A recurring theme from the fourth season of New Girl is the ease of having multiple characters sliding in and out of one another’s stories. This has been covered in previous reviews, but the show demonstrates each week that it understands its characters well enough to mix and match situations and deliver above average episodes. Not only does this make for a solid single episode, it allows the storyline to feel fresh and new, something that New Girl had minor issues with last season’s Nick and Jess relationship.
This week we see Jess and Cece in their worst fight of all time, started obviously by Schmidt, even although it may seem to some to be nothing more than a dispute over who should buy the wallet. Since both friends are passive-aggressive people, they have a tendency to resolve their fights by not speaking for a few days, buying one another coffee and moving on. This fight would have gone the same way had it not been for Schmidt’s meddling. She continues to rock the boat by trying to prove to Coach that she knows women better because at her 19 years she was solely in the “Friend Zone”. Deciding it was best for everybody to come clean, he tells Cece that Jess in fact did buy the purse. This proves to be the push the fight needs to take a turn for the worse, turning an awkward baby shower into an awkward baby shower. Jess and Cece finally had enough of the passive aggressive tip toeing and it erupted into a screaming match. When you have two women screaming their decades-long rage at one another, there’s only one way to go about it, and Coach knows how because he has a sister (the best running gag of the show), and that’s by throwing a fist. . fight. The resulting scene of friends making up is proof that sometimes you just must hit something to feel better.
Taking most of the roommates out of the apartment allows Nick to have some one-on-one time with Tran’s granddaughter Kai. Winston, while trying to avoid studying for his police exam, is still in the apartment and writing a profile about Kai. In true Winston fashion, he decides he really is homeless. Nick, being Nick, let this wild idea get the better of him and compelled himself into his house only to realize that he was busy and getting to work anytime he wanted. Let us not forget that she is also now Nick’s sugar mom. While there aren’t many laughs in this storyline, there is a lot to like about this development. The main take that stands above the rest is the spotlight getting back to Nick. This season has seen Nick take a backseat to developments in the other roommates’ lives and while solid, Jake Johnson deserves some more dedicated screen time. His ability to make a situation worse when he is trying to make it better is what makes him one of the more endearing characters on the show, not just an amiable drunk.
“Girl Fight” is not the best episode of the season, but it’s one where we once more see the power of New Girl shine. The cast of characters that have been introduced, thinned out, reintroduced and pushed together have gone against all odds creating among the best ensembles on television. I once thought the reintroduction of Trainer would hinder the development of the other characters, leading the show down the primrose path. I’m happy to say that it has done the opposite and has opened the show to new opportunities and made it all the better for it.
Grade: B+
