Title Longest Night Ever

Two-Sentence Summary When Cece and Coach decide to go on a date, Jess is left to take care of Schmidt. Meanwhile, Winston and Nick attempt to find Furguson after Nick left the loft window open, and their travels put Winston a little closer to getting back in the dating game.

Favorite Line “She’s on a flip phone, Jess, which means she’s either poor or a time traveler.” (Schmidt)

Episode M.V.P. “Longest Night Ever” was a strange episode, and sometimes that was good, and sometimes it wasn’t. I didn’t love the Coach/Cece storyline. I thought it happened way too fast, and it could have built over the course of a few episodes instead of just one. I just can’t get a handle on where they’re going with Coach’s character yet, so I don’t think it’s time for that big of a storyline for him yet. I also kind of hated that I felt bad for Schmidt in this situation; he’s the one who screwed up, and yet I was sad for him that Cece was moving on with Coach. But I suppose that’s what happens when Max Greenfield turns on the vulnerability I love so much in his work as Schmidt. That last scene with him and Jess in the car was very realistically sad.

The best (and probably strangest) storyline in the episode belonged to Nick and Winston and both Jake Johnson and Lamorne Morris made every awkwardly hilarious moment work perfectly. New Girl plays very real awkwardness for laughs better than perhaps any other show on TV right now, and all of those scenes in Bertie’s apartment showed that perfectly. Both actors had perfect reactions to the odd things happening around them, but I also genuinely believed that Nick could see Winston’s happiness at hitting it off with a woman and wanted his friend to be happy. The only way all that weirdness could work was if both actors completely committed to it, and they definitely did.

Favorite Scene It was strange, it was awkward, and it was uncomfortable, but I loved Winston and Bertie’s weird flirting (especially the bologna conversation). The things that turn these characters on are often so strange, but that’s what makes them feel like weird, quirky people instead of boring TV characters. This flirtation could have gone horribly wrong, but instead it was so wrong it was right.

I have to give an honorable mention to Jess hitting Schmidt with her car because for some reason, I will always find people getting hit by cars hilarious (when it’s played for humor—not in real life of course!). What can I say—I’m a sucker for physical comedy.

A New Girl GIF* For My New Girl Feelings

A lot of weird stuff happened in this episode. Sometimes it was funny; sometimes it missed the mark. But it was definitely like nothing else I’m going to see on TV this week.

*I have no talent for GIF-making. Thankfully, I am highly skilled at searching Tumblr for the best GIFs. I take no credit for this beauty.