New Girl 1x16: Control

Original Air Date: 13 March 2012

Storyline: After Jess realizes that Schmidt is unfairly doing all of the housework, she pushes him to "go on strike," and the entire ecosystem of the loft is thrown off balance. Meanwhile, Nick scrambles when he must pay up to Winston after losing a poker game.Best Quote: 

Schmidt: I'm gonna go take a shower with Nick's bar soap like a common ranch hand.

The Douche Factor: Get rid of it, Jess. Pine has no place in this loft. It's the wood of poor people and outhouses.Review: You know you can't miss when you make Schmidt the central character of an episode. And it was about time to address his controlling personality, one of the things that make me love him so much, especially since I'm a control freak myself. Not as much as Schmidt though - I doubt anyone is, really, unless they have a medical condition. 

I'm actually annoyed by Jess trying so hard to change everyone around her (face it, girl, that hutch is so ugly that not even my grandma would keep it). If something will make me stop watching this show at some point, this trait of hers will. But at least it let us see what a world without Schmidt would look like - and it ain't pretty, friends. I get that three guys living together may lead to a practically unlivable loft; I've lived with guys and I know what it's like. But Jess herself having no idea where the vacuum cleaner is was more irritating than funny. On the other hand, I have girl friends who lose their keys all the time and are a danger to themselves, so I really shouldn't be all that surprised.
But while the ecosystem got disturbed, we were given a completely different side of Schmidt: the guy who lets loose to the point where he makes crystal necklaces and plays the drums in a public square. I'm a little bit disappointed that we didn't actually got to see him twirling the baton, that would have been extremely hilarious.
It looks like the maturity level that the gang seemed to have achieved in last week's episode may have been a one time event. Which is ok, since we don't want this to become too serious a show, especially since we're talking quirky sitcom here, but the B-plot, that saw Nick and Winston go at each other's throats because of money issues, was quite low on my tolerance scale. Nick is such an odd bird for me, I go from adoring him to loathing him and this episode made me really wish I could punch him in the face and through a wall. I hate people who borrow money and even more those who "forget" to pay their debts. So not only did I find the whole fight immature (though Winston seeing Nick's mom's boobs "before she stopped exercising and let herself get chubby" completely hilarious), I was actually annoyed by it and it ruined a perfectly good episode.
So far, it's been a hit-and-miss with this series, but I'm really glad it was renewed, this way it has an actual chance of becoming a great TV show.New Girl 1x15: Injured Back to Season 1