page_title: Chris Traeger
section_title: Season two
hierarchical_section_title: Chris Traeger / Character biography / Season two
caption_attribution_description: PHOTO CREDIT: ANDERS KRUSBERG / PEABODY AWARDS 72nd Annual Peabody Awards Luncheon Waldorf-Astoria Hotel May 20, 2013
context_page_description: Christopher "Chris" Traeger is a fictional character played by Rob Lowe on the NBC comedy series Parks and Recreation. He began on the show as an Indiana State Auditor who visits the fictional city of Pawnee to help solve their crippling budget problems, and eventually becomes Pawnee's acting City Manager. Chris is an extremely positive person who is constantly upbeat and energetic. Extremely health-conscious, he exercises constantly and eats only healthy foods, hoping to be the first human to reach the age of 150.
  Chris first appeared in the second season episode "The Master Plan". Originally expected to appear in eight episodes as a guest star, Lowe eventually signed on to remain on the show as a permanent cast member. Chris was a romantic interest for Ann Perkins throughout the show's run. Chris imposes a strict policy against workplace dating at city hall, but series protagonist Leslie Knope and Ben Wyatt begin secretly dating anyway, which Chris eventually accepts.
  The idea of Chris as a State Auditor was inspired by real-life reports of government shutdowns amid the global financial crisis.
context_section_description: Starting in the penultimate second season episode "The Master Plan", Chris Traeger and fellow state auditor Ben Wyatt (Adam Scott) are sent to Pawnee to help solve the city's crippling budget deficit. Despite the seriousness of the problems, Chris presents the situation in an extremely positive light and tries to make all the city hall employees around him happy, leaving the hard decisions and delivery of bad news up to Ben. Due to the poorly managed Pawnee government, Chris and Ben need to slash every city budget by up to 50 percent, much to the disappointment of deputy parks and recreation director Leslie Knope (Amy Poehler).
  During an outing at a bar, Chris meets Leslie's best friend Ann Perkins (Rashida Jones), who is drunk and experiencing conflicting emotions following her recent breakup with Mark Brendanawicz (Paul Schneider). Ann makes out with Chris and, although she was too drunk to even remember the incident the next day, he develops romantic feelings for her. Ann rebuffs his requests for dates, and finds him too intense, but the ever-optimistic Chris does not become discouraged and insists he will continue courting her. Meanwhile, in "Freddy Spaghetti", Chris and Ben reveal Pawnee's budget problems are worse than anticipated, which would require the government to be temporarily shut down, much to the horror of Leslie, but the delight of parks and recreation director Ron Swanson (Nick Offerman), an anti-government libertarian. Chris and Ben even consider firing Leslie to save money, but Ron persuades them otherwise.
caption: Chris Traeger's assignment to slash Pawnee budgets occasionally put him at odds with protagonist Leslie Knope (Amy Poehler, pictured).
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