Friday, May 9, 2014

Jenn's Pick: My Top 20 Nick/Jess Moments


When I first started watching New Girl, I immediately fell in love with the idea of Nick and Jess becoming a romantic couple. I never ship couples from the pilot episodes, but I did with these two. I can’t put my finger on it and I suspect that the writers couldn’t quite either, but there was something inherently interesting about the way that Jake Johnson and Zooey Deschanel played off one another in their scenes that made me believe that they had potential.

It’s often hard to find great chemistry between characters on a television series, but this is something that Jake and Zooey have never lacked. They’ve always seemingly had a natural rapport and easiness as Nick and Jess, which made the two characters so appealing. Seemingly, Nick and Jess are polar opposites. When we meet both of them in the pilot, we are introduced to a gruff, curmudgeonly bartender in the character of Nick and a quirky, idealistic young woman in Jess. But as the audience grew to know and understand these characters over the course of a few seasons, we learned that they were more similar than immediately presumed. Both had suffered through the loss of a love, and it shaped the way that they viewed the world around them (for better or worse). Both had goals for themselves; both cared a lot about the people around them and had high expectations for the way that they should be treated in return.

Eventually, Nick and Jess grew from these goofy, weird, unexpected friends to romantic interests and – most recently – exes. The road has been paved with some amazing and delightful moments in both their friendship and romantic relationship and while we anxiously await the return of New Girl next fall, I thought I would ease our hiatus woes with a countdown of my top 20 Nick/Jess moments of all time. (I could have easily added more than 20, but I refrained.) So, if you’re ready, let’s take a look at some of MY favorite moments between these characters. Some are significant and others are so simple that you may have blinked and missed them during an episode. Feel free to add your own or rank your own favorite moments in the comments section.

Grab an Old Fashioned and settle in because we’re about to count down my favorite Nick and Jess moments of all time!

* GIF credit goes to everyone but me, since I'm not talented at things.

20. The stand-off. ("Basketsball")


“Basketsball” was one of the best episodes of season three because it introduced us to the friendship of Coach/Jess (a friendship that was delightful and continued to blossom throughout the remainder of the episodes), but it also provided us with one of the most hilarious moments of Nick and Jess’ relationship: their sex stand-off. I honestly love nothing more than when Nick and Jess are trying to prove something to one another (that’s why “The Landlord” is so funny, too) and end up failing miserably in the process. The stand-off was fantastic because it reminded us that both Nick and Jess are pretty stubborn people but that at the end of the day, they would be willing to put aside just about any difference and compromise in order to be together. They can’t be apart for too long but man, it was funny to watch them try in “Basketsball.”

19. “Look, I’m here for you. There is nothing I know more than the fact that I want to be with you, Jess. Okay?” ("Double Date")


If you didn’t absolutely melt at the way that Nick delivered this line to Jess at the end of “Double Date” while the two were getting ready for bed in the bathroom, then your heart may be made out of stone. I think that what I admired most about season three’s Nick/Jess journey was how grown-up and earnest Nick always was when it came to his relationship with Jess. As he said in “All In,” he didn’t want to lose her. (And that makes “Mars Landing” all the more significant because it exemplifies how mature Nick is being; he never wanted to give up Jess, but he knew that he HAD to. It’s one thing to know what is right and is another to do it, after all.)

But this line ranks among one of my favorite moments in Nick and Jess’ history because of how heart-melting and exceedingly honest and vulnerable Nick Miller is when he says these things to Jess. Ugh, stupid Nick Miller.

18. Cheering Jess up. ("The 23rd"/"Table 34")


I think that any excuse this show can utilize in order to make Jake Johnson dance is perfect, but it’s not just his dancing skills that I admire. I love that in both “The 23rd” and “Table 34,” Nick was desperately trying to cheer Jess up. He missed his flight for her the moment he was able to see exactly how much she needed to be cheered up. He danced around to try to make her crack a smile in “Table 34.” The fact of the matter is this: Nick will never stop being there for Jess. He’ll always be the person who tries to cheer her up and make her smile and give her advice. And what I really think will be interesting is to see how he has to adapt in season four now that they are exes. What happens when someone else dates Jess? Will he still try to be THAT guy for her or will he have to learn to step back?

(I don’t know, quite frankly, but I think the promise of this sort of character development and tension alone excites me.)

17. Anything Can Happen ("Virgins")


The moment that Nick made the decision to go after Jess was the moment he re-heard his father’s words in his head. He recalled that the best things in life were the ones that happened when you didn’t overthink, and that’s what Nick’s problem had been. That is what his stumbling block was in “First Date.” He thought way too much about his relationship with Jess and what it meant that he ended up being so paralyzed that he couldn’t articulate how he really felt about her. And so finally, after Jess walks away and Nick realizes he may not get another chance to be with her, he makes the split, non-thought-out decision to go after her. He even says: “Let’s not think about it.” And you know what? The best thing in life for them both – falling in love with each other – DID happen when they didn’t think.

16. Photo booth/ "Groovy Kind of Love" ("Wedding")


I thought that I saw a spark of chemistry between Nick and Jess in the pilot episode, but it was really during “Wedding” that I became completely aboard the ship and the show (the entire group shot of them doing the chicken dance was when I was sold on the series being something great). It’s during the photo booth scene though that I truly saw not just how much chemistry these two characters had, but how much they NEEDED each other. It was Winston’s affirmation about the entire loft being glad that Jess was in their lives that spurred Jess to confront Nick about his behavior. She sobered him up with her advice, and I think that Nick genuinely needed her in that moment. He needed someone to speak truth to him, to remind him that he needs to let Caroline go, and to be there for him even at his lowest moments.

The minutes that followed were – as I noted above – some of my favorite of the series, as Nick invited Jess onto the dance floor to seemingly slow dance with her (until he started doing the chicken dance). The best part of this moment, of course, is the fact that – hours earlier – Nick was appalled at the idea of doing the chicken dance at the wedding, insisting that Jess act “normal” in order to make Caroline jealous. But by the end of “Wedding,” I think that Nick started to really embrace Jess as someone he needed in his life and – perhaps – even someone that he wanted there.

15. Nick's breakfasts, part 1 and 2 ("Winston's Birthday")


Was there anything more adorable in season two than seeing Nick try to make Jess breakfast (twice)? “Winston’s Birthday,” of course, takes place the morning after Nick and Jess slept together in “Virgins.” As the two wake up together, Nick instructs Jess to wait in bed because he has a surprise for her. He then proceeds to cook her breakfast and this moment – as well as his attempt later in the episode – makes my cut because it exemplifies how MUCH Nick cares about the little things when it comes to Jess. He wanted everything to be just right for her and for them, and when their first breakfast is ruined by the arrival of Bob Day and a conversation with her father later on discourages him, it seems that Nick would be best just to give up entirely.

But he doesn’t. As Jess tries to fall asleep in her own room that night, she receives a text from Nick, beckoning her to the roof where he has made her a second breakfast (complete with the flowers that he thought were too much that morning) and explains that he had plans to give it to her earlier. This moment, combined with the absolutely BRILLIANT incorporation of “Until We Get There” by Lucius made me tear up. The gentle earnestness with which Nick has always pursued Jess tugs at my heart because it reminds me that this character – this guy who has messed up so many times before – doesn’t want to mess anything up with Jess. Even before he said the words “I love you” to her in “Prince,” it’s moments like this that made me realize how truly and honestly he did love her.

14. Kiss me like a man ("Quick Hardening Caulk")


“Quick Hardening Caulk” is such a stellar New Girl episode, mainly because of the absolutely palpable Nick/Jess tension throughout. As I noted earlier in this post, I love when Nick and Jess challenge each other and the moment that Jess challenges Nick ranks among my favorite of the pairing’s interactions because of how smoldering their chemistry was in that episode and, particularly, that scene.

I’ll always love the sweet and sappy moments between Nick and Jess, but… come on. You cannot write a Nick/Jess post without talking about this moment, their amazing and hilariously in-character make-out scene and then the arguing/kissing that followed it. Lest we forget it, Nick and Jess are passionate people and when they collide, sparks literally fly.

13. "It was me, Jess. I couldn't help it." ("Parking Spot")


As we’re rapidly approaching the half-way mark in this post, I thought I would mention one of the absolute best Nick/Jess moments that occurred in “Parking Spot.” This moment makes me clutch my heart and sigh every time because – once again – stupid Nick Miller and his stupid affection for Jess. This line is so significant in “Parking Spot” because it exemplifies something we have, as the audience, perceived from the beginning: Nick had a thing for Jess. The no-nail oath, as he reveals to her at the episode’s end, wasn’t because they thought SHE couldn’t help herself being in an apartment with all guys; it was entirely because Nick knew that he wasn’t going to be able to help himself. That is why the oath was created. This stuns Jess who then almost gets another kiss with Nick before Schmidt interrupts. It’s solid evidence that the writers didn’t retcon anything when they had Nick make his confession during “Exes” (don’t worry, I’ll talk about that later), because it means that Nick has always – or at least for a long time – presumed that something could happen between them and he knew that he wasn’t going to be able to help himself. After having been dumped by Caroline and having this weird and quirky but wonderful woman in his presence, Nick knew that there was the chance that something could exist between them and he didn’t want to screw that up.

(Really, the way that Jake Johnson delivers that line kills me every single time I watch “Parking Spot” which is, as an aside, my favorite episode of season two.)

12. The I Love You's ("Prince")



I wrote extensively about why I feel that the “I love you’s” between Nick and Jess were perfect during my “Prince” review, so I’ll spare you the recap and just express why this moment ranked so high on my list of Nick/Jess ones. Obviously, the moment that you utter the L-word to your significant other or anyone, really, your relationship immediately changes. It HAS to change. And so, Nick – beautiful white man Nick Miller – accidentally blurts out that he loves Jess before she leaves for a party at Prince’s mansion. No one is more stunned than Nick is, but as the saying goes: “out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks.” Nick has loved Jess for a long time and it’s absurd to him – and to us – that he hasn’t actually uttered the words before then. He, without a doubt, loves Jess and in that moment I think his heart leapt at the chance to speak before his brain could process what was happening. Jess’ response is to remain in stunned silence and then point finger guns at him as she and Cece drive away.

Later on, after much coaching from Prince (because remember that Jess has not said these three words to anyone apart from Spencer in recent years and the poor woman is probably paralyzed by fear that by saying them, she’ll eventually end up with a broken heart), Jess meets up with Nick at the party and yells, in front of the entire room, that she loves him. It’s this beautifully fearless moment that I absolutely loved because it was so unlike Jess but so VERY much like her to do something like that in public.

The whole episode was stellar but the ill-timed and weird “I love you” professions reminded me of why these two crazy kids were my favorite romantic pairing on television.

11. Hand-holding ("Chicago")



I’ll continue to lament Jake Johnson’s lack of an Emmy nomination or win for “Chicago” until the day that he actually wins an Emmy. This episode was funny, but its most powerful moments derived from the touching emotional scenes between Nick and his family as well as Nick and Jess. One of my favorite moments of all time between the pairing is when Nick begins to break during his eulogy for his father. Up until this point, he’s been trying to avoid saying goodbye to his dad. He’s been in denial, pushing away the notion that Walt is actually gone. And when he delivers the eulogy, he begins with funny anecdotes, but ends with: “He was my dad and I’m sure gonna miss him.” It’s at this moment that he cannot keep delivering the speech and is overcome with emotion. And it’s at this moment that Jess approaches Nick and stills his nervous hands (seriously, look at that beautiful GIF) by holding them in hers.

Remember that during “Chicago,” Nick and Jess had made out twice but were not actually dating yet. But Jess’ promise to Nick during the episode was simple: she would be there for him, for whatever he needed. It’s a beautiful little parallel to Nick always wanting to cheer Jess up. While he always tries to make her smile, she’s always there for him through the little things in life and always will be.

Bless this moment because it reminded me just how much these two crazy kids support each other. No matter how insignificant or significant, Nick and Jess’ friendship always sees them through rough patches. And the hand-holding moment in “Chicago” is not only beautiful, but also poignant because it reminds us of this fact.

10. All Alright ("Re-Launch")


As we head into my top ten favorite Nick and Jess moments of all time, my pick for #10 may be surprising because of how small and seemingly insignificant it is in comparison to episodes like “Cooler” or “Virgins,” but the end of “Re-Launch” still ranks as one of my favorite moments between this pairing. After Jess is fired as a teacher at the beginning of the season, she pretends that she is okay and that she is strong and that she is fine. But the truth that Nick learns in this episode is that Jess is NOT okay and she’s actually crumbling under the notion that she’ll never be able to become a teacher again and – if she cannot find another teaching job – will never discover anything that she’s good at.

Nick knows where Jess goes when she leaves Schmidt’s re-launch party. He finds her outside of her school, sitting on the hood of her car. And he joins her, explaining that life sometimes just sucks and that it isn’t fair. But he knows it will get better, because he also knows Jess. He knows how hard she works and how amazing she is and he believes that she will be okay. The song “All Alright” plays over the final scene of the episode as Jess asks Nick to be mean to her to make her laugh (she’s been sobbing), and he does while also sliding his arm around her and pulling her close. She rests her head on his shoulder and it’s such a subtle, simple moment but so beautiful in light of what happens to the pair later in this season. And that is why it ranks among my favorite interactions.

9. The break-up hug. ("Mars Landing")


Even though I knew what was coming – my good friend Jaime had texted me to forewarn me about the break-up scene – I still dissolved into a puddle of tears and used tissues during the “Mars Landing” end-of-episode hug. The stunningly beautiful camerawork by Lynn Shelton to mimic the pair’s first kiss in “Cooler” was flawless. And the hug itself made its way onto my Nick/Jess list because of how stellar Jake Johnson and Zooey Deschanel were in this scene. Everything about that moment was so palpable, from the way that Nick hung his head to return to his room and sniffed back tears to the desperation with which Jess flung her arms around his neck and held him tightly. Even the slight callbacks to “Cooler” (like Nick’s initial uncertainty over what to do with his hands) were beautiful and gut-wrenching.

I knew that Nick and Jess would have to break up at some point. They are, as they said, two very different people with two very different ideas of what to do with the rest of their lives. And though I believe they’ll eventually find their way back to each other in the end, it was no less heartbreaking to see them hug goodbye in this scene. They got one last chance to hold onto each other before they couldn’t anymore, and it seems only fitting that the hallway where it all began was also the hallway where it all ended.

*passes you all a handful of tissues*

8. The reason Nick left. ("Exes")



As I stated when I did my in-depth review of “Exes,” one of my absolute favorite moments of this episode was the moment that Nick finally confronted Caroline and explained the reason that he left her in “See Ya.” It was because of Jess, of course, that he did and it is obvious when you watch the episode (I went back to re-watch shortly after I saw “Exes”) that Nick is in love with Jess and that she is the only thing holding him back from committing to Caroline. He sniffs back tears when he says goodbye to her. He WANTS her to tell him that she will not be okay without him in the loft because that would give him a reason to stay. And by the episode’s end, he moves back into the loft and Jess is the first – and only person – he seeks out when he arrives.

Nick may not have always recognized his feelings as “love.” He may have presumed that he just had a crush on Jess and at the beginning of the series, he probably did. But here’s what I wrote in my review that I think rings true and justifies this moment as #8 on my list:

Do I think that Nick knew, instantly, that whatever he was feeling for Jess was love? Probably not. But do I believe that it was still love? Absolutely. I think that in hindsight, Nick began to piece together all those moments and feelings and traced them back along his timeline, realizing that from the moment Jess entered the apartment, she changed his life. She altered him. She AFFECTED him. That terrified the post-Caroline Nick who didn’t want another woman to hurt him.

Nick may not have been able to pinpoint the moment he fell in love with Jess. And that’s okay. Most people, when asked, will never be able to give you an exact moment in time in which they swung from the “like” part of the spectrum to the “love” one. But I don’t think it matters. I think that what Nick says is absolutely true: he started falling in love with her the minute that she entered his life. And I, personally, think that this is a completely genuine and honest assessment of his feelings.

7. "Because I met you, that's why I'm okay." ("See Ya")


Speaking of “See Ya,” which ranks as one of my favorite New Girl episodes to date, Nick and Jess have a few poignant moments throughout the episode as the former is preparing to move in with Caroline. In what is one of the greatest emotional exchanges between the two to date, Nick accuses Jess of needing him too much. He wants her to need him too much because he wants an excuse to stay at the loft and to abandon moving in with Caroline.

But a few minutes earlier, Jess had gotten a lesson from Schmidt about caring for the people around you: essentially, Schmidt’s advice was that if you really care about someone – you want them to be happy, no matter if that makes YOU happy or not. And so Jess explains that she will be okay. When she elaborates on WHY she will be okay, I just about melt into a puddle every time. With such earnestness, she assures Nick that because of him, she’ll be okay. That visibly shakes Nick (you can see it in the way that he looks back at her) and it shakes us, too, because it’s the first time Jess has ever really openly acknowledged how much Nick has changed her life.

In the words of the Internet: “FEELS.”

6. "Goodnight, Miller." "Goodnight, Day." ("First Date")


I talked about palpable tension a few times throughout this post but nothing quite compares to the way that Nick and Jess look at one another in that godforsaken hallway at the end of “First Date.” I swear, you can just about hear the electricity sizzle in the air between them. And it’s such a wonderful moment played by Jake and Zooey because they say absolutely nothing until their goodnights, and yet you just FEEL that they want to say something – everything, in fact – after their weird string of dates and not-dates that evening. The way that Jake plays Nick never ceases to amaze me but he truly shines in this moment; you can tell how desperate Nick is to tell Jess how he really feels, but he can’t. And as the two whisper goodnight, they turn to walk away from each other. As they do so, Nick turns around to watch Jess and she turns back after he’s already headed toward his room to look at HIM and then they close their respective doors and lean against them and really, if you didn’t replay that scene more than ten times, we cannot be friends.

Everything about “First Date” was good, but this moment – this actual, real, lasting tension – is what made the series great, propelling it toward the finale.

5. Un-calling it ("Elaine's Big Day")


HEY, speaking of the finale, let’s talk about my #5 Nick/Jess moment of all time. It occurs during the second season’s finale, when Nick and Jess decide to give their relationship a shot and then promptly call it. They do so out of fear and out of hesitation and stupidity, frankly. They both think that they’re not ready for a relationship with each other because it’s bound to get messy. It’d be much easier to have a clean, neat, tidy relationship, right? But what Jess realizes as she walks toward her car and what Nick realizes after talking to Winston is that messy is good; messy actually means that you’re really and truly living life instead of just letting it happen to you.

So Nick races to Jess in a scene that I probably did legitimately rewind and watch ten times, as she begs him not to call their relationship. She asks him to un-call it because even though they didn’t quite know what their relationship WAS at that point, Jess knew that she wanted it. She was all in.

And then the two kiss and drive off into the night, bantering as usual, and it was the absolute perfect end to a stellar season.

4. The beach scene/the car ("Injured")


“Injured” is my favorite New Girl episode, hands down. It has everything that makes this show great – humor, ensemble shenanigans, heart, and some great Nick/Jess moments. Two of my favorite scenes occur on the beach and in Winston’s car. At the beach, after realizing that he is not okay and may actually have cancer, Nick snaps at Jess and then decides to be alone. But when Jess approaches him later after he has calmed down, he thanks her for being there and tells her that he really likes her and is glad she is in his life. It’s actually the first time Nick ever really expresses this (once again, calling back to what Winston affirmed in “Wedding”), and it’s a beautiful little moment, second only to idiotic smiles that these two give each other in the car the next morning.

I swear, sometimes these two are just too much to handle.

3. Feet pointing ("Cece Crashes")


Remember when Cece told Jess in the episode “Cece Crashes” that a guy’s feet point toward what they want? Jess spends the entire episode freaking out over the fact that Cece presumes that Nick likes Jess. So she acts weird around Nick in response, dancing around him at the grocery store and jumping out of his car. And then, at the episode’s end, a moment occurs that takes the bronze medal in my Nick/Jess interactions list: Nick and Jess are brushing their teeth and Jess apologizes for her odd behavior that day.

Nick would normally scoff or make a turtle face, but he accepts her apology and her weirdness. And then the camera pans to their feet (which are both pointing at each other), before it shows them continuing to brush their teeth, looking at each other and smiling.

It’s one of the simplest moments of Nick and Jess’ history in New Girl but also the exact moment that this show told us that a ship wasn’t just in our heads and that these two individuals really did have feelings for each other. (Now, whether they knew or admitted that is an entirely different story.) Simplicity is one of my favorite things in a sitcom and one of my favorite things in a ship. Shows need to realize that they don’t have to bash their audiences over the head with cliché after cliché. We don’t need sweeping and dramatic moments. What we need are the little things that add up to bigger things and pave the way for something great.

That’s what this scene in “Cece Crashes” did for Nick and Jess. And that is why it is, and will always be, a favorite.

2. "Not like this/"I meant something like that"/The Kiss ("Cooler")




I’ll talk about the “Cooler” kiss forever. I’ll talk about how it shocked us all, how it was one of the best TV kisses to ever exist, and how impactful it was for New Girl as a series (everything post-“Cooler” was absolutely top-notch). The moment apart from the kiss that always hits me with a wave of feelings is when Nick says: “Not like this.” That stuns Jess and stuns (as well as delights) us because what it directly implies is that Nick had – prior to “Cooler” – put a lot of thought into how he wanted his first kiss with Jess to be. He’s been clearly contemplating the moment for a while and wanted it to be perfect, not under the pretenses of a drinking game. The shock on Jess’ face after this statement is evident, but what is also evident is that she knows what it means. She knows now what she could have only presumed before: Nick liked her and was interested in her romantically.

Of course, the rest of the episode is history and we got that beautiful and breathtaking kissing scene that ended with Nick saying “I meant something like that” (cue every single female growing weak in the knees) and leaving Jess and us quite breathless. Above, I noted how important it is to have subtle moments that lead up to bigger, dramatic ones. And I think that we would all agree that the “Cooler” kiss is one of the greatest game-changing moments that the show has ever done. We need the little moments, but we also need the payoff of seeing a will-they-won’t-they pairing finally act on all of that tension and romance that has been building throughout the years.

I cannot think of anything better payoff-wise than that kiss. Can you?

1. The birthday video. ("Birthday")


If you’re surprised that The Kiss didn’t take the gold medal for the Nick/Jess moments post, then you’re probably in good company. I’ll never stop talking about “Cooler,” but I’ll also never stop talking about “Birthday” and the utter perfection, as well as character growth, that we saw in Nick Miller. I’ve already talked about this moment extensively, but I’ll talk about it again: when we see all of the work Nick has put into creating the best birthday surprise for Jess and when we watch the video he compiled of everyone that she loves talking about how wonderful she is, we feel the same sense of genuinely tear-inducing joy that Jess did. We realize how much Nick loves Jess in this very moment, even though they don’t express it until “Prince.”

It’s such a punch-in-the-feels fantastic moment, really. I sobbed during the video and I sobbed harder when Nick showed up on screen, talking about the token that he has from the night that they first kissed. That’s what “Birthday” demonstrated to us: it’s not always about the big things; it’s about the little ones. It’s the fact that Nick picks up rubber bands because he knows Jess wears her hair in a ponytail and uses them. It’s about Nick keeping a coin that he had in the pocket of his pants the night he and Jess first kissed. It’s about the gestures that he makes to show how much he cares. And it’s about Jess allowing herself in this episode, for the very first time, to believe in the people around her and recognize how much they care. When she runs out of the theatre in tears, Nick profusely apologizes for the quality of the video, but Jess silences him by kissing him and telling him that his gesture was the sweetest thing anyone has ever done for her, period.

 In this moment, we see just how deeply Nick cares for Jess and how much Jess has opened herself up to the idea of love and believing in people again. And is there really anything else that is better than that?

Well, whether you agree or disagree, thank you for reading my top 20 Nick/Jess moments. WHEW. This was a beast to compile, so kudos to making it to the end! Stick around the blog for some more fun posts this summer. Until then, folks. :)

8 comments:

  1. Haha! I got to #2, and thought "What was better than the kiss?" and then I scrolled down to the "Birthday" moment, and I was like "Oh yeah. That was a super sweet moment." The little moments indeed are the best things in life. I'm glad you included the moment from "Re-launch." I don't see it often in other NJ moment lists. I had no qualms about Season 1, like I know others did. But, I remember watching that episode and feeling like, "Wow, they've really upped their game" and that moment at the end really nailed it for me that Season 2 was going to be top-notch. To me it was better than the moment in Injured. It was so subtle, but I could tell their bond had become stronger. Thank you so much for putting this together. I'm with you. I think they'll find their way back to each other and am optimistic about Season 4, but I think this is just what the rest of the fandom needs. Perhaps it can give them some hope.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks so much Emily! I, too, have no qualms with season 1. I thought it was a pretty good start and season two just blew everything out of the water with the back half of the season.

      That "All Alright" moment was just so utterly sweet and perfect because it exemplified how WELL Nick knows Jess -- he knew exactly where to find her and exactly what to say when he did. And their little moment of just sitting on the hood of the car together was so simple and wonderful that it's still one of my most underrated moments yet.

      I've seen (briefly) people kind of blowing up on Tumblr about this show and ship and it makes me sad and a bit upset because of all the negativity. So now I'm just trying to stay away from the fandom on that site in general, haha. Thanks for the compliments and reading! I really hope this brightens up some negative spirits. ;)

      Delete
  2. Excellent post!! I have my Nick/Jess moments ranked : 1. The Cooler kiss, 2. Birthday message, 3. Virgins ( I have that high because it finally shows that while Nick is still afraid of getting hurt, he wants to jump in with Jess and let what happens happen.) , 4. Uncalling it moment and 5. Chicago. Not only for the hand holding but the look Jess gives Nick right before and after she grabs his hand.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Charles! I love all those moments that you listed and look forward to many more to come in season 4. :)

      Delete
  3. It's rare these days to read such optimistic things about Nick and Jess and their future. That's why I love to come to your blog. It also offers new perspectives on what is and will be so great about them. Thank you for this.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you SO much for that compliment. I, for one, am remaining optimistic about Nick and Jess and New Girl in general. I'm so disheartened by the negativity in the fandom that I've tried to stay away from it. I think that - to be frank - a lot of people are blowing everything out of proportion and looking to be negative at any chance they get. So instead of that, I will choose to be positive and focus on what is amazing about this couple and series. ;)

      Thanks so much for reading and hanging around here!

      Delete
  4. Should be working harderMay 12, 2014 at 3:00 AM

    This list made me melt into a big pile of goo, right here at work. All of the feels! Your choices are fab, but I would definitely have to add 1) the "you deserve love" scene from Backsliding, 2) watching Dirty Dancing in tandem in "Big News", 3) the big ball of shippiness that is "Fluffer". And that is still leaving out so many....



    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Awwwwwww, I'm so glad you enjoyed this post. And MAN there were so many delightful moments that it was difficult to choose. THAT 'YOU DESERVE LOVE' SPEECH, ugh. So wonderful. And I wish I could have included everything from "Fluffer"! I could have easily turned this into a top 30 or 40 post, haha.

      Thanks so much for reading. :)

      Delete