We all know a person like Schmidt: absurd, entertaining, and endearing…but not cool. So it’s not surprising that in “New Girl’s” latest episode, a pack of youngsters move in next door to the loft and take an instant disliking to our favorite over-the-top douchebag, sending him into a panic.
The new neighbors are in their early twenties, which apparently puts them in an entirely different generation than Jess and Schmidt. (how old are they supposed to be?!) They laugh hysterically when Jess does her Urkel impression, totally unaware that she’s imitating a character from 90’s sitcom, Family Matters. The “cool kids,” who are actually a surprisingly accurate blend of hipster-chill and judgmental-rude, make Jess feel valued—something she needs especially now that she’s been laid off from her teaching job and is spending her days working at a fast-food casserole joint and lazing around the apartment.
Schmidt, on the other hand, feels excluded by the group and tries everything, including a messy parkour demonstration and an especially embarrassing t-shirt, to make them think he’s cool, but all in vain. The tables have turned as the hipsters don’t see Schmidt’s success in the corporate world as being any reason to respect him.
Meanwhile, Nick attempts to teach Winston the fine art of the prank by systematically adjusting various aspects of Schmidt’s life to convince him that he really is turning into an old man. This, of course, only exacerbates his desperation to be accepted by the new kids next door.
But finally, Jess realizes she doesn’t belong with these kids either and sees she’s only hanging out with them to feel better about herself and her current down-on-her-luck situation. She shows them a video of the real Urkel, breaking the charade and revealing that really she has more in common with Schmidt than with them. After this whole debacle, Schmidt and Jess confront each other about their respective insecurities—he’s trying too hard, she’s not trying hard enough.
Even at this point, Schmidt’s character remains relatively unaffected, whereas Jess decides to make a change and get her life and career back on track. At the end of the episode, the neighbors reappear to tell Jess they like her even though she’s “old,” and Schmidt learns they hate him because he’s an “asshead,” not because he’s old. Naturally, Schmidt is overjoyed at this news, as he’d much rather they dislike him for his personality (which he can alter, or so he says) than for his age (unalterable).
To be honest, I was a little annoyed that after all that, Schmidt really doesn’t change at all. Its somewhat ironic that he doesn’t do much growing up in an episode that focuses on age and the disparities it creates. His mindset remains exactly the same as it was at the start of the episode–and really since the start of the series: to get people to like him by any means necessary. But then, that’s Schmidt!
As an audience we’ve just gotta know not to take him too seriously; he’s a caricature, there to be amused with (or by) rather than related to. Luckily, Jess does gain some self-discovery and gets back to where she belongs, while Nick embraces his childish side and Winston makes a bold move and gets himself a promotion at work.
So in summary, Jess and Winston grow up a little bit, Nick acts like a kid, and Schmidt stays pretty much the same. All in all, it’s an episode filled with funny one liners (“They’re polyamorous?!? Dammit!”) but not much plot, which isn’t necessarily too important in a show like New Girl. Gotta love it!