New Girl - "Virgins" - Review

Once upon a time New Girl was a very bad show. There was no way around it. The pilot wasn’t half-bad for a pilot, seeing as most sitcom pilots aren’t very good to begin with. But the early going of season one of New Girl was filled with so many missteps and flat out not enjoyable episodes that it was hard to imagine a version of this series where it was actually good. I had largely written it off.

Of course, the story has changed dramatically since then. New Girl in the back half of its first season improved significantly, finding ways to develop supporting characters and put them on an equal footing with Jess. It also became a whole lot funnier in the process. The best humor from the show has stemmed from the bantering between these very funny cast members (even undeveloped characters such as Cece and Winston can be wonderfully hysterical when necessary, although that may be more due to the performers than anything else). 

Then something suddenly happened in “Cooler” that demonstrated just how much this series had matured: Nick and Jess kissed. Suddenly, the implied tension between the two rose above its subtext. This might have killed a lesser series. (Heck, it would have killed this series towards the beginning of its first season) But oddly enough and thankfully so, it not only has been pulled off with aplomb but the show has become a whole lot funnier, sexier, and, dare I say, addicting due to this plot decision.   

The first episode that really gave me the inclination that New Girl could be so much more was season one’s “Injured” in which Nick waits for the medical results that will tell him whether he has cancer. It’s a surprisingly emotional episode and it hits upon emotional beats that the show couldn’t have managed prior to that episode. New Girl is a funny show, especially in its second season, but it’s also one that can strike a nerve when it needs to. Think back to the sub-plot in “Models” where Schmidt gives Nick a cookie. The muttering of Nick as he says, “Give a cookie. Get a cookie” is touching, funny, and sweet, and it’s all in the modus operandi of New Girl. That’s a fantastic scene and I simultaneously giggle and get teary eyed at the thought of it. 

These aren’t the only types of emotional moments that New Girl has been nailing though. We don’t usually think of sexual content as emotional, but when it’s done between two characters we’ve come to like and it feels so personal, sexy, and messily realistic, well it can't help but resonate with us. The scenes between Nick and Jess have been very good all this season. Pre-kiss their conversations were wonderfully intimate and lovely. For example, “Fluffer” is filled with these nicely observed moments between the two characters where they discuss their friendship and their problems (and also, in hindsight, the episode foretells their eventual hook up). But their scenes post-kiss have been electrifying; there is such a wonderful charge of chemistry between the two and whenever they’re placed together it's exciting. We want to see them kiss but we know they can’t (well, at least, we know they’re avoiding it). We know they want to kiss; we want them to kiss; and they do and it’s awesome! 

Well, actually, they do much more than kissing in "Virgins". And before they get it on, they and the rest of the gang talk about how they lost their virginity, and it’s all, of course, very awkward stories (except for Cece who is just immune to these things). The best of these is probably Schmidt’s, mainly for him wrestling with Nick covered in lube (which sounds weirder than it actually is). Jake Johnson, in general, does a fantastic job in the episode. He’s great both in the present day where he barely conceals how much he just wants to hook up with Jess and in the flashbacks where it’s like seeing versions of Nick from alternate universes (he’s a stoner in college and an absolutely adorable nerd before that).

I agree with Erik Adams assessment that the last five minutes of New Girl are almost the best show on television. So much happens in those last five minutes, especially in these recent episodes. And this episode is a fun but light episode until that final moment where Nick and Jess start playing like bunnies and suddenly it’s elevated that much further. Sure, everything had been fun before that but it takes what was already a wonderful episode and turns it into a tier further in enjoyableness. 

Even when New Girl isn’t at its best (say “Bachelorette Party” or “Cabin”) it’s still damn funny and it’s a delightful ensemble comedy that’s having a lot of fun and in turn that means we’re having a lot of fun right along with it.