Who doesn’t love an episode that begins with a spot of impromptu vocals by Nick? Completely unrelated to the episode, it seemed, as the plot centred around two primary storylines: Jess’ desperation to have Coach regard her as more than just ‘his buddy’s girlfriend’, and Winston’s decision to look in on Schmidt’s life of marketing after his own resignation, prompted by last week’s career-orientated episode.
Jess discovers quickly that the swiftest way to Coach’s heart is through basketball, and she gladly dons a Piston’s team shirt in return for the privilege of “butt bumps” – the first step for any great relationship. This, however, does not sit well with Nick, an adamant Bull’s fan. Thus comes the predicament of both parties turning off the relationship’s “sex taps”, and a challenge being issued to see who will surrender the fastest. There was some pretty sexy dancing going on at one point, so it’s a wonder either of them lasted for as long as they did (which wasn’t actually all that long).
Schmidt’s storyline of trumping the new old guy (that is, new to the job, old in age) through new technology seemed somewhat lacklustre to me, although I’m sure many would beg to differ. It definitely seemed the less interesting of the two storylines, and just kind of filled in the episode. Schmidt’s character seems to have been put on the backburner a bit, not delivering the great zingers that he used to. Hopefully this is something we’ll see remedied before too long.
By the end of the episode, everything was neatly resolved: Jess got to keep both Coach as a friend and Nick as a boyfriend, while Schmidt got to keep his top dog status at work – although Winston remains on the hunt for the perfect new job. Cece appeared several times during the episode, the new resident bartender and, apparently, ‘go to advice girl’, which I am curious to see more of. A very funny episode that gives me high hopes for the rest of the season.
Review Score: FOUR STARS (OUT OF FIVE)
New Girl airs in Australia on Channel Ten.
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