Nick Offerman's grumpy head of the Parks and Rec department has been present in 125 of 126 episodes of the show, but there is one he is missing from.

In its 7-year run, Parks and Recreation’s Ron Swanson (Nick Offerman) had become a staple of the mockumentary TV show, to such an extent that it would be impossible to believe he wasn’t present in all the episodes, and yet there was one in which he didn’t appear. The NBC sitcom was created by Greg Daniels, who adapted the similar mockumentary show The Office for US television, and Michael Shur, who later went on to create Brooklyn Nine-Nine. Parks and Rec was a success both for the critics and the audience alike, boasting a 93% critics score and an 89% audience one on Rotten Tomatoes, and it rapidly became a fan-favorite show of the genre.

Offerman’s Ron Swanson was as central to Parks and Rec as protagonist Leslie Knope (Amy Poehler). A grumpy libertarian with a despise for anything government-related, he was head of the parks and recreation division and tried to work against the government by keeping things static. The contrast between him and optimist local government enthusiast Leslie, who always had new ideas to make things work better, created good comedic settings while simultaneously making Offerman and Poehler shine in their roles.

While Poehler’s Leslie Knope was never absent from an episode of NBC’s Parks and Recreation, Ron Swanson came close to that, being present in 125 of the sitcom’s 126 episodes. The only episode devoid of grumpy department head Ron Swanson was Parks and Recreation season 2, episode 3, “Beauty Pageant.” In it, Leslie was invited to be a judge at the Pawnee beauty pageant, where she encountered much opposition as she wanted at all costs to elect a winner with sturdy moral values, who was just as pretty as she was intelligent.

The reason for Ron Swanson’s absence from the episode and work was given by Leslie at the start of it when she off-handedly mentioned to her coworkers that they owed her 90 dollars each as she had bought a bouquet for Ron because he was recovering from his hernia surgery. Although that was the explanation, Ron’s hernia was actually explored on Parks and Rec season 2 episode 2. Indeed, the viewers were the first to know about his medical problem thanks to the mockumentary style of the sitcom, but the whole episode focused on his refusal to deal with his hernia. April (Aubrey Plaza) was the only one who understood that there was something off with him, firstly proving her hypothesis by shoving a highlighter in his face and realizing he refused to move to avoid the object and then helping him by bringing him to the hospital.

Even if Ron Swanson had been present, his input would have clashed with the episode’s main storyline about the beauty pageant. Unlike Tom (Aziz Ansari), who wanted to be at the pageant as a judge along with Leslie, Ron wouldn’t have been a part of it, probably preferring to aim snarky comments at Leslie because of her involvement instead. Offerman’s character next showed his face in Parks and Rec season 2 episode 4, when a game started between coworkers consisting of finding the most incriminating hidden thing about each other.

Swanson’s hernia arc was completed in Parks and Rec season 2 episode 3. Still, as he was mentioned by his employees, his absence was hardly felt. Had his absence lasted more than an episode, it would have made a bigger difference, especially considering how Nick Offerman’s Ron Swanson was central to Parks and Recreation’s success.

Next: Parks & Recreation: Did Leslie Knope Actually Become President?