Title The Captain

Two-Sentence Summary Schmidt deals with his newly-single status by attempting to break up the very happy Nick and Jess by preying on their differences in expressing their emotions, but his plan proves to be fruitless when it leads to Nick finally opening up about his feelings, especially his feelings for Jess. Meanwhile, Winston tries to find a female cat for Furguson to spend his last night with before he’s fixed.

Favorite Line There were so many gems this week that I have a tie between:
“I have a cat brothel going on in my room, and I’m the only normal person in this loft!” (Winston)

AND

“I’ve never, you know, felt this way or had this with anybody. It’s like there’s been this fog around my life, and with you, all of a sudden, it’s gone.” (Nick)

Episode M.V.P. Each of the Core Four characters had standout moments this week. Schmidt’s explanation of what exactly “The Captain” was while strategically using the blender was some of the funniest material Max Greenfield’s been given in a long time, and he ran with it. Lamorne Morris got to be both the craziest (cat brothel, anyone?) and sanest (“You’re having sex, not inventing it.”) person in the episode. And Zooey Deschanel’s delivery was on fire this week—from her horrified reactions after The Captain was over to her explanation of her sexual awakening to her adorable admission that her month with Nick has been the best month of her life.

For me, though, the real stars of the episode were the people who brought Nick Miller to life in it—writer J. J. Philbin and Jake Johnson. Philbin is my favorite New Girl writer, and I love how much her episodes explore both Nick’s hilarious side (“Fancyman Part 1”) and his deeper layers, especially in terms of how they relate to Jess (“Injured” and “Fluffer”). This episode was written in a way that allowed us to see just how far Nick has come without being overly sentimental or sappy. And the reason the writing came off so well was because of Johnson. His gift for juggling silliness and sincerity was used to its full effect in this episode. There were moments when he had me crying with laughter, moments when he had me crying from happiness, and moments when he made both happen at the same time. Nick’s outpouring of feelings about everything from cellos and rap music to baby zebras and Jess was delivered with such genuine happiness by Johnson and created a real turning point for Nick Miller as a character without making it melodramatic. That scene and the last scene between Nick and Jess in his bedroom were perfect examples of how great writing and truly natural acting can combine to create moments of emotional honesty that still manage to make us laugh—and that’s when New Girl is at its best.

Continue reading →

I apologize for being so late to post this review; I’ve been battling a wicked case of laryngitis, so my body decided to recharge (aka fall asleep) before I had time to finish writing this yesterday.

Title Double Date

Two-Sentence Summary Nick and Jess’s plan for a double date with Cece and Schmidt goes horribly awry when Schmidt’s relationships with both Cece and Elizabeth are revealed. After losing both women, Schmidt then vows to destroy Nick and Jess’s relationship.

Favorite Line “I’m not convinced I know how to read. I’ve just memorized a lot of words.” (Nick)

Episode M.V.P. While I thought Lamorne Morris was typically hilarious in depicting just how insane Winston can be (eating the glass pebble was my personal favorite moment of his), this episode was more serious than most New Girl outings, and it belonged to the actors who so expertly made the episode’s gravitas feel believable.

Zooey Deschanel has perfected the art of showing Jess’s quiet strength, and that was on full display in her desire to do what was right for her best friend. Her acting wasn’t overdramatic or attention-grabbing; it was just the right kind of concern and righteous anger on behalf of the friend she’s known a hell of a lot longer than Schmidt. Also proving she’s truly adept at quiet moments of emotion was Hannah Simone. She absolutely broke my heart in the scene where she found out about Schmidt’s infidelity.

Although both of those women were excellent in this episode, their male counterparts stole the show. Jake Johnson and Max Greenfield are both such sincere actors, and that sincerity was a big part of what made this episode so devastating for fans of Schmidt and Cece’s relationship and also so uplifting for fans of Nick and Jess’s romance. Johnson once again showed his skill at balancing broad comedy (his ridiculous dance in the loft while looking like another member of Daft Punk) with honest emotion (the way he kissed Jess in their bathroom scene). Nick is growing as a character with each episode, and I love that Johnson’s performance makes it feel believable that this man who thinks the moon landing is fake is the same man who can so sincerely tell Jess that he’s there for her and wants to be with her (especially when he knows they’ve both just dealt with a situation involving a man who couldn’t decide who he wanted to be with).

And then there’s Greenfield. How is it possible to feel sad for someone who was trying to date two women at once? It goes against everything I stand for, but somehow Greenfield made me believe that Schmidt genuinely didn’t want to hurt anyone. His performance in the restaurant scene was the best acting we’ve seen from him yet. I hated what Schmidt did, but I can’t hate Schmidt—and that’s a credit to the vulnerability Greenfield projected in such a dramatic moment.

Favorite Moment In the middle of so much heartbreaking drama, it was nice to see Nick and Jess stronger than ever as a couple. The scene between them as they drove to the restaurant was such a great way of showing the dynamic between these two characters in a way that was both funny and disarmingly sweet. First of all, of course Nick would drive absurdly slowly because he’s basically legally blind. Those little character quirks that keep popping up around this character never fail to make me laugh because they always feel right for who we know Nick Miller to be. Also, did anybody else love the way they argued as they were driving because it feels like a thing real couples always seem to do?

Continue reading →

Title Nerd

Two-Sentence Summary After seeing Jess struggling to make friends among the teachers at her new school, Nick gives her some well-meaning but misguided advice about how to act cool. Meanwhile, Schmidt faces a problem when both Cece and Elizabeth show up at his office party, and Winston dreams of taking his frustrations with his relationship with Daisy out on her cat.

Favorite Line “I would have noticed you.” (Nick)

Episode M.V.P. “Nerd”was a great showcase for the men of New Girl. While Zooey Deschanel had plenty of comedy to work with (my personal favorite being her rendition of “What’s Up” by 4 Non Blondes while standing in a toilet), I didn’t really care for most of Jess’s storyline. I love Jess because she seems proud of who she is even when the rest of the world doesn’t seem to understand her quirks, and that confidence was completely missing from her character in this episode. Her characterization felt uneven, which I guess was kind of the point—but that doesn’t mean it appealed to my tastes (I hate “secondhand embarrassment” kind of comedy).

One of my problems with Jess’s characterization in this episode was that the comedy in her storyline was too broad and too cliché. We’ve seen it all before. The same could be said of Schmidt’s storyline—how many times have we seen the “two girlfriends, one room” situation in a sitcom? (Answer: Too many) However, Max Greenfield was able to inject a really surprising amount of genuine emotion into his reaction to the situation. The tears in his eyes at the end of the party made me actually believe that he doesn’t want to hurt either woman; he’s just going about this in a completely wrong way.

Lamorne Morris was once again a standout performer in this episode, making the craziest side plot work with his fantastic delivery. Who knew contemplating killing a cat could be so funny? My favorite moment was his ridiculous idea to let the cat decide how it wanted to die.

The real M.V.P. of this episode, though, was Nick Miller and, by extension, Jake Johnson. Nick went through a lot in this episode, and Johnson once again balanced so many facets of this character with ease. His desire to help Jess was incredibly endearing, even if it manifested itself in a disastrous way. Schmidt wasn’t wrong; Nick’s advice was awful, but it came from a genuine place of concern and care. That’s what I love about New Girl—all of these characters are messes, but their hearts are in the right place. And as soon as Schmidt opened Nick’s eyes to the fact that his advice was making Jess more like him—and not in a positive sense—Nick suddenly sprang into action in such a fantastic way. I loved seeing him try to deal with both Jess and Winston’s crises because flustered Nick is one of my favorite flavors of Nick Miller, but also because it showed how much this man has grown, letting more than a little responsible, “Chicago” Nick into the loft.

Continue reading →

Title Winston’s Birthday

Two-Sentence Summary The morning after Nick and Jess’s first night together (and the day before Cece’s wedding) is interrupted by the arrival of Jess’s father, who believes Nick to be unworthy of his little girl because he sees too much of himself in the younger man. Meanwhile, Cece deals with an unfortunate henna accident, Schmidt deals with the beginning (or restarting) of a relationship with Elizabeth, and Winston deals with the fact that his friends may have forgotten his birthday.

Favorite Line “You know how much I love to explore space and time!” (Winston)

Episode M.V.P. While I loved both Schmidt and Winston in this episode, I thought it belonged to Jess, Nick, and Bob. Their dynamic and the way it built from comedy to heartbreak felt incredibly natural, just like so much of this season has felt. Jess had a lot to do both physically and emotionally in this episode, and I thought Zooey Deschanel did some of her best work of the season in this half-hour. Nothing she did or said felt forced—from her easy laughter with Nick before the chaos rained down around them to her palpable panic at having to do too many things for too many people while still trying to make her own future a priority, too. While I loved everything Deschanel did in this episode, three moments in particular stood out. The first was her immediate defense of Nick when Bob told her Nick wasn’t good enough for her. I loved that she didn’t even wait a moment before telling her dad that that there’s nothing wrong with Nick. Jess’s feelings about Nick were also a huge part of her monologue to her students about life being messy, which I thought Deschanel delivered with an incredible vulnerability and emotional honesty. You could feel her come to her decision in that moment; yes, things with Nick are messy (she went so far as to call him a mess during their kissing in “Quick Hardening Caulk”), but the messy things are the best things in life—because they’re real. The final Jess moment that really got to me was her reaction to Nick’s breakfast on the roof. For so long, we’ve really watched this relationship through Nick’s eyes; we’ve seen it written all over his face how much he loves her. But this time, we got to see plainly just how much Jess loves him, too. The soft way she looked at him throughout that rooftop scene was perfect. Being in love looks great on Nick, and now we know it looks gorgeous on Jess as well.

Nick and Bob both worked so well in this episode because of Jake Johnson and Rob Reiner’s ability to so effortlessly show the way both of these imperfect men love a woman who they both feel is out of their league. Yes, they were both hysterical in their early scenes in the episode. (Any scene involving Nick screaming like a little girl will make me cry with laughter.) But what really made this episode for me was their sincerity. When Bob told Jess he’s not good enough for his little girl, my heart broke because you could feel the pain of this man who’s spent 30 years trying to be the best man he could be for his daughter but never feeling good enough. And that reflected back on Nick perfectly because you could see how much that hurt Nick—not just being rejected by a father-figure but the confirmation of what he always believed to be true, that he’s not good enough for Jess. Johnson played that moment perfectly; you could see Nick crumble under the weight of those words. I really hope Reiner comes back at least once or twice a season because he fits in with the cast (especially Johnson) like he’s a regular.

Favorite Moment I cry a lot when I watch TV. A LOT. But New Girl had yet to make me actually cry…until the end of this episode. When Jess got Nick’s text, I could feel my heart start beating faster in anticipation because I’d honestly thought they were just going to leave the relationship in a kind of limbo after the confrontation with Bob. But once Jess reached the roof and we saw Nick setting up the same breakfast he made her in the morning (but this time with the flower!), I started to tear up. There was just something so simple and beautiful about that gesture; it just furthered my belief that Nick is the most realistically romantic man on television right now. He may be a mess in every other area of his life, but that action showed that he loves Jess with a clarity and a simple honesty that is anything but messy. After what her father said to them, they both could have taken a step back. But he made her breakfast on the roof, she showed up, and they were both looking at each other like any doubts that could ever exist about them had no place on that rooftop.

Of course, however, this is New Girl, so the moment had to be interrupted, and it had to be by Schmidt (and later Winston). But that interruption proved to be emotional and beautiful in its own right. The last moments of the episode—with Winston, Schmidt, Elizabeth, Nick, and Jess together on the roof—were moments filled with the kind of silly, sentimental, honest, and hopeful energy that has made me love this show since Season One’s “Injured.” This is a show first and foremost about friendships, and I love that the writers and cast never seem to forget that.

A New Girl GIF* For My New Girl Feelings

Yes, New Girl is a comedy, but it’s a comedy that stands apart from the rest because it’s one of the most emotionally honest shows on television. That emotion was what made this episode so special. It made me laugh, it made my heart skip a beat (I can’t end this review without mentioning the fact that Nick kissed Jess’s shoulder!), and it made me cry. The best part about it was the fact that, despite putting me through the emotional wringer, this episode never felt emotionally manipulative. It all came from a very genuine place for each character, and that makes me even more excited for next week’s big wedding finale (even though I’m not sure my heart will be able to handle it)!

*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.