New Girl - 1x16 - Control

Last week we spent an evening helping Nick sort out his existential crises (again), so it's only fair this week we get an overdue trip into Schmidt's Dark Night of the Soul.

Despite a silly premise that's kind of ludicrous on its face, this episode delivers some solid laughs and a much deeper insight into Schmidt than one would've thought. Certainly deeper than what we got in The Story of the 50, though it compliments it nicely. It's also the rare episode of New Girl that could do with more explicit emotional denouements, what with certain folks motivations remaining a mystery all the way through the very end. 



So, Cece's insistence on keeping her relationship (booty-call-ship?) with Schmidt an absolute secret while calling all the shots has Schmidt so stressed out, his Obsessive Compulsive Douchieness gets turned up to eleven. To be fair, dropping someone your booty call off like a mile away from his apartment in a lousy neighborhood because you don't want to be seen together, is kinda straying into emotional abuse territory. On the other hand, it is Schmidt.

When a minor disagreement over Jess putting up a pine hutch ("It's the wood of poor people and outhouses!") turns into a uncharacteristically violent blow-out, Jess takes it upon herself to help Schmidt relax and let go of his stress.

"Hutches are where orphans poop!"

Unfortunately, as Nick points out, Schmidt's attitude serves a vital function in the loft's ecosystem, what with his compulsive cooking, cleaning, decorating, and general home making. Sure enough, when Jess and Schmidt's therapeutic field trip to the boardwalk turns him into a full-on bongo-thumping flower-child (through a process I'm not quite sure I understand, except it involves a comely hippie chick making come hither eyes--ah never mind, I get it now), the apartment goes to complete hell.

Go on, man. It's not like she'll drop you off a mile away from your house.
Cause she probably doesn't have a car.
Or a house.

While it's not out of the realm of possibility these grown men never had to clean up after themselves (Winston was a beloved sports star until recently, and Nick probably thinks sleeping in a pile of dirty newspapers is good for your back), I have no idea how Jess is completely taken aback by what's happened. She's a generally neat person, after all. Despite some pouting and whining from Jess, in the end all it takes is a heart felt plea from everyone and a pair of fancy pants to get him back to normal.

Also a steaming cup of cocoa salsa...

In some ways this episode seemed like a complete swerve. While the last few episodes have indeed delved into some deep emotional demons, they were usually approached in a more grounded manner. More adventures in quarter-life crises, less...sitcom-y. The idea of Schmidt abandoning his entire personality and turning into a dirty hippie sounds more suited to a Buddy Lembeck subplot than an episode of this show. I forgive it though, because we actually got some overdue insight into not only Schmidt's psyche, but into what really holds these folks together. Up until now, the vibe in that loft was three longtime friends who somehow managed to stumble onto an amazing loft they couldn't really afford seperately. But it turns out that, as Nick (uncharacteristically) puts it, Schmidt makes them a family. And I think I like that.

Schmidt-wise though, it turns out his primary character flaw isn't the joy he takes in being the official living mascot for Summer's Eve, it's that he has an obsessive need for control. When he was younger, he took control with food. As he (turd) blossomed into a man, he refocused that compulsion onto becoming what he thinks a cool, successful person should be. Now, while Irish walking sticks and mango chut-en-ay obviously do hold a genuine appeal for him, I don't think it's unreasonable to posit that his adult levels of douchepravity are the result of him trying to gain control of a life that probably wasn't too kind to him in his developing years. It's not unlike giving up one addiction by finding another, less harmful one. That said, I'd like to see some actuary tables to figure out whether getting punched to death is a less likely killer than heart disease. Also, I'm not sure how being a hippie ever really addressed his need for control, other than him apparently just deciding that he didn't need it. Until then he did. Except with Cece. I don't know.

Meanwhile Winston's trying to get Nick to pay back even a little of the metric crapload of money he owes him. It's kind of a change from Bells, and yet, it seems every time the subject of money comes up, Nick gets violent. That said, Nick never struck me as the kind to be so blase about owing a friend money. I mean, taking money, sure. Even being hesitant to talk about being unable to pay someone back, of course. But blithely negotiating a balance by nickle and dime-ing various favors just seems dickish, even for Nick. Since we've explored Nick's low self-esteem from EVERY possible angle already, I get why they didn't want to have a big emotional denouement explaining his behavior. Still, it didn't really seem like Nick to me, so I probably wouldn't have minded an explanation. I mean, besides the go-to "Nick's a dick when he's ashamed of himself".

I'm still dying to call out "Uno, bitches!" at my  next  first game of poker.

Now, despite not being the focus, the highpoint of the episode easily goes to Winston. Schmidt had his moments (Chubby Schmidt barfing at a chunk of lettuce, Hippie Schmidt banging his bongos), but in my opinion nothing beats Winston's rehearsed and sincere letter reading. Somewhere between spending a whole thirty seconds skipping ahead to a predetermined portion and finishing with a pained "Give me my money. I want my money. Give me my money." I guffawed and chortled, and even maybe tee-hee'd. Maybe it was the written stage directions ("points at Nick"). Maybe it was the premeditated placement of "dude". I don't know. But it was a flawless victory.