I do think it's nice to get to explore the dynamics between some of the other characters. But it shouldn't take Jess' absence to make that possible. Just quit forcing her into A plots with boring characters (like that British guy) that add nothing to the show. Frees up more time for every character. Guest spots…

I actually thought Schmidt had the best faces today. Nick has gotten a bit cartoonish of late, but he can be fantastic.

That seemed really long. Some of it quite good, some of it not so good, but just longer than 22 minutes.

I think it was just a line. Jess broke her dresser having sex in season 2, season 3 opened with an episode where she and Nick had sex on a beach amongst wild dogs, and there was an episode surrounding then engaging in… uh… stuff going in and out of Nick's derriere.

Just so long as they don't get shitty and decide to kill Jack Bauer just cuz.

There was something about the pacing that made this seem more like a S1 or S2 episode than the bulk of the last 30 episodes of so. Cece seems a little off, but she always stood to suffer the most for officially succumbing to being 'Schmidt's girlfriend'. Imperfect, but I think it bodes well enough for the rest of…

I think Jesse Spano has been cast as Foster's replacement. Not certain on the fabric of her zoomers.

I'm not sure there is an arc. I'm sure there was meant to be, but the filming schedule got rerouted a bit, and I haven't heard anything more about him appearing again.

It was fairly slapped together there at the end. They are about my least favorite tandem to watch in any capacity, but it's better than the constant pining/whining by each party.

There's usually a bit more to it. Like the photo itself might inspire a witty caption to begin with.

I think there is a website called 'LOLcats' or something like that. They misspell words in the interior monologue of cats, I suppose because cats can't read or write. Hooman here meaning human. To be honest, as a cat owner, I don't find this sort of thing matches the tone of what I would expect a cat's voice to be.…

This was filmed at the end of Season 4, which was 90% filler, so it stands to reason.

The bad news? Salty, Gay Bartender Mike was nowhere to be found. He sold Schmidt/Nick his 10% of the bar. I think this means he's gone.

He certainly doesn't view Furguson as his brother, so I'd say it's possible.

There was a lot of Nick looking confused and shouting without the usual payload of laughs we typically got with a Nick/Schmidt story.

Aggressively pleasant, perhaps? You're right, they weren't crazy funny, but they were perfectly cast.

Just didn't seem like their usual vibe.

Setting up Nick to buyout Schmidt is solid. If I remember, Schmidt actually invested 75%. It sets him up as a good friend (and at times that's been shaky), and adds legitimacy to Nick actually wanting to run/own a bar. I think we've known Nick was fine being a bartender, but for a long time it always seemed more…

Also, Jason Mantzoukas in the Javier role would've been fantastic. Too obvious?

Pretty ho-hum, but Fonzie and Elaine were unsurprisingly great. Killam proved his worth once he got cut loose a bit in the second half. The bar stuff in particular was quite… ordinary? Schmidt saved it with some Schmidtiness here and there, but it was just lacking. One episode in and Schmidt and Cece are already…