New Girl 1x06: Thanksgiving

Original Air Date: 15 November 2011

Storyline: Jess invites Paul, a music teacher at her school, on a date, which also happens to coincide with Thanksgiving, a holiday the guys plan on spending doing "dude" stuff and not with a traditional Thanksgiving dinner. Best Quote: 

Jess: ♪ It ain't so quirky to eat a lot of turkey 
On this Thanksgiving Day-ay-ay. ♪
Paul: ♪ My belly's wanting something 
A pie made out of pumpkin
In every gobble-gobble way-ay-ay. ♪
Nick: Oh my God, there's two of them!

She's Adorkable!: And the turkey is named Hank... Hanksgiving.

The Douche Factor: I wanna let you know up front that I have some control issues in the kitchen. So if I'm gonna do this, I'm cooking the whole meal. I don't want you touching anything. And I don't want to hear Schmidt, Schmidt, you're using too much tarragon.

Review: How adorable is Justin Long, right? And he makes a fun on-screen couple with Zoey Deschanel, both of them having that quirky, dorky air that makes them perfect for the parts of Jess and Paul, school teachers who have so much more in common than just their profession: they're both geeks who sing to themselves about the things they do, enjoy life like no other and make teacher jokes that no one else understands. As Nick would say, "Oh my God, there's two of them!"

This was the first of a three episode arc where Long guest stars as Jess' romantic interest, taking the focus away from the budding romance between Jess and Nick, one that I would like to see develop over time, but not just right now. Paul seems like the perfect match for Jess, with his violin, his singing and his weird jokes and the closing scene, with the two of them skipping away while the others watched amused was perfectly done. This is something I've started to really love about New Girl: it's - almost - your usual sitcom, but there's also the heart factor that comes in almost every week.
For the most part, the episode focused on Jess' efforts to impress Paul with a Thanksgiving dinner and her charm, but also on getting her roommates - especially Nick - to like him. Why was she so determined to get Nick's approval? She cares more about what he thinks than about what Schmidt and Winston think and it's obviously because there's something more than just friendship between them. Even Paul noticed that, despite Jess' denial. But for now, I'm happy to see Jess with someone more like her, if not for anything else, then for the adorableness of this couple and of Justin Long. Though the highlight of the episode was definitely the argument she had with Nick in the hallway. Big time!
But Jess was not the only one going through romantic ordeals this week. Cece found herself crushing on none other than Schmidt and it had something to do with his cooking skills. OK, more with his behavior while cooking, but that was close enough. Now, to be honest, I'm a little bit like Schmidt when I cook so I can understand his dread when Cece - the "beautiful savage" - was sticking her unwashed hands in the mashed potatoes. But their banter was kind of sexy and I can understand why Schmidt's manly attitude - in contrast with his knowledge of trussing strings and whisks - turned her on.
Schmidt was at his most douchy self this week and he reminds me of Raj with his cooking knowledge and everything else, which sometimes is annoying, because who would prefer the copy over the real deal? But I'm glad the writers have decided to listen to the fans and bring back the douche jar. After all, it was an important member of the "family" in the pilot and it should stay that way. I'm also glad New Girl came from the month-long hiatus with a new energy and two great episodes. I'm looking forward to see how things progress.
New Girl 1x05: Cece Crashes Back to Season 1