New Girl 2x18 Recap | "TinFinity"

Nick and Schmidt celebrate 10 years of living together in this week's New Girl episode, "TinFinity"!

Jenn (@notajenny) and Jaime (@jaimepoland) are back and have a lot to say about the way the show portrays the friendship between these two, how Nick and Schmidt's dynamic has shifted since college, and the way their conflict escalates and resolves. 

The two then discuss how this episode progresses the Shivrang/Cece story and the way the both feel about the engagement. Plus they talk about Jess' desire to kiss Jax (guest star/forever associated with Reba in our minds, Steve Howey) to stop thinking about Nick, and Winston's role in that particular storyline.

Enjoy, all!

Our recommended media:

• The Furious
• "One & Only" by Maurene Goo

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Transcript

Speaker 0:09

Hi, welcome to the New Girl Rewatch podcast, where we, of course, are talking about your favorite residents of apartment 4D and ours as well. I'm your host, Jen, along with my co-host Jamie. Hi, Jamie.

Speaker 2 0:22

Hello, my friend.

Speaker 0:23

Are you so excited to talk about our beloved show again today?

Speaker 2 0:29

I love it. And I think it's a very appropriate episode to talk about, given that this year is our 19th year of friendship. Stop. So I think it's very fitting indeed.

Speaker 0:42

We are not old enough to have known each other for 19 years, and yet we are. And it's so strange. But if you haven't yet guessed, we are talking about Tinfinity today, which I'm excited because it's been a minute since I've rewatched this episode, especially in order and as detailed as we watch for podcasting. So I'm excited to talk about it because there's a lot of fun stuff. Um, we get a lot of Schmidt and Nick's relationship, obviously, in this one. So that'll be fun to talk about. But before we do, we're gonna do plot recap, quotes of the episode, and then uh my random question at the top. But first off, Tinfinity was written by Kim Rosenstock and Josh Malmouth, directed by Max Winkler, who is making his return after directing Cooler. That was the last time we uh we saw his episode direction. It's fun to have him back. Plot recap. Actually, surprisingly, a lot of stuff happens in this episode. Uh, I forgot about how much random stuff happens. So we've got a couple of major things happening. One, as we have alluded to, uh, Nick and Schmidt are celebrating 10 years of living together, hence Tinfinity. So they are putting together a party to celebrate this. Things don't go as planned, mostly because Schmidt and Nick get into it about their conflicting personality types, and that is a major theme of this. Also, in this episode, Jess is still struggling with the Nick of it all and kissing Nick. So she's like, hey, I really want to get myself back out there and I want to kiss another mouth to erase that mouth, um, which of is very funny too, because she mentions at the top of the episode that Schmidt was actually the last person she kissed, which I think is just great to mention as you as you do. And uh let us just never forget. Let's never forget. So, guest star Steve Howey is in this episode, who plays a football player named Jax, who Jess decides that's the guy I'm going to make sure kisses me. And Winston and Jess have a little bit of a story because Jax and Winston know each other because Winston interviewed him. Lest we forget Winston has a job in sports radio in this season.

Speaker 1 2:58

Yeah, he's wearing a suit like the whole episode. I did think about that.

Speaker 3:02

I was like, wow, Winston, Winston is the straight character in this episode. Like everyone else is chaos, and Winston is just like, please do not ruin this work relationship for me. But just does. More on that later. And then, of course, we are continuing the Cece/Shivran g. I know we say Shivrang, but we make it a point in Bachelorette to know that everyone says his name wrong.

Speaker 2 3:27

Well, also, literally, I'm getting ahead of myself, but when Schmidt talks him in this episode in the same paragraph, he says Shivrang and then Shivrang. Yeah. Literally like two lines apart.

Speaker 3:38

So I know we constantly refer to him as Shivrang on this podcast, and everyone else does in the show, and he learn like not he learns. Cece learns later on in the season she's been pronouncing his name wrong the entire time, too. So anyway, um, this relationship with Cece and Shivrang, Shivrang, however you want to pronounce it, um, their relationship progresses and they get engaged. So there is a little story there that's gonna continue our plot trajectory for the rest of the season. So that's what we've got. That's what happened in Tinfinity. There are quite a few quotes from this that I just found delightful, the first of which, the first two of which actually are from the one and only Nick Miller, where he says, of Jax, his hands are so big and warm. I want to fall asleep in them like Thumbelina. And then this also is from Nick, which is I don't want the responsibility. And then a few seconds later he says, I'm having an anxiety attack. And my favorite thing is when Nick has responsibility and panics.

Speaker 2 4:40

I love it. And this is this is maybe the solidification of that, which you've seen in him before. Sure. But maybe it's the most explicit it's ever been, and then it becomes, you know, the whole rest of the shelf.

Speaker 4:53

Oh yeah. And then this next one is dialogue between Winston and Jess, which I also love, where she's talking about how she's going to win Jax over because she knows nothing about football. That's Winston's thing is oh, you don't know about football, so how are you going to win him over? And she goes, Oh, what am I gonna do? I guess I'll just have to use my eyes, hair, boobs, leg, an adorable personality. Fool, and I love the way that Zoe delivers full. And then Winston's comeback is, I've got like three of those things. And that is a very Winston thing to say.

Speaker 2 5:24

She also, the the when she's delivering it, and she I think this somewhere else in the episode, she does this thing that she does throughout the show where she's like fully straight face and like her lips are barely moving. And that so the other thing, uh, like somewhere else in the episode when she she's like laughing, she just do laugh.

Speaker 5:42

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I love that delivery. I love it from Zoe so much where she just laughs and then says, do it.

Speaker 2 5:48

That and that that whole thing is something that like I she does it more times in the show, but I think in my head, she doesn't do it as much as I think she does it because I think this moment of her doing it here, it has become a very iconic Jess thing for me.

Speaker 6:03

It does, it does become a little bit more prevalent as the show goes on, where she gets to kind of do things that are a little not against her character, but she basically gets it. Devious of the colour. Yeah, like a little devious. It's it's kind of as reminiscent of the line delivery she has in the episode season five, I think, of shark, or season four, I can't remember which one, um, where she says basically like, and woman, the smartest species of them all, and then she like is trying to drink or drink and the straw misses her face. Like, this is very much like peak Jess as we go on, where she likes to be in control and it's in a funny way that is also not manic pixie dream girl kind of way. So I like when we get a little bit of this kind of dress where she's dead serious. But anyway, did I miss any quotes that you would like to submit?

Speaker 2 6:53

Yes. Um, I just want to make sure we mention, ah, Nicholas, I have what's called an income. When Nick can't believe how Schmidt paid for this party. I honestly can't believe either. They rented out the entire park, like entire park, but this is 10 plus years ago. That's true. Inflation. You are party impossible. You are correct. Their 20-year party impossible.

Speaker 7:17

Yeah, seriously. So um, well, that's basically what happened in Tinfinity. And you so wonderfully segued me earlier into our random question because we have known each other for a very long time. We have not lived together uh for 10 years, but because we've known each other for so long, if we had to throw a joint party to celebrate our friendship, what kind of things would we have?

Speaker 2 7:42

Oh, that's so good. I mean, here's here more than what we would have, specifically, I'm thinking immediately about how like I don't think it would be a very successful party because I don't I don't really think that like other people are like part of our dynamics. No, yeah, right. Like no one would have any fun at this party because it would be so grossly specific.

Speaker 8:07

That is true. Everyone would be like, why are we here?

Speaker 2 8:10

Yeah, like wait, oh are are you Jen's friend? Are you Daisy's friend? Like, I don't yeah, and I mean I think that's also what's fun about you know imagining this party because you know, we're people who met on a message board almost 20 years ago. So, like there's no friends overlap other than like Chelsea, and I would say she's your friend. So your immortal enemy, yeah. So like I don't need to see her, and like everyone else, it's like and you know, there's people we know about, and yeah, you know, but like uh it's not like uh, you know, it's like oh, and who are you every single person, which to be fair, I also wanted to ask a lot at this gathering is who are all of these people? I know, like the guys uh Nick's talking to you. He's like Sanders. Who is Sanders?

Speaker 9:00

No, no one's ever been mentioned. That said, I would forget, but I put it in my notes that Robbie makes an appearance because I love that Robbie makes an appearance. So I have to imagine Schmidt invited Robbie, which I think is delightful. We don't really have a like a significant overlap of friends. So if we created a party for our friendship, it would probably be like we don't want to have a party.

Speaker 2 9:22

No, is also the thing. We want to stay inside.

Speaker 9:25

I think we would like do, yeah, stay inside. We would probably have some like cool bookstore slash coffee slash drink thing.

Speaker 2 9:36

Yeah, I think we'd do one of those like, oh, you know, five minutes, pick all the books you can pick up, yeah. Oh my gosh, a buy kind of thing. Yeah, let's go back here. We're not having a party. We don't want to have a party, we don't want to be social and be outside for that long. The theme would be introverts.

Speaker 9:53

The theme would be inside. Inside. That's the theme, not to infinity. It's inside is is the theme.

Speaker 1 10:00

And it would be wood sweats.

Speaker 10:03

It would be the flashback of and Nick didn't invite anyone to this party.

Speaker 2 10:08

But we're like, you didn't invite anyone, right?

Speaker 10:10

Oh, thank god. You didn't send out anything.

Speaker 1 10:12

You didn't tell anyone about this. Okay, right. Cool. That's fine.

Speaker 10:16

I just think it's it's delightful. Uh, and I'm excited to talk about Nick and Schmidt's friendship and their party as we go on. But before we do, we're actually gonna switch things up because usually what we do is we talk about Nick and Jess for the bulk of episodes in season two. But this one is while there is stuff to talk about, which is what we're gonna cover, it's not the majority of the episode, so and it's not explicitly Nick and Jess stuff, most of the episode. So we're gonna talk about it first because we can talk about this to kind of get it out of the way and move on to the Nick and Schmidt of it all. Um the Nick and Schmidt of it all, a phrase we've never used. A phrase we have literally never said, probably on this podcast before. Uh, but we should because we should there episodes.

Speaker 2 11:00

The second most important relationship.

Speaker 11:03

So it does move us forward. So there's this is a nice little bit of a bridge. We talked about this, I think, in our last episode about not everything is a retread of every kind of, you know, kind of thing for Nick and Jess. So, like, we're not getting the exact same story throughout the back half of season two. We're kind of building on things, and this is actually like a perfect bridge between parking spot and quick hardening kalk. Always over-emphasizing that. There's an L in that word, yeah. Because that's the next episode that we will get. And this episode leaves us with okay, so we're getting more of that attraction phase of Nick and Jess's relationship, and that will propel us into the next episode. But Jess spends the episode kind of wishing that Nick was more emotionally involved, uh, and talked about his feelings, which I think is funny because she's known this man for multiple years already. So I don't, I don't, she's lived with this man for multiple years. She knows who he is, and she's still like, but I want him to talk about feelings. It's gonna be a thing that comes back up in first date and then next season in the captain. But let's talk about Jess's desire to be with someone who communicates their feelings and emotions, Nick's hesitance to communicate feelings, and also how Jess's plan really backfires. Because boy oh boy, Jess runs away multiple times in this episode from uncomfortable situations, and honestly, same. Same, same. So, what are your thoughts?

Speaker 2 12:29

I mean, I think what's like interesting too, right? It is this is in some way of this whole chunk of episodes that are the whole Nick and Jess thing getting going. Like, this is really the first one that even vaguely poses the question of them actually being in a relationship. Yeah, that's true. Like that's never actually been part of the picture before. And in a way, like it still isn't, right? Because I I I you know, it's not that they're questioning it and and why won't it work and everything. But I I think then it's, you know, just kind of starting to actually think about this. Like, okay, this kind of not came out of nowhere, but like this kiss happened, now I can't stop thinking about it. Previously, anytime it was kind of like a am I attracted to Nick kind of thing. Well, number one, I think it was I I think they could both kind of be like it's attraction, not yeah, actual feelings. Um, and two, I I I think whenever that would happen, it's kind of very easy to, well, we're roommates, we're friends, you know, so that's I can't even explore that thought because those are the obvious reasons we can't do this. And so I think that that's like such a necessary step at this point to transition us from what we've seen into where we're going, because yeah, that, you know, okay, well, clearly we're roommates, we're friends isn't enough of a deterrent. You know, we kind of have to expand this and expand what I'm thinking about, what I want from this, what the the problem is here. But yeah, so it's so it's a it's it's a really nice transition to again because they're certainly not talking about dating and are not going to for a little bit still. Yeah. And I think also, like, I in my head, this episode is kind of like a oh, you know, it it it kind of pauses the whole thing, and you know, and so I really forgot until I rewatched it, like, yeah, they don't get a ton of time, but yeah, like you said, like it especially literally it ends with her running away from him because she's thinking about his mouth. So like it doesn't necessarily lead us into like first date, let's say, but it leads us right into quick hardening caulk because it's I'm so attracted to you, I'm going to die. Yeah. And and I like that as much as she's thinking, like, I can't be with him, he doesn't talk about his feelings. Date, you know, dating would never work. The train that's in motion is he's so hot.

Speaker 14:49

And I think it's just funny that like Jess is definitely the person who it I mean, I guess besides Paul, arguably, every other person she's dated hasn't really been a person who expressed their feelings overtly. Paul is probably the last person, and she was on the opposite side where she didn't feel as strongly as Paul felt. But like every other relationship she has, it's like, I think a lot of what we will see, and especially because this will come back up very strongly in first date, is like their perception of how the other person feels, and how they're both kind of not willing to say how they feel unless they know for sure how the other person feels, and it's almost like a standoff, and then they go back and forth because there is that attraction element that I do think is important because that is consistent the entire rest of the episodes, the run of episodes. It's funny because Bachelorette Party, it kind of again, like with Tinfinity, seems to put a pause on their relationship in that it doesn't explicitly have like, oh, this is a very big Nick Jess moment. But it is still one of those like progression things, like that's a little bit more of their friendship side of things coming back. And this one is, hey, they did kind of have a brief conversation about feelings the episode before this, and I cannot remember how much time has actually passed between those two episodes. But Jess is gonna be Jess, and Jess is putting a lot more pressure on this, I think, now that something has happened, and she instead of trying to be like, maybe I'll confront why I feel this way, is like, well, if Nick isn't gonna say exactly how he feels without me asking him or prompting him again, then I can't.

Speaker 2 16:29

Or even just like creating an opportunity for him.

Speaker 16:33

Right.

Speaker 2 16:34

Like she doesn't ask him at any point. Why would he be talking about it? Right.

Speaker 16:38

He he doesn't, he doesn't, he's not confronted by her at any point in this. It's not like he's avoiding the conversation. He just is doing the thing that they kind of agreed to last time, which is we have to figure out how to live together. So he's thinking, Jess is fine, there's no problem. Of course, we are attracted to each other. And Jess is like, well, if he can't read my mind and know that I need to talk about my feelings, then I need to find someone who will talk about his feelings. And that's not Nick. And I do think it's Jess's kind of way of I have all of these emotions that I don't know how to process. So instead of confronting those things, it's Nick's fault. It's Nick's fault. She again rebuffs Cece the entire episode where Cece's like, Are you sure you don't like Nick? And Jess is like, No, of course I don't, once again, doing the thing. So it's not like Jess is being completely evolved here. She is expecting Nick to behave a certain way where she hasn't asked him any follow-up questions since parking.

Speaker 2 17:33

But then she gets to say, Well, Nick is bad at this, so of course it would never work. Sure. Sure, he's bad at this, and let's not, you know, say otherwise. But also, did you ask? No, did you have a conversation? Did you tell him? Did he panic moonwalk away from you this time? No.

Speaker 17:48

No, because you didn't have a conversation about it. And as we will see as the episode unfolds, a lot of this is just doing the thing where she's trying to prove to herself that she is more evolved and that like she is showing off Jax, being like, Well, look at Jax. He's so like, he's a football player and he can talk about his emotions. He is clearly on the up and up. Meanwhile, we'll talk about this in a second, ignoring Winston's alarm for all of this, being like, it's fine. And Jess has to find out why she should have listened to Winston.

Speaker 1 18:21

Right.

Speaker 18:21

Even a little bit. But I do think it's funny because it is one of those instances in which it's like, Nick clearly doesn't know Jess is doing this to prove a point, or doesn't care enough until halfway through the episode to be like, you really don't want someone who talks about their feelings all the time, right? And she doesn't say a single thing. But it's like Jess trying to prove a point to Nick, who is not even part of this conversation.

Speaker 2 18:44

He's busy. He has to get balloons, he's going through a lot. He's got a lot on his plate.

Speaker 18:48

He's not invested in her showing off this new guy at all. He cares about the football player. He does get a little bit jealous of that, but more or less, it's not a thing where she's I think she's thinking she's gonna do this to prove a point, and it's very much lost on Nick and everyone else. So it's just funny.

Speaker 2 19:06

So I also really like um, and we talked about this uh a few episodes ago too. I can't remember uh which one exactly, but like I really like that Jess is very confident with Jax. Yeah. Like it it's not about like, oh, she's trying to make Nick jealous and she's like embarrassing herself because she doesn't know how to talk to him. It's like super easy. Obviously, you know, he has his reasons that he's super into her from the beginning, but like she's very cool. Everything that's happening is very normal and very like, okay, like as a viewer, I get why this is easy and you know what's happening. And you know, we've talked about this recently, like, you know, compared to some other times when we've seen Jess, like, okay, I need to go out and talk to guys, and how terrible that goes. So, like, number one, I really like that the show will move on from that. And yeah, okay, like she's learned stuff from Schmidt. Great, she can she can go out, she can have a conversation, she can be a person, and not only a person, but a person who like can flirt and like be enticing and you know, be be interesting, and you know, and then all this obviously juxtaposed with her spinning herself in circles about Nick. Yeah, exactly. I love it.

Speaker 20:13

Because, like, like you said, there's a montage of her talking to guys at the bar, which by the way, uh a reminder again that yeah, this was in the 2000s, 2012, and there's some biphobia in this episode I forgot about. So here we are. Real weird, weird. Um, she does talk to people in the bar, and she's the one who goes up to Jax. She's not, this isn't pilot Jess, where Jess doesn't know how to have a conversation with someone.

Speaker 2 20:38

And she's very much like, I just have to get around Winston, and then I know that I can slide in exactly like Winston is the problem. Once the conversation starts, I'm good.

Speaker 20:47

Yeah, and she does. That's very confident about it. She's confident, she's charming, she takes her beer, which apparently she drinks because I did notice that in this episode. She's drinking a beer that she then takes with her, which is very not just like for for the rest of the show or for most of what we've seen so far. But it does at least confirm the theory that she does drink beer because playing true American, we were like, wait a second, does she actually do this? I've never literally seen her with one. And now we do.

Speaker 2 21:13

But also, I feel like um, not necessarily like this episode, but like I we're gonna get so much more in the bar now. True. In a way we did in season one. So now I I wanna watch what she like what she's actually drinking.

Speaker 21:25

Um, but yeah, I mean, you're right. It's just very much of like a hey, Jess isn't presented as someone who it does not know how to talk to men or have a conversation. She knows how to flirt, she's being very charming, like she's she's doing things, and she it to the point of my quotes, like she's using what she has to charm.

Speaker 2 21:44

Well, even with that, like she she now has the confidence of, hey, these are the things about me that work. I know how to use them and you know, get attention. Like it, it's she knows her strengths, she knows how to flirt. She she's good, she knows what she's doing for once.

Speaker 22:00

Yeah, it's nice to see. And it's just funny because this whole thing truly unfolds because she's trying to prove a point to someone who could not possibly care less about the point that she's trying to prove because he's just like, I got porta-potties and balloons and schmid to deal with. Like I don't have time. Too much going on. I don't have time. I do think it's still lovely that even in the midst of their kind of not it's they don't really interact much in this episode because they really are on their own journeys in this episode. And I do like, though, the crossover of Jess is willing to try out the absolutely horrible porta-potty for Nick, which is more than I could say because I love Nick Miller, but I for sure I'm not going near it. I'm not going in that thing.

Speaker 2 22:40

I can barely pee in public as it is.

Speaker 22:42

I'm not going anywhere near that thing. I I love Nick, but I do not love him as much as Jess loves him to do that for him. Uh and I I truly think that it's just funny because this whole episode is Jess being like, no, I want someone who talks about my their feelings all the time. And then realizing like the flip side of, oh no, oh, this person is way too intense. Like, this is not, I need something that's not this strong, but also not doesn't talk about his feelings. I think I didn't realize I needed to find a middle ground here. And I think that that's funny to watch her have to panic because of a decision she was trying to make out of pride.

Speaker 2 23:22

And it's also like a, you know, like you said, like we saw this with Paul, and and where in many ways, your first episode, you're like, oh, he is obviously the perfect person for her. And I think very quickly she realizes, oh, me and a partner is not actually what I need. And we saw this with Dr. Sam. You know, this is on paper the perfect boyfriend, and it's just not working for me. Like, I I really like the sh how the show has consistently been like, okay, Jess, here's what you want on paper. And like, not not to say that like she's actually ultimately the problem in the relationship, but like I think she very quickly is like, oh, actually, that's not what I want. And that doesn't actually work like I thought it would.

Speaker 23:59

And we have evidence not just in this season, but in next season, especially. And this comes back at like Schmidt and Cece's wedding, where she's having the conversation with Reagan about like what she was looking for in a partner. You know, Jess places a lot of expectations on other people. And this happens again in birthday, where she like places unrealistic expectations on people, and when they don't deliver, she gets really upset, which is a very like human thing to do and a her personality type thing to do, where she's like, okay, well, he's not reading my mind and knowing exactly that we need to talk about this kiss and how much we need to talk about it and how he's feeling and how I'm feeling. So I'm just going to hope that he can read my mind, know that I'm feeling that way, and then respond in the correct way that I would like him to respond. And, you know, in the comments.

Speaker 2 24:51

Well, are we supposed to act differently?

Speaker 24:53

I'm just saying, I've I, when I see those traits, I go, okay, so that is very human. Like that's a very human thing to do. And it makes Jess a flawed character, but also a relatable one, because then, you know, she talks to Reagan in later seasons and is like, I used to think that this stuff was important, but like I don't anymore. And that is her growth. That is her evolving, being like, I used to think all the things that I had in my head that a person needed to do or be in order to be someone I want to be with. I had a checklist. And if they didn't meet all of these demands, then I would just kind of throw it out. And that is growth from this right now, Jess, to the Jess that we see falling back in love with Nick, where it's like she realizes that like a lot of what she's placed, her unrealistic expectations of other people is not what she wants or needs. She she would throw that all out if she could have the love that she had with Nick.

Speaker 2 25:45

I'm realizing in you saying this, Nick in this episode is kind of like used as like Jess's whole show arc with Nick. Yeah. It's like, I can't rely on him. He can't handle this thing. But like, here's what his strength is, and like here, you know, here's where we can have a meaningful moment. Wow, this tinfinity is just a microcosm of it really is loving Nick Miller and the the the whole arc of the show, really.

Speaker 26:10

It's true, it is, and that's why I love season two so much. Um, and I wanna, we can continue to talk about this as the episode goes on, too, and some of like, especially as we get to the end. But one thing I really wanted to point out was we don't get a lot of Winston and Jess stories often. We've talked about this before. We lament the lack that we really don't, you know, we don't really get those stories, but I loved the Winston and Jess crossover we got because I think that it played to both of their strengths so well. I will forever find it funny that Winston gets tackled in the football game and Jess is just running around and Winston is so upset, rightfully so. I mean, honestly, I don't blame Winston at all for how he reacts in this episode because this is someone from his work world that is now in his personal world that he's trying to be like, I don't want him to listen.

Speaker 2 27:05

I fully agree. Sure. He has to know this is a much better outcome than what probably would have happened otherwise, which is Nick falling all over him. True. What did he think was gonna happen?

Speaker 27:17

I just think he knew. And the thing is too, also, Winston could have early in the episode said everything that Jess needed to hear, but Jess was not gonna hear it because she was using Jax to prove a point. This was never really about like, oh, I want to be with Jax. This was I'm gonna find a guy who talks about his feelings so I can prove that that type of guy is the person I should be with, not Nick. And Winston, even if he would have said at the very beginning, Jax has been married already multiple times. He gets really intense with things. Jess wouldn't have heard that. It still would have ended the same.

Speaker 2 27:53

But I also Winston knew, I don't know if he fully knew. Like, I think what Winston knew was like, hey, this guy is really intense. It's because he's an athlete and all athletes are like this. That does not mesh with who you are and what you're looking for. Yeah. But yes, either way, Jess is gonna be like, no, that's great. I want intense. I want someone who knows, you know.

Speaker 28:14

Yeah, she's out here to prove a point. I do like that we get this Winston and Jess kind of resolution after the fact and being like, hey, this guy is really intense, and he does care about things and he cares about them really hard, and like he is this is the person he is. So I like that we get a little bit of Winston and Jess. We don't often get like, we get silly things with them sometimes, but I'm thinking to like the episode in the future where uh Jess starts dating Taryn Killum's character and she like wants to skip over the whole dating phase to get to like, I want to be in a relationship, I don't want to go through all of this. And Winston and her kind of share this emotional burden together. We don't often get kind of like nice Winston and Jess stories like this. So I'm always just happy when we get Winston and Jess hanging out together, and also it is really funny to watch Winston be like, well, this went exactly the way that I thought it was gonna go. Poorly.

Speaker 2 29:15

Yeah, I do wish we had gotten like not in uh, you know, a real meaningful way, but you know, how does Winston feel about the 10-year anniversary?

Speaker 29:25

That's true. They all are like, well, this is happening, I guess. Because, you know, yeah, even though Schmidt and Nick had lived together for 10 years, Winston has known him since childhood. So like maybe Winston is just like are we gonna have a party now? Well, but here we you know, are either of them going to throw a party to celebrate their friendship? Exactly. That's why. They're like, we don't need to mark that we've been friends since we were kids. Just like Cece and Jess don't really need to do that because they're like, we're friends. Whereas Schmidt feels the need to do this, which segues us very nicely into the bulk of our story. And it's so interesting because, like, for as foundational as Schmidt and Nick's relationship is in the show, we don't always get like deep dives into their friendship, right? Like the last time we really had this, arguably, was gave you cookie, got you cookie kind of means, right? Like that's kind of like the last time we really talked explicitly about their friendship, not in a we're just gonna mention it kind of way, but in a, oh, this is actually gonna be the focus of this episode. And that one was interesting because it was like, you care too much, like I just don't know how to deal with this. And this one is more of what we will see actually moving forward, which I think you and I have talked about before. We don't love it because we don't love the way that Schmidt views Nick as a failure. And that is, but that is also a core part of their relationship. That I really loved, and I forgot until re-watching some of these scenes how much I loved the way that Nick pushes back against uh Schmidt in this episode, because we don't often get that. We usually get, you know, kind of like the whole punchline of the cookie thing is like, yeah, Nick's really bad at this. Like, Nick's Nick doesn't know how to treat a friend. So in that episode, we're kind of meant to be like, haha, Nick is bad. And Schmidt is really thoughtful. In this one, it's very much the reverse. It's like we're meant to be like, Schmidt is really not treating Nick like his best friend.

Speaker 3 31:38

Yeah.

Speaker 31:39

So I'm gonna talk about it because there's a couple of different things that happen in this episode. But, you know, they've been friends for so long, but Schmidt still views Nick as irresponsible. There's a quote that he says where he goes, I'm over-responsible, you're under responsible. And he looks down on him, always expecting him to fail. So I wanted to talk a little bit about that, and then we'll talk about Nick's kind of pushback towards the end of this episode. But what did you think about this being like the focus of the whole party planning, their celebration of friendship?

Speaker 2 32:10

I mean, I like I like I think that that dynamic is very real, especially with like we met in con, you know, like we said we're equals.

Speaker 32:19

Yeah.

Speaker 2 32:20

And I think, you know, they very much in many ways now are not equals, but I think each of them thinks that for a different reason.

Speaker 32:28

Yeah.

Speaker 2 32:29

So, like, and and you know, like I for both of them, I think a lot of it is money. Um, but just different handlers of it and different like views of how it's affected their friendship, I think. But I I think also, you know, I right like it makes sense because I think obviously throwing a party is not something Nick wants. No. Or, you know, I mean, maybe he'd do like a, you know, we're hanging out at the bar kind of thing. Yeah. Um, but obviously this whole thing is Schmidt and what Schmidt wants anyway. So like it's not like this event is actually a like fully, I don't want to say genuine, but like, you know, accurate representation of their friendship or anything like that. Maybe performative in terms of like what they what in a way that Schmidt is, yeah. In the in the way that Schmidt is, yeah. But yeah, and I I think it's but also, you know, and I think like Nick does want to acknowledge this in some way, like does feel significant that their friendship is as old as as it is, and that they've been through what they've been through. So, you know, I I like that they didn't go that route of Schmidt so into this party, and Nick is like doing a party. Nick is kind of like, Well, of course we're gonna have a party. Yeah, I just don't want to plan it.

Speaker 33:41

Right. And like at the very beginning, they're both very excited when Jess points out, like, oh, Tin, S and N. Like they both get excited about that. So it's it's it's not that there's a lack of enthusiasm.

Speaker 2 33:52

And then there's the moment when they're like, We're like, we're we're like Bert and Ernie. Yeah, Burt, did Ernie. Like, and I love that too, because that's also very me and like in my friendship. Like, oh, it's us, yeah. I mean, I also just really like this idea of this is how I see you, and and especially with the way they all kind of act with each other. Again, you know, we're not gonna talk about our feelings all the time. There's not many opportunities for it to maybe come out that like I don't trust you to do this, or that money is kind of an issue in our friendship until it is, right? And until it's very much like a significant thing, and how not even how you see each other necessarily, but just like what you're able to do with and for each other.

Speaker 34:34

Yeah. And I mean, we talked about this, uh they talked about this in parking spot, where it's like, well, he spends the major like he takes over the majority of the utilities or the bulk of the utilities. Like Schmidt has a arguably out of the four of them, Schmidt does have the highest paying job, obviously. Like, and so he considers that, you know, we we talk a lot throughout the show, and there's some explanation into this or conjecture on Nick's part of like, here's when this started happening, like when I started noticing that you thought you were better than I was, which we'll talk about in a sec. But I do think it's it's so interesting to see because this comes back up in Clavado and Un Bar when Nick reveals that he actually did pass the bar. He just wanted to choose to be a bartender. And you think about it, and you think about the way that like Schmidt insults him for being a bartender, and you think about the way that Nick just takes that. He doesn't say, Hey, I actually did pass the bar. He just lets Schmidt believe that he's, you know, lazy or not smart enough to pass the bar or whatever. So it is interesting because there are instances in which, as the show goes on, you are like, well, Schmidt continues to view himself as the most successful person in the loft. And, you know, we talk a lot about, and the show talks a lot about how he kind of acts like the mother of the loft sometimes, of being like, I'm gonna be the responsible one who does all of this. And we don't often see that kind of stuff projected onto Nick. We often just see Schmidt kind of being a little zany in a story and being like, oh, that's just the way that Schmidt is. And in this one, you can kind of be like, well, if this is the way that Schmidt has acted for the last not 10 years, but a significant portion of time, like, why would Nick want to continue to be friends with someone who is like this and is controlling? And I think it's just because Nick doesn't necessarily care. Like, Nick doesn't really care about porta potties, he doesn't care about the balloons, he doesn't have an investment in them, so he's kind of like, I'll fall back on whatever Schmidt actually wants to, because he's the really the one who cares about and wants to plan this whole ordeal. I'll just show up and do the one thing he asked me to do. And the fact that Schmidt plans for Nick to fail is the moment where Nick starts to actually get upset because he is kind of like, Well, I said that I didn't want to be responsible for these things. There's a difference between me saying I don't want to be responsible for it, and you just assuming that I'm a failure and doing your own thing anyway, and then basically not letting me be part of this party.

Speaker 2 37:12

Because I I think a lot of it is like, you know, Schmidt has this feeling of like, oh, I'm I'm the most responsible or most successful one because I'm the one who pays the bills or I do this. And and I think, you know, so much of that is Schmidt's own idea of what success or being stable or whatever is in a way that doesn't always match everybody else, let alone certainly Nick. So I think, you know, it's kind of like, well, I don't this isn't something we need to be like constantly working out because I don't care if you think that being successful means you're the one whose name is on the cable bill or whatever. Um, like it that's Schmidt's framework, and he's the one making that judgment and whatever. And so, yeah, it's like even with the party, it's also it's kind of like you wanted balloons. I, in theory, got balloons, but like I didn't get your idea of what you want the balloons to be. What you want the balloons, you know? So it's right, it's like a it's like a mix of like unrealistic expectations and also just like you know, unfairly applying them. Yeah, I agree.

Speaker 38:21

Yeah, it's definitely, and to your point, like Schmidt has a very specific and narrow view of what success looks like. And when things don't go his way, again, we talked about this before. Schmidt is also very controlling, that's why he and Jess sometimes are similar in the way that they handle things. Um, and that's his flaw, is because he just doesn't know how to let go of control. I mean, we'll talk about this a little bit more in a second, but like he writes Nick's speech for him. He he doesn't even want, and that is one of the lines where it's like there's a difference between, hey, I'm gonna plan all of this, you just show up, come to this party. That's one thing. Nick can get on board with that for the most part. Uh, but it's the you're telling me exactly what to say about our friendship, then it's no longer a celebration of our friendship. It's all about you and perception and how you want to be seen.

Speaker 2 39:14

You need to be told this thing in order for you to feel like this moment is meaningful.

Speaker 39:20

Yes. And it's very much like I can get why Nick is upset about that too, because it's truly like, well, then this what you've been saying this whole time of what is what are we even celebrating here? Like, then it's not about our friendship. If you're telling me exactly what I should say about you and how I'm degrading myself in our speech about how you've helped me out so much, like, then it's really not about us as a relationship, our friendship. Then it truly is you just saying, Oh, I'm better than Nick, and here, let me tell you exactly what to say because I don't trust you to say what you want to say because it's not gonna be exactly what I want to hear. And I think that is part of why it's like, yeah, there's a point where Schmidt's fine, whatever. He can control the DJ, he can throw soccer balls off of his little field property. But when it's when it becomes that it's not even about the person that you're supposed to be celebrating, that is where honestly Nick's emotional intelligence in this episode outweighs Schmidt's.

Speaker 2 40:20

Well, and and it's also, you know, what our friendship actually is day to day isn't being celebrated. What's being celebrated is you showing off to everybody that you're pulling me along. Yes. Yeah, I'm not actually good enough on my own to be your friend. The public image you want of our big meaningful friendship is you giving me charity, right? Like making sure that I'm able to get by.

Speaker 40:48

Which that's exactly it. And it's it goes, like I said, the beginning of the episode, it's played for laughs of like Nick being like, I don't, this is too much responsibility. I'm having a panic attack. That said, I can understand Schmidt being like, I told you two things. What was the what was the first thing I told you? I literally told you two things.

Speaker 2 41:05

Yeah, it's so funny too, because the whole conversation, like, he forgot about the balloons.

Speaker 1 41:09

He forgot about the balloons already. Like, and that's one thing. It's like, okay, sure, sure.

Speaker 2 41:14

Um, and then and also let me be so clear. I don't want to plan anything at a party. No, let I'm certainly not planning a whole party. I don't want one part of the party. No, I want to show up and have no responsibilities. I can't plan on that scale.

Speaker 41:26

I just can't no, and I don't want to have to deal with that. So yeah, Schmidt can, but like you said, it becomes not a celebration of what their friendship is. It becomes a celebration to Schmidt, hero, savior, person who is friends with someone he deems not as financially successful, not as successful in general. The fact that Nick clocks this in this episode is one of the things that I kind of forgot about that I really actually loved, where he truly asks him, flat out, why do you think you're better than me? This used to not be how our relationship was. We used to not have this sense of like inequality. And if you think about it with friendships, it's not like Schmidt has done this overtly every single day of their friendship. But you can see the subtle ways in their friendship of how subtly Schmidt has kind of threaded in the idea of like, oh, I'm better than Nick. Like tiny little things, tiny little moments that kind of lead to Schmidt believing he's the successful one. And Nick is just the one he helps out because again, that was what he wanted Nick to say in the speech was like that he helped him. Like, why would you celebrate your friendship? Being like, yeah, my friend helped me out of this financial issue. And isn't he so great? Because that's not friendship. Like you said, that's charity, it's not an equality friendship here.

Speaker 2 42:48

But then also, and maybe you know, jumping ahead a little bit, but then that also gets to show people why Schmidt has a roommate, you know, because well, he has to have this roommate because he has to take care of this roommate. So you might be saying, Schmidt, you still have a roommate, you're 30, and you've been living with this guy for 10 years. Well, no, this is why I have to have a roommate. You know, it's it's very much a way to make himself look better and make Nick look worse. Yeah.

Speaker 43:15

But I love that like they've been friends for so long that Nick can point out the fact that this hasn't always been this way. Like there was a time where they were equals. And I want to talk about that because I do think it's really important that the the show brings this up in their relationship, which is like, you know, Schmidt views Nick as someone who doesn't have his life together. But Nick points out so and it's such a good moment where Nick is like, oh, really? You have your life together? You're celebrating 10 years of living with me with all of this. What do you think this is? And it's like Nick doesn't realize until the end that it is a big distraction. I mean, he knows that because he's saying that to Schmidt to. Offend and hurt him. Like, hey, you're not successful, buddy. Like, I might not be financially successful, but there's something wrong with you if you're celebrating 10 years of living with me, with a party in public with all of this happening. So I really love because we don't often get like Nick going that way with Schmidt. Like we get them fighting, but we also don't usually get Nick being like, hey, I'm gonna tell you a really hard truth right now that you're not gonna want to hear.

Speaker 1 44:31

Also, he doesn't talk about his feelings.

Speaker 44:33

Right, exactly. That's what I'm saying.

Speaker 2 44:36

He'll talk about his feelings once a decade to his best friend.

Speaker 44:38

But this is I would say emotionally intelligent. Nick is very perceptive in this episode, and it's just like Jess is off trying to prove a point to Nick who's not watching any of this unfold.

Speaker 2 44:48

Right. And he's like, Well, while you weren't here, I'll be so emotionally intelligent, actually.

Speaker 44:52

I was actually like having deep conversations here before you ran back to the case.

Speaker 2 44:57

Also, I I really like that this conflict is not like it's resolved in that they, you know, are like, oh, right, like this is why we're friends. Like this is what it is. But but like I I think a lot of other, even like other episodes of this same show, you know, it's kind of gonna resolve with like uh, oh, actually Schmidt's being ridiculous, or oh, Nick is really immature, but like they don't resolve it in that way, and I think also like the nuance of what it because like they're both right, you know, because it like for Nick, he said, Well, we used to be equals, and to him, the time that they were in equals was when they were in college and losers, you know. And so for Nick, like he in many ways hasn't grown out of that, and part of it is well, you know, you you've in some ways moved on without me, like you've started doing different things that's not what our friendship was built on, and I'm still doing these things, so you're you feel like you're better than me because I'm doing what we've always done together, true, which is like I think a super, super, super common thing that friends kind of deal with as they as they get older together. Um, and then for Schmidt, it's like, yeah, you know, all that, but then also Schmidt's a douchebag. So it's like he's again, you know, and and it's it's you know, a lot of times Schmidt's idea of what success looks like, and it's this light show during his toast. Yeah, nobody else cares about that. No, you know, but also but he does, and so this is something that's meaningful to him, and part of that is because of the optics of it and the public perception, but also he just always is gonna care about things like that.

Speaker 46:35

He cares about stuff like that way, way more and way too much for Nick to handle. But like to your point, yes, because I do want to point out, as much as I really do love Nick pointing out to Schmidt, like, hey, this is what you're doing, and and I don't think you're as involved as you think you are. Also, I would be frustrated with someone like Nick if I asked them to do two simple things and they were unable to do two simple things.

Speaker 2 46:57

Right, because he didn't also, you know, the porta-potty is a clear miss. Right. Like that also, I think, you know, it as the nuance of it. And yes, you like comedically, it's like, okay, very straightforward. Sure. You know, he didn't just somehow mess up the porta-potty, like he very specifically obviously got the world's worst porta-potty. It's like it's of course Schmidt is not going to be happy about it. So then it's it's it's not fully like justifying Nick's point in this because it's not saying, hey, I got a decent porta-potty that wasn't good enough. Sure. You know what I mean? Like, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 47:31

I'm not, I didn't try too hard and it still wasn't good enough for you. Kind of like with the cookie thing, right? Like, yeah, yeah, yeah. He didn't Nick didn't really understand what was behind the intention. He was like, Well, I you gave me a cookie and I got you a cookie. It's not that, it's not that like he got him a really decent porta potty and Schmidt still has a regular porta potty instead of this really fancy one, and Schmidt was still not happy with it.

Speaker 2 47:52

Like that's a that's another thing, but like Yeah, but you know, so it's it's like so it's like but but right again, so it's like Schmidt's not wrong, but I think but it still takes the time to say, but neither is Nick. Right.

Speaker 48:07

And I think that that's important because also to your point, like there's a couple of things that I do love about this, and one thing that did strike me as I rewatched this was yeah, their conflict doesn't get resolved, really, like truly, they don't have a a conversation about what they say to each other and how they insult, like because Nick really is like, I don't know what you're doing, you used to not be this way, I don't understand what made you this way. I think what made you this way was that, like, you know, you lost a lot of weight and suddenly thought you were better than me. Like, that's Nick's conjecture of why Schmidt would be acting the way that he did. Again, having known him in college and having known him for so long, you know, Nick has clearly thought about this for a while. And that's the other thing is like Schmidt says and does things sometimes where he just assumes that the people around him don't listen, care, or aren't smart enough to pick up on the fact that he's insulting them. But Nick is pointing out here, like, I've picked up on the fact that you don't think that I'm capable of anything. It's not going over my head. You can't just be like, give me platitudes and expect me to forget it or try and be passive aggressive or talk down to me. I have noticed that you have there was a shift at some point in our relationship where we were no longer on equal playing field where you suddenly were like, I am better than him, and I need to take care of him, and I need to prove continually that he is not as good as me, which is the other kind of implication there. It's not just the implication that Schmidt thinks he's better, it's that, oh, and I think Nick is worse, like kind of thing. And that's the thing that Nick picked up on. But to your point, this episode, we don't revisit that conversation. Like, I'm glad that Nick said it because it's clearly something Nick has needed to say, and it's something that Schmidt, I think, needed to hear. And we do kind of like undercut it slightly with the joke of like, what are we even doing celebrating? And then Schmidt is like, it's it's tinfinity. Like he keeps being like, it's it's tinfinity, that's what we're celebrating. I can't remember why he explains, but it's like a tagline he's created for themselves. Um, 10 years, two hearts, something like that. Yeah. So like he hears that, but then I do love that because they have been friends for so long, and this is the whole point to me of this episode, is they've been friends for so long. And when you're friends with someone for a very long time, I think anyone listening, if you think about it, how often have you really truly fought and kept a grudge against your best friend? Typically, what happens if you've been friends for that long, 10 plus years, you probably have fought, but you've probably moved on from it pretty quickly. And not me. Okay. Well, I think a lot of times this is a great example of like a show where typically, if it wasn't about a friendship that has been an adult friendship that they've had since they were, you know, in college, I would be like, Well, that's weird. They didn't really resolve the conflict, they kind of just left it hanging. But in this episode, I think it really works because there is something deeper in this friendship, and that's why they've been friends for 10 plus years. Yeah. You know, and it's that I know that we're both sorry about something, but right now, what I'm going to do is be a friend to you, and you'll be a friend to me in return. And like it's very, like, it's very great on Nick's part, especially as the person who has been taking the brunt of Schmidt's passive aggressiveness and words and actions this episode to be the person who kind of extends that like olive branch of like, hey, I'm really sorry about what happened with Cece kind of thing.

Speaker 2 51:37

Right. Like that aspect of it, I think, kind of rolls into the we're really having a party to celebrate that we've lived together for 10 years. Like, I I think so often with long-standing friendships like that, like there can be things where you're kind of like, you know, at some point this became our dynamic, and like there hasn't been like a thing, but there's just been years of like kind of evidence of this, but you still just kind of end up, well, it's 10 years later and we're still friends and this is still happening.

Speaker 1 52:07

Yeah.

Speaker 2 52:07

Um, but yeah, but then ending on that moment of like, yes, that's there, and that's true, but you know, we're not living together 10 years later just because we kind of just kept rolling along with it. Right. This is why, and this is what our friendship ultimately is.

Speaker 52:24

You know, and I do think that that was important that we kind of got to the end of this episode and we had a moment of Nick and Schmidt alone in the hot air balloon, of like, this is what we're celebrating, kind of thing. Because I do think it was important that again, when you watch TV shows, you know, everyone's like a fictional character, obviously, unless you're watching reality shows. And even then, sometimes they're they're fictionalized versions of them of themselves sometimes. But in this instance, I think when you watch a show like New Girl, which is revolving around people, kind of like with friends, revolving around people who live together, people who see each other, you always have to kind of wonder why would these people still be friends? Like if they do this kind of stuff, if they kind of sometimes have these fights, like what makes them want to continue to not only be friends in this instance, but like continue to be roommates? Because that's a whole other level of friendship. And for most of this episode, you are kind of wondering, like, so why would Nick put up with this? Like, why would Schmidt want to live with Nick?

Speaker 2 53:23

And also at the same time, with this, I just want to add really quickly too, like, why is the significance on Nick and Schmidt being roommates, not Winston and Nick, not just, you know, like specifically Nick and Schmidt.

Speaker 53:35

It's a very specific dynamic. And I like it when shows give us the evidence of that, like the end of this episode, where you're like, okay, well, now I can see why they would be friends, because if they're able to still have these disagreements and annoy each other and, you know, go at each other and insult each other, like, why would they still be friends? Oh, because when it really matters, they actually do show up for each other, or like, and especially in this episode, it to your point, like a lot of what the show does later on with Nick is be like, Well, this is a guy who doesn't have his life together. He's sloppy, da-da-da-da-da. And in season two, we've talked about like romance hero Nick, but I think this is another instance of like proving the thesis that Jess doesn't get, which is Nick is actually pretty emotionally intelligent. I love the moment where obviously Cece gets engaged and Schmidt, great Max Greenfield acting, by the way, of not saying anything in that scene and showing the devastation on his face, walks off, and then you watch Nick watch him walk off because you realize like Nick knows that his friend needs him. It doesn't really matter what they just said to each other, and that's why they've been friends for so long. Like, when it really counts, Nick is like, I'm not gonna hold what he just did the entire episode against him because I can see how hard this is gonna be, and I am gonna be there for him as he processes this emotional moment, you know? Yeah.

Speaker 2 55:05

And that I think is is kind of a big thing with like, you know, we talked about this episode kind of placed in the middle of everything that's going on with Nick and Jess, and and what kind of a little bit, but certainly from here on will be going on with Schmidt and Cece. Um, like it's just so interesting to, and again, like not quite pause it because it obviously that is continuing, but kind of pause it to like focus on um Nick and Schmidt's friendship. But I I think in hindsight it's so interesting because I think it helps kind of ground both of those storylines that are going on. Because I think with Nick and Jess, I think it well, and I mean, number one, for both of them. I think it just kind of creates like a, you know, we however much interaction we might have with each other about our separate storylines from this point, like we kind of get this like, okay, like I'm, you know, there's an emotional investment here, and I have some kind of support system. And then I think, you know, with Nick and Jess, I think, you know, before that heats up again, and it's a really good reminder of like what the stakes are and why, you know, in parking spot, like Schmidt was so like, this is the worst thing's ever happened, you cannot do this for a lot of reasons, but also because he genuinely cares and he doesn't want to see either of them hurt, and he he's like, You're going to be hurt. This is the only way. Um, and Schmidt and Cece, I think also, and like I, you know, I'm sure we'll talk about this over the next course of episodes, but like I I think their run, I'm just gonna say the finale, but maybe kind of a big part of their storyline, kind of from this point, kind of sometimes can feel kind of isolated from the rest of the show and the other characters. So I think it's a nice, you know, way to kind of bring Schmidt back in. Like, the hey, other people are aware of the impact of your relationship with CC, and you've never actually told us about this, but obviously this is something that we that we know because we know you, yeah. Um, so yeah, it's just like a really nice way to kind of like breathe for a second before both of those like really pick back up again. Yeah, and also I was kind of thinking while you were talking earlier, like in some ways, emotionally, dare I say, I I feel like this Schmidt, I this makes sense leading into everything with Elizabeth in a way. He's he's certainly not at his best, very selfish, but the you know, the core of it is I care about the people around me, I don't want them to get hurt, I don't want to do the wrong thing. You know, you know, like I think the seeds of that kind of start around here. Well, Schmidt.

Speaker 57:37

And I think it's really important because Elizabeth and Nick are pretty much two of the only people who really knew Schmidt in college. Yeah. And so there's this nice kind of parallel of both of them being like, Who did you know? I knew who you were to be. And like, I really miss the person you used to be. And it does force Schmidt to think about the way that he has built his life post-college and the way that he, you know, conveys who he is to the world, versus the way that he conveys himself and the people who know him best see him. You know, like it's it's they have a very different view of him that is, I think, a lot more kind than other characters because other characters didn't know him back in college, but they have that knowledge of being like, I knew the person that you once were, and I miss that version. I think that you're trying so hard to be a version that you think is successful or that other people respect or like. But at the end of the day, I think it's true that there's a lot of things about Schmidt himself that he doesn't like, and a lot of what he does, as we've talked about, is projection. And so those are the two characters who are really able to like cut through that in a way that only people who've known you for a long period of time can do. And I really like that we get kind of that element of their relationships with him. Um, so yeah. And then of course, like the whole catalyst for this emotional moment at the end is that uh Sharong and Cece get engaged, which is just really it's just it's just really funny to me that like obviously this wasn't going to be something that like he planned. He's taking the mic at someone else's party to propose to a woman who then she gets to have all these fireworks, which also clearly the guy knows that that's not what these are for, but he hates Schmidt anyway because Schmidt has been rude to all of the vendors this entire episode. So thoughts on this as because again, we've pointed out that like, yes, this Cece's individual journey has been like a thing we've tracked since her relationship with Schmidt and all of the things that like she wants, but I forgot kind of how early, early into knowing, and she mentions this too, because again, arranged marriage, she's like it's all moving very fast. I forgot how fast it moved without really seeing these two characters together on screen for most of the most of the episode.

Speaker 2 1:00:11

So well, I also like they need like an extra scene in there where he decides that he's gonna propose that way because I I like also I don't know. I feel like especially without that, like the optics of the whole storyline aren't great, but especially then because also I think with Shivrang, there's this thing of like, oh, he's really nice, but like boring, like you know, we're not really supposed to care, who cares? But like I don't know, nice but boring guy doesn't say, even when he's like, Oh, like this isn't usually a romantic process, but I can understand why you're not superwhelmed by what's going on and what I'm saying. Nice but boring guy doesn't say, Oh, let me just jump on stage and like right, just well, like Jax does, which is very in line.

Speaker 1:00:58

We have we've met Jax for all of like less than 20 minutes and we know that we know that that guy's going up there.

Speaker 2 1:01:06

Like, just give me one scene where it's like, so what do you want? What did you expect, you know, kind of thing?

Speaker 1:01:12

Because to be fair, again, yeah, there's no conversation of like what CC actually would want in a proposal. Like, does CC want a public proposal? I don't know, doesn't seem like she does.

Speaker 2 1:01:23

I I and it's it's just and like, yeah, but like even if it's a public proposal, that's different from we're at somebody else's party.

Speaker 1:01:33

No, no one besides the few people I know are here, none of their friends besides uh Jess is there, like, and again, it's just like also he knows that Schmidt and Cece used to date, so that kind of feels even weirder that it's like at the uh party of my now fiancé's ex-boyfriend, I'm going to propose to her.

Speaker 2 1:02:00

Kind of feels weird. You're right. It's not that's that's I think also ultimately like I think this is a very like plot heavy episode, and it's very like we kind of have to do a lot of things in order to get other places. We have to move pretty quickly.

Speaker 1:02:14

Let's not let's not forget. We I mean we are pretty far into season two, but we still have a couple of episodes to go, and like one of these episodes will not have CeC in it a majority of the time. Like, there's there's some times where you're like, okay, Cece's not really a part of like some of these, so we need to squeeze in some plot for her.

Speaker 2 1:02:36

It feels like a big like, okay, well, in order for this to happen here, they have to get engaged here.

Speaker 1:02:41

Yeah, to have the wedding at the end of the season and the bachelorette party before that, we need to get get on board the engagement part of this.

Speaker 2 1:02:48

Right. Like, I I wonder too, because like, yes, like I said, like I I think you know, focusing on Nick and Schmidt's friendship does certain things, and but like take this time to focus on Cece for this episode. Like you can have two Cece episodes close to each other, it's okay.

Speaker 1:03:03

But I do think that the at least what they do in this episode is giving you a glimpse into the fact that Cece's not still a hundred percent on board with like this. She says yes, but you can kind of tell in her conversation with Jess the brief, like, oh, this is good, right?

Speaker 2 1:03:22

Yeah, it's good. And and I think they do a good job of like, I'm not feeling excited about this, but that's because I'm not familiar with this process. I'm bringing my like prior life and expectations to this, and that's not fair.

Speaker 1:03:40

So maybe this is how it's supposed to feel. I don't know. I haven't done an arranged marriage before. Again, I like that they made the emphasis early on, where it was like, wow, this feels like we moved really quickly. Like our parents gave our mothers gave blessing, and now we're free to get married. Like she's kind of like I know let's do this thing. I do love the moment at the beginning where she's like, I just assumed if I was being proposed to, I would know it. I was like, there. Like, because there's a part of us that, you know, we don't get to see CeC be. I wouldn't consider out of all of the people in the loft her to be an incredibly romantic person who loves all like displays of affection, that kind of thing. But even someone who doesn't love that to the extent that Jess does, she at least still is kind of like, well, I was hoping for something a little bit better than this. So, you know, she has this notion of like, I don't just want this to be transactional.

Speaker 2 1:04:38

I want to have emotions and feelings.

Speaker 1:04:41

Right. And so, you know, her moving forward with that, I think is I think it's good. I think it's important that we get to see, you know, because of the way that the season ends, I don't think it works if she's super on board with everything by this point. I think it works that she's still like, yes, this is the direction I this is the thing I said I wanted, and now it's happening. I think I'm happy with it. And so I like that we got that. But yeah, I wish we would have had a little bit more, a little bit more time because yeah, we don't get a lot of time in the last bit of this. And I mean, logically, we know as we were watching the show, and logically, as any TV viewer would know, just like if there's a threat to kill off the main character of a TV show, you're mostly, mostly like, I'm pretty sure their contract is fine. You're kind of like, well, uh, Stacey's probably not gonna get married, right? Like, that doesn't seem like the way we're gonna go based on this show and based on the way that sitcoms go in terms of a premise. But you know, it's a little bit different, I feel like, than with like friends, where you were like, Yeah, Ross could get married to Emily. Sure, I guess that could be a thing that happened.

Speaker 2 1:05:49

But I mean, even then, I think is still the more surprising choice that it actually happens, you know.

Speaker 1:05:55

And so, like, I think with this, you you're kind of like, Well, I mean, maybe she could. Get married and then like they get divorced or something. But the show already kind of plotted out it's a formula. We know kind of what endgame looks like for shows like this. So it is kind of like that, well, we shouldn't invest too heavily. So on the one hand, while I definitely now I'm talking myself out of out of feeling a certain way, because I'm like, well, at least the show wasn't asking us to invest too heavily in these characters.

Speaker 2 1:06:23

They're kind of like you don't have to care about this.

Speaker 1:06:26

We have to care about him. We won't see Shivrang for most of the rest of the season. Yeah. So you don't have to care about them that much. Yeah, it's fine. But you know, just a little bit. So I think, you know, that's I I wish there would have been just slightly more so that we would have.

Speaker 2 1:06:39

Or even just like if Jax went first, I think it makes a lot more sense. Yeah. Because then I think you can have Shivrang being like, oh, that's what passion looks like. That's this is a gesture that she would like. Yes. Her friend just got this. It doesn't.

Speaker 1:06:56

To go first, it doesn't. Yeah. It doesn't work as much. I agree. It is kind of weird. Um, but I mean that's how the episode ends with apparently a bunch of strangers at Schmidt and Nick's party. Because again, we don't know any of these people. They're strangers to us, they're strangers to Cece.

Speaker 2 1:07:12

Also, I wish we had gone to see Robbie's reaction.

Speaker 1:07:15

I know. They only had him for like brief coverage on one one afternoon, and then they're like, he has to go, he has to go do other things. Uh, but yeah, I mean, this is how the episode ends with you know, Jess being like, Are you happy about this? Well, I'll I and Jess is such a good friend because she gauges how Cece feels before she responds, which I love. I love it being like, Are you happy? Because if you're happy, I'll be back. This is good, right? It's good. Yeah. It's such a friend thing to do. Be like, how do you feel about this? And I will react accordingly.

unknown 1:07:49

Right.

Speaker 1:07:49

What's the vibe? Great. Okay. What is feeling here? You know, and then this episode ends, of course, with all of our wonderful roommates hanging out in a hot air balloon that is on the ground and drinking from the same bottle.

Speaker 2 1:08:04

And then Nick has to ruin it by talking about his mouth.

Speaker 1:08:07

Nick has to put his mouth on it, and uh Jess has to literally run out. It just reminds me, too, of like CC crashes where she just gets out of the car and runs. This is exactly the same. This woman has evolved, but not much.

Speaker 2 1:08:21

Not much.

Speaker 1:08:22

She's still the same woman who will run away.

Speaker 2 1:08:24

She really wants to participate in things Nick Miller did this week that were hot.

Speaker 1:08:29

She doesn't. She's like, I cannot be in this little hot herbaloo basket for this. I need to go. I do love her logic of like, why can't we all have our own bottles? Why do we have to share a bottle? I gotta go. I gotta go get my own bottle, kind of thing. And it's just really funny to me. So that is truly like how this episode ends, minus the tag. Um, but I love that this episode canonically ends with Jess literally running away from Nick.

Speaker 2 1:08:53

Straight into quick harden and caulk.

Speaker 1:08:55

Yeah, there we go. And we will continue to see. Again, this is a nice bridge. We get some emotional stuff. Uh, I do love that Jess has to, I love Zoe's acting of being so uncomfortable when Jax is on that stage. Like, oh no, oh no.

Speaker 2 1:09:12

Oh no, who is she? Who is she? And then the reveal that he's met his third wife.

Speaker 1:09:17

I know. I just I love it so much. And it's just like Zoe gets to do a lot of like understated things sometimes in the show. A lot of season one was her being very over the top, and we've talked about this before about how the show realized like all of these characters are absurd. We can make them all do weird things and it'll be fine.

Speaker 2 1:09:36

But they can take their turns, they can pick their turns.

Speaker 1:09:38

Right. So her having some very understated reactions and then just like multiple scenes in this episode her running. I also would be remiss if I didn't point out the whole beginning of him Nick having frosting on his lip and Jess like not knowing how to handle, not knowing how to handle this. Because this is also kind of what happens, how Jess handles her uncomfortable attraction to Nick, which is she just is mean to him.

Speaker 2 1:10:05

She's like, I don't I love and I love when I I forget what he says, but like whenever he does the thing where he's kind of shuffling away, like, what's going on with you?

Speaker 1:10:15

I love her being so so uh offended that he has frosting on his mouth and just like yells at him. And this again happens in this season again, where she's like, get out. I'm pretty sure next episode, actually, at the very beginning, where he's looking down the whole thing. That's the whole where she's he's wants to iron and she just gets really upset. And it's it's also Cece is there to watch all of this happen, and I love CeCe because she is for sure like, I'm not gonna say anything, but I'm saying a lot of stuff with my face, right? How you're reacting.

Speaker 2 1:10:53

Um, I I have two little things that I would be remiss not to mention. Um, number one, I love in the beginning of this episode in that scene when Cece says something and she's like, Why are we friends with these guys? I love that. And I love like so like I clock, I can now clock watching that, being like, the writers decided Cece's part of the show. Yes. We have decided what we're doing with Cece. Yes. Things have changed, therefore, she is friends with them. Yep. Because no, she's not. No. Um, and then of course, the other thing that we have to mention because this is something that's very core to us and would be part of our non-party party, which is us sitting around probably watching this together. Because the whole episode, I'm thinking to myself, how for most people watching this episode now, everyone's like, oh, it's Steve Howie from Shameless. But of course, for me and you, what is shameless, that's Van.

Speaker 1:11:47

That's that is Van Montgomery from Rebo.

Speaker 2 1:11:50

Yeah. And you will put some respect on his name.

Speaker 1:11:55

I do love it. I love it so much because that is a hundred percent what I thought when I was like, oh my gosh, he's a guest star.

Speaker 1 1:12:00

It's it's Steve Howard.

Speaker 1:12:01

When it aired, we're like, Man, it's gonna be a new girl. Which, like, uh, Rebo, what a great show. Um, but yeah, I I really love this episode as what it is and how well it kind of functions. Again, you know, is this one that I frequently re-watch? Not necessarily because I do gravitate towards season two, very heavy Nick and Jess episodes, but I really do love that this episode um, you know, focuses a lot on Nick and Schmidt's friendship because I think we need some of those episodes as the show goes on. Just like we talked about how we need ones that focus on Jess and Cece's friendship. They've known each other since they were kids. Same thing with Winston and Nick. You know, we get a chance to see a lot of these dynamics, and there's something fun when you get a chance to see characters who have known each other for a long time and the way that they engage with each other versus the way that like Winston and Jess do because they haven't known each other.

Speaker 2 1:12:54

I think this in some ways kind of helps like Chicagoland, because then we're not, you know, all of a sudden getting an episode that's so much about their friendships and their relationships with everybody. We kind of get some of that here. And so I think it helps build a stronger, like everything that's going on is about right, like those random pairings.

Speaker 1:13:15

Well, and we'll we'll talk about that uh uh when we get to Chicago, because I do love Chicago. And one of the things that is obviously mentioned in that episode, which will probably be a quote of the episode, is when Schmidt basically and Winston are like, hey, don't laugh when they call them responsible. They don't get why that's funny. But it's a good, it's a good way to prove that like Nick can be responsible. And there's probably part of him that is more comfortable not being responsible around Schmidt because he was responsible for so long for his family. So, like, hey, he doesn't need to be the responsible one. That's not his role in the loft, and he kind of has right eased into what his actual role is in the loft.

Speaker 2 1:13:55

And again, it's you know, it's that thing of like this is what responsibility looks like to Schmidt. Yeah, that's true. But like for the Miller family, it's these things, and I'm the person who could do those. And maybe that's less than what Schmidt does. But so what?

Speaker 1:14:09

Yeah, and so I like that we get, you know, not just a Nick and Jess uh centric back half of season two, but we really get to explore the idea of like friendships and relationships and family that you navigate when you're in your 30s. I think it's uh I think it's good because this show is about people who are in their late 20s, early 30s, and it's a very different uh stage of life than if you're watching a show where it's like, hey, these characters just uh graduated from college. Like these are very different characters that one of the reasons I think we both love New Girl is because the show this show is really good at portraying some incredibly niche things that happen when you get to this point in adulthood. And I think this is a good example of a show that can do this because your characters are old enough that you can be like, yeah, they've known each other for 10 plus years. Yeah, they've known each other since they were kids. And the way that they act is like they've known each other for 10 plus years and they've known each other since they were kids.

Speaker 2 1:15:11

Um Yeah, and and I think this is just like such an interesting turning point in the show and and the writing, and and you can tell that they were like, okay, we we know what this is now because obviously, and you know, the big thing is that like they're gonna really commit to Nick and Jess and to Schmidt and Cece, but this feels like when they start leaning more into the friendships too, yeah. Not just in a, you know, oh, we need kind of this thing, so here's kind of the the matchup for this week. Yeah, they spend a lot more time like delving into that and making that stuff matter, which ultimately is what we love about the show and something that becomes a much bigger part of it than even it has been up to this point.

Speaker 1:15:48

Yeah, it's not necessarily it's not definitely not an ancillary part of the show, like their friendship, the way that they navigate their relationships with each other is central to what the show is. And so I think like, you know, especially on a show where unlike with friends where you actually did have a a pair of siblings, like I think shows like this are great because it's truly like a this is a little family unit, these are friends, these are people who love each other, but who also know how to hurt each other and who get really annoyed with each other, and also who like I really love, especially in the um in the Thanksgiving episode where they all try and hook up with other people. How I love the brief scene of them all up on the roof and being like, we left all of our dates downstairs, like because that's that is who these people are.

Speaker 2 1:16:38

They would do that, they absolutely would do that, and they do it again, more importantly.

Speaker 1:16:43

Yeah. So I'm excited for us to continue talking about season two. Next episode is going to be saying the title again over emphasizing the L so much, but boy oh boy. Sometimes I think about like they got away, they got away with that title on a network, on a network television. Um, good for them. So they got away with so much in that episode that I am like, wow, props, props for being on like what nine o'clock at night. Yeah. Um, so anyway, we've got a couple of things to talk about, but of course, it is now time for our favorite segment. Listen, Nick Miller did that we're hot.

Speaker 2 1:17:24

Go. All right. Well, so two big things, and you already spent more time than I thought prior to the segment talking about the frosting on it. Oh, yeah. Listen, here's the thing also with that, and again, this is something that I would say, like, no, wait, okay, I'm gonna tell a story because I was gonna say that this is the kind of thing that like my husband hasn't literally done, but it emotionally is something he would do, so I'm really into it. But actually, I realize I have a story to tell. So it was my husband's birthday, like a month and a half ago, and I, you know, we we are from New York, we moved out of New York. New York, the local ice cream place is Carvel, and they make these ice cream cakes. Yeah, and so Chris growing up would always get a fudgy the whale cake, ice cream cake. Um, I it finally occurred to me because I don't I don't usually like grocery shop in the actual grocery store because it's so expensive. So it just took a while for it to click to me that Carvel sells ice cream cakes at grocery stores around the country. Yeah. And so, like months and months ago, like probably last summer, I was like, oh, let me get an ice cream cake for Chris's birthday. So I got him an ice cream cake for his birthday. He's very excited. And a thing that I fully forgot was how much that the like the colorful frosting will stain everything. Oh yes, yeah, yeah, yeah. So, you know, I get him a cake and I got a big one. So we we had cake for a while, and I come home one day from work and he's on the couch, and I like lean down to kiss him hello, and I stop because his mouth is all blue, and I'm like, Did you have cake today? And he's like, Yeah, how'd you know?

Speaker 1 1:19:04

And I'm like, your mouth is all blue. It would have been funnier if he said no to try to like hide it.

Speaker 2 1:19:11

But he it was just such a like, how'd you know that? Well, so funny. A lot of evidence, and it's it's very similar to Nick Miller with frosting on his lips. So um, I have a type, and it is one single type. The other thing I want to mention is the brown shirt. Yeah. When they're first like at the party site, or I guess that's what he's wearing for the party, but yeah.

Speaker 1:19:37

I like that. Also, was he not wearing a yellow shirt at the very beginning of the episode? I feel like it was like a yellow plaid, and when he came into the kitchen, I thought he I'm not bad about it.

Speaker 1 1:19:47

I like I don't know. I was focused on the frosting. I don't know. That's true, that's true.

Speaker 1:19:51

Um, yeah, he he did he did good this week. I think that's also his hair was looking good.

Speaker 2 1:19:56

He had like a really nice like little it also um a thing about me that you might share because we're of a similar generation and we came of age um at in the same time period. Um, unfortunately, a thing about me that I find um deeply erotic is faux hawks.

Speaker 1:20:15

Okay, I'm not with you on that one.

Speaker 2 1:20:17

Okay, I'm sorry. I thought we would share you're alone. I I thought we would share and feel this together. Nope. Um I phrase it in order to guide that okay. Let me be so clear that I don't. Sure. But it well, especially like this kind of thing. Like when I watch something that's kind of from and I mean even this is a little bit late for it, like it's probably more of a like an early 2000s thing, um, or like 2005-ish. But watching something now that's kind of from that era, I'm like, oh, this is because I remember being that age and being like, this person is the hottest person I could ever imagine. Okay, therefore, everything about this look is hot. So now when there's a faux hawk kind of thing, I'm like, oh, I remember the my most pure image of sexual attractiveness, faux hawk. Yeah. Um, and he's kind of got the front, it's kind of up in a way that's kind of a coif. That's not a faux hawk, but not a faux hawk. Similar, yeah. Okay. All right. That was hey, I just think that this is a place to be open and honest, especially in this segment. Where I'm not gonna say I feel unsupported, but I don't feel supported.

Speaker 1:21:30

Where else would one express can I say this than a private conversation broadcast?

Speaker 2 1:21:38

It's just like no one wants to come to our party. They're gonna be like, oh, I've known you for 20 years, I can tell you this. And everyone else is like, no, you can't. I'm I don't want to hear that.

Speaker 1:21:48

There's a line, and that line is Bohawks, apparently, that we've never crossed in 20 years of friendship, and we've never talked about this. Uh, okay. Or if we have, I do not recall.

Speaker 2 1:21:59

But this is the thing though. I well, and that's why I kind of set it up that way, because I am sure that people who grew up watching the same shows and movies as me were into many of the same people who had similar characteristics.

Speaker 1 1:22:18

No, I guess it depends on what we're watching.

Speaker 2 1:22:21

Yeah, maybe, but like But like I'm talking about like like WB shows. Okay. Like, hold on. You're I'm this is not a faux hawk. But like Logan Huntsberger and like the stick-uppy hair.

Speaker 1:22:35

I don't know who this is. Yes, you do from Gilmore Girls. I have literally never watched, you're lying. I've watched the first three seasons. I stopped work watching after three seasons. I could not actually watch Gilmore Girls. This whole thing is blown up in my face. I know. Now, now what a perfect episode for us. I know I know him only because I have seen people talk about Gilmore Girls. Kind of like with something like Veronica Mars. I've never watched it, but I know people who've talked about that. Yeah. And so therefore, I feel like by osmosis, I know the characters. But I think we're discovering in an episode about it. I've never so less supported. So sorry. I apologize. I never finished the show. I never watched it when it was airing. It's just I was not watching too.

Speaker 2 1:23:24

Okay, but like Dan Humphrey.

Speaker 1:23:26

Okay, yeah, but like, did he really have a faux hawk at any point? And also, I watched that in like 2020, so I wasn't of the age of like, hey, but you but even okay, hold on, hold on. I think it's different. I think it's different if you watch a show that was meant, like I watched Gossip Girl and Dawson's during the lockdown, and I had a very different experience watching that in my 30s.

Speaker 2 1:23:48

Sure, but culturally, you had an awareness of Gossip Girl and the characters and their like image out there.

Speaker 3 1:23:55

Yeah.

Speaker 2 1:23:55

He didn't well. This is also the thing with the faux hawk. Like, it's it's so I think it's less about the actual like I have a faux hawk, like the specific thing, the like the messiness, the height, I think is what has endured and what is transferable to many different people.

Speaker 1:24:15

Okay. Our listeners are like, I have heard more about faux hawks in this episode than I've ever heard in my life.

Speaker 2 1:24:21

I and I only said something because I was so sure that we were on the show. I'm gonna be backed up. So this is gonna be super quick. We're gonna have a moment of agreeing and we're gonna move on. I'm shocked to my core.

Speaker 1:24:34

You really, you really missed with that assumption in a way that I find hilarious, and I love you.

Speaker 2 1:24:41

But also, and now I have to clarify this before we are allowed to move on. It's not I didn't like like the emo faux hawk.

Speaker 1:24:48

Okay, so that's what I think of when I think of faux hawk. No, no, no. I'm like, hey, like not like Avra Levine Skater boy era of it.

Speaker 2 1:24:55

Yeah, because I think you'd have the thing where like the hair was really long and kind of pushed into the yes. That's that's not it for me. For me, it's the like I'm trying to think of like a TV character who had I mean, I mean, but like kind of like what Nick has a lot. Like it's just kind of up. Okay, like I mean, that is that is a style of like the gel kind of the the this I think was a little too like perfect to be what I generally like, but like fin on glee. Okay, yeah, yeah. That kind of thing. You know, but like that kind of thing, but like messier, so it looks a little more natural, is what I'm talking about. Okay.

Speaker 1 1:25:31

I appreciate the No you don't. I do appreciate the effort. Oh my gosh.

Speaker 2 1:25:38

Well, but the segment, but this is why the segment is things that were confusingly attractive. That's true.

Speaker 1:25:46

Because only the name is confusingly hard.

Speaker 2 1:25:48

Well, and it's kind of to leave it off because the confusion hasn't really started.

Speaker 1:25:54

Right. We we are now we are still, as we have alluded to or said verbatim multiple times, is like, no, this is romance hero. It's gonna get confusing when they start being like He can't do anything, it can't do anything, and doesn't know anything about anything, and then you're like But he's still so hot. So I can understand why he still dates people or people want to date him. Yeah. Um, the other thing I will say in this episode that I wrote down so I wouldn't forget is one of my favorite things to do when watching TV shows is clocking when an actor was sick while filming, and definitely Jake was sick in this episode. You can hear his voice start to go, especially towards the end. And I think it's hilarious because it gives my it gives the layer of like, of course, Zoe's not gonna put her mouth on something that Jake has put his mouth on at the end of this episode because he is very clearly it happens uh quite a few times in various TV shows. Uh Joel is really sick in an episode of Community. Um, and then uh Amy Polar is really sick in a specific episode of Parks where you can start to hear your voice.

Speaker 1 1:26:59

So I think I think Jake Johnson has a couple.

Speaker 1:27:02

Yeah, he might have some later on, but this one was one that I always remember because even like unlike I don't think the sniff outside of the porta potty when he's like staring down Jess is scripted. I think it's just his nose is runny, so he has to sniff. So I think it's funny.

Speaker 2 1:27:17

That is why I sound like this this episode, uh to sound like Nick Miller.

Speaker 1:27:23

Yeah.

Speaker 2 1:27:24

My body was like, hey, you gotta get sick just in time to be over it, but still sound sick when you talk about it.

Speaker 1:27:31

Yeah, that's exactly it. Um well, our community connection is fun. We did talk about Steve Howie, obviously, is the guest star in this episode. This is the only time we'll see him. Um, but fun fact, Steve was recently on this season of High Potential, which is a show starring Caitlin Olson, who obviously is on It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. Community alum and podcast guest Megan Ganz also wrote and directed on It's Always Sunny. So there's your little community connection there. And that's all I've got. Do you have anything else before we wrap things up? I don't think so, but I'm very excited for next time. I am very excited too. Um, I feel like no matter what time of night we record, we will be very alert and have a lot of things to say. And I'm not gonna lie to you all. A lot of it might not be real deep.

Speaker 2 1:28:25

A lot of this episode might be times Nick Miller was just gonna be the whole episode. Which spent so we can announce special guest for this episode, Jessica Day.

Speaker 1:28:36

Yeah. Yeah. Um, and that's what we'll be talking about. The the outline I will send will just be like, let's just talk about things Nick Miller did.

Speaker 2 1:28:46

Literally, she's proving the concept, things he did that were confusingly attractive. Yeah.

Speaker 1:28:50

There is a a B story in that that we will talk about as well. That I always forget is the B story of that. We get some Winston Winston and Schmidt story. Uh, but yeah, you forget about that because of C. Oops. No, this is the um We can cut this out.

Speaker 2 1:29:06

I don't I just don't remember because I remember No.

Speaker 1:29:08

Well, remember, why is there a fish tank in the loft that they break at the end of the episode?

Speaker 2 1:29:12

Oh, right. Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1:29:15

It's a real, real they had to have something real dumb and silly to offset all that was happening. Okay, well, we need a fish tank. Let's work backwards. Yeah, work backwards from there. So anyway, get excited for that because we certainly are. So uh before we wrap things up, and I'm excited to find out what the answer is at the end of this episode for our final question. Uh, what's one piece of media, either a book or a TV show, film, podcast, etc., from either a black or indigenous or person of color creator, and or featuring either black or indigenous or person of color folks that you would like to encourage our listeners to consume this week?

Speaker 2 1:29:53

So uh we recently saw uh an early screening of the movie The Furious, uh, which by the time this comes out will either be in theaters or probably be online somewhere, which is a it's a Hong Kong movie um with like a pan-Asian cast and and crew that um it's very similar to The Raid, where it's just kind of non-stop fighting and and kung fu and different, you know, martial arts. If you like movies that are people fighting each other in increasingly cool and crazy impressive ways, uh it was so cool. It was so much fun. Um, I will spoil one thing because I have been talking about it all week since we saw this movie. Um, there's a part where the main character rides a motorcycle through a building to mow down a hallway of bad guys while his daughter on the back of the motorcycle hits the bad guys with a pipe. Uh you know, I had a great time. Oh, all right. You can't uh it's also just so crazy to watch too, because like I I I think, especially compared to like Hollywood action movies that have a lot of fighting that are are like extremely showy and and like these like kind of huge moments, and like you know, these very much lean more and like the absolutely are impressive and like will have these big moments, but like the actual like martial arts that they're doing are real and and much more grounded in grounded in reality, I say, as you know, these people are taking crazy amounts of injuries and you know, bare feet, you know what I mean. But it's like it's just so interesting to watch too because like so many of the martial arts are so built on like like small, precise movements. So like it's like sometimes you don't even know what you're looking at necessarily, but that like a guy is like rolling on the ground and somehow he's like knocked the guy off his feet. I don't know, it's crazy. One guy is he's he's like holding a ladder, and the other guy is running up the ladder to get to him. It's listen, I was hooting, I was hollering, I had an incredible time.

Speaker 1:31:59

Well, I love that for you. Um, I'm gonna talk about a book that I read a little bit ago called uh One and Only by Maureen Goo. I really like this because I thought the premise was interesting, which is like their main character is Cassia Park and her all the women in her family have a special gift, which is that, and they have a matchmaking agency called One and Only Matchmaking, and it has a hundred percent guarantee because these women are able to meet with their clients and see into their past lives. All of the women in the family have this gift, and so they're able to then have their this whoever comes to the matchmaking agency their soulmate's name, the matchmakers will know and they will see into these people's clients' past lives. So Cassie is the main character, she's about to turn 40, and years ago, her her grandmother pulled this name, and she still hasn't met this guy who's supposed to be her fated, her one and only. And so she, in waiting, um, decides to have a little fun before she turns 40 and has a fun little fling with a guy who's younger named Ellis, and they have a great time. And she drops Ellis off at work, and who should she meet but Ellis' boss, who is her faded? And so I'm so down. Yeah. So this is it's a whole fun story about like, okay, so now what does Cassia do now that she's starting to have feelings for this fling, but like this other person is supposed to be her fated? Like, how does she navigate this? It's a really great story, too, about family dynamics, generational family dynamics. Um, and I really enjoyed it. I kind of predicted halfway through the book where it might end up, and I was pleasantly enjoying the ride. And so I would definitely recommend this if you're looking for something that's like a fun romance that also has some great elements and great fleshed out characters in Cassia's family and a unique concept.

Speaker 2 1:34:10

So um, fun fact also about Maureen Goo do you know who her husband is? No, he uh co-directed and co-wrote K-pop Demon Hunters. Oh, so fun! Right? Which I guess because like the because she um I'm not sure if this one was her first adult book, but if it wasn't, like she's she's written very few.

Speaker 1:34:32

Yes, because I know she writes YA.

Speaker 2 1:34:34

Yes. Um, and so during the Oscars, because I you know follow a couple of um of like YA authors, and and I think specifically it was I had in college one of my teachers was a YA author, so like I follow her, and she's you know, friends with a bunch of like group of YA authors, and she'd posted something that was like, Yay, Maureen Goo, and like has a picture of you know the audience at the Oscars. And I'm like, what does Maureen Goo have to do with K-pop demon hunters? And then I learned her husband co-wrote and coder.

Speaker 1:35:04

So fun. Well, also, I wrecked this on the pod before, but hey, this is also your recommendation to go watch or re-watch K-pop demon hunters. It's a it's a good time.

Speaker 2 1:35:14

I had so much fun. I'm in a state with that that I am in many things where I can't watch it because where I really first heard about it was teenagers at work.

Speaker 1:35:27

Yeah, so you just like by by definition are like, well, I can't, I can't do this.

Speaker 2 1:35:33

Like if if I learned about things on my own and like sure, but like because kids are coming in and they can't you watch this, it's I can't give them you're like I have to. I love that for you. I will buy stickers for you to get things. I I cannot watch it under these circumstances.

Speaker 1 1:35:48

No, I have to, I cannot be, I cannot be told what to watch by the teenagers that 13-year-old or whatever.

Speaker 1:35:56

Oh, well, anyway, um, this has been so much fun. Before we ask our last question, Jamie, tell people where they can find and follow you uh if they would like to know what you're up to in life.

Speaker 2 1:36:09

Uh what am I up to? Are you up to? What a question. Um, I am on Blue Sky at Jamie Poland. Uh I am on, you know what? I'm gonna start throwing my story graph out there because that's what I got going on. I'm reading books and talking about my cats. Um, I am, I think I'm just Jamie Poland on Story Graph. Um if you follow me on Instagram, I post my monthly roundup every month. So you can follow me from there. Uh but yeah, that's what I got going on. Cats and romance books.

Speaker 1:36:37

Love, love that. Um, you can follow us on Instagram at AndarewatchPod, or you can follow us on Blue Sky. Over there, it's just Anderewatch, although apologies because life has been a lot. We're trying to record and post more things. Um, we are currently recording this in Pride Month. I do not know if this is going to drop, but you know what? Celebrate Pride more than one month. That's my 2026 charge. Every month is Pride Month. Um, so in our show notes, we will also have resources uh for national organizations that you can donate to, learn more about, especially because, as we know, trans people and rights continue to be under attack. So go also do some research into what's happening in your local area, um, ways that you can support local organizations that are doing work in your own community. So check that out. And we will be continuing to talk about New Girl on this uh pod. Obviously, Chelsea are talking about selfie, so those episodes will be in the feed. And then, depending on when this comes out, uh you will probably hear in a little bit an episode that Chelsea and Jesse and I are recording, which is going to be all about how we want TV shows to be like new girl length seasons again, how great it was when we had more than 20 episodes of TV every season to look forward to. And we're gonna talk about how that impacts things like slow burn romances on TV. So stay tuned for that episode. We have a lot of thoughts and feelings. And yeah, that's about that's about what we've got going on. Maybe some more tragically canceled, especially because as uh Chelsea and I realized this year marks the 10-year anniversary of when we well, tinfinity of um when Sweet Vicious, a tragically cancelled show, aired on MTV. So uh we'll be talking about that at some point because this is their 10-year anniversary, and it was a great one-season show. So there's that. Our last question might uh might inspire some thought. I don't know. I haven't thought about this, and I'm gonna process in real time based solely on how they acted in this week's episode alone. Who, if any of our new girl characters would you be fine living with? So, yeah, I mean, okay, definitely not Schmidt. No, it's it's a no for me, honestly.

Speaker 2 1:39:03

Um I think Jess might feel like a good option, but I think in actuality she's presenting normally, but she's kind of being crazy.

Speaker 1:39:14

Yeah, she's doing a little too much.

Speaker 2 1:39:16

Yeah, and I think in real, like, you know, being there through this experience, you're gonna hear a lot of like, this one I'm I'm gonna do it. It's gonna be great. You know, not a lot of self-awareness. You're gonna hear her talking about it a lot because she's so fine and cool with everything. That I think it would not be a fun time, actually. Um I think like I think Nick would be okay because I also don't want to do anything. You know, I wouldn't make him have a party. But that said, I I still think he, like I said earlier, I think he would still be happy doing something, which probably would be like drinking at his bar. Yeah. And I don't really, I don't go to bars.

Speaker 1:39:57

That's fair. I'm trying to think of like, because you know, I'm living with them in the loft, so we don't have to deal with the porta potty situation. That's only at the party. Right, right, right. I think Winston would be fine to live with this week, too.

Speaker 2 1:40:12

Maybe. But see, but then I was just thinking, but then like he's working nights. I don't want to meet an athlete.

Speaker 1:40:17

But he's not bringing him back to the loft. He brought him to the bar. So if we're not at the bar, and Winston works nights still, I think. That's true. So he's gonna be kinda chill during the day. I mean, the only time he's not chill is when Jess is uh it's Jess's kind of insistence of what she wants to do.

Speaker 2 1:40:36

Yeah, I mean I think he's you know a little judgy of the party, but he he's there to have a good time. You know, he's getting involved, he's participating.

Speaker 1:40:45

Yeah, it's probably not gonna be CeC this week. She feels like she has a lot emotionally to deal with.

Speaker 2 1:40:51

Yeah, I don't think I I my thing with CeCe, I don't think I would be a good support person for her during this.

Speaker 1:40:59

You know yourself well enough to know that, and I appreciate that.

Speaker 2 1:41:01

I have questions, yeah.

Speaker 1:41:03

So I wouldn't be as happy as Jess was.

Speaker 2 1:41:05

I would be questioning it more, which I think is I would have a hard time not faking it, but like really you know, laying it on the like this is what you want? Okay, you're sure? Okay.

Speaker 1:41:16

So I think I'm gonna lock it in and say Winston is a good choice this week for me. Yeah, I think I'm with you. Okay. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Um, don't worry, we will have all kinds of interesting. Different answer next time. Different answer next time. Um, but that is for next recording. So, Jamie, of course, this has been such a blast. I'm so glad that we get to do this and we watch this show together and talk about it with everyone who cares about our thoughts. About fauxhox. So, thanks so much for listening, everyone, and we will see you next time.