Parks & Recreation Had An Awesome Guardians Of The Galaxy Easter Egg
Parks & Recreation added a subtle but awesome Guardians of the Galaxy Easter egg to its final episode. Parks & Recreation debuted on NBC in 2009 and came to an end in 2015 after seven seasons. The series followed the life of the always optimistic Leslie Knope (Amy Poehler) and her friends and coworkers from the Parks Department in Pawnee, Indiana. Over the course of seven seasons, viewers met some truly unforgettable characters, such as Ron Swanson (Nick Offerman), April Ludgate (Aubrey Plaza), and Andy Dwyer (Chris Pratt).
Although he had already appeared in other series such as The O.C, Andy Dwyer was Chris Pratt’s breakout character, and as such was the first approach of many to his comedic skills, which earned him a spot as series regular. Andy Dwyer became one of the most popular and beloved characters in the series, and boosted Pratt’s career, who got the role of Peter Quill/Star-Lord in Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy while the series was still going. By the time the series got to its final season, Pratt was already a big star thanks to Guardians of the Galaxy, and Parks & Rec added an adorable nod to his Marvel character in the series finale.
Parks & Recreation’s final episode, “One Last Ride”, features various time jumps, and in one of those, a group of trick-or-treaters arrives at Andy and April’s (future) home. Nothing out of the ordinary on that, except for the costume of one of the kids, who decided to go for a “superhero” vibe rather than a spooky one by dressing as Star-Lord. Pratt’s commitments with the series and the film overlapped at one point and he had to leave Pawnee for some time, which was justified in the series by sending Andy to London. Andy eventually came back (with a terrible jet lag) and built a family with April. It’s unknown if any of their kids dressed as one of the Guardians of the Galaxy at some point in their lives.
The scene with the trick-or-treaters is what prompts Andy to tell April he wants children, something April isn’t completely on board with. After some advice from Leslie and Ben, April decides she's ready, and she’s later shown in the hospital going into delivery with her Halloween makeup on (which she put on for the occasion, of course). A few years later, April and Andy reveal they’re having another child. Who would have thought a group of trick-or-treaters could have such impact? It was probably Star-Lord’s presence.
The Star-Lord reference was a fun addition to the final episode of the series, and Andy seeing the kid dressed as Star-Lord even feels a bit meta. The series finale of Parks & Recreation was a pretty emotional one, and featuring a reference to Chris Pratt’s biggest role to date only added to the emotional side of it – and, in a fun way, predicted that the Guardians will still be quite popular in 2022, which will happen thanks to Guardians of the Galaxy 3.