Some Spoilers Ahead
I was about one bad episode away from stopping my reviews of this show. But this week's episode of New Girl was one of the best in a long, long time. The episode has some good stories, and tons of good humor. All around a good episode of a show struggling with its identity.
In this episode, Jess' dad shows up with a new girlfriend. Apparently Jess has a long history of destroying her dad's relationships to protect him from getting his heart broken. I can accept that. She decides to meet her dad without attempting to destroy his relationship. That all changes when his girlfriend is a girl that stole Jess' high-school boyfriend from her. It gets crazier from there. The character of Ashley Berkman was played by Elizabeth Olson. Perfectly, might I add. She was able to pull off a character that was crazy, yet somehow still normal. There were a bunch of Ashley Berkman rumors going around high schoool when Cece and Jess were there. So they decided to judge her on her past, rather then her current self.
The entire bit with Berkman wasn't that funny, but it still worked. It was relatable and grounded. Jess' dad was really into this girl and ready to marry her. That is when Jess snapped and called out the prior sex addict after reading her messages. Jess mispronounced a few words and that was pretty funny. Turns out that Ashley Berkman is now a sex therapist and that is her patient. This ruins her dad and Ashley's relationship, so Jess does the Jess thing. Jess trying to patch things up was super quirky. She ran into the middle of the street singing, and then got mobbed by a bunch of bikers. She got injured and then popped the question for her dad. I really enjoyed Elizabeth Olson's reaction to this. She played it in a super funny and weird way that worked, even in that situation.
The real hero of the week was Schmidt. He is know in financial trouble. His company is run by females, as we all know, and he is having trouble getting an assignment. He begs for one. He gets it and then rigs it by using Nick, Coach, and Winston. Their little back alley meeting was hilarious. Winston was actually the funniest part with his focus on the pizza. The actually focus group bit was funny, too. Winston and Coach reciting and making the lines their own was what made that scene for me. What enhanced even that was Nick going completely off script to impress a girl. The comedy reached a climax when Nick went in to save Schmidt, and unknowingly did a bit with him. It was perfect, and by far the funniest part of the episode.
Overall, this week was a step back on the right track for New Girl. After a dud of a season last year and a rough start this year, I was getting concerned. It seems things are finally starting to turn in their favor this year. I can't wait to see what is in store. Also props for actually filming Schmidt's commercial idea. That was epic.
I was about one bad episode away from stopping my reviews of this show. But this week's episode of New Girl was one of the best in a long, long time. The episode has some good stories, and tons of good humor. All around a good episode of a show struggling with its identity.
In this episode, Jess' dad shows up with a new girlfriend. Apparently Jess has a long history of destroying her dad's relationships to protect him from getting his heart broken. I can accept that. She decides to meet her dad without attempting to destroy his relationship. That all changes when his girlfriend is a girl that stole Jess' high-school boyfriend from her. It gets crazier from there. The character of Ashley Berkman was played by Elizabeth Olson. Perfectly, might I add. She was able to pull off a character that was crazy, yet somehow still normal. There were a bunch of Ashley Berkman rumors going around high schoool when Cece and Jess were there. So they decided to judge her on her past, rather then her current self.
The entire bit with Berkman wasn't that funny, but it still worked. It was relatable and grounded. Jess' dad was really into this girl and ready to marry her. That is when Jess snapped and called out the prior sex addict after reading her messages. Jess mispronounced a few words and that was pretty funny. Turns out that Ashley Berkman is now a sex therapist and that is her patient. This ruins her dad and Ashley's relationship, so Jess does the Jess thing. Jess trying to patch things up was super quirky. She ran into the middle of the street singing, and then got mobbed by a bunch of bikers. She got injured and then popped the question for her dad. I really enjoyed Elizabeth Olson's reaction to this. She played it in a super funny and weird way that worked, even in that situation.
The real hero of the week was Schmidt. He is know in financial trouble. His company is run by females, as we all know, and he is having trouble getting an assignment. He begs for one. He gets it and then rigs it by using Nick, Coach, and Winston. Their little back alley meeting was hilarious. Winston was actually the funniest part with his focus on the pizza. The actually focus group bit was funny, too. Winston and Coach reciting and making the lines their own was what made that scene for me. What enhanced even that was Nick going completely off script to impress a girl. The comedy reached a climax when Nick went in to save Schmidt, and unknowingly did a bit with him. It was perfect, and by far the funniest part of the episode.
Overall, this week was a step back on the right track for New Girl. After a dud of a season last year and a rough start this year, I was getting concerned. It seems things are finally starting to turn in their favor this year. I can't wait to see what is in store. Also props for actually filming Schmidt's commercial idea. That was epic.
Highlights:
| The Score: 8 out of 10 Stars |