April Ludgate (Aubrey Plaza) was part of the Pawnee Parks and Recreation gang from the beginning of the show. Although April is a lovable, but apathetic and extremely quotable character she still has her flaws, issues, and missed opportunities throughout the series.
A few of April’s plotlines are lacking and there are missed opportunities that could have helped build her backstory and explanation, perhaps even working on, for her apathetic nature even more. Let’s review some of the issues and missed opportunities with the character throughout the series.
10 Lack Of Follow Through
April has gut feelings and makes quick decisions about most things in her life, but it does seem like she has a lack of follow-through for most things in her life. She, like Andy, didn’t have to work hard to find her passion and begin her career. April happened into her job at the parks department and, seemingly with no forethought, suggested they absorb the animal control department into the parks department, which ended up being a great idea and let her focus on animals, but it seemed too easy. She was on track to go to veterinary school and that forced focus and hard work could have been good for the character instead of her bouncing around.
9 Never Planning For The Future
April and Andy have a kid, but the audience doesn’t get to see them as parents. April and Andy never plan for the future and although they’re both parents by the end of the series the audience has to wonder if they’ll be successful in taking care of their kids. Although they have support from responsible friends like Leslie and Ron, it’s concerning that they’re parents at the end of the series without ever being responsible for themselves.
8 Never Truly Befriending Ben
Ben gets a job in D.C. running a political campaign and he decides to bring April with him to help and learn a job outside of Pawnee Parks and Recreation. They end up having fun chemistry and joke around together.
When they return to Pawnee the characters go back to having storylines with their partners, Leslie and Andy and their friendship disappears. It was a great few episodes that could have been built on further throughout the series. Although being a loner was part of her personality, a friendship would have helped both characters and been a treat for the audience.
7 Should Have Had More Storylines With Ron
There are some great moments between April and Ron throughout the series, but they didn’t have many one-on-one storylines. April and Ron have a lot in common and they both take after each other and learn from each other. It’s a similar relationship to Tom and Donna on the show, but unlike them, April and Ron don’t have as many episodes that focus on their relationship. It could have grown both of their characters more, Ron as a father figure before he met Diane and April taking after him more. Also, they’re a fan favorite pair that deserved more screentime.
6 Not Showing Her Passion For Animals
April finally finds her calling in the Parks and Recreation Department when she’s put in charge of animal control and shelters in Pawnee. This is talked about throughout the later seasons the audience doesn’t get to see her work toward her passion very often. April is an apathetic character that finally found something she is passionate about and not showing it was a missed opportunity. The audience knows she has a passion for helping animals, and seeing it more instead of being told about it constantly would have been stronger for the character.
5 Holding A Grudge Against Ann
Ann dated Andy before he and April got married and April seemed to never forgive Ann. April constantly says she hates her and she’s the worst person on Earth. Ann tries to be nice to April throughout, and although there are moments where April gives in, overall April is crueler to her than anyone else on the show.
This never gets resolved throughout the series and it seems like enough time has passed since Andy dated Ann, and the fact that April is now married to Andy, April could have forgiven her.
4 Withholding Emotions
Even though April has known her co-workers for years and does care about them, she constantly makes them work for her emotional approval. This is part of her personality, similar to Ron on the show, but it’s odd that she still doesn’t easily let them in.
Everyone has seen through her facade and had heart-to-heart moments with most everyone on the show, and yet she maintains her tough exterior. Seeing more of a change to her personality throughout the series and having her more easily show emotion could have shown character growth.
3 Not Communicating With Andy
Although they’re a fantastic match, there’s a lot of issues that April and Andy have throughout the series. Andy doesn’t understand nuance or passive-aggressiveness, which is how April usually begins when she’s upset about something.
Even in later seasons when they’ve been married she still has a difficult time communicating with him, like in the prom episode when she didn’t want to go to prom. Due to them being so close it would make sense she could learn to communicate with him, but they never get it right.
2 Being Mean To Jerry
All of the characters are guilty of this, but April takes it to the next level in torturing him. Most of the other characters leave it at yelling at him or making fun of him when he does something dumb or farts loudly. April takes things further and is happy when she gets a voodoo doll of him and he trips. She once drugged his soda and he passed out in front of a group of people in the middle of a presentation. She’s an apathetic and mean character sometimes but usually, it’s in a way where it’s redeemable, but with Jerry, it’s completely irredeemable throughout the series.
1 Making Fun Of Everyone And Everything
This is part of her apathetic character, but April constantly made fun of everything and everyone, even the things and people she loved. Because she makes fun of everything it’s difficult to tell what she cares about or why people would choose to stay around her. The only reason she holds down her job at the parks department is that Ron appreciates her lack of effort. This is her personality, but again after years of caring about the people around her she could loosen up a little with the taunting by the final seasons, it just seems more mean than playful.
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