The Messy Messy Parks and Recreation Timeline

[jncar]

I'm sure I'm not the only fan writer in Parks and Rec fandom to be utterly baffled/frustrated/annoyed when trying to figure out the timeline of the show since Ben and Chris arrived. The whole mess derives from the fact that the makers of the show thought they'd be airing in the Autumn of 2010, but were bumped back to mid-season instead

Comments

[stars_inthe_sky]

THANK YOU.

[rikyl]

Oh my god my head hurts, but I love you for doing this, because it's such a mess, and I've always wanted to see if we could force the puzzle pieces to fit

[jncar]

I'm with you that there's NO WAY Harvest Festival happened in late winter/early spring in the Midwest. But I've made my peace with the fact that it did indeed happen that way, only because of the forced hiatus, and we just have to suspend disbelief. If I remember right the promotional Harvest Festival info on the NBC web site (not that that's an infallible source) refers to it as the 2011 Harvest Festival. I totally get where you're coming from here, and I can see why some fic writers would just go with this timeline, because, yes, it is the one that makes all the contradictory statements from season 3 vs. season 4 makes sense. But I feel like this was a corner that NBC backed Schur and company into, and it was not their original intent. So I chose to base my timeline off of what was clearly their original intent, because my brain simply refuses to accept the possibility of warm days and green corn mazes in February. I just can't do it

[rikyl]

That makes sense. But I remember Schur saying that they wanted Leslie to act on her feelings right away once Ben decided to stay, because she's not a shrinking violet. It just seems to make more sense to me for their actions and characters that things happened slowly in the beginning when they didn't know each other well, and progressed a more believably human rate once they started to flirt.

[jncar]

Yeah. In my mind, it made the most sense for there to be a time-gap between "Jerry's Painting" and "Eagleton," during which they both knew they liked each other and wanted to date, but weren't sure they were willing to risk their jobs for it. Then they finally hit their breaking point in "Road Trip."

But then they had to go and give Chris that line about Leslie kissing Tom in March, and it screwed up that whole theory. If they just left that darn line out, both plot and character development would fit so much better!

[esotaria]

This looks awesome. Thanks so much for putting it together! And I think Ben misspeaking works. People tend to exaggerate when they're annoyed. XD

[snoozeen]

OMG my comment was eaten. LJ *shakes fist*

Basically, I like this timeline from a plot perspective but less so from a character perspective.

I liked that both Ben and Leslie, after Fancy Party, were ready to date. I like that he went to Chris to ask about it and that she asked him out. It was so adult and refreshing. I kind of don't like the idea of them playing games (even if flirting is fun!) for that long.

[jncar]

I agree. I really, really, do.

I blame NBC. I'm certain Mike Schur wanted/expected the show to air "Go Big or Go Home" all the way through "Jerry's Painting" in the fall, coming back with "Eagleton" through "Little Sebastian" in the new year. That would have put the 3 month gap in between "Jerry's Painting" and "Eagleton," which totally makes sense, because they both knew they liked each other and wanted to date, but it took them 3 months until they "couldn't take it" anymore and dated in spite of the rules.

That is what makes sense, and I think that was the original intent. But when NBC bumped Parks to January, everything got screwed up and right now Schur and company are just trying to do the best they can with the crappy timeline mess they've been handed.

[snoozeen]

Yeah, totally.

BTW even last night had an issue, where Leslie's like "it's been a year!" but then they mentioned May and it's the first snow and next week is Christmas and i'm like "Leslie and time, not best friends."

[jncar]

"Leslie and time, not best friends."

True words. :)

[sullen_aquarian]

I'm so glad I'm not the only one who obsesses with the P&R timeline!

It's funny, before last night I would have put the 3.5 month gap between Jerry's Painting and Eagleton. Fancy Party really screws things up timeline-wise. It would work better if April and Andy had dated a little longer, even getting married after 3 months would be very quick.

This show is normally so good at continuity, except for this one big exception.

Thank you for going to this effort.

[jncar]

It's funny, before last night I would have put the 3.5 month gap between Jerry's Painting and Eagleton.

I'm totally with you on that one. I was soooo peeved when Chris said Leslie kissed Tom in March because it screwed everything up even worse.

[sullen_aquarian]

Dammit Chris, he's always ruining everything.

[saucydiva]

It bothered me because that means Leslie was dating Tom and Ben at the same time!