Nick, The Boyfriend With No Rewards

New Girl, S02E02

Jess needed help maintaining her sex-only relationship with Sam, so Schmidt suggest the guys take her out to give her some pointers, but Schmidt ditches the dinner with Winston so they can go to a club where Kanye West supposedly was at.  Nick and Jess got closer after the dinner, and Jess started to emotionally lean on Nick so that she could be motivated to have sex with Sam.

What I loved about this episode was that it pointed out again the sexual chemistry that exists between Nick and Jess, and it sort of showed what it might be like if they were dating (at least at the emotional level).  What started off as an awkward and drunk dinner to themselves, transformed them into a new level of friendship where Nick had no problems going off with Jess all day to Ikea.  I never expected that to happen.  I mean, they clearly have chemistry, but usually it fizzles right after they pretty much catch themselves crossing that line from friendship into something else.  So it was pretty exciting to see Jess and Nick sort of being a couple, even though she was just using Nick as her emotional boyfriend.  It was weird, for sure, that she had to do boyfriend things with Nick before she could get in the mood to have sex with Sam, but I didn't mind because it was so funny to see Nick going along with Jess' wishes as if he were already a whipped man, yet not getting the "rewards."  I was pretty annoyed when Winston spoiled it by telling Nick that he was basically her "emotional fluffer" and to stop doing anything beyond what he considered a friend would do.

But luckily, Nick hated being told what to do and was fine doing things like building her furniture for her.  What was even better than that was Nick admitted that he is sometimes attracted to Jess!  We all knew it, but I liked hearing him say it.  I really think this has moved their relationship significantly forward.  But one thing that was bizarre was that Nick was dancing to the "sexy mix" he had given Jess to get her in the mood for Sam (instead of relying on him).  I mean, he should know what she was doing to that music, yet that's a cause to dance?  He's so weird!  But I love it.

I don't have much to say about Schmidt's story.  It was pretty stupid.  But Winston's story about being sexually frustrated with Shelby was a little interesting.  Not the part where he was being kinda gross and fantasizing about every woman that he came in contact with (even Jess and Cece), but when Shelby claimed they had a "big fight," and Winston commented that they barely even talked.  What is going on there?  I didn't know Shelby was so crazy.  Or either she's just bored with him or something.  I doubt that Winston could do better, but he needs to take some action before he's stuck with a girl who's gotten a little too comfortable with him.  I mean, they're watching more TV together than doing anything intimate.

Most of the best lines, I think, came from when Jess and Nick were at the restaurant, but the one that stands out the most is one of Nick's (him calling her a "loft troll came as a close second):

This place is fancy and I don’t know which fork to stab myself with.

I really hope that there will be more opportunities for Nick and Jess to have dinner together because they are a disaster, but such a fun disaster.  Schmidt needs to return to being funny because lately he's been kind of off (possibly a side effect of not being with Cece).  Winston possibly needs to stop dating Shelby before one of those fantasies in his head becomes a reality (which may not be the worst thing if he's never gonna get some from his own girlfriend).   I, of course, just want to see what Nick and Jess will do next to torture us while we watch them like each other but resist taking it to that next level.

Grown Men's Gaming Marathon

Big Bang Theory, S05E19

For a quick minute, it looked like Sheldon was going to act like a normal boyfriend (if you can ignore that Amy had to uphold their contract agreement to request his presence) and accompany his girlfriend to a family event.  But a leopard can't change its spots.  Not if a marathon of Star Wars games is involved.  You had to feel bad for Amy, regardless if Amy knew what kind of guy she was dating.

Unexpectedly, the whip app gag was my favorite thing in this episode.  It sort of got better the more they did it, especially when Sheldon got to use it back on Howard due to Bernadette fifth-wheeling on their boys-only gaming sleepover. 

Speaking of her participation, she was kinda of cute the way she kept "girling" up their playtime.  I liked how she kept made guns with her hands, complete with shooting sound effects.  I don't like pink, but her pink laptop, too, was so Bernadette, and it was a good contrast to the nerd gang and their hardcore geek machines.

The last thing that made me chuckle was when Sheldon and Leonard discussed Grand Theft Auto and how polite they were to the prostitutes.  Sheldon had no idea that these women were selling their bodies for money:

Those women were prostitutes?  You said they were raising money for stem cell research.

Raj's meltdown wasn't that funny, but it did make me think about how pathetic he is if Sheldon can have a girlfriend of some sorts, but no one still wants Raj.  It made me realize that perhaps Raj is better about his shyness to women because his blowout happened while three women were still in the room, and he told Bernadette to hurry up and go (which she did, leaving her computer behind).

This certainly isn't in the top of my favorite stories, but it was good enough that I would want to see it again when it's up for a rerun.  Hopefully, now that Raj has shouted his frustrations about being the only single nerd left, the Big Bang Theory universe will throw him a bone and at least give him a successful encounter with a woman.  He doesn't have to get a girlfriend by the next episode, but it would be nice for him to get a little attention.  After all, what has Raj done that is so bad that even Sheldon is a bigger "playa" than him?