Random Parks And Recreation Fan Theories Even Tastier Than JJ's Waffles (14 items)

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  (#12) April Ludgate Was Abused By Her Parents

  Fan theories aren't all fun and games. Sometimes they're kind of dark. One somber fan theory suggests that April's personality has to do with the fact that she and her sister were abused by their parents as children. This explains why April and her sister are agoraphobic, cruel, and manipulative. It's why April married a man completely unlike her within months of meeting him and why April's sister had Andy arrested when he picked her up from work, basically saying he was a pervert. It’s also important to note that no one walked April down the aisle when she got married, proving a less-than-stellar relationship with her dad.
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  (#5) Leslie Knope Is Secretly Wealthy

  Leslie Knope shouldn't be a wealthy woman since she's on a very average government salary, but one fan theory suggests that Knope, an Eagletonian on a technicality, is actually pretty rich. She certainly spends. Leslie paid for Ann's trip to London, frequently buys people gifts, donated $1,000 to the Rec Center, and even filled a pit that she couldn't get funded through the local government. Some naysayers mention the time she got pregnant, and Ben was worried about making ends meet, but it's possible she kept her wealth a secret.
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  (#13) Pawnee Is A Sunny Version Of The Upside Down

  Parks and Rec may seem like an alternative universe to some of us – a nice, good woman does well in politics without ever having to let go of her liberal ideals. This all happens in an extremely conservative state where Mike Pence is Governor. A theory described on Uproxx suggests that this may be because Pawnee is actually the sunny version of the Upside Down from Stranger Things. There are an infinite number of possible Upside Down realms, and who said they all have to be dark and evil? In this version, Jean-Ralphio is the Demogorgen. 
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  (#11) Mark Is Dead

  Mark Brendanawicz left Parks and Rec at the end of the Season 2 when he decided to work for a private contractor instead of the local government. His absence throughout subsequent seasons led one fan to come to the conclusion that he must've died somewhere between Seasons 2 and 3. The theory suggests that, after Ann dumped him, he became so severely depressed that he killed himself. The other characters never brought it up because the show is technically a documentary, and they didn't want to mention his suicide out of respect.
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  (#9) Ron Swanson Is April Ludgate's Real Father

  We all know Ron Swanson is April Ludgate's mentor, but what if Ron Swanson was actually April's father? Their personalities are extraordinarily similar, and April knows Ron's biggest secret – he moonlights as Duke Silver, a sax player at an Eagleton bar. She only knows this because her mom has his albums. One fan theory suggests that April's mom had a one-night stand with a local sax player after one of his gigs. That man was Ron Swanson. Some could argue that April's younger sister disproves this theory, but you never know.
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  (#6) Ann Is In The Witness Protection Program

  There's a reason Ann Perkins seems like such a familiar character on Parks and Rec – it's because we've seen her before in The Office. This fan theory suggests that Ann Perkins is actually Karen Filippelli. The thinking basically goes that Karen testified against the Scranton Strangler, and she had to enter the Witness Protection Program. Is there a better place to hide than a small, rural town in the middle of Indiana?

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