And so the arc that will take us through to the end of the season begins. The title “Sister”, predictably, means the introduction of Abby (Linda Cardellini), Jess’ younger sister. Imagine Jess, but hard-core and confident – oh, and needing picking up from jail. This, of course, means trouble, leading to sibling guilt, leading to Abby missing the flight that was supposed to take her away from both Jess and the show. Instead, she’s going to stick around for a while to strengthen their sisterly bond. We’ll see how that turns out.
Bertie managed the leap from last episode to this one, hosting a dinner for Winston’s friends that was eventually was whittled down to just Coach and Cece. Putting them aside for the moment, does this mean that something steady is on the cards for Bertie and Winston? Possibly, unless she was just included to fill in space. As for Coach and Cece, they seemed to pick up right where they left off last time we saw them together – almost literally, as they attempted to recreate that two-hour kiss they shared. Without the heat of the moment, it fell short, but it made for a good laugh and it’s nice to see these two as friends again. However, it does seem that the writers are just dangling Cece in front of Coach and Schmidt without utilising much else of her character. They are definitely not using her to her full potential.
Super wingman Nick got to spend some quality time with Schmidt again, finally, at a Bar Mitzvah where Schmidt was hoping to pick up – although I’m not sure I would really call distracting a rabbi and then loudly hitting on a pleasant old Jewish lady “quality” time. Schmidt, in this episode, was selfish as usual, and I find myself being turned off his character more and more with each passing episode. There was once a time when Schmidt was charming, in his way, coming out with the best lines of the episode (let’s not forget his “hair chut-a-ney”). I have no idea where they’re going with his character, but I hope he moves back into the loft soon so things can return to normal.
During his adventure with Schmidt, Nick was also plagued by the assumption that Jess was ashamed of him, a result of her not wanting him to meet her sister. This was remedied quickly and without fuss at the end of the episode, and further enhanced the notion of Abby meaning big trouble. In line with this notion, most of the episode seemed a build-up to bigger and better things to come in episodes “Sister II” and “Sister III”. I’m excited to see which direction Abby is going to lead the plot in, but I’ve also got a supply of cringes waiting just under the surface. Here’s hoping for a great finale.
Review Score: THREE STARS (OUT OF FIVE)
New Girl airs in Australia on Channel Ten.
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