New Girl has faced some criticism for the portrayal of Jess (Zooey Deschanel) as the "adorkable" one and this issues is tackled tonight as Julia (guest star Lizzy Caplan) highlights what could be considered as 'the Jess problem'; is she for real?
As Julia is a lawyer and Jess needs help getting out of a traffic violation Julia seems like the perfect person to help. However when she hears why Jess committed the violation she inadvertently insults Jess by saying she has a 'whole thing' with her "big beautiful eyes like a scared baby." Jess is unaware that her whole persona seems like a 'whole thing' and as you can see from the sneak peeks below Cece (Hannah Simone) is ready to defend her best friend. There is obviously a big difference between how Jess and Julia conduct themselves and with Julia now sleeping over at the loft this could get even more awkward and tense.
Awkward is how you might describe the whole bathroom set-up in the loft which brings another Schmidt (Max Greenfield) and Nick (Jake Johnson) argument, as Schmidt is fed up with Nick using his stuff. This whole bathroom incident could be another reason why Julia might not want to label her relationship with Nick, but it also highlights that Winston (Lamorne Morris) is also lacking in the female department. The gang convince Winston to reconnect with an old college flame but he really fails to woo Shelby (Kali Hawk) and you can see why from the sneak peek below. Will Shelby give him a second chance?
Gender politics seem to be a key theme for tonight's episode and I look forward to seeing how they tackle the conflict between Jess and Julia (who will be sticking around for a couple more episodes) as this really represents the conflict that some viewers have with Jess. Do you love Jess and her polka dots or do you find her shtick to be an annoyance? If you lean towards the latter does this put you off New Girl? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
Watch a teaser and 5 sneak peeks for "Jess & Julia" below.
I really like this show and Jess's "adorkable"-ness. I like that the show is dealing with the criticism that Zooey (Jess) may be too cute and annoying by contrasting her with Julia who calls her on it. I think she needs to be called on it because she does have a "thing" and Jess works it to her advantage. I would hope however that when she is teaching she leaves the "adorkable" at home and is more sensible.