Title Fired Up

Two-Sentence Summary When Schmidt is sued, Nick represents him as his lawyer. Meanwhile, Jess struggles with the idea of having to fire Coach from his new job at her school because of budget problems.

Favorite Line “Walk with dignity, you giant toddler!” (Schmidt)

Episode M.V.P. For as much fun as I had watching the Coach/Schmidt/Nick trio of hilarity, my favorite single performer in this episode was Damon Wayans Jr. “Fired Up” was probably my favorite Coach episode to date. There was something so endearing about how much he cared for the kids he was coaching, even though he showed it in his typical “Coach” way—by yelling and name-calling and general profanity use. There was a nice balance between genuine encouragement and tough-love humor in both his relationship with the kids and with Jess. I have really been enjoying Coach and Jess’s rapport, and I thought Wayans and Zooey Deschanel worked really well together in all of their scenes in this episode. And I know it was kind of a cheap, obvious joke, but the whole “Coach Coach” wordplay was one of my favorite parts of “Fired Up.”

Favorite Moment Ever since the earliest days of New Girl, I have adored the chemistry between Max Greenfield, Jake Johnson, and Lamorne Morris. Sometimes it’s fun to just watch these three play off of each other in an isolated storyline, and that doesn’t happen often anymore. But this episode gave us an entire plot devoted to their antics, and it started on a high note with their scene in Schmidt’s storefront. The conversation about Nick liking it in the caboose—featuring Winston singing about it—had me in tears from laughing so hard. It reminded me of Winston singing “This is a sad song…” back in Season One’s “Injured,” and I loved that little nod to Winston’s musical accompaniment abilities.

And I also have to mention the glorious little flashback to Nick forgetting how to ride a bike. When Johnson yelled, “They changed these!” I actually started crying from laughing so hard.

Question of the Week Do we all agree that Courtroom Brown is a great nickname? And where can I get Jess’s adorable black/white/red sweater? (That’s one I actually have an answer for!)

A New Girl GIF* For My New Girl Feelings

I didn’t love the “Sister” arc of recent New Girl episodes as much as I wanted to, but I thoroughly enjoyed “Fired Up.” And if that’s not a reason to have a Nick Miller happy dance, then I don’t know what is.

*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.