New Girl: Season 7, Episode 3 “Lillypads” (C)
One of the things that I’ve always been least fond of on this show is how school is portrayed, and Ruth needing to apply for kindergarten led to an unfortunate and woefully over-the-top depiction of the cutthroat process. Schmidt’s old nemesis Benjamin and his precocious son were the worst part of that, and after Jess and Nick battled it out for the right way to train Ruth to perform well in her interview, things got totally out of hand with a full-scale riot that involved Benjamin getting hit with a pair of scissors thrown at him by a child. That devolved quite quickly, and Schmidt having to drink out of the chicken hose at Triangles was a nonsensical and unappealing finish. Much of Winston’s plotlines are disconnected and irreverent, and his inability to testify on the stand like a normal person was far more irritating and random than it was entertaining. Nick’s lack of productivity is hardly surprising, and of course he would spend the energy – and money – on hiring a random person off Craiglist to come punch him in the face if he hadn’t written twenty pages – a fact only he’d be able to corroborate. At least he was able to motivate Winston to act a bit more like a human being, and in the process, write twenty pages that included just a decent title. This show is dropping its remaining five episodes in rapid-fire form, with back-to-back installments beginning with episode five, and I’m sincerely hoping that the quality will be considered improved from this.
