New Girl – Episode 1-11 Review – “The Anti-Jess”

Reviews

New Girl has quickly become a hilarious ensemble comedy, and by adding Lizzy Caplan temporarily to the mix as Nick’s new girlfriend and Jess’s polar opposite, the writers have even more to play with.

Caplan’s character Julia offers a commentary on Jess’s character that mirrors a commentary often heard on Zooey Deschanel herself. There are people who don’t like Zooey because she has large eyes, or wears girly clothing, or tweets about kittens and cupcakes. There are people who think that that makes her stupid, or infantilized, or weak. As a Zooey Deschanel fan and a fan of ribbons, dresses and cupcakes, I obviously do not belong to this particular school of thought. I liked that the show addressed this without getting too meta or self-aware. Sure, the problems Julia has with Jess are very similar to the problems many people have with Zooey, but it was also a pretty accurate representation of problems that can  arise when two very different people are thrown into the same room.

Sure, Julia is a little threatened by Jess. But she also just doesn’t really care for her. She sees Jess’s personality as a schtick, and probably a demeaning one at that. And Jess doesn’t really care for Julia either. She’s not a dessert person and doesn’t believe in braking for birds! But they have Nick in common, so they have to make the best of it.

I also really enjoyed the introduction of Jess’s friend Sadie, even though it was a little out of the blue. Sadie is a lesbian gynecologist, which gives Schmidt even more opportunities to make a total ass of himself, and her presence also means that Jess has another person in her corner, vouching for her character. Jess has always had CeCe, but it’s nice to see she has some other friends outside of her roommates as well. Friendships are a funny thing, and you don’t always know why some people will click so well and others won’t. It was nice to see CeCe come so strongly to Jess’s defense.

Jess and Nick argued over Nick and Julia’s refusal to “label” their relationship. It didn’t make them sophisticated or straightforward, because Julia had tried to weasel information about whether Nick was sleeping with other women out of Jess the previous night. If they were so straightforward with each other, then why didn’t Julia just come out and ask Nick herself?

Cut to the bar where Nick works, Julia had confrontations with Nick and then Jess that resulted in tears all around – even Nick was crying in the men’s room, which meant poor, tearful Jess had nowhere to go. At court the next day, Jess accidentally plead guilty and landed herself an $800 fine, and then blew up at Julia when she joked about how her office had a pool going on whether the bird defense would work. I loved seeing Jess stand up for herself again, just like she did when she retrieved her TV from her ex-boyfriend early in the series. This exchange pretty much sums up Jess and Julia’s conflict:

Julia: “I see what you’re doing. I know that I’m the mean lawyer girl who wears suits and works too much. And you, you’re the really fun teacher girl with all the colorful skirts, and you bake things, and eventually Nick is going to come running to you, and you’ll tuck him in under blankie.”
Jess: “What is it with you and the blankie thing? I never said the word blankie! I don’t talk like Teddy Ruxpin!”
Julia: “If I acted like you act when I’m at work, nobody would listen to me.”
Jess: “Well if I acted like you at work, my students would turn in really weird, dark dioramas, so…”

Later, Jess and Julia managed to work things out with a little crochet therapy, and Nick and Julia decided to go ahead and label their relationship. All is right in the world, for now. I mean, we all know Lizzy Caplan won’t be around forever, and eventually the Nick/Jess relationship will happen. But I like seeing Nick in a relationship with someone who is so similar to him for now.

Amidst all the Jess/Julia drama, Schmidt was freaking out about the presence of all the women in the apartment and how that contributed to the dampness of his towel. In a hilarious twist, it turned out that Schmidt and Nick had both been using the same towel for a really long time. AND, Nick does not believe in washing towels, washing the shower, and thinks it’s OK to wear his roommates’ underwear. Oh, Nick. Gross.

The weakest storyline unfortunately went to Winston, who realized he doesn’t have much game with women now that he’s not playing ball. The storyline went OK and I loved seeing Kahlua from Bridesmaids make an appearance, but at some point the show needs to give Winston something to do other than wonder what to do with his life post-basketball. The well is almost dry there.

Other thoughts and favorite quotes:

  • “Ugh! Damp towel! It’s like a really big Wet-Nap. I feel like I’m being
    licked by a Golden Retriever. There should not be two girls in this
    bathroom. You’re too humid, you make everything damp.” – Schmidt
  • When Julia made a snide comment about birds helping Jess get dressed in the morning, I was reminded of Paris Gellar and Rory on Gilmore Girls.
  • Julia mocked Jess’s giant eyes, but she has pretty big ones herself. She just isn’t using them right.
  • Nick: “What did Julia do wrong?”
    Jess: “It’s just how girls fight sometimes. There’s a lot unsaid. Like, one time a girl said to me, ‘Jess, you rock a lot of polka dots.'”
    Sadie: “How did she say it?”
    Jess [in a snotty voice]: “‘Jess, you rock a lot of polka dots…'”
    Cece: “That is diabolical!”
    Jess: “And it ruined our friendship. I couldn’t get over The Polka Dot Incident.”
    (Note: This couldn’t be more true.)
  • “Okay, hey! I have something to say to you, man! I brake for birds. I rock a lot of polka dots. I have touched
    glitter in the last 24 hours. I spend my entire day talking to
    children, and I find it fundamentally strange that you’re not a dessert
    person. That’s just weird, and it freaks me out! I’m sorry I don’t talk like
    Murphy Brown. And I hate your pantsuit, and I wish it had
    ribbons on it — or just something to make it slightly cuter. And that
    doesn’t mean I’m not smart and tough and strong! Now I’m about to go pay
    this $800 fine, and my checks have baby farm animals on them, bitch!” – Jess
  • “Hey, anyone? My towel! Can someone please get my towel? It’s in my room next to my Irish walking cape. The bigger towel. Do not touch the smaller one!” – Schmidt
  • “Six months ago, I thought getting a girl roommate would mean sex all the
    time. Definitely with her friends and probably with her! Are there
    women here? Yeah, sure, more than ever. But you [points at Jess], not gonna happen. You [points at Cece], I will NEVER give up! And you [points at Sadie], well you sample from the gumbo pot. I am a damp bathroom full of naked women every day, and I HATE it! It’s like a nightmare. I’m in a watermelon-themed apron with a [reaches into the pocket] a tampon? Why would you need this for cooking???” – Schmidt
  • Jess telling Julia “If you’re making a hat for a baby—it is done” after Julia freaks out over her sucky crocheting abilities.


You can follow Jill at her blog, couchtimewithjill.com, or on Twitter @jillemader Jill has been an avid fan of TV since the age of two, when she was so obsessed with Zoobilee Zoo that her mother lied and told her it had been canceled. Despite that setback, she grew up to be a television aficionado and pop culture addict.