For Carrie Brownstein, the significance of filming the final season of "Portlandia" first hit home when Kyle MacLachlan had tears in his eyes.
"It was a series wrap for him," Brownstein says of working earlier this summer with MacLachlan, who plays the fictional mayor of Portland in the hit IFC comedy.
"He was very sentimental, and kept tearing up during scenes," as Brownstein recalls. For her, costar and co-creator Fred Armisen, and everyone else still in the middle of production, MacLachlan's emotion captured what Brownstein calls "a sense of the loss that this will be for us."
As production on the eighth and final season of "Portlandia" was nearing its end -- the last day of shooting is Sept. 9 - Armisen, Brownstein and other veterans of the series took questions from visiting members of the press for one last media day earlier this week.
While there were the usual comments about how it feels to be ending a show that's had such a successful run - including three 2017 Emmy nominations -- "Portlandia" is unusual in that it's both reflected and shaped Portland's image, particularly how the city is seen by those who don't live here.
As Portland has grown, many locals have had complicated reactions to "Portlandia." Some blame the show for attracting hordes of newcomers, presumably drawn by the show's portrait of Portland as a quirky paradise for free-thinkers, bicycle commuters and all things artisanal.
Others have applauded "Portlandia" for its satirical aim, praising the show for how accurately it spoofs certain elements of the Rose City, specifically the ultra-progressive mindset.
Then there's the well-publicized case of In Other Words, the Portland feminist community center and bookstore where "Portlandia" filmed sketches featuring its best-known characters, the proprietors of the "Women & Women First" feminist bookstore.
Last year, people involved with In Other Words publicly announced the center was done with "Portlandia," and blasted the show for having had "a net negative effect on our neighborhood and the city of Portland as a whole."
That's a lot of weight for a sketch comedy show on a cable network to carry. But Brownstein, especially, has clearly thought about these issues.
Following a brief ceremony Thursday at North Portland's Arbor Lodge Park -- in which Tim Williams, executive director of the Oregon Governor's Office of Film & Television, unveiled a plaque commemorating "Portlandia" to be placed in Portland City Hall - Armisen and Brownstein talked about the show, the final season and how "Portlandia" and Portland have intersected.
Brownstein, who grew up in Washington state and moved to Portland in 2001, suggests that Portland's growth spurt was likely to happen with or without "Portlandia."
"When people look out and they see the differences in the city, our show is kind of an easy target," Brownstein says, when it comes to pointing fingers.
"I think that's a very easy and pat and sort of paltry way of assessing how Portland has changed," Brownstein says, adding that other West Coast cities have seen the kind of population boom, new development, rising prices and increased traffic that have swept across Portland.
"It was inevitable that Portland would suffer, if you want to use that term, or benefit, from the same sort of growth that those other cities have," Brownstein says.
"Portlandia" has, Brownstein thinks, "been a focal point for people, and because it's a show that's in conversation with the city, and a city that's in conversation with itself, it's hard not to see it as intrinsic to some of the changes."
As someone who was in Portland before and during the show, Brownstein adds, "I don't think the condos are because of our show. I do think it affects tourism quite a bit. But I think the city was well on its way to changing."
Despite its title, and the fact that it has filmed in Portland for all eight seasons, Armisen says that "as the show's gone on, it feels a little bit like it's been less about the city specifically, and more about the characters getting to know each other."
But those characters - including earnestly liberal Peter and Nance, outdoorsy Dave and Kath, the opposites-attract duo of Nina and Lance, the Goth weirdos, and feminists Toni and Candace - will soon see their stories end.
Or will they? Both Armisen and Brownstein say that while the "Portlandia" TV series will end with Season 8 in 2018, they may not be totally done with the "Portlandia" idea.
"Every time someone announces an end of something, it's the worst," Armisen jokes. "There they are, five years later, doing some other version of it."
"You don't want to be like a 'Hell Freezes Over' Eagles situation," Brownstein agrees, vowing you're finished, "and then, 'We're back!'"
This felt like the right time to end the "Portlandia" TV series, Armisen says.
"Eight seasons is a lot," he says, adding he feels "lucky to make it that far. That's a lot of television."
Armisen says they also liked the idea of having "just a little bit of control over how a series can end," as opposed to "going off the rails."
As for more "Portlandia," in some other form, Armisen says, "Who knows what the future is?"
Armisen and Brownstein, who are also "Portlandia" writers, say that, since "Portlandia" is a sketch show, there isn't the pressure to end it with something dramatic and definitive.
"But we did take it into consideration," Brownstein says. "We do have one episode that is, I think, a summation, and has some sentimentality to it."
The final 10-episode season, which premieres Jan. 18 on IFC, features an array of guest stars, including Rachel Bloom, Aidy Bryant, John Corbett, Terry Crews, Rashida Jones, Nick Kroll, John Mulaney, Krist Novoselic, Tracee Ellis Ross, and Portland-based writer Cheryl Strayed.
Back for one final season are returning guest stars MacLachlan, former Portland mayor Sam Adams (who plays the assistant to MacLachlan's mayor character), Jeff Goldblum, Kumail Nanjiani, Ed Begley Jr., and Natasha Lyonne.
"Portlandia" is also ending at a time that feels very different from when the show made its debut, in January 2011.
"Our show started at a time during the Obama administration where it felt like, oh, we're in this post-whatever society," Brownstein says, "post-race, post-gender."
It felt, she recalls, like "the house had been built, and now all we had to do was decorate it as a society. And now it turns out, well, maybe we had a terrible foundation."
The final season won't ignore the cultural shifts represented by the election of Donald Trump, Brownstein says, adding that, though the writers didn't intend to impose a theme, many Season 8 sketches reflect "a permeating anxiety."
Armisen jokes that Season 8 will have "only" political content, "mostly speechifying, us straight to camera."
"There is definitely an underpinning of doom," Brownstein says of the show that launched with Armisen singing, "The dream of the '90s is alive in Portland."
"I think, for sure," Brownstein says, "it is the end of the dream this season."
But Brownstein hastens to add that the conclusion of "Portlandia" won't be depressing. "We'd never leave anyone on some kind of down note," Brownstein says. "That would be cynical," a quality she describes as "pretty toxic."
"We'll leave people, hopefully, feeling good," Brownstein says.
-- Kristi Turnquist
kturnquist@oregonian.com
503-221-8227
@Kristiturnquist