‘New Girl’ Review: “Last Thanksgiving”

Sara Crocco ’19 / Emertainment Monthly TV Staff Writer
Over the past few years, New Girl has provided many memorable Thanksgiving episodes. Every year, they come back with crazier antics and viewers can’t wait to see what’s in store. Would the events be relatable? No, definitely not, but the emotions behind them were. With this being the last thanksgiving in their beloved loft — as stated at the end of the episode by the characters themselves — feelings are bittersweet for these lovable roommates in this week’s episode.
Although this episode is a continuation of the previous one, it feels like much more than just that. While laced with the hilarity of classic New Girl humor, the message of it is important to mention, because it showcases a great representation of beauty within chaos. Schmidt’s (Max Greenfield) father (Peter Gallagher) was unreliable before dinner, once again, and perpetually heartbroken after the breakup with one of the several different women he was dating simultaneously, something Schmidt did not discover until after he tried to win one of said women back for his father by appearing outside of her home. Reagan (Megan Fox) bailed on the loft dinner hours before it was set to occur, causing Nick (Jake Johnson) to have a personal revelation on how, with women, “Nothing means anything,” in response to her saying she was sent to Omaha last minute for work. And Jess (Zooey Deschanel) had to find a way to carefully ‘drop the hammer’ on Robby (Nelson Franklin) and tell him that she didn’t feel the umph with him.

Through all of that, they all still found a way to put aside their differences and just be with one another. Schmidt had to step up and accept his father’s inconsistencies, Nick had to accept Reagan’s response, and Jess and Robby had to realize they just weren’t meant for one another. At least not in those few minutes after Jess told him that, because Robby standing up for Jess after an altercation with Schmidt’s father actually made her feel that umph in the end.
So, when the bad gets tough and the tough gets extremely weird all of a sudden, just know that if the roommates in the New Girl loft can overcome it all, so can we. Be like Jess and the gang and don’t let anything stop you from having a wonderful time with those you love this Thanksgiving, even if someone turns your table-turkey into a floor-turkey by throwing it into a wall; just tie it back together and pretend it never happened, like they did. Or remember that it did and eat it anyway, because love is stronger than a little dirt.
Overall Episode Grade: A-