TV REVIEW: Haters Gonna Hate in New Girl’s “Sister III”

By Nicole Bozzani

Abby makes jewellery, Coach and Cece are best friends, Winston trains to pass the LAPD fitness text, and Nick and Jess move in together. A whole bunch of things happened this week on New Girl. 

Abby and Schmidt are a new couple. They can’t keep their hands off each other much to the dismay of Jess who begins to feel her relationship with Nick is inferior. Winston begins training to take the LAPD fitness test, but worries about making it across the rings due to his past experiences of having his pants pulled down. Meanwhile, Cece and Coach begin trailing Abby to see what her real motives are concerning Schmidt.

One of New Girl’s more niggling concerns over the past few weeks has been the “all at once” storylines themselves. There are simply too many people to catch up on and pay attention to, and sadly this week was no exception. Not only, as previously mentioned, were viewers getting to know Abby, they were also dealing with Nick and Jess being extremely close roommates and Winston’s quest to join the police academy all at once. Winston, still, unfortunately, gets lost in the shuffle. Sure, he had issues with people pulling down his pants in strange situations, but it didn’t add anything to the main story at hand. It’s a grave injustice to him because he’s so much more than the random guy who does crab walks in Jess’ old room.

Cece and Coach are friends now. But like best friends. Like best friends who say “haters gonna hate.” And to be frank, Schmidt is right, their dynamic “is annoying.” It’s one thing to band together to investigate Abby for the sake of Schmidt, but it’s fairly clear to anyone with senses that Cece is still into Schmidt. We get it. We didn’t forget. Coach and Cece aren’t a thing nor do we want them to be. Cece is still 100% ready to board the Schmidt train to Love Town.

Schmidt and Abby are an odd couple. Abby is rebellious and certainly crafty. Just take a look at her beautiful pieces of jewellery. Who could decide which piece was more exquisite: the aluminium can necklace or the cough drop bracelet? Schmidt on the other hand puts his coffee grounds in a plastic baggie to prevent the rest of his trash from getting dirty. It’s unclear what on Earth Schmidt’s motives are with Abby. It certainly isn’t to upset Jess or to even make Cece jealous, but that doesn’t make it any less enjoyable to watch. The saddest part about “Sister III” is seeing Abby go. She will be truly missed. She made the show worth watching these past three weeks, and now it will be back to Schmidt to keep the ball rolling.

Jess (Zooey Deschanel, L) doesn’t trust her sister, Abby (guest star Linda Cardellini, R), when she decides to stay in Los Angeles. Co. Cr: Ray Mickshaw/FOX

It’s hard to decide whether Jess attempting to live in close quarters with Nick was a good or a bad thing. Was it entirely necessary? Probably not. Their entire premise of living together just felt moot. They give it a shot and we learn two very important things: Nick wears a nightshirt and book lamps are a nightmare. Seriously, book lamps are a nightmare. That’s just a fact. Jess decides living with Nick isn’t all it’s cracked up to be and goes to stay at a hotel. The two of them act like an old married couple most of the time, and that may be in part to Nick having an old man personality, which is why Jess is so determined to live with him. Confused? Yeah exactly. They already live together. They just decided to share a room –  something that has very little purpose. They both like being alone and having their space. It’s very important to them. Nick loves displaying his Garbage Pail Kids and well, Jess needs to read and not in an elevator. The only thing that mattered here was the parallels between the two Day sisters. Abby floats from man to man because she never wants to be alone while Jess choses her men very carefully and actually doesn’t mind being alone. It may even stand to prove just how serious Jess is about Nick in the longer, bigger, scheme of things.

In the end, Abby left to stay with Mama Day while she figures out her life, Cece confessed to Schmidt she still worries and cares about him, and Schmidt decided, after making a terrible investment decision, to move back into apartment 4D. Schmidt moving back to the loft will inevitably bring some interesting times worth looking forward to. Nick and Jess are now living together to make room for Schmidt. While somewhat predictable, it will, hopefully, create some new scenarios for the group. And maybe some day Nick will understand animals don’t wear clothes, but until then, just bring on the funny. Please, we are begging.