Quick Thoughts: NEW GIRL, "First Date"

Usually, a will they/won't they could spell the end of my interest in a show, but New Girl's been handling the Nick and Jess stuff so well that I couldn't help but like most of "First Date."

As I mentioned, I've been digging the direction Elizabeth Meriwether and her writers have taken Jess and Nick up to this point because it doesn't feel worn out just yet, and I was glad to see them finally admit their feelings for one another. I don't know if they can keep spinning their wheels, but I'm engaged and invested and that's all I can ask for.

The Winston/Schmidt stuff didn't land as quite as well because I didn't buy their fear of losing Nick. I get that a set of friends has a nucleus  and I could see how these two wouldn't have much in common while they were in college, but we've seen enough of them on their own to figure they'd be OK if Nick somehow drifted away. Some of the slap-stickiness didn't work either.

Overall, a pretty fun episode that had a few minor bumps along the way, but that's by no means a slam on one of the better comedies on TV right now.