In the first Christmas episode for "New Girl" (Tue., 9PM ET on Fox), the gang found themselves at Schmidt's company holiday party, where he reluctantly has to dress as "sexy" Santa every year. It's a humiliating experience for him, and an interesting gender reversal as he is the only man in his office.
While Schmidt was learning to assert himself and find some self-respect, his terrible homemade perfume was helping Cece realize that maybe she was with the wrong guy. And thanks to Nick, she wasn't the only one who realized their relationship wasn't going to work. In an attempt to console Paul, Nick accidentally revealed that Jess didn't love him.
Paul had dropped the l-bomb on Jess the night before, receiving an awkward "thank you" in return. But he's such a nice guy, and the sex is so great, that Jess wasn't ready to end it because he reached that emotional point before she did. Unfortunately, he wasn't willing to slow down.
In an interesting turn of events, Winston proved himself adept at connecting with troubled kids, and may have landed himself a potential new job working for guest star Michaela Watkins, based on hints Lamorne Morris gave in an interview recently. Of all the characters, latecomer Winston is the one who still needs the most direction and finding him a job could go a long way to better defining him. That same interview teased that Nick will be getting a new girlfriend, in the form of Lizzy Caplan, which is the one thing his character needed to give him some definition, and push off any of the "will they/won't they" questions about Nick and Jess.
The cast is clearly growing more comfortable with one another, which they'd have to after essentially seeing one another nude, thanks to the TV nude underwear they've worn for various scenes. That comfort and chemistry is finding its way on-screen, creating a tighter show that's working more as an ensemble than a star vehicle for Zooey Deschanel.
That chemistry helped make it more believable when the guys came together to cheer Jess up after her break-up with Paul by forcing the neighborhood to light their Christmas decorations up at 4:00 AM. In earlier episodes, it sometimes felt like a stretch that the roommates, who barely knew Jess, would drop everything to make her happy, but now that friendship feels real among them.
TV Replay scours the vast television landscape to find the most interesting, amusing, and, on a good day, amazing moments, and delivers them right to your browser.