One of the best parts of Parks and Recreation was Leslie and Ben’s relationship. The two start as rivals, with Ben wanting to cut Pawnee’s budget by letting a portion of the staff in the Parks Department go, resulting in Leslie despising Ben, and even viewing him as a rival. However, over time, the two put aside their differences and even fell in love. And let’s face it, from the get-go, the two had great chemistry. But, like in a lot of fictional romances, there are parts of their relationship that just don’t make sense. We’re here to explore them.
Leslie Not Matching Ben’s Love For Game of Thrones
Sure, Leslie goes out of her way to give Ben a replica of the Iron Throne as a gift, but she expresses a lack of understanding for his love of the show. She doesn’t bother watching it, as shown by her line, “Our starship’s in trouble,” when playing along with Ben acting as the ruler of the Seven Kingdoms.
Sure, partners have separate tastes in aspects of popular culture. But Leslie would have loved Game of Thrones. The show is very political, and she likely would have admired the strong women such as Daenerys Targaryen, Cersei Lannister, or Sansa Stark vying for political power in a male-dominated society, which is something Leslie lives through every day.
Ben Giving Up Multiple Careers For Leslie
No significant other should have to sacrifice their career for their partner’s, regardless of the gender of either person. However, Ben does so multiple times, first resigning from his job at City Hall in order to avoid Leslie getting in trouble, and later quitting his job as a campaign manager in Washington in order to be with her. These are very sweet gestures, but they resulted in his unemployment and jumping from job to job while trying to find one he felt passionate about. Ultimately, his decisions put financial stress on himself, and eventually on Leslie.
Leslie Constantly Objectifying Ben’s Butt
Leslie is a proud feminist. She stands for women and fights against the oppression and sexism that is rampant in the small town of Pawnee. She works in a male-dominated field and fights her way for a seat at the table and having an equal say. She is even disgusted by the inappropriate advances of councilman and orthodontist Jeremy Jamm.
And yet, Leslie treats Ben, particularly his butt, like it is her plaything, and does so in public spaces like City Hall, where she works. She should know that if any of her colleagues saw her behaving inappropriately with her significant other at her work, she would be reprimanded more than any of the men would. If she did know that, she wouldn’t risk losing her peers’ hard-earned respect.
Leslie Kept Her Councilwoman Candidacy A Secret From Ben…
In the finale of Season 3, Leslie is approached about running for City Council. When she is asked about having a potential scandal, she says there is no scandal, in spite of secretly dating Ben, her superior, at the time. Then she proceeded to keep her candidacy a secret from Ben in order to delay their breakup. Leslie is a person who puts her career before everything else (besides friends and waffles). A romantic partner falls in a different category than friends or waffles, so she should have told Ben upon deciding to run.
…And Ben Was Okay With It
Ben eventually figured out that Leslie was planning to run for City Council, and revealed as such to her by giving her the gift of a “Knope 2012” button. They did break up over her candidacy, but not over the fact that she kept it a secret. It is good that Ben was understanding of Leslie’s reasoning, but it is still weird he wasn’t even a little upset about being lied to.
Leslie Openly Felt Threatened By Shauna Malwae-Tweep When She And Ben Had Broken Up
Leslie and Ben struggled to move on from each other after their breakup. Ben tried to do so by flirting with Shauna Malwae-Tweep while attending the annual “end of the world” preparations of a cult called the Reasonablists, who worshipped an alien by the name of Zorp. Leslie was in charge of overseeing the Reasonablists’ activities and therefore witnessed Ben and Shauna flirt for the entire night. She repeatedly tried to divert Ben’s attention away from Shauna, even driving him to an abandoned gas station and admitting her feelings for him, only for Ben to reject her. Since Ben and Leslie had broken up, Ben was free to flirt with or date whoever he wanted, and Leslie should have accepted that.
Chris Traeger Gave Them His Blessing
This technically isn’t directly about Leslie and Ben, but this plays a big part in their relationship early on. In the third season, Leslie and Ben shared an attraction, and eventually admitted it to themselves, but kept their feelings from each other. Unfortunately, Leslie learns of Chris Traeger’s rule against employee-boss relationships when he caught her kissing Tom as a joke. But nearly in Season 4, Chris tells Leslie that he thinks she is perfect for Ben when she is in the middle of being investigated for corruption because of her prior, secret relationship with Ben.
Chris is right; they are great together. However, he is basically playing favorites and making exceptions to his own rule regarding Leslie and Ben’s relationship.
Leslie Didn’t See Anything Wrong In Going To Dinner With Her Ex
In Season 4, Leslie’s ex-boyfriend from Season 1, Dave Sanderson, returns to Pawnee and wants to reconnect with Leslie. Leslie, being the friendly person she is, is open to reconnecting with him, at least as friends. She goes to dinner with him and Ben, about which Ben is clearly not thrilled. Leslie refuses to see, or admit, that Dave is still in love with her until he straight-up tells her. It is then that she realizes her mistake and repeatedly attempts to convince Dave she no longer reciprocates his feelings. Had she listened to Ben and considered his thoughts on the matter, her trouble with Dave may have been avoided.
On The Same Note, Ben Was Insecure About Leslie Wanting To Reconnect With Her Ex
Leslie and Ben’s relationship was solid when Dave returned. Their relationship was public, and they had exchanged their first “I love you” after Leslie was put on trial for dating Ben. However, he still felt that Dave was a threat to his relationship with Leslie. Sure, Dave still had feelings for Leslie, but Leslie was insistent that she loved Ben throughout the episode.
Leslie and Ben had been through so much, just in the first year of on-again, off-again dating. Ben should have known at that point that Leslie was committed to him, and trusted her to remain as much, even around an old flame.
Leslie Let Her Feelings For Ben Get In Between Her And Ann
As stated before, one of Leslie’s top priorities is her friendships. But in Season 3, she and Ann get into a huge argument, partly over Ben, after getting drunk off of Tom’s new drink, Snake Juice. Sure, part of their anger was fueled by a poor communication and Snake Juice, and they eventually apologized and made up, but Leslie got angry with Ann over calling out her feelings for Ben and her lack of motivation to do anything about it. In all other aspects of her life, Leslie does not seem like the type to get overly emotional about a potential love interest. Yet that is exactly what she does when she and Ann argue over Ben and Ann’s hookups.
