/beliefs. It’s much rarer, however, that we become close with our ideological opposites. And that’s a shame because those friendships can be deeply enriching.
Parks and Rec has, for seven years, explored the dynamics of one of these unlikely relationships.
Leslie Knope and Ron Swanson are different in almost every possible way. She’s emotional, expressive and deeply passionate about the government. He’s reserved, cranky and only works in the government to bring it down from the inside out. Still, they were able to find common ground in a love of breakfast food and a respect for each other’s character.
Parks and Rec season 7 started out with Leslie and Ron estranged, but wisely the show didn’t let that last long. Last night’s wonderful “Leslie and Ron” helped both realize just how much they need each other. To celebrate the renewed friendship of Leslie and Ron, we decided to take a look at some of the previous moments where they really came through for each other.
Season 2, episode 20: ‘Summer Catalog’
Despite how different Leslie and Ron are, they do share some common ground: a profound love for breakfast food. “Summer Catalog” features one of the most underrated, sweet moments of Leslie and Ron’s friendship. Leslie has just confronted the reality that the previous Paw nee Parks directors that she’s idolized are mostly just selfish a-holes. Ron consoles her the only way he knows how: by brining her to J.J.’s Diner.
“Why would anyone ever eat anything besides breakfast food?” – Leslie
“People are idiots, Leslie.” – Ron
Season 3, episode 12: ‘Eagleton’
Ron spends the entire episode in fear of what grandiose birthday celebration Leslie has planned for him. Leslie let’s Ron imagine all the disruptive and non-Ron Swanson cheerful things she may force upon him before revealing her real gift to him: a quiet room, a big steak, a glass of Scotch and “The Bridge over the River Kwai” on DVD. Leslie understands precisely how to give her friend the best birthday possible.
Season 4, episode 2: ‘Ron and Tammys’
Ron has required Leslie’s help in extracting himself from one or more of the Tammys several times. But this time is particularly special in that both Ron and Leslie help each other out with their current issues. Leslie and a very-bearded Ron escape their day-to-day lives for Ron’s remote cabin. He is running away from Tammy and she is running away from deciding between Ben or a City Council campaign. Through some quiet introspection in front of the fire, they both come to realize that they need to face their issues head-on.
Season 4, episode 16: ‘Sweet Sixteen’
Leslie has spread herself too thing between her responsibilities running her campaign and the parks and recreation department. After she sleeps through Jerry’s surprise birthday party, Ron imparts on her very important advice. “Never half-ass one thing, whole-ass one thing.” Of course, Leslie then quits the parks department because Ron’s opinion is the one she respects above all else.
Season 4, episode 22: ‘Win, Lose or Draw’
When it looks like Leslie may lose the city council positions she fought so hard to get, she disappears from her party. Of all her friends, Ron is the only one who knows where to find her: the empty City Council chamber. Leslie tells Ron that she feels guilty that she let her friends work so hard for nothing. Ron tells her: “We didn’t do this because we wanted to wrap ourselves in personal glory, we did it because we care…about you. You had a dream and we wanted to support your dream. That’s what you do when you care about someone. You support them: win, lose or draw.”
Good God, is this a TV show or a feelings machine?
Season 6, episode 4: ‘Leslie and Ron’
“Leslie and Ron” is the first and only episode of Parks and Rec dedicated entirely to Leslie and Ron. They sit in one room for 10 hours to discover why it is their relationship fell apart. Predictably: it’s beautiful. For the first time, the two explore the differences in each other and rediscover why they cared so much in the first place. And in reality: it’s that they cared so much that their relationship crumbled. Ron missed his friends so much that he was willing to compromise one of his most fundamental ideals and apply for a job with the federal government, and Leslie cared so much about her friendships that she started to fall apart when she felt like her feelings weren’t being reciprocated. By the end of the episode Leslie and Ron are a combination of hungover and drunk and about to walk to J.J.’s Diner once again.
“Why would everyone in the world ever eat anything but breakfast food?” – Ron
“People are idiots, Ron.” – Leslie