S1E6: I was a little worried that New Girl was about to kill the buzz it had been giving us for its first five episodes. The series got us ramped up on the conflict that arose when Jess showed interest in Paul (Justin Long). Nick was obviously jealous, but eventually gave in to letting her skip on her merry way because he cares about her. Then this week, not only is there no sign of Paul, but the Jess and Nick interaction was at an all time low. How could you do this to us, New Girl? Well, it actually ends up working – this complete and total halt in the storyline. It works because we get a look at something that’s taken the backseat to Jess’ theme-song-singing, turkey antics: the men. This episode fully explored Winston’s and issues and Nick and Schmidt’s long-lived, tumultuous friendship. Jess was just accessory in all this – and the break is probably for the best.
”I can make bells cool.” –Jess
(Silence) –Detention kids, Winston
As part of her teaching duties, Jess takes on leading an extra curricular hand bell troupe, which she names Ensembell. That’s about as dorky as it gets. For these kids, it was bells or detention, so they chose the musical option, but they have no conviction about learning how to really play the bells.
Winston, meanwhile, is in a total rut. He hates his boring temp job and longs for the days when he was a top athlete. It turns out he can actually play the bells beautifully, so he hijacks Jess’ troupe and teaches them “Eye of the Tiger,” but he’s about as mean as a High School football coach in Texas during Hell Week. The kids are getting better, but Jess tells him he’s kicked out because he’s too mean. When he says he just wants to be the best, she tells him it’s not about him, it’s about the kids and since they are the constantly screwing up, landing in detention sorts of students, they need all the positive energy they can get. It’s around this time we find that he’s extra competitive because he was actually fired from his crappy job. But then Nick later tells Winston the same thing Jess did and he gets it.
He shows up at Jess’s ensemble’s concert and she calls him up to play with the kids. Jess really didn’t do much other than act as a catalyst this week, but it’s nice to see these other main characters have their own stories instead of just reacting to the titular new girl.
”Who drinks Midori sours?! – Nick
”Everyone drinks Midori sours! It’s a classic American flavor!” –Schmidt
They tease each other constantly, they’ve lived together and been close friends for years, and all it would take to get them to fight is a little spark. When one of Jess’ bell-ringers doesn’t know Nick’s complicated procedure for using the “repaired” toilet, she breaks it and Nick is forced to redo his Macguyver-esque soda bottle system and stop the toilet from overflowing. Schmidt thinks they should call a plumber, but Nick can’t afford it because he’s just a bartender. Of course, it’s not so much about the toilet as it is the difficulties presented in a close friendship when one person has more material success than the other. We saw this story creeping up last week when Paul asked Nick about quitting law school and again when Paul said that harsh bit about Nick hating himself more than he hates Paul. Nick is having a rough time. He’s like a growling tiger in a corner – he’ll lash out at any moment. And that moment is when Schmidt calls the plumber anyway, and even though the plumber thinks Nick’s bottle trick was smart, this is just the first step of many.
The guys go back and forth with alternate pranks, my favorite is the Godfather (at least I think) homage with Nick waking up to a bed full of his melting frozen food because Schmidt bought the fridge. Of course, Nick’s idea to clog Schmidt’s room with the fridge and couch was equally satisfying. Finally, Schmidt says it: you’re not down on your luck, you chose to quit law school and be a “loser” bartender. It’s true, but it’s not exactly a friendly, tactful way to put it. Nick later realizes that Schmidt was just being a real friend by telling him the truth, but they don’t make up or apologize. Nick just invites Schmidt to Jess’ bell concert and they resume being buds.
And with those two storylines, some of my biggest fears about this show were quelled. I was positive that the show didn’t understand men enough to play on both the male and female plotlines, but it seems there really is something to Jess’s trio of roomies – and not just the fact that one of them (Nick) is obviously going to play the Ross to her Rachel.
