BWW Preview: NEW GIRL, Don't Trust the Schmidt in Apartment 4D

1, 2, 3, 4, JFK, FDR! That's right, True American fans, NEW GIRL is back soon. And before we get ready to see what is in store for us from Apartment 4D, let's revisit where we left off in Season Three. (I did not intend for that to rhyme.)

After the big scene at Cece's wedding in Season Two, Nick and Jess decided to be together, Schmidt decides not to choose between Cece and Elizabeth and dating them proves to be an unmitigated disaster. As Schmidt blames Nick and Jess for his own breakup (s) his attempts to sabotage their newfound happiness fail and he falls further into a downward spiral. They sometimes pose as Schmidt's childhood hero, Michael Keaton, and email him to make him feel better about life. When Schmidt discovers this decades long deception, he decides to move out of Apt. 4D to the faraway land of Apt. 4C. The timing is perfect, because guess who's back? Coach! Fresh from his own breakup, Coach moves back in with the gang.

In the sweetest moment of the season, Nick tries to give Jess the birthday of her dreams, which fails at first, but then winds up being her favorite birthday of all time. This also introduced us to the brilliant comedic pairing of Winston and Coach who turn into the Three Stooges trying to hide Jess' birthday decorations from her.

In the coveted post-Super Bowl timeslot, the gang gets to go to a party at Prince's mansion when Nick's ill-timed "I Love You" and Jess's awkward "finger-guns" response poises Prince to be the love guru for the couple. Personally, next to Jess and Nick's reaction to first meeting Prince, the most realistic part of this episode is after the party when they all sit on the couch in their apartment and figure out if that really just happened. As Schmidt says "What are we all just supposed to go to work tomorrow?"

As it turns out, Schmidt is not a big fan of living alone and after a botched fling with Jess' crazy sister, Abby (guest star, Linda Cardellini), he realizes he is still in love with Cece. Cece and Coach try dating but quickly decide to be just friends. Coach begins working at Jess' school and Jess is promoted to Vice Principal which comes with its own hardships and Winston is finally accepted into the police academy.

Finally, 20 episodes in we get our first glimpse of True American. Insanely hungover, Jess and Nick wind up discussing their relationship truly and decide that they probably shouldn't be together as they both want completely different things. The finale takes the gang on a cruise that Nick and Jess booked as a couple for a romantic getaway. They decide to all go to make sure they can all still handle being friends. There are some awkward moments as Coach is deathly afraid of boats and Schmidt detests nautical puns, but after being stuck in their state room for days, the group finds a way to live with each other.

10 Favorite Lines of Season Three:

• Schmidt - Every couple has a weakness. Kate and Will? I can break them up with one email. Oh look at that, look at the royal baby now, living with slutty Aunt Pippa!

• Nick - If we needed to talk about feelings, they'd be called talkings.

• Coach - Nick's in jeans. Schmidt - Nixon jeans. What the hell are Nixon jeans? They sound really cool.

• Schmidt - Winston's in a wheelchair? What's next? Roberto Benigni coming through the halls making everybody laugh? I'm missing everything!

• Winston - Listen, my heart is a two-man bike. And I want you... in the rear.

• Schmidt - I'm not taking advice from you, you pronounce the 'g' in Lasagna.

• Jess - Graffiti's wrong, kids. I love corn-on-the-cob too, but I'm not gonna paint it all over the walls.

• Nick - I don't like prepping it makes me feel nervous. I feel boxed in. And I'm very quick on my uh... Schmidt - Did you just forget the word "feet?"

• Schmidt - He's right. I remember "Sticks and stones will break your bones, but not if you're a fat kid with calcium deficiency."

• Coach - It really bums me out that I will never know the infinite joy of what it feels like to carry a child inside me.

With the addition of Coach, it definitely added another layer to the group dynamic and I do think they found their groove eventually. It just felt overall, that the characters were all over the place this season. Don't get me wrong, there were some magical moments, Nick's birthday movie surprise, Nick and Jess' reaction to meeting Prince and an over-too-fast dance-off between Nick, Schmidt and Coach. Also, PRINCE! However, we spent a good part of the season enjoying Nick and Jess new relationship so to me, the breakup came out of nowhere and felt extremely out of character for both of them to just agree to it. It seemed very sitcom-ey to break up the main couple so they can bring back the tension of will they/won't they. I also think Winston is way underrated and underused. Everyone had some genuine acting moments this year such as Schmidt's confession, Winston breaking up with Daisy, Coach telling Malia's new boyfriend to take care of her, Cece breaking up with Schmidt and Nick and Jess' realization that their relationship was over (even though plot-wise, I still don't buy it). These are solid performers, I hope they have good material to work with this year.

They've already announced a few guest stars for Season Four including Alan Ritchson and Julian Morris as possible love interests for Jess as well as It's Always Sunny's Kaitlin Olson and Mrs. Timberlake herself, Jessica Biel. Not to mention Damon Wayans, Jr. being bumped up to a series regular. I love this crew, I really do, I hope this season has a little more direction and the characters continue to be fleshed out as great as they were in Season One and Two.

My hopes for season Four? I'm very much looking forward to Nick and Schmidt bunking up, dorm style. I feel as though that will come with its own set of hilarity. I'm going to root for a Nick/Jess reconciliation and hope it's not a Ross/Rachel thing where we have to wait until the last 10 minutes of the series until it happens. And as much as I'm rooting for Schmidt and Cece, I sure hope we get to see more of Buster the Aussie.We definitely need more Winston and Coach shenanigans; they're comedy gold together. And lastly, for the love of GOD, can someone release the game rules to True American?!?!?!?

New Girl Season Four premieres Tuesday, September 16 at 9/8 central on FOX. I will be recapping NEW GIRL all year, so follow along with BWW TV all season!

Photo Credit: Ray Mickshaw | FOX

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