Nick Moves...To The Desert

New Girl, S01E24

In the finale, Nick seemed set on moving out, despite Jess' attempts to make him stay.  However, when he was driving to Caroline's apartment, he passed it and drove out to the desert and got himself and his friends stranded there after throwing away his keys.  Jess later came with Cece and also seemed to throw away her keys.  They all spent the night there where Jess and Nick were cornered by a coyote, Schmidt broke off things with Cece, and Winston freaked out about the darkness and werewolf attacks.  By the morning, Jess had accepted Nick's choice to move out and stopped pretending that she lost her keys.  Nick finally made it to Caroline's, but he moved back to the loft with the others before the day was through.

I was happy to see Jess fighting for Nick to stay in a pretty aggressive way.  It was great when she was trying to intimidate the guy who would take Nick's place (played by Thomas Lennon), but Winston and Schmidt weren't about to let her get her way.  She tried her best to chip away at the confidence that Nick had that he was doing the right thing until the very last second that he had packed up all his stuff.  I thought she hadn't gotten to him at all until Nick flipped his manic switch on and drove the moving van into the middle of nowhere and tossed away his keys.

The best thing that happened while the gang was stuck out in the desert was easily Winston's freakout.  I had no idea he was so afraid of the dark and vicious animals.  I was laughing so hard when Jess came to rescue them to only "throw" away her keys just like Nick had and Winston lost it:

No!! Come on!! People, just...please listen to me. Stop throwing your damn keys! The werewolves come out at night, man... I don't want nobody to eat me! I got thick thighs, I got a fat ass!

He really was acting like they were going to die out there.  For someone who could walk around with a hideous piercing like it wasn't anything, it's amazing how being trapped out in wilderness with his friends (and enough shelter from Nick's stuff) that he would simply lose it.  I would have probably wanted to hurt both Nick and Jess, but I wouldn't have started talking about werewolves killing them.  Winston is so unexpectedly funny when he loses his cool (especially when I couldn't stand him at first).

Another great moment was when Nick and Jess were confronted by a coyote.   It wasn't just good because the two of them handled meeting a wild animal very badly (they kept shouting and making unnecessary roadrunner noises), but Jess and Nick had an opportunity to speak earnestly with each other about him leaving.  Jess was dead set against it until she listened to Schmidt wanting to let Cece go for her own good.  I really loved when she told him to do what made him happy and that she would be fine without him because she had met him already.  I also just loved how they were looking at each other.  Made me wish that they would have hugged, at least, with all that emotion going on.  Instead, Jess started to act like a coyote herself and scared off the real one.  Really?  Is that what scares coyotes?  Ridiculous.

The last best part was unquestionably when Nick returned home with nothing but his boombox and one of his mix tapes.  Everyone started dancing (pretty badly, but in a funny way) in their own rooms once they heard Nick's music.  Everyone except Winston who banged on the wall for Nick to turn it off.  I was really satisfied with this ending because it seemed to fit.  The balance of the loft was restored and Nick and Jess may not have become a couple yet, but you could still see a future for them.  I just wonder if they can get rid of that new roommate they let move in for a few hours so quickly.  Will we see him again or was he just a random appearance?

I'm also satisfied with Cece and Schmidt splitting up.  They both just need to do a little more growing.  Schmidt needs to be more confident that Cece actually cares for him and no one else and that their relationship is meant to be.  And maybe he can't do that on his own and needs Cece to make a grander gesture before he can stop saying things about not trusting her "taste in men" because she slept with him.  But I don't know why she would try to win him back after he said something like that and read a text on her phone.  They might just be one of those couples destined to break up and make up a million times.  Can't say that I'm eager to watch their journey to a real relationship.

I'm sad to see New Girl end its first season already.  I think they made a really good start and there was enough progress made by the characters that they have seemed to have grown from the first episode.  It would be cruel if FOX didn't pick it up for another season so we could see what else might happen to these crazy people who live together (and Cece).  Most of all, I gotta see if Jess and Nick ever get any closer to admitting how much they love each other.  We've watched their feelings for each other grow practically in every episode while they distracted themselves with other doomed relationships.  Next fall, I'll be ready to see how the gang can make me laugh again and how Nick and Jess will finally find a way to get together.

Stranded On The Treadmill

The Simpsons, S23E18

Homer got obsessed with a Lost-parody show called "Stranded" that he started watching on his treadmill.  Marge, after putting up with his obsession for long enough, ruined the show for him by explaining all the mysteries he had yet to figure out.  She apologized for it later by decorating their room in an deserted island-like fashion.  Bart had to watch over Jimbo's girlfriend and found himself cheating with her behind his bully's back.  He had to pay the price for that with Jimbo, but his girlfriend did take Bart's advice that she could do better than Jimbo.

I guess that Springfield is supposed to be in Oregon, according to the opening credits.  Is anyone still even worrying about that insignificant matter nowadays?  I always thought it was nice that they just denied that Springfield was anywhere by referring to impossible geographical details throughout the show.  It was a long-running joke that I enjoyed.  I don't like too much that they felt it was necessary to point that out (if they were being serious, anyway).  Any fan could easily look up where the creator grew up and figure out the state that inspired Springfield.  I feel like this is another ploy to get viewers (I'm sure that didn't work if it was).

It's funny that Homer was using his treadmill so much, but only to watch streaming videos.  I could totally see me doing that if I could afford a fancy treadmill like that with internet capabilities and a HD screen.  What was even funnier was that he set up a lawn chair on the sides so that he could just sit and watch (is it impossible to watch the screen without the belt moving?).  It's too bad he's creative with his laziness because with a TV on a piece of exercise equipment that might have been the best way to get Homer to exercise for more than a few seconds.

I also liked how they made fun of Lost.  I could identify with Homer's determination to figure out what it was all about and how ridiculously mysterious the show was (and not being too wowed by the final answers).  I wouldn't have gone as far to have a discussion group or a notebook of clues, but I also didn't watch the show until a few years after it had been completed, so I had to fight to remain ignorant of any spoilers others could provide me.  It would have been nice to have the air horn Homer had used on his friends.

I thought Bart's story wasn't much to talk about except the part where he freaked out after seeing Shanna's boobs.  I liked that his first comment was that they looked exactly like Homer's.  That's disgusting in such a humorous way.  Then at dinner, everything kept reminding him of breasts, which was a nice touch.  I thought that would keep him away from the girl permanently, but Bart kept seeing her until Jimbo found out.  Sometimes it's hard to remember that Bart is only 10 years old.  Since he does so many terrible things, I would just assume that not much could shock him.  Then again, Bart has shown several times that he has no idea how sex actually works (except in that one episode).  Still, it's easy to forget, which makes those kind of jokes with Bart work.

The ending, where Bart was finally caught by Jimbo, didn't have the consequences that I would have thought.  Jimbo was seen holding Bart upside down, but it really seemed like he got off pretty lightly.  I didn't think that Lisa or Shanna explained well enough to get Bart off the hook, so I don't know why Bart wasn't more brutally punished for his betrayal.  But then again, I wasn't that interested in the story to begin with, so I didn't really care what happened to Bart by then.

I actually liked Homer's story well enough that I liked the episode overall.  It's nice to see that as technology evolves to make it easier for people to exercise, Homer evolves his laziness just as well.  And I'm sure there are many people who might even pretend to go to the gym to work out, but spend more time watching movies on the machines more than anything else.  Mostly, I liked that they made fun of Lost in a way that I'm sure many fans of that show could relate to.  I'm always up for a good parody.