After a few weeks off, New Girl finally returned tonight with the first of its two final episodes of Season 4. But even though New Girl will be saying adios until the fall in next week’s episode, an even bigger goodbye began in “Panty Gate”: the show’s farewell to Coach.
As was first reported back in February, Damon Wayans Jr. will be leaving New Girl as a series regular at the end of this season. Fans knew that the show would be parting ways with him somehow, and with the introduction of May (Meaghan Rath) back in this year’s Valentine’s Day episode, “The Crawl,” I had predicted that Coach’s exit from the loft would have something to do with the pair’s budding romance.
Thankfully, though, Coach’s decision to move to New York with May feels real and earned, because Coach’s story for much of this season has been about him searching for something deeper and more real in life. Even going back to when they first met, Coach and May’s relationship has always felt a little bit richer and more fulfilling than his other flings throughout the past two seasons (remember how May had him write her an email before she would go on a date with him?). Their connection has always seemed stronger than your average hookup, and we’ve seen Coach try harder than ever before to make sure things worked out between them; if he was ever going to leave with a girl, May would be the one.
And just as Coach realizes that May is the long-lasting love he has been searching for, Schmidt has a similar wake-up call after Fawn suggests that they get married as part of a political stunt. Like Coach, Schmidt, who most of the time appears so superficial and shallow, knows that he wants more in life than what Fawn can give him; he wants real, passionate love, and when he understands that it will never be a possibility between him and Fawn, he breaks things off with her, while still going along with her whole underwear charade in order to help her repair her public image.
Although Schmidt doesn’t go running after Cece, declaring his love for her, during “Panty Gate” (and come on, we all know New Girl is heading towards Cece and Schmidt finally getting back together), that small moment with Fawn in the store is, in many ways, the most important scene of the episode. Sure, it’s a wacky and goofy sequence that involves Max Greenfield repeatedly yelling “underpants” as loud as he can (something that will never not be funny), but it’s also a clear display of Schmidt’s maturity and selflessness.
Season 4 has been one of growth for Schmidt, as he has slowly but surely been developing into the type of man that is ready and deserving to be a relationship with Cece after the ridiculous stunts he pulled back at the beginning of Season 3. In that brief exchange with Fawn, where he smiles at her, before continuing to make a complete fool out of himself, he finally illustrates just how far he’s come as a person. Schmidt is no longer the selfish, self-centered jerk he was during his lowest points in New Girl‘s third season; he’s evolved and become the best possible version of himself (although he can still be a neurotic douche sometimes–we wouldn’t want him any other way). If there is a reunion between him and Cece in next week’s finale, it will be earned.
Ultimately, “Panty Gate” is an episode about the sacrifices we make for those we care about. Coach agrees to move to New York (I mean, Jersey City) to make things work with May, Schmidt embarrasses himself multiple times in public for Fawn, and Nick and Jess put aside their own worries to try to help their friends find love. And the half hour’s great final scene, in which the members of the loft sit down to eat pizza and watch a movie (and by movie I mean the porn that Nick left in the DVD player) for one last time together as a group, acts as a reminder for why we continue to make these tiny sacrifices every day: because we just want to see the people that matter most to us be happy.
Other thoughts:
– All of the smaller, emotional scenes tonight worked incredibly well, from Schmidt and Fawn’s goodbye to Nick having Coach imagine the woman he’d grow old with. My favorite one, though: Jess asking Nick who he pictures himself with later in life. Even though both he and she say that they see themselves next to Winston, they clearly had other answers on their minds. It was a nice, sweet exchange between Nick and Jess. Even though they’ve been broken up throughout Season 4, we’ve still gotten some great scenes between the pair, and this was yet another one.
– I also really loved Jess’s scene with Cece, in which she explained that after all the mistakes she’s made, she just wants to help her friends find love and happiness.
– So many good, quick one-liners in this episode, like Nick and Winston watching the girl who hooks up with Coach, saying that “Dora the Explorer has entered the scene” (she had a backpack and everything!) to Schmidt, in the beginning of the episode, referring to the girl who Winston is texting as a “riddler.”
– In case you didn’t know, Winston is very particular about his waffles. He’s also currently sleeping on the couch, because he and Ferguson are in a fight. For the record, Winston and Ferguson are my New Girl OTP, so I’m a little anxious about this news.
– Jess being “The Love Doctor” was adorable. Jess is just the best, guys.
– “The Belly Laughs did not ‘do improv.’ We reinvented it.”
– “You treat an outside wound with rubbing alcohol. You treat an inside one with drinking alcohol. It’s science.”
What did everyone else think about tonight’s episode of New Girl?
[Photo via FOX]
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