Nick, The Old Man, And The Pool

New Girl, S02E07

Schmidt turned off the gas in order to motivate Jess to get a job, but she bombed an interview due to what she thought was just PMS.  Nick started to find inner peace when he met a stranger in the park who took him to a relaxation pool.  Schmidt was offered to have kinky sex with a coworker and also consulted with Cece about whether she was a nice girl.  Winston felt like he was having sympathy PMS from Jess.

I didn't agree with Schmidt's methods of motivating Jess, but I guess it's not out of his character to be a jerk (in fact, we expect it out of him).  However, I was more inclined to agree with Schmidt that she needed to get a job when she was playing the period card as excuse why she couldn't get hired.  I don't believe women should so easily use things like PMS to excuse why they're acting amiss.  It's a difficult card to play and should only be used when extremely appropriate and Jess was basically trying to hide her depression and lowered self-value (and lashing out at her roommates unjustly).  I'm glad that Nick opened her eyes to this fact and after her pretty funny failure of an interview (where she was sobbing over a cat in a cup that had died), he encouraged her to try again.  The "new" Nick was really the one to credit in her being employed again.

The best thing about this episode was no question Nick meeting an old man in the park and having this sort of deep conversation with him while the man said nothing.  Simply writing down what Nick said doesn't even begin to do justice to how hilarious this scene was, so I included a clip:

It was almost like he had an imaginary friend he was talking with because the old man didn't say a word to him until much, much later (and then nothing after that again).  Nick really brought his A game to this story when the rest weren't really doing anything for me comedy-wise.  I also loved when Nick and his new best friend went to the pool and he gave him this really awkward massage in the water or something.  That was really good.  I'm not sure why Nick thought that after only one experience in the pool he was capable of performing that technique on Jess (which was even more awkward), but I loved it because it was a disaster.  Nick got another chance to perform the massage on Winston and it was no more successful or less clumsy.  I'm glad they ended the episode with them all at the pool again because it was the heart of the episode for me.

It was a little weird that Winston thought he was having PMS too, but I wish it hadn't been because he missed Shelby.  I guess technically he should be distraught, but from my perspective I couldn't imagine thinking about her crazy ass again.  Like, the relationship needed to be gone.  But I guess being single just doesn't sit well with Winston, regardless of how appropriate his breakup was.

The only thing I can say about Schmidt's story was how proud I was that Cece didn't just slip back into the twisted world of Schmidt again.  They will always have this connection, but I just think she could do better than him.  Also, I just don't want to hear them being nasty again because it's just a little too much to stomach.  However, it does let me know that Cece probably isn't going to be with Robby much longer if she can kiss Schmidt again for even a second.  She's gonna be tempted because whether she thinks so or not, she's not a nice girl.

I'm not sure if I'm too excited about Jess' new job.  I hope that she does have some kind of interesting tales from it or meets someone from having it.  Otherwise, it just prevents her from moping around the house from now on.  Nick, as usual, is continuing on his crazy journey to bettering himself that I am loving intensely.  Just when I think he can't be any weirder, he finds a new outlet and I'm rolling.  Can't imagine what else Nick has in store for this show.

Ron Swanson Gets Some...And Some Steak Too

Parks and Recreation, S04E18

Leslie had an awful interview with an obnoxious show host who trashed Pawnee, and Andy celebrated his passing grade from his first college course with steak.  Also, Donna was fascinated with Jerry's super focus with stuffing the envelopes with campaign flyers (but I won''t get into that).  I liked the Leslie story better than previous ones, but it still wasn't as good as the one that involved Andy.  You can't top a story that has Ron Swanson at the heart of it.

This week, Ron was doing one of the things he does best--eat meat.  Not only does he eat like 3 steaks, but Andy's professor is charmed by him, despite that Chris joins their little celebration and seems to be having a connection with the woman.  There were quite a few good lines at the table.  One was when April spots Chris at the restaurant by himself:

[April] Is that Chris?
[Andy] It really looks like him.  But there's no way to know for sure.  We should ask him tomorrow.

Another was when Ron probably had the conversation that made the professor fall for him:

My life has been shaped by powerful women.  My father once told my mother that woman was made from the rib of Adam, and my mom broke his jaw.

 I felt bad for Chris when the professor shot him down for a few seconds before she went after Ron.  There was no time to think about his feelings when Ron so casually and easily accepted her invitation to hookup.  However, after Ron comes in the next day so happy that he is making jokes like "Donuts.  Go nuts," and Chris says that he is going to try to win over the professor, my heart went out to Chris again.  It was cute and unexpected that Andy convinced Ron to be upfront with Chris with the same words Ron had lectured Andy with earlier.  The disappointment that Chris expressed was overshadowed by the hilarious hug Ron had to endure for being honest.

The only thing I really wanted to mention about the Leslie story was how it was nice that Ann and Tom were getting along.  Even though they seemed to be breaking up more than they were staying together, it was cute that Tom was keeping track of the time they were officially a couple.  Tom ruined it at the end with the 48-hour anniversary gift of 48 condoms.  Damnit, Tom.

It's also sweet that people of Pawnee love Leslie so much.  Or either they hate Buddy Wood enough to purposely throw his bag away.  Either way, things worked out nicely for her.  Maybe she won't win the race, but she surely can't say that her relationship with Pawnee is a one-way street.

I wonder if Professor Linda was a one-time character or if she will stay on to be Ron's girlfriend for a while.  Hopefully that won't be painfully for Chris to see, and he'll find someone else.  He's too convincing as a lonely person, so it is kind of breaking my heart to see him like that.  It's funny, for sure, but it also so sad.  I'd also like to see a good Ben and Leslie story next time like the bowling one.  As much as Ron cracks me up, I'm starting to miss my dose of Leslie-brand laughter too.