To be quite honest, I’m not too sure what to say about “Teachers.” This was another very funny episode of New Girl, with countless moments (including pretty much everything involving Nick, Schmidt, and Winston’s guys’ night) that had me laughing hysterically. Yet much of “Teachers,” especially the guys’ night stuff, was so paper-thin, so disconnected to character that it’s making me wonder: what is this season of New Girl really about it?
If you like at the past three seasons of New Girl, it’s pretty easy to identify what the central, season-long storyline was. Season 1: Jess and the guys become a family. Season 2: Nick and Jess fall in love. Season 3: Nick and Jess deal with the ups-and-downs of dating, eventually leading to their break-up.
If you asked me what Season 4 is about right now, I’d say a bunch of weird, goofy friend hanging out together and dating a bunch of different people? Between all the sight gags and one-liners, what is driving this season of New Girl? I’m not really sure.
And for right now, that’s okay. We are eight episodes into New Girl‘s fourth season. With 14-15 episodes still remaining, the show has time to figure out what it wants Season 4 to be about. My theory is that the show is attempting to show us how two friends recover after a break-up, as we get our first look in a while into what’s going on in Nick’s head during guys’ night, with him lamenting to Schmidt and Winston that he wants love but doesn’t have anything to offer anyone. While this ultimately amounts to more jokes about Nick being “the cute one” of the group (not to mention some hilariously bad singing by Max Greenfield and Lamorne Morris), I still think it’s hinting at something bigger, as Nick has, in some ways, regressed to the guy he was before he met Jess–something that very commonly happens after two people split.
Meanwhile, Jess has been taking the “date, date, date” approach to get over Nick in Season 4, but with Ryan (Julian Morris), she may have found someone who could be a legitimate love interest for her, despite the trouble the two of them might get into with an administrator dating a teacher. Morris is a welcomed presence on New Girl, becoming Ryan Jess’s dream guy in every way possible while still somehow making the character feel real. Plus, he and Zooey Deschanel have a solid chemistry that almost (almost!) makes me forget about just how good Jake Johnson and Dechanel are together in Nick/Jess scenes.
So while “Teachers” was certainly an enjoyable episode of New Girl, one that I would watch again in a heartbeat, I’m still waiting for the show to give me more installments like “Background Check,” ones that ground the goofiness of the show in real, authentic emotions from its characters. As good as New Girl can be when dealing with nothing, it’s an even better when it’s about something. Let’s hope the show’s writers figure out what that “something” is for Season 4 very soon.
Other thoughts:
– One thing that almost ruined this episode for me: Schmidt not being able to do laundry. Even though it led to some great moments as Nick taught him the ways of the washer and dryer (“Well what’s permanent press?” “Fake button, nobody uses it”), this reveal completely goes against Schmidt’s “clean freak” nature. I guess up until this point he just got everything dry-cleaned?
– As stupid as Schmidt not doing laundry was, Winston not knowing how to use a ruler was even more idiotic, but I bought it because Crazy Winston is always crazy. Plus, it led to Lamorne Morris’s delivery of “There is no way to express my joy except by telling you the width of my smile,” which made me have to pause the episode as I couldn’t stop laughing for at least two minutes straight.
– Can Coach’s new friend Ned please become a recurring character on New Girl? I’ll make sure to send a message to his “guh-mail” about it–therealned8@gmail.com
– What’s your love song of choice: Foreigner’s “I Want to Know What Love Is” or Lionel Richie’s “Hello”?
– “I want to own those girls. I wouldn’t touch them. They’d want for nothing, but I’d know they were there. Stretching for me.” Nick Miller, ladies and gentlemen.
What did everyone else think about last night’s episode of New Girl?
Photo via Fox
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