Leslie Knope Chooses Career Over Her Boyfriend

When we left Pawnee last season, our favorite public servant had just been told she was being primed to make a political run in 2012, and we were conflicted. Though Parks & Recreation‘s Leslie Knope had dreamed of becoming a public official since she was a child, she had also just begun a disgustingly-cute office romance with Ben, played by Adam Scott. This, politically speaking, was a problem, and she would eventually have to make a choice. Eventually.

For Leslie, decision time came three months earlier than expected when she gave a great quote to a local news station about women in politics. Last night’s season premiere showed Leslie grappling with how to deal with the situation she was suddenly in and how, exactly, she should break up with Ben. In the end, he reveals that he knew she would be running all along due to the political speeches she proclaims aloud in her dreams.