FOX's New Girl - Episode 3.21 Big News
The morning after their break-up, Jess and Nick scramble to keep it a secret from the loftmates. Meanwhile, Winston passes his police academy entrance exam and demands that the gang throw him a "Honey Roast."
I have a ton of respect for what New Girl is trying to do in "Big News." I'm unsure of the Winston of it all though. It forces the characters into an awkward situation for the sake of being awkward. The totality of this episode is the fallout of Nick and Jess decision to break up. It makes a plot out of it. And yet, I appreciate that the show didn't once say, "I'm not okay, you're not okay, maybe we should just be in a relationship to be okay again." That thought didn't even cross the show's mind. Nick and Jess broke up and they are sticking to it. Yes, it sucks a ton right now for them. They have no clue how to process their feelings about it - or even where Jess should sleep in the loft. So, Jess is right back on that couch watching Dirty Dancing and crying. Nick is off in his room singing along. It's a fun concluding moment that says the show is in no rush to bring them back together any time soon.Meanwhile, Cece and Winston are weird characters on the show. Despite three seasons worth of story, they still haven't quite come into great focus. So, I applaud the show for just scraping their main characteristics and just trying to rebuild. Cece in the beginning was simply Jess' model friend. To do this day, she's still just her friend to talk to about stuff. But by moving her over to the bar gives her a better reason to interact with the rest of the characters more organic. And now, she's trying to get her GED. That of course leads to jokes that make her seem dim. But it's also the show trying to do something with her. It still doesn't amount to much but it's still something.
The same of course applies to Winston. Earlier this season he realized that he made all of his life decisions based on the lives of the people around him. That's kind of a meta joke of the show addressing their problems with that character. He's been asked to do a lot of different and weird stuff. Some worked and some didn't. But none really stuck in a meaningful way. Now, he's becoming a policeman which has been a consistent plot thread for him during the second half of this season. It's an odd decision since the show loves doing Crazy Winston. But again, it's them trying something with the character.
Some more thoughts:
- "Big News" was written by Berkley Johnson & Kim Rosenstock and directed by Steven Tsuchida.
- I love that Jamie Lee Curtis is willing enough to do these small little appearances as Jess' mom every couple of episodes.
- Jess doesn't just have one cat outfit. She has four!
- Nick's eye twitching!
- Tran
- From Jess' mom worrying that she's never gonna have a grandchild to Schmidt asking Jess if she was pregnant, I was certain that someone was gonna be knocked up by episode's end. That did not happen.
