Featured TV on DVD Review: New Girl: Season Two

October 17, 2013

New Girl: Season Two - Buy from Amazon: Buy from Amazon

New Girl debuted in 2011 and even before it first aired, it had a lot of buzz. In fact, it was one of eight shows the Critics' Choice Television Award declared as Most Exciting New Series. Of those eight, six have since been canceled. Part of the reason there was so much buzz was that it was the first time Zooey Deschanel starred in a TV series. Does the show have more to than that?

The Show

Zooey Deschanel stars as Jessica Day, a school teacher. At the beginning of the show, she finds out her live-in boyfriend is cheating her, so she moves out. She then finds a place to live with three guys. There's Nick Miller, who works as a bartender and generally doesn't have a lot of ambition. He's attempting to write a zombie romance novel, but it is more an exercise in writer's block. Schmidt is much more successful than Nick is, but with that success has come an overbearing attitude. Winston Bishop is a former basketball player turned assistant researcher at a radio station. At the beginning of season two, he is in a committed relationship, but that doesn't last. The final member of the main cast is Cecilia "Cece" Parekh. CeCe and Jess have been friends since they were kids and now CeCe is a successful model.

At the beginning of the first season in Re-Launch, Jess has been laid off and it takes her a while to adjust to the news. While trying to get over the loss of her job, she goes "off the grid" in Katie, which involves drinking in the bar where Nick works before noon. She also pretends to be someone else to steal someone's internet date, but she does enter into a relationship with the guy, Sam, but there's a special complication there that arises in Fluffer. In Halloween, Nick reunites with a girl he knew in college, Amelia. He had a thing for her back then, but couldn't make a move. In Menzies, Schmidt is sexually harassed by his boss, Emma, but decides to make it consensual. Parents is a Thanksgiving episode where Jess "accidentally" invites her divorced parents, Jamie Les Curtis and Rob Reiner, to the same lunch. Normally they have separate meals with their daughter, but Jess is trying to get them to hook up. At the same time, Schmidt's cousin, Schmidt, comes by and the two continue their rivalry.

Eggs starts off disc two. In it, Cece finds out she has fertility issues and if she wants to have kids, she will need to start now. This panics her so much, she later decides to enter an arranged marriage. Nick meets a stripper, Angie, in Bathtub and they begin a relationship. Nick's father, Dennis Farina, show's up in A Father's Love. Nick's father is a conman and their relationship is rocky. Earlier in the season, Jess becomes a creative writing teacher at an adult education school. In Pepperwood, one of her students, Edgar, writes a very vivid story about a serial killer, but Nick thinks it is real. In Cooler, the guys decide to hit the bar to pick up women, because they are all on losing streaks. Nick meets a woman, Brooklyn Decker, who is into sad guys, while Winston, meets a woman, Brenda Song, who is willing to help him learn to talk to women again. Meanwhile, Jess is stuck at home alone and kind of goes crazy.

We actually get into some spoiler territory here, so we will skip some episodes till... Okay, let's be blunt, the spoiler involves Jess and Nick's relationship, as in, "Will they or won't they?", which isn't a spoiler as much as it is a necessary part of the genre. That said, I'd rather not reveal details. There are some episodes that are easier to discuss. Chicago deals with the death of Nick's father. This role was one of the last for Dennis Farina before his untimely death. Bachelorette Party is about Cece's Bachelorette, but it also features Merritt Wever as Schmidt's college ex-girlfriend. Virgins has the friends telling stories about the first time they had sex. It is a very well-liked episode and there's an extended version on the DVD.

It took a couple of episodes for me to get into New Girl. I thought Re-launch was a weak episode, as was Neighbors. In fact, they were the two weakest episodes of the seasons, and they were also two of the first four. It gets off to a slow start. That said, things pick up from there and by the end, I was hooked. It's a very fun show.

The Extras

There are no extras on the first disc. Disc two has an audio commentary track on Cooler, which is arguably the best episode of the season. Disc three has seven minutes of deleted scenes. Full of Schmidt is a two-minute montage of Schmidt. And finally, there's seven minutes of outtakes. That's not a lot of extras, but enough that the lack of extras isn't considered an issue.

The Verdict

It took five or so episodes before I really got into New Girl, but I'm glad I got a chance to review it. The three-disc DVD for Season Two doesn't have a lot of extras, but enough that it is worth picking up.


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Filed under: Video Review, Dennis Farina, Nate Corddry, Jamie Lee Curtis, Zooey Deschanel, Carla Gugino, Jake Johnson, Rob Reiner, Rob Riggle, Maria Thayer, Merritt Wever, Brooklyn Decker, David Walton, Olivia Munn, Brenda Song, Max Greenfield, Lamorne Morris, Hannah Simone