New Girl: “A Father’s Love” (Episode 2.13)

In the first season of New Girl, the show laid out the elements of who these characters are: their intricacies and quirks. We learned so much about who they are, but not why they are the way they are. But in this second season, New Girl has started to unravel each character with explanations as to why they act they way they do. First we met Jess’ parents and Schmidt’s brother, and we’ve heard hints about Cece’s mother and her traditions, but now it’s Nick’s turn. Nick has so much anger, a lazy attitude and a downright dislike for anything breathing, so what could make such a man this way? With “A Father’s Love,” we get to see the father that helped make Nick the man he is today.
Like in “Parents,” New Girl is smart to not make its main characters just a combination of the parents who brought them up. It would be too easy for New Girl to make things that cut and dry. Rather, there were elements of Jess’ parents that she took on, but she was much more than just a combination of two separate attitudes. Nick’s father, played by Dennis Farina, has made Nick go in a completely different direction. Rather than having much similarity to his father, it almost seems like Nick has intentionally tried to become a different person because of his father.