With Jess’ sister thrown into the mix, we were expecting only one thing from this episode: trouble. New Girl did not fail us, kicking off immediately with a game of “Sky Knife”, in which knives are thrown into the ceiling. From there, the crux of the episode was gotten to quite quickly: Abby wants to move into the loft. Jess, obviously, does not think this is a good idea, so what does she do? Talk to her sister, perhaps? Of course not, this is a sitcom! She heads out to find a new apartment for Abby, leaving Nick – who has had such reliable credentials – in charge of Abby for the day. What emanates from this is Nick spilling the beans to her, Schmidt arriving to take control of the situation, and subsequently being coerced into a very confusing sexual relationship with Abby. Just to clarify, this is not a good thing.
Schmidt, in recent episodes, just appears to be jumping from woman to woman in between his moments of rekindled love for Cece, and it seems that’s all they’ve done with his character for a while. Even Coach has taken on a more influential role than Schmidt. It’s mildly disappointing, but with as many characters as the show is currently supporting, it’s somewhat to be expected. Still, his storyline of still living in the loft across the hall did come in handy for the episode’s conclusion when, at Nick’s request, Jess managed to be honest with Abby about not wanting her as a new roommate. Abby’s rejoinder was one we all saw coming: she’s moving in with Schmidt. While this has a large promise of mischief for the end of the sister arc, it has me flinching at the damage it may cause.
Winston, meanwhile, had the more interesting role of the episode as he floundered over checking the results of his Los Angeles Police Department entrance exam. Winston’s main storyline this season has been about the loss of his job and realising his dream of becoming a police officer, and it finally came to a head in this episode. After some incredibly amusing interaction with Coach at Coach’s own job of personal training, which was the highlight of the episode, Coach revealed that Winston did not pass the exam. With so much time left in the episode, the expectation was set up that he would, first: be accepted for the frozen yoghurt position he then applied for (wrong), and when this led to the discovery that he may have failed to notice a second part of the police exam, that he would, second: remedy the mistake and be accepted to the LAPD after all (also wrong). It was a nice non-cliché ending, and while I’m sure Winston will get there in the end, it will be all the more rewarding for having watched him strive to make the cut.
All in all, an amusing episode filled with some racier than usual innuendo and just the right amount of character development.
Review Score: THREE AND A HALF STARS (OUT OF FIVE)
New Girl airs in Australia on Channel Ten.
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