I didn’t actually think there would be a new episode of “New Girl“ this week since last week’s episode aired on Thursday, but Fox did air a new ep Tuesday so I apologize for the late recap! It all starts with the four of them receiving invitations to the wedding, which is a mere three weeks away.
Aptly titled “Bachelorette Party,” the ep revolves around Cece’s bachelorette party – something she’s always dreamed of (cue flashback) and has planned down to the last detail. Even though she hasn’t officially been asked to be Cece’s maid of honor, Jess is throwing her that dream bachelorette party.
Nick dresses up in his dad’s old bright orange track suit that his mom sent him, and multiple one-liners ensue.
“I thought you were Jane Lynch.”
“You look like a homeless pencil.”
But he claims “Dead Dad Pass,” so he can do/wear/say whatever he wants.
Schmidt confronts Cece about not having a “plus one”. She explains that the wedding has a budget and “plus ones” are reserved for spouses and serious partners only. Cece tells him if he has a serious girlfriend by the time of the wedding, he can have a plus one.
Schmidt accepts the non-challenge and hits up all his exes – none of which take him up on his offer. Some even run away screaming from him. His longest relationship was with Elizabeth when he was Fat Schmidt, but finds out she broke up with him once he lost the weight because he got mean.
Jess recruits Nick and Winston to distract Shivrang while the bachelorette party is going on. She wants them to “kidnap” Shivrang, which Winston takes literally. Winston takes things to the nth extreme, as he did in last week’s episode.
It’s a little awkward and a lot creepy when he suggests killing people or leaving them in the desert. I know it’s supposed to be funny, but I don’t find the humor in it. The writers need to go in a totally different direction with Winston. This road they’re taking him down isn’t funny at all. As I said from the very beginning, the writers don’t seem to know what to do with Winston.
Cece stops by the apartment with Shivrang’s aunt who has come all the way from India to help with preparations for the wedding and is highly embarrassed when her girlfriends (including her Russian roommate Nadia, whom I find hysterical) greet her with a life-sized cutout of a male model with six pack abs with Shivrang’s face on it and a huge target on his privates.
They want Cece to play “Pin the (expletive) on Shivrang.” Not only is Cece embarrassed because Shivrang’s aunt is there, but she admits she’s never seen Shivrang’s privates which causes an undue amount of anxiety. What does she really know about this man she’s about to marry? Maybe things are going too fast, etc.
To help resolve the problem, Jess calls Nick. She wants Nick to take a pic of Shivrang’s junk, and she needs a point of reference for size, so she asks him to put a nickel or a golf pencil next to it (like you see in eBay ads). He claims “Dead Dad Pass” as an excuse, but ultimately does it when she promises him he can come home once the deed is done.
Nick tries to make it a game and takes a pic of his own privates, but when Shivrang doesn’t want to come out and play, Winston crops the existing picture and sends it to Jess claiming it’s Shivrang’s. Nick sure wishes he had used SnapChat in this instance. Shivrang leaves to console Cece, but did anyone notice he didn’t wash his hands?!
The party is going badly because Cece wants it to be G-rated because of the presence of Shivrang’s aunt. Jess and Cece get into a fight because Jess feels Cece is pretending to be someone she’s not so as to impress Shivrang’s family and be the dutiful Indian wife she so desires to be. But let’s face it – Cece, like myself, was raised in the good ol’ US of A, and those American cultural nuances have been indelibly engraved into us. Their fight is interrupted by Alfredo, an awkward male stripper dressed as an ice cream truck driver. “Who wants two scoops of Alfredo?” Are ice cream truck drivers supposed to be sexy? He must be a friend who did it on the cheap because Schmidt knew who he was also.
All the ladies look at the pic and seem to be thoroughly impressed. Shivrang’s aunt demands to see what’s on the phone and then realizes what Cece is freaking out about and she can relate. They all bond over male genitalia. Awww…
They ultimately find out the pic is of Nick and not Shivrang, and Jess looks like she has a big grin on her face.
Cece admits to Shivrang her fears that they don’t know each other well enough and they’re moving too fast. Shivrang actually adds fuel to the fire when he tells her she’s been saying his name wrong this entire time, but then he quenches her doubts when he tells her he’ll do anything to make her happy. Even Schmidt, who’s been watching the entire time, can’t get in the way of that.
Jess is asked to be Cece’s maid of honor as Cece explains that it’s not traditional in Indian weddings to have a maid of honor. With that, all is right in the world.
The episode should have been titled “Dead Dad Pass” or “Schmidt’s Journey to Self Discovery.” Even though it was small side story, Schmidt actually learns a lot about himself as he tracks down his old girlfriends.
The end credit bit was hysterical as Elizabeth makes Schmidt eat the pizza he brought her, and he giggles like a schoolgirl as he greets his old friend, a slice of thin crust pepperoni pizza. “Welcome home, Melted Cheese!” as he reverts back to Fat Schmidt that everyone adores. “It’s like waking up from a bad salad dream.”
I feel like this ep should have aired before last week’s “First Date” episode. It seemed disjointed from last week’s show. Did you notice that Winston and Nick were playing video games when Jess told them about her bachelorette party plans? Where was the TV? I know it’s way off to the side, but they weren’t even looking at the TV.
What did you think of this episode? Smiley faces to all who post a comment!
Rebecca Reid, who plays Cece’s roommate Nadia, is actually a model in real life, but also does standup comedy. Check out her routine:
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