Here’s what your favorite ‘Parks and Recreation’ characters are doing this quarantine

Quarantine has made it hard for Hollywood to make new shows and movies. Some talk shows are doing Zoom chats on their phones, but other than that, not much can be done. SNL has been doing its best to do sketches from their own individual homes– to hit or miss reactions. However, Parks and Recreation swooped in, despite having ended years ago, to give us a new episode taking place during quarantine.

The Parks and Rec reunion was a delightful thirty-minute special to raise money for charity. It allowed audiences to catch up with their favorite characters and see how they might deal with quarantine– leading to both laughter and tears. Frankly, considering everyone recorded their lines on their phones, it was a smashing success.

Leslie Knope and Ben Wyatt

After Paul Rudd opens the show as his character Bobby Newport, who has no idea there’s a global pandemic, we see political power couple Leslie and Ben chatting on fake Skype.

It becomes clear Leslie is working alone in her office, while Ben is at home with the kids. Leslie, unsurprisingly, is dealing with the virus by heading up as many committees as is humanly possible. By now Leslie is proudly taking on the position of Deputy Director of the Interior.

Ben Wyatt is a congressman, but he’s also the one staying home with the kids. Ben is coping as well as Ben can. He’s accidentally huffing cleaning fumes, his hair is long, and his depression hobbies have combined themselves into the writing of a claymation script for Cones of Dunshire the Movie. So Ben Wyatt, as usual, is all of us.

Ron Swanson

Ron is in his remote cabin in the woods, where he is very happily taking his social distancing to the next level. He’s hunting for food and begrudgingly taking part in Leslie’s “phone tree” where all the besties call each other on fake Skype to make sure everyone is doing okay physically and mentally.

April Ludgate and Andy Dwyer

The crazy perfect couple of Andy and April are using their crazy as a means of keeping quarantine light-hearted and fun. April has shoved all the household clothing into one bag where every day she randomly pulls five pieces out and that’s her outfit for the day.

Andy, meanwhile, spends most of his time in the episode locked in a shed. He’s there by accident, but he doesn’t want April to come get him because he believes he can escape on his own. Nevermind the fact he’s been in there for two days already. Later Andy comes back as Johnny Karate to give a hopeful speech to his fans- well it was supposed to be hopeful.

Anne Perkins and Chris Traeger

Anne has gone back to working as a nurse so she can help people, something Leslie is probably very proud of. This, however, means she is keeping herself separated from Chris and the kids to make sure she doesn’t accidentally act as a carrier for the virus.

Chris is as perky as ever, optimistically taking care of the kids and encouraging his friends and family. He has also, apparently, used the Stairmaster so much that it is less of a Stairmaster and more of a rotating ramp.

Tom Haverford and Donna Meagle

Tom is doing his best to continue his entrepreneurial way, but business is difficult in quarantine so instead, he’s fantasizing about vacationing. Donna, on the other hand, is living her best life as a rich woman. All of her not-Skype calls are being done in her giant walk-in closet– full of color and sneakers. She also mentions her husband, a teacher, is getting spoiled by her.

Gary (Jerry) Gergich

Most of the episode is spent avoiding having to call Gary, but eventually, we discover he has become the mayor of Pawnee, which is no easy task.

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The Parks and Rec reunion is filled with cameos from other great actors who had smaller characters on the show, with the only notable actor missing being Jenny Slate. The episode was rounded out with all the main characters singing none other than the iconic song “Bye, Bye Lil’ Sebastian”.

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