It’s been about a month since there’s been a new episode of New Girl, and I could not wait to get back into what has become TV’s most enjoyable and most consistent comedy. While this week’s episode of New Girl, entitled “Cabin,” did not provide the biggest amount of laughs, it did give some solid emotional moments for Nick and Jess, as New Girl illustrates, yet again, how perfect the two of them are for each other.
The central plot of this week’s New Girl focuses on Nick and Jess, who go on a “couples weekend” trip to a cabin with their respective others, Angie and Sam. This storyline leads to some funny moments (like when Nick tries and fails to swallow a grape after drinking most of a bottle of absinthe or when Nick looks at Angie placing her hands on Jess, while attempting to help her shoot a gun, and declares that this is his “fantasy and nightmare colliding”), but its main function is to show how well Nick and Jess know each other. After drinking absinthe, Nick spouts out the truth about how Jess is still uncomfortable that things may not work out with Sam. Jess counters by telling Nick how his open relationship with Angie will not work out, because he’s not that type of guy (He’s not risky or dangerous. He asks Jess for help with lighting matches so he doesn’t burn his fingers). Jess knows Nick well enough to call him out on his act, and Nick can be blunt with Jess, making her face her fears and uncertainties.
Ultimately, Nick expresses his desire to become exclusive with Angie, which causes her to flee the cabin, leaving him nothing but a note and stealing some of his possessions. Jess tries to comfort Nick afterward, telling him simply, “She didn’t deserve you.” Meanwhile, Sam reassures Jess that they’re not going to be the “perfect couple,” but that they care about each other and that’s what’s most important. We’ll see how much longer Sam and Jess last together, because after Nick telling Jess that she’s a girl a guy would be willing to come back for in “Santa” and Jess saying to Nick that Angie doesn’t deserve him this week, I have to believe that the New Girl writers are going to pair Nick and Jess up at some point this season. I don’t know if they will be a full blown couple, but New Girl has put too much of a central focus on Nick and Jess and their interactions and conversations this year not to “go there” before the season closes out.
The B-plot of “Cabin” had more laugh-out-loud moments than the central storyline, purely thanks to Schmidt and his ridiculous quest to help Winston rediscover his “blackness.” Schmidt believes that Winston must turn on his “black switch,” which has been stifled by all the white people he lives with. In response to this nonsensical idea, Winston plays along with Schmidt and sees how far he can take the joke, culminating in a hilarious scene where the two of them ride out to to a sketchy neighborhood in order to buy some crack and end up almost accidentally mugging someone. It’s a silly, comedic story that does lead to a solid character moment, when Winston states how race does not and should not define him or anyone else. He is who he is, and that’s all that should matter. 
“Cabin” probably isn’t one of the stronger episodes of New Girl‘s superb second season. However, I still enjoyed the show’s smaller emotional moments and the complete lunacy of Schmidt and Winston’s storyline, even though I know New Girl is capable of funnier and overall better episodes.
Other thoughts
– Loved that Nick kept missing when he was shooting at the beer bottles and cans, no matter how close he got to them.
– Really enjoyed all of the characters’ reactions to the absinthe, but again, Nick takes first place here. I could watch an entire episode with Jake Johnson attempting and failing to eat grapes.
– Schmidt continues to be one of the most ridiculous and lovable characters on TV. His attempts to help Winston were hilariously terrible, but he did it all because he loves his roommate and friend and just wants him to be happy and comfortable. D’awwww.
Best New Girl Quotes of the Night
– “White Nick. Brown Cece. I want to have a frank discussion about race. Do you think we are allowing Winston to be his blackest self?” – Schmidt.
– “I’ll have a vanilla/chocolate swirl.” — Schmidt telling Winston what kind of frozen yogurt he wants.
– “She didn’t deserve you.” – Jess to Nick about Angie.
– And my vote for best quote of the night: “Dr. Sam, if you were a hat, you’d be a top hat.” — Nick “The Man” Miller, after he drank half of the bottle of absinthe.
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