Before you check out season 5 of Parks and Recreation, which airs tonight and every Thursday at 9:30/8:30pm CT, get a glimpse of what you can expect from Leslie, Ben, April, and the rest of the gang. Stakes become higher, relationships heated, and the promises of explosions are enticing. What hijinks will we see from Pawnee, Indiana’s newest city councilwoman? Find out after the jump! 

So here we are, season 5 of Parks and Recreation, while I’ve never and still am not the biggest supporter of Amy Poehler, I like what this show has done to combine the quirky elements of all the cast. There is a great deal of chemistry created among the characters and they have turned into a great TV family.

[SPOILERS AHEAD, BUT WHY WOULD YOU BE READING SOMETHING ABOUT SEASON 5 OF PARKS AND RECREATION IF YOU HAVEN’T SEEN THE FIRST FOUR SEASON?!]

The first season was deathly boring, but the second and third seasons got in a terrific groove and found its skin. Within the fourth season, Parks and Rec hit a bit of a slump at the beginning with the whole Ben and Leslie thing. It started to pick back up once the show realized it needed to get into campaign mode. Season four recovered nicely, but I’m not sure how we can call it Parks and Recreation when Leslie Knope is not a member of the parks department – or will she, I don’t really remember if city councilwomen is just a part-time gig?

Season five looks like it begins a few months after the end of season four. In this teaser we see Leslie (Amy Poehler) visiting Ben (Adam Scott) after he chose to work with Jennifer Barkley on a big political campaign in DC. Apparently April has signed on to help, and Andy has come to join in on the DC adventure. Looks like we’ll also see the appearance of John McCain too!

This next season I hope to see a lot more development with the subplots they decided to plug into the series in season four. I’m going to assume Ron (Nick Offerman) will continue to take a larger role in the parks department in Leslie’s absence. We get to see what and will happen to Tom (Aziz Ansari) and Ann’s (Rashida Jones) relationship – which by the way is one the most forced relationships in all of television and needs to end.

Andy (Chris Platt) looks like he has finally found a path in life where he will train to become a cop; will he continue with his education too? I want to see more depth with the characters of Donna (Retta) and Jerry (Jim O’Heir); there was a lot of fun back story created for them and I want that to continue. And finally, I want Rob Lowe to continue what he has been doing with Chris and his spiral into ridiculous dark comedy.

You can see more of what season 5 has to offer over at  NBC.

Parks and Recreation season 5 premieres tonight, Thursday, September 20 at 9:30/8:30pm CT on NBC.