'Parks and Recreation' kicks off final season with feuds, character growth

Something is rotten in the city of Pawnee, Ind. and surprisingly, it’s not the snooty residents of the former Eagleton. NBC’s "Parks and Recreation" (2009 - present) returned on Jan. 13 with back-to-back episodes, kicking off its short final season with an unforeseen feud between the ever-ambitious Leslie Knope (Amy Poehler) and her former friend and colleague, Ron Swanson (Nick Offerman). This conflict is only vaguely explained and attributed to a mysterious event known as “Morningstar,” but the plot point portends an exciting arc for the season.

This season picks up right where the previous one left off, in the year 2017, some years after Pawnee and its rival city, Eagleton, have merged. It’s a somewhat bizarre future, in which an ultra-cool tech company, Gryzzl, has evidently overtaken Apple as the provider of Internet clouds and unnecessary talking gadgets. As outlined in the season six finale, Leslie, who now works for the National Parks Service, and her husband, Ben Wyatt (Adam Scott), are living busy lives as the parents of adorable triplets. Furthermore, the vehemently anti-government Ron has finally left the Parks department to join the private sector with his own “Very Good Building and Development Company.”

Pitting Ron against Leslie is an apt thematic choice, considering the two are philosophical foils. Thus far in the show, any disagreements between them have been trivial. Their mutual affection, despite their differences, is one of the best parts of the show. However, it’s interesting to finally see their opposing views collide. Fueling the fire is a dispute over the sale of the Newport Family land. While Leslie wants to turn it into a National Park, Ron is being contracted to build a Gryzzl campus on it. Hilarity ensues as the two stubborn individuals quip back and forth throughout the season premiere.

One of their best exchanges occurs towards the beginning of the first episode when Ron fails to notice Leslie’s new haircut. He says, “I’ve never known what bangs are and I don’t intend to learn!” Without missing a beat, Leslie replies with a melodramatic, “Well maybe you should!” Moments like this one demonstrate Poehler and Offerman's incredible chemistry, despite their characters' newfound archrivalry. Furthermore, the intensity of their characters' conflict offers endless possibilities for the remainder of the season.

Despite the changing of the times, things in Pawnee look familiar. The introductory episodes of season seven reacquaint us with the amazing cast of "Parks and Rec," along with the ragtag team of minor characters who give the show its characteristic charm. The interaction between the characters has always been the strong suit of the show and remains so. It’s clear that many of them have grown up over the three years the show jumps over, but fundamentally, their personalities remain the same as ever.

Tom Haverford (Aziz Ansari), now a self-described mogul, shines -- and not just because of the flashy suit he sports. In his introductory speech honoring Ben as Pawnee’s Man of the Year, Haverford diverts from the speech to brag about his own accomplishments in his typical fashion. However, later in the episode, he apologizes to Ben and reads his original speech, beginning with, “I’ve met many ballers in my time…” The sight of the two grown men subsequently sobbing on each other’s shoulders over this apparently moving speech is simply hilarious. Furthermore, the juxtaposition of humor and sentimentality continues through the second episode as Tom departs on a drunken quest for love, reuniting with his ex-girlfriend Lucy (Natalie Morales)in Chicago.

In other news, April Ludgate (Aubrey Plaza) and Andy Dwyer (Chris Pratt) find themselves in major life crises as the brooding young woman and her man-child husband now have steady jobs and bills to pay. Upon noticing a certain amount of ennui in their lives, the couple decides to regress into their earlier, spontaneous lifestyle. It’s hard not to experience some déjà vu during these segments because April’s fear of being boring has been addressed time and again during the series. After a point, this denial of maturity gets a little tedious.

At times, the familiarity of these characters and their lives can make the episodes feel like a conglomeration of recycled "Parks and Rec" plots. When the viewer stops to wonder what has really changed in Pawnee, he might come up short. It seems that the futuristic setting has done little to push the plot along besides allowing for a rift between the show’s two strongest characters. However, it’s probably unrealistic to expect a drastic change in form at this point in the show’s development. The good news is that, judging by the eventful introductory episodes, the writers of the show have not lost their comedic prowess. The seventh season is bound to entertain, just as "Parks and Recreation" always does.