Quick Thoughts: NEW GIRL, "Secrets"

Structurally speaking, "Secrets" was not one of New Girl's best episodes. In fact, it was all over the place, but it was also so packed with laughs and sentimentality that it was one of my favorites of the season.

On paper, Cece and Schmidt should not work which was why the way the rest of the group reacted seemed justified, but I've really been enjoying these two together and now that the secret's out I'm sure we're in store for some good stuff from Hannah Simone and Max Greenfield. What was so impressive about this episode was the fact that it was about their affair without really being about them. Instead of focusing on why these two should not add up, "Secrets" examined how all five of these people view and value one another. If anything, it was an examination of the bonds between Jess and Cece and between the boys, and that's why this episode was special.

Between the two groupings, I'd have to say that watching the boys interact with each other was more entertaining than Jess and Cece's fight, but I think that's because I'm a dude and the jokes were right up my alley. There was just something magical about seeing Nick and Schmidt in bed together, pretending that it's the morning after a one-night stand while Winston watched like it was just another wacky adventure in the loft. Plus, the fact that all three guys admitted to Jess that they've thought about her while reaching "self-completion" was just an added bonus.

Jess and Cece on the other hand felt a little too run-of-the-mill for my liking. Of course, Jess was going to be the judgmental type because she's supposed to be the pure and innocent one while Cece lived the debaucherous life of a model. Pretty standard stuff, but still relatively entertaining. The only thing that I wasn't 100% clear on was whether or not the episode addressed why they're friends because they're even more mismatched than Cece and Schmidt. It may just be a simple case of them complementing one another, but the resolution came fairly quickly.

Back to the structure, while I did find myself laughing a lot, there was way too much going on which made the episode cluttered. Not only did we have to deal with Jess and Cece's fight and the boys ragging on Schmidt, but we also had Nick's sub-plot about banging co-eds and not being able to lie to them, all of the lies, and Winston still trying to find his place amongst the madness. Admittedly, the boys were my favorite part of the episode, but their story could have been held over for a completely different episode and probably would've been just as strong. I suppose in the long run, it made sense to shoe-horn it in during this one though since it was all about lying, but it would've been nice to let them carry an episode on their own.

At the end of the day, I can forgive "Secrets" for its messiness because it was full of jokes that landed, decent explorations of the dynamics of the group, and heart (the scenes where Jess realized that Cece liked Schmidt, when he called them "our girls" and how the boys waited for the girls at the end of the run) So, yes it wasn't a perfect example of comedic television, but "Secrets" was a heck of a lot of fun to watch.