Critics have fallen out of love with New Girl for a variety of reasons, but the most frequently repeated is character development (or lack thereof). There has been talk of stagnation, and the show leaning too heavily on the characters' quirks. See: Winston's increasingly weird relationship with Ferguson, Schmidt's inability to be with Cece without messing it up, and Nick's status as a forever manchild. These things have started to feel old hat of recent. At the same time, other Fox shows like The Mindy Project, are garnering newfound praise for finally developing (consistent) character quirks in the first place.
And I'm not anti-Mindy. I'm a fan of The Mindy Project, and I think it's in a great place for a show in its second season. But I also think New Girl is getting a bit of an unfair rap.not yet halfway into its third season would be allowed to still be working out a few kinks. Yes, it is wildly unclear what the writers plan to do with Winston, and yes Schmidt and Cece is being overwrought a little bit, and no, no one was calling for Coach to come back, but can they get a break? Can we talk about some of the things that are working?
I think the Nick and Jess relationship is working out better than expected, and has led to some unexpected character growth. In last night's episode, Jess lets slip, "We can have date night when we get marri—" and what does Nick do? Nothing. He says, "Moving on." And that's it. That's two words of crucial character development. This is the Nick Miller that not so long ago we saw panic moonwalking when Jess said "terrorism." Talk about major growth. While the catalyst for Nick's growth is hardly my favorite (my views on Nick and Jess getting married are documented), it is still a positive move.
All that being said, the writers need to take what they've done for Nick and apply it to the other characters as well. I understand that Nick has become an audience favorite, but that doesn't mean ignoring the other characters is the way to go. Winston should come first in my opinion. So yes, they're still figuring some things out and the show isn't perfect, but all this talk about The Mindy Project being better than New Girl seems a little premature. Let's all take a few panic moonwalk steps backward and see how things work out.
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