NBC's Parks and Recreation ended in 2015 but fans of the show can't stop rewatching the series and finding new details or Easter eggs throughout the seven seasons. One topic that shows up in the Parks and Rec. forums is how different Leslie's character becomes after the first season and how bull-headed she progressively gets as her job gets more serious.
Leslie has a town she loves, co-workers she respects, and a best friend within a husband — she has it all. But that doesn't mean that she necessarily grows as a person or gets better with time. Keep scrolling to see 10 reasons why Leslie got worse and worse.
10 She Abandoned Ron
In the seventh season, it's revealed that Leslie and Ron had a falling out and are no longer friends. In fact, they're not even friendly. Leslie and Ron seem to detest each other and hate the thought of even running into each other. As it turns out, their downfall began when Leslie took most of the parks and rec. department with her when she left Pawnee's Park's Department and became the Midwest Regional Parks Director.
When Ron was hoping to work with Leslie again, he approached her and set up a lunch meeting but Leslie never showed up. Leslie doesn't forget much when it comes to her friends, so it was incredibly out-of-character for her to ditch Ron and take away everything he knew for her own good.
9 She Never Stopped Pushing Her Own Agenda On Others
Whenever Leslie had a good idea, she followed her intuition and did everything she could to see it through. She did the same thing when her friends and family were in need, except she never took their feelings into account.
She pushed Ben to go home to Minnesota to accept the key to the city even though he was reluctant, she practically forced Ann to give up her full-time job as a nurse to work part-time at city hall, and she does things without asking their feelings on it. Leslie thinks she's being helpful but what she's really being is self-serving.
8 She Wants April To Grow But Not So Much That She Outshines Her
Ever since April was an intern at the parks and recreation department, Leslie has been pushing her to reach for the stars and find her passion. April didn't love working for the government and viewers saw her struggle with guidance throughout the series. But one day, April finally had a stellar idea that combined her passion (animals) with her job: a dog park. The perfect place for a dog park would be on the abandoned lot behind Ann's house but Leslie didn't seem entertained by April's fantastic idea.
Instead of being inspired and pushing April to get the job done, she made a fuss about it and said that lot was "her" lot and if anyone was going to have a plan for it, it was her.
7 Leslie's A Champion For Pawnee And Yet Never Grows From Bullying Jerry
Does Leslie eventually visit Jerry at his home to apologize for how he left the parks department? Yes. But does it erase the years and years of pain, anguish, and verbal abuse Leslie put Jerry through? Nope! Jerry was nothing but kind to all his co-workers and yet they bullied him for being the office clutz.
Leslie was in charge of the department and practically encouraged the bullying because she did it herself. If she told the office to stop bullying Jerry, they would have but since she continued on, everyone else did too. It was heartbreaking.
6 She's Controlling Of Relationships Outside Her Own
It's been documented that Leslie had issues with her personal life before she finally landed Ben. Leslie adored her career and focused on Pawnee more than her personal life, which was commendable. But when friends of hers were moving forward in their own relationships, Leslie acted like a child.
She intervened when Shauna put the moves on Ben, she tried to break up April and Andy's wedding because she didn't think they were ready, she spied on Mark and Ann, and she wanted Ann to "fake" date Chris so it benefited the park's funding. To validate Leslie's actions, Leslie didn't give other couples the respect they deserved until she and Ben were finally exclusive.
5 Leslie Seemed Like She Was Always Trying To Push Her Kids On To Someone else
Unlike many other TV shows, Parks and Recreation did a fantastic job of showing a woman in the workforce. She wasn't solely focused on her physique or her love life, she was obsessed with her job and being the best person she could be.
Eventually, she and Ben found themselves pregnant and they hit a home run with triplets. To save time, the show fasts forward through her pregnancy to when her children were around six years old. Sadly, viewers never saw their kids much and when her kids were brought up, she and Ben never seemed to know who was watching them or acted like they were small tyrants. We see this when they're paying the babysitter and in "Pie-Mary" when Ben is asked about his children from a reporter.
4 And Was She Actually A Good Friend Or Was She Just Overbearing?
Leslie Knope prides herself on being a friend to everyone. She has anniversaries for every big moment in her and her friends' lives and gives unique gifts to celebrate. However, one fan pointed out that Leslie isn't the best friend in the world, she's just "overbearing" and "good at gift-giving".
She wasn't happy for Ron when he won "her" award and she wasn't supportive of Ann at first when she told her that she was moving to Michigan. She turns into a brat when good things that should be happening to her, happens to others close to her.
3 She Abused Her Power Often
With Leslie working for the government, she has the upper hand in most situations. But as we saw in "The Trial of Leslie Knope," part of Leslie's job is not taking advantage of her title. And while she played by the rules when it came to dating Ben, she didn't do the same at her dinner party when she was trying to impress her then-boyfriend, Justin.
She got the rec department to help her with the party (even though it was a conflict of interest) and did everything in her power to practically kidnap Greg Pikitis when he was running around her park. Leslie is a fantastic employee but sometimes abuses her title when it benefits her.
2 She Was Recalled For A Reason
As hard as it is to say, Leslie Kope was recalled for a reason. After Pawnee absorbed Eagleton due to their financial troubles, they voted against Leslie and she was recalled. Does this mean Leslie wasn't as loved as she thought she was? Does this mean the city she would die for didn't feel the same way about its fearless leader? Sadly, it appears so. Leslie's recall was unfortunate but it proves that she wasn't as important as she thought she was.
1 She Asks For Her Co-Workers Input But Does What She Wants Anyway
It's wonderful that Leslie holds meetings at the parks and rec. department where they all converse about issues of the day but let's be honest, Leslie was going to do what she wanted to do anyway. She accepted people's ideas on projects but took most of the recognition when things worked out, even though it was a group effort. Leslie is a smart worker and a nice person but maybe she didn't progress as well as other characters did.
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