New Girl - Episode 5.20 - Review: "Return to Sender"
On this episode of New Girl,Jess meets Sam's best friend, Diane, while Nick worries that Schmidt's dad, Gavin (Peter Gallagher), will disappoint Schmidt as the wedding draws near. Schmidt wants to have a relationship with his dad, but Nick is scared that Schmidt is going to get hurt again. I kind of hated Jess's first reaction to make Diane jealous, but a little twist that I was happy to see was that Diane was indeed, in love with Sam, and was back to win him over before the wedding.
"Put on the bird shirt, Sam!" Okay, Winston's insistence on Sam wearing his shirt was pretty good. When Winston gets indignant, there is not stopping him. Diane's story about falling for Sam, the letter and the return to sender (hence the title of the episode) was so poignant and all I wanted was to see Diane tell him how she felt, because I know he doesn't belong with Jess and frankly, their arc this season felt way too forced to me. But that music on the jukebox joke was pretty good and a nod to all the clichés of the beautiful woman coming back just in time to ruin the girlfriend's plans.
"Will you be there, Gavin? Will you?...Can we, Gavin? Can we?" Classic Nick Miller channeled into a pretty emotional crux for him as a character. He has had to provide for Schmidt for 15 years because his dad was a deadbeat. Anyone that has had a rocky relationship with a parent knows that it is never just easy to open up and be there when life gets tough. It was nice to see some levity in that moment and that milkshake moment followed by the bro-out was perfect. And then Gavin showed up and helped Schmidt with the wedding venue as well as explain to him that he will be there for him. Gavin even offered up the vineyard to host the wedding. Truly a great moment for all of the characters involved. Jess letting Diane talk with Sam followed by Sam showing up at the loft was bound to happen, but I was happy with how it turned out even tough I'm apprehensive of Sam and if he will truly stick around. Tune in next week for the final episodes/season finale of Season 5!
