Episode: 7.01 "About Three Years Later"
Directed by: Erin O'Malley
Written by: Berkley Johnson
Air date: April 10, 2018
It's three years later and we're at the beginning of the end. Seems like everything is falling right into place. For once, everyone is genuinely happy and all the characters have grown together.
"I'm a walking miracle with magic inside."
There's Winston and Ally, now married and expecting a baby. These two are really such a fun couple, often with the most comedic moments on the series. Ally hates being pregnant. She refuses to take a break and insists on doing everything herself. Until a set of pictures she took with Winston makes her truly appreciate her new circumstances. And Winston is more than happy to be there for her all the time.
"Wow, this got away from us fast."
Meanwhile, Schmidt and Cece are happy together and celebrating their daughter's birthday. Cece's agency has now grown and Schmidt found his calling as stay-at-home dad of little Ruth. The short montage of the previous birthday parties might have been the funniest bit in the premiere for me. Also, the current (feminist) party, with the game of musical chairs and the parents going wild. There was also the mustache which everyone seemed to hate. Luckily, Nick's hatred of it convinced Schmidt to finally get rid of it. Their duo continues to share some of the craziest and most entertaining scenes.
"I hope this never ends."
Finally, there's Nick and Jess. They're still together and heading towards an engagement which is the main plot of the episode. Nick is finally ready to propose and is looking for the best possible time to ask the question. My favorite thing about this story is the fact that despite the constant interruptions, the return of Jess' ex-boyfriend, Russell and his job offer, Nick didn't change his mind at the end. His conversations with Jess' dad were actually perfect and if only for them alone, I really enjoyed this plot.
Overall, there's not much to say. Things are very different, yet somehow still the same. The characters have grown, the humour's rather the same. It was a good premiere, mostly focused on catching up with everyone. Feels like a long goodbye, leaving the fans with knowledge that all their favorites will get their happily ever after in the end.
Episode: 7.02 "Tuesday Meeting"
Directed by: Josh Greenbaum
Written by: Sarah Tapscott
Air date: April 17, 2018
I really loved this one. The show feels much stronger and hilarious whenever it focuses on these random plots, instead of romantic developments. While the main plot might appear to be Jess' new work, it's the "Three Man and a Baby" setup that steals the episode for me.
"This is just nonsense. I read it and I don't want to be friends with him anymore."
Winston decides to watch "Three Man and a Baby" movie and he soon becomes a part of it when Schmidt brings Ruth to the loft and everyone helps Nick look for new book ideas when his editor rejects the latest Pepperwood novel. Nick's close to giving up, openly admitting that he has nothing, so his friends try to inspire him by searching through his stuff, including "The Little Red Book" (a book that explains ideology of the Chinese Communist Party). When they convince him that he wrote some of the quotes from this book as a start of his new story, he shows up at his editor with the idea and quickly gets turned down again. And also gets taken for a communist, most likely. Finally, his inspiration comes from the craziest memories of his life which he writes down after sharing them as a bedtime story.
"Remember me to the people."
Meanwhile, Schmidt's main goal of the episode is to get little Ruth to sleep so he can finally rest as well. He's barely aware, and the girl is energetic, bossy, not sleepy at all and absolutely adorable. She didn't have a lot of opportunities to shine in the premiere, but here her interactions with everyone are brilliant. Her showing up and waking Schmidt up constantly was hilarious to watch. Especially when he falls asleep in the middle of the sentence, she simply goes "Wake up, Daddy" and he just carries on with the conversation. I love the way he almost automatically responds to her "Hi Daddy" with "No! Good God, child." This duo is already a winner for me.
"Before you, I was his baby girl."
Speaking of great duos, Ruth also found a common ground with Nick. He's almost jealous of her when he realizes that Schmidt no longer pays as much attention to him as he used to. For a moment there, it's Nick who acts like a kid and it makes the scene even more funny as a result. Nick and Schmidt are always great together but the addition of this little lady worked perfectly as well. I think I could watch an entire hour of just Schmidt's different attempts to fall asleep with Nick and Ruth running around him and keeping him awake.
"Play hard, work hard..."
Also, on the topic of exhausted people, after falling asleep in the middle of the phone call with Schmidt, Cece is trying her best to stay awake both at work and during lunch with Jess where they made plans to celebrate Jess' new job. When the two realize how often they were dismissed in the rooms full of men gathered on their "tuesday meetings", they decide to show Russell the value of Jess' input in her work. Of course, it turns out that there was a fun twist in their assumption, but Cece's lines remain absolutely funny and spot on. It was hard not to laugh at drunk Cece and her story about the 30 minutes she spent with a breast pump during a business meeting.
In the end, Jess gets to improve her job and everyone gathers to help Schmidt and Cece get some much needed rest. The stories, the song and Ruth's return - just a fun way to end this great episode.
Memorable exchange:
Ruth:
"Daddy got me this dress."
Nick:
"Well, you know, your dad used to, uh, dress me, too, Ruth."
Ruth:
"Why?"
Nick:
"Uh, because he cared."
Ruth:
"Why?"
Nick:
"I don't really know, but he did."
Ruth:
"Why?"
Nick:
"Before you, I was his baby girl."
What did you think about "About Three Years Later" & "Tuesday Meeting"? Any favorite scenes, quotes or jokes? Feel free to let us know in the comments. As always, thanks for reading!
