New Girl – Series Finale – “Curse of the Pirate Bride”
Naturally, we knew that everything is going to go to hell in ‘Curse of the Pirate Bride.’ It is the show’s second to last episode, and it’s a wedding episode. Once the focus was put on the pre-wedding bad luck superstitions I saw exactly where this was going.
Things are bad from the jump. Jess (Zooey Deschanel) slips in the bathroom and scratches her cornea on Mario’s dog toy. So she ends up wearing a pirate patch through the rest of the episode with her wedding dress. (The googley eye on the patch won the episode.)
Can we talk about Jess’ actual eye? [Editor’s Note: Please don’t].
The bad luck continues as a bird poops on Nick (Jake Johnson), and he essentially gets himself fired after some bad advice from Schmidt (Max Greenfield) and Winston (Lamorne Morris). He is now fully embracing the bad luck in a way only Nick Miller can.
Russell (Dermot Mulroney) checks in to tell Jess he loves her, which was very predictable. He gives her some blast from the past valet tickets where Nick and Jess essentially both wrote “I don’t know” in regards to their relationship. (Which in a weird makes them right for each other?)
After a kinda-sorta fight involving Russell, Nick, Winston, and Schmidt breaks out, (which was both awkward and hilarious) we find out the baby is coming. Russell comes through and drives everyone to the hospital. This leads to two of the best lines of the episode, both coming from Ally (Nasim Pedrad). Ally goes into labor but not before she asks Winston, ‘What if it comes out in all of the gum I ever swallowed?’ Another winner was, “Babe, why is your crystal out? Were you fighting?”
Amidst the chaos, Nick and Jess embrace the weirdness of their day and decide to get married in the hospital. It was nice to see them finally tie the knot. By the way, great to see Jamie-Lee Curtis and Rob Reiner back with the cast.
Side note: Ruth was absolutely hilarious and adorable (as always). She can do no wrong.
This season has already covered so much ground. We have new kids from Schmidt and Cece and now Winston and Ally. Nick and Jess are finally married. I’m not sure what the big coupe de grace is going to be for the last episode, but I do anticipate Jess and Nick leaving the loft in some capacity. But hey, at least we don’t have to wait another week (and neither do you since my review for the finale is below).
Rating: 7.5 out of 10
New Girl – Series Finale – “Engram Pattersky”
Winston saved what may have been a very predictable ending for New Girl.
I knew two things going into the episode. The gang was going to be moving out of the loft at the series end, and they would be playing one last game of True American.
The flash forward with all of the families and kids was cute. Not Ruth level cute, but cute nonetheless. As I’ve been saying since the start of this final season, flash forwards are cool but are all too common these days. As a matter of fact, the last three or four series finales I’ve watched had major flash-forwards.
In the case of New Girl, I guess this gave viewers a sense of happily ever after, if only for a few seconds. I get it. This season has been absolutely crushing it, but when we go flash forward within a flash forward, it immediately becomes one of my least favorite story telling devices.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=intaEjFhSIk
As for the Nick and Schmidt foot cream subplot, I was sadly underwhelmed. Their bro-mance is usually just always so amazing. Young Nick and chubby Schmidt is always great though.
Jess was over the top this episode, but I guess that’s her thing. Like I said, sometimes she is too Jess for me. I laughed when she said, “Who’s that Girl? It’s your favorite bitch JESS!!” Then she did her awkward song and dance thing stating, “Hold onto your privates, because I’m on emotional fire!” I died a little inside after that one. I think the initial line itself would’ve been perfect.
Now the show did right by itself by focusing on just the core cast members and lots of objects/easter eggs from past episodes. The spotlight on the Winston and Cece relationship and “mess-arounds” was nice. The quick flashbacks were fun, but they are usually pure gold. Although I knew it was coming, the loft gang playing True American was very appropriate.
So as my expectations were super high after an overall fantastic season, things are for the most part unfolded very predictably. I was somewhat underwhelmed until out of nowhere the moving truck door closes to reveal a giant sticker of Winston saying, “Gotcha!”
This is where the true brilliance of the episode shined. Winston busts out his classic over the top pranks again. Had I payed a bit more attention to the emphasis they put on the “Engram Pattersky” Management Group (My Greatest Prank) name, maybe I would have caught it. Yet, I never saw it coming. They got me good here, and I was pleasantly surprised. Winston explaining that Jess and Nick didn’t really have to move (with them moving out anyway) was fantastic.
The shot of the gang standing on one box in the empty loft was solid. It was a nice moment to say goodbye. After the monumental Winston prank reveal, we are left with the gang having a past conversation about the extremity or lack there of in regards to Winston’s prank. (Similar to the Seinfeld series finale)
Although the finale was definitely a mix of finale cliches, it served it’s purpose. I wasn’t in love with this finale, but I do have to say this final season was very good. New Girl has been a phenomenal comedy for several years with a stellar cast. As the gang literally rode off into the sunset, I knew I was going to miss the relationships, the one-liners, and most of all, the bro-mance.
Rating: 8 out of 10
-Rob Crowther IV
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HeVy0U05LDk
