This was not the strongest episode of New Girl. I think the episode had grand intentions but the execution was lacking. The good news is that a so-so episode of New Girl is still stronger than a lot of shows on television, and this wasn’t a terrible episode. It was just ok.
The main plot of the evening was that Nick inherited a bag of money from his dad – RIP Dennis Farina :(. The scene where one of his dad’s “associates” delivered the money was probably the highlight of the episode for me. Nick, being Nick, wants to just blow through the money. Winston, understandably, wants the money that Nick owes him. Jess, upon seeing Nick’s box full of bills, wants to help him get his finances under control. Ultimately, Jess takes it upon herself to go behind Nick’s back and take care of the box herself, leading to a fight between the two. I understand Jess wanting to help. I don’t know how bill collectors aren’t always lined up down the hall. Being with a person in that kind of financial situation is definitely scary, especially when you think about how a person’s financial situation can impact your financial situation. But Nick has a point as well. Deliberate or not, Jess’s actions were an attempt to change Nick. And that does not lend itself to a successful relationship. But we do see Jess take a page out of Nick’s book at the end of the episode and Nick does end up opening a bank account so these two crazy kids are ok for now.
The other main plot of the episode centered around the continued fallout from Schmidt’s adventures in two-timing. Schmidt is wondering if he is a bad person, most likely because any attempts to apologize for his actions have fallen on deaf ears. So Schmidt spends a good chunk of the episode trying to do a bunch of good deeds to right the scales back into his favor. But when he realizes that bad things can still happen to good people, he returns to his dejected mood. Winston finally tells him what he’s been longing to hear: Schmidt is a good person, but he did a bad thing. He can come back and be forgiven but it will take time. I do wish we'd gotten to see more of Jon Lovitz. He was wonderful.
I feel like we took way too long to come to these two conclusions. I would really like to see us move Schmidt beyond his current storyline. I understand that he won’t be happy immediately, but I can’t really feel sympathy for him anymore either. And Jess has tried to force Nick to change in previous seasons. Granted, the relationship aspect brings a new spin to it, but it’s something we’ve seen before.
Side notes:
--- I like that Winston can go from being completely crazy to being the only sane one in the loft.
--- Did anyone else think it was really weird seeing Jess in jeans?
