New Girl - Season 3 Mid-Season Evaluation

With New Girl coming back next week from its winter hiatus, I thought now would be a good time to give the show a mid-season evaluation and discuss what we’d like to see from the show in the second half of the year. I'm going to break things down into what I think is working for the show, then what I'm not quite decided on at this point in time, followed by the elements I really don't think are working right now. Then we'll wrap things up with what I'd like to see from the show in the back half of the year.



What’s Working
Nick and Jess: I know there are people that don’t share my feelings here, but overall I think the writers have handled Nick and Jess as a couple pretty well. One of the things I was worried about coming into the season is that we were going to get them shoved down our throats a bit. This has not been the case, however. They have been the focus of a couple episodes up to this point, but the writers have been just as content to leave them in the background. I like that we have seen them struggle with that transition from friends and roommates to a couple. It's weird when you don't have a bit of that awkwardness.

The group dynamic: This show is at its best when the entire cast is together and everyone plays a role in the plot. The shows boasts an incredibly strong ensemble (one of the best on TV in my opinion), and the writers are well aware of the chemistry of their cast. Utilizing the strength of the ensemble and letting them all play off each other can vastly improve the quality of episodes that might otherwise be so-so (like “Menus” and “Thanksgiving III”). But as I’ll get into below, it’s not perfect.

Ferguson: Best. Cat. Ever. Seriously, he's a ball of ugly adorableness and he needs to be in every scene.



What I’m Undecided On:
Winston: Those of you that have been reading my reviews this season know that Winston is my BFF. I love his crazy insanity. The writers really hit a wonderful stride with him last season, and in the first couple episodes it seemed like it would continue through this season (puzzles, Ferguson, etc.). However, Winston is still suffering from being woefully underused. And, as much as I love his crazy antics, he needs some more development, and I'm worried that the writers aren’t going to do anything to give him any more depth. I know they’ve done a lot for Schmit and Nick over the past two seasons, but I guess I expected to see some more growth from Winston at this point.



What’s Not Working
The Schmidt/CeCe/Elizabeth triangle: I knew from the start of this season that this storyline was going to annoy me very quickly, and it did not fail. This, for me at least, has been the weakest element of this season. I was happy that they dealt with things pretty early on, and that the triangle wasn’t drug out for half the season. What has been the bigger issue is the aftermath of the breakups. Up until these last two episodes, we’ve barely seen CeCe at all since the breakup. She is already underused as it is, and this breakup has made it even worse. Schmidt has always been a douche, but he has always been loveable. The Schmidt we’ve seen since the breakup has lost that loveable quality. In all honesty, he’s just been pretty pathetic. And he still hasn’t been taking full responsibility for his actions. If he isn't blaming Jess and Nick, he’s content to blame it all on his overweight past, and it’s just made me dislike him a bit.

Coach: I liked Coach in the pilot. I wasn’t quite as enthusiastic about his return as a lot of fans out there, but I was looking forward to seeing how he’d shake things up. Ultimately, I haven’t been enjoying him very much. The first couple of episodes, he was a complete jerk, especially to my BFF. They’ve started to attempt to add some layers to his character so you can start to feel some sympathy for him, but, at best, you’re just creating a second Schmidt and does the show really need another Schmidt? And I feel like he’s messing up the dynamic of the group a little bit. He’s consistently been the weak link when they’ve included him in it. Again, there was a bit of improvement, but not enough for me to move it up from the "not working" category.



Things I’d like to see in the second half of the season:
Development for Winston and CeCe: These two are still being underused (especially CeCe), but their lack of development is definitely a much greater issue than lack of screentime. Every time I start to see an inkling of development nothing more comes of it and I end up feeling let down. So some further development for these two is definitely on my wish list.

Schmidt to Be Schmidt Again: I want my loveable douche back. Whatever they need to do in order for him to start to move on or at least get to a point where he isn't moping around at all, do it.

Development for Coach: If Coach is going to be sticking around for the long haul (which if they're already putting him in promo posters makes me think they want him around past this season), more needs to be done to develop him. He can't just be a second Schmidt. He needs to be his own character so give me something more to work with.

A more even back half: This should be something that improves as other issues are addressed. One consequence of the issues this season has had has been the inability to maintain the same level of quality from episode to episode (and in cases, within the same episode). Now, the great part about this is that a lesser episode of New Girl is still better than a lot of comedies on TV, but when you know what the show is capable of and produced most of last season, it's pretty hard to stomach.

True American: Because it's not a season of New Girl without it.


So with that, I turn it over to you. What elements of the season are you liking/disliking? What do you want to see from that back half of the season?