WARNING: Obvious spoilers ahead. Stop reading if you’re not caught up on “Parks and Recreation” and don’t want to know what happens in this week’s stellar Halloween episode. Consider yourselves warned.

In just 21 minutes, the “Parks and Recreation” Halloween episode gave us a fart attack, Ron Swanson trick-or-treating and live tweets of “Death Canoe 4.” But the ultimate Halloween surprise last week was a marriage proposal. Only five episodes into its fifth season and “Parks and Recreation” has once again rewritten the sitcom formula with Ben Wyatt and Leslie Knope’s engagement. Actors Amy Poehler and Adam Scott, along with creator Mike Schur, spoke to The Daily Aztec during a conference call about the proposal, the element of surprise and an alternate proposal involving a white tiger.

The Daily Aztec: Obviously the big emotional moment last night was the proposal. What was the vibe like on set that day and what were you all feeling as you were shooting that scene?

Amy Poehler: When I read that scene, I cried because I was so happy that I have my job at “Parks” and that I got to do that scene with Adam (Scott) and that Mike Schur wrote it because I knew that it would be great. So when we were shooting the scene, I was really excited that we were getting to do it because I had really just been looking forward to doing it and I was really happy for Leslie.

Adam Scott: Yeah, I feel the same way. I also just kind of felt like, you know, this was a really big deal for all of us. Knowing the scene was coming, I was maybe a little nervous about it but I was mostly just really happy about it and happy to be able to do it and happy for the characters. There was a real feeling that this was very special and we wanted it to be special for the fans and for the characters.

Mike Schur: You’re right. It’s the box that Ben put the “Knope 2012” pin in and that Leslie then returned to him with the Washington Monument figurine in the season four finale. So it’s a very important box.

AS: So, your move, Knope.

AP: At the end when the show’s over, we’re all going to jump into the box and then fly away.

DA: What can we expect now for Ben and Leslie? Are we going to see a wedding this season or is the engagement going to play out for a little bit?

MS: The episode was called “Halloween Surprise” and it’s because it’s part of the show’s DNA not to telegraph where we’re going. And there’s a certain kind of playbook that you’re told to run or that you’ve learned how to run from watching TV shows, and we try to just do things that are surprising. So I would like to believe that the path that we’re choosing to take will be satisfying, but also surprising to people.

DA: When we look back on the show, will the engagement be a before and after moment for the show or is the idea to just work it into the body of the show as it already exists?

MS: Ben showed up in Leslie’s life a couple years ago and it became pretty clear pretty quickly that they were soul mates and I’ve said this before but we had the intention over the life of the show of Leslie having a lot of different boyfriends who were good and bad in different ways. Then Adam Scott showed up and it all went to hell because we realized that their two characters were just very good for each other. So we threw out that plan and just followed what made sense, which was that they were kind of soul mates. For that reason, I don’t think that them getting married or getting engaged changes that much about the way the show is.

DA: Does the outlook for another season of the show have any effect on whether or not there’s a wedding this season or are you really committed to sticking to whatever plan you already have in place?

MS: We learned a long time ago that we shouldn’t take anything for granted. For that reason, our motto has been just go for broke. Just tell every story you want to tell and don’t worry about what comes next and don’t worry about the future. So we’re not going to worry about next year or the year after or anything like that. We’re just going to hustle and try to make the show as good and as interesting as it can possibly be.

DA: Were there any alternative ideas for Ben’s proposal?

AP: I loved that the scene is about everything to come. You know it’s an empty room, which can be depressing in some respects for some people, but in this context it was all about possibility. I just loved that Leslie looked around to see what was around her and there was just this big empty room and it was basically the idea of what happens when you think about committing to someone. The future seems really wide and open and clean, so that ended up being what it was and I thought it was perfect. But were there other ideas?

MS: The original idea was that (Ben) was going to sing “It’s Not Unusual” by Tom Jones with a white tiger. Then we kind of scaled it back. We thought, “You know, let’s make it classier and kind of quieter.” We couldn’t get the rights (to the song) or the white tiger so we thought, “Well alright, maybe he just proposes.”

AS: Mike, I told you I had a firm connection to both of those things. I totally could have made it happen.