‘Parks and Recreation’ season 6 spoilers: How London broadens Leslie’s horizons

There are a few reasons we love “Parks and Recreation,” but one that has been the quaint nature of the community in which these characters live in. Pawnee, Indiana is not some enormous community of people, or a place that is represented as having a big-city lifestyle. It’s a spot where there are many familiar faces and local businesses, and it allows for Leslie Knope and the other characters to become a part of a world that does not really look too far outside of their own community (except to maybe Eagleton, where they occasionally shake their fists).

However, there is a trip early this season that could end up changing things, and it happens with Leslie in London at the start of the season. As executive producer Mike Schur tells Entertainment Weekly, this could be a linchpin in Amy Poehler’s character actually opening her eyes to the larger world, and could lead to her taking action instead of dreaming of her future:

“The experience of going to London in the premiere sets up a subtle theme for the season. Leslie is very committed to Pawnee and obviously very in love with the city, and that will never change, but she has a kind of interesting and exciting experience and [she and Ben] sort of have this feeling that they want to be more active citizens of the world and broaden their horizons.”

You likely know already that both Rob Lowe and Rashida Jones are going to be checking out of the series midway through its run this year, so there’s no real reason to focus on that. However, what you may be a little more surprised at is hear about are some stories featuring some other characters that often don’t work together. For example, expect some great things coming up for Ron Swanson and Ben regarding the latter trying to plan for his long-term future.

“Parks and Recreation” will be back on NBC in late September, where Leslie’s biggest challenge yet arrives: Trying to survive against the “Big Bang Theory machine”.

Photo: NBC