If you're not familiar with New Girl, then why are you reading this article? Go stream it on Netflix! If you read the title and thought, "Nick and Jess break up?!" then I'm sorry for spoiling it for you. It wasn't long ago that I started watching New Girl, and I have since finished the first three seasons. I always thought Jess and Nick were endgames. Maybe they still are. I knew from the very first episode that they were meant to be together. They didn't realize that themselves until the latter part of season two.
Sure, Jess and Nick's relationship isn't perfect, but whose is? Most of their disagreements were centered on them not being sure how to define their relationship. Both of them try really hard to make it work, and they love each other. As far as I'm concerned, nothing else matters.
In season three episode 20, the gang is playing True American. It's basically a drinking game that draws on elements of American history. There's no way to finish the game sober. They're all so drunk they fall asleep on top of each other. Nick and Jess go back to sleep in their own bed and wake up with a killer hangover. Jess gets a call from her friend who is having a birthday party for her 1-year-old son. Jess had bought a toy and asked Nick to put it together before the party, but he still hadn't done it.
Jess starts telling Nick what she thinks their future will be like, which freaks Nick out because he hadn't given it much thought. He finally opens up and reveals he wants to be a long-haul trucker with a family living on Mars Landing, the American capital of Mars. The more they talk about the future, the more they realize they have different views. Nick doesn't want to plan every detail of their future, but Jess does. Jess thinks they never agree on anything, which isn't true. She just needed to say it to set up the breakup. Nick says they want different things, which is somewhat true. But he admits he's not a planner, so who's to say he won't come to want the same things as Jess as their relationship develops?
After their argument, they get to work on the toy. Since they're hungover, they mess it up big time. They break parts and add their own parts. Then they fight about how Nick had to keep using tape because Jess kept breaking pieces. To make things worse, Nick decides to use fire. Don't use fire when you're hungover! It's dangerous enough sober! He accidentally sets a blanket on fire, and they stand there arguing while the fire grows. The building is evacuated while the fire is extinguished. Later on, somewhat sobered up by the fire, Nick and Jess say that their relationship is hard and they miss being just friends. They don't feel like they can be themselves when they're together unless they're just friends.
Their conversation:
"Are we..."
"No! I love you!"
"Well, I love you, too! But what if that's the only thing we have in common?"
My response:
Then it's enough!! What happened to love is all you need? Perfect love casts out fear? Love covers over a multitude of sins, right?
After realizing they ONLY love each other, they decide to break up.
I thought their relationship was going just fine. I thought they were on the same page and had plenty in common. Then this episode came along and threw all that out the window. My biggest problem with their breakup is that it's not realistic. It's contrived. They didn't need to break up, but they chose to anyway. It just doesn't make sense. The fact that they made such a big decision while hungover infuriates me. Can you set aside your differences until you're sober, and then have a mature conversation about it? If they had waited, they probably could've worked it out.
It's like the writers were hungover when they decided to have Nick and Jess break up. If for some reason unbeknownst to me, the writers thought they had to break up, they at least could have executed it better. Maybe it could have happened gradually over a couple of episodes. Or maybe they could have had a big blow-out fight (while sober). Either way, I don't think this was the best approach.
Full disclosure, I've never been in a relationship and I've never been hungover. I guess that means you can take my words with a grain of salt. Just because I haven't experienced these things doesn't mean I don't understand them. I feel like I understand enough to know that relationships and hangovers don't mix well.
