New Girl: “The 23rd” (Episode 1.9)

As New Girl wraps up for 2011 with its Christmas episode “The 23rd,” I think we really get a sense of how far the show has come. Paul, Jess’ boyfriend at the beginning of the episode, not so much at the end, described his Christmas gift of a stuffed recreation of a 50-year-old’s heart as “funny and quirky and so sweet” and as a show, New Girl has truly owned that description, but we are getting to see New Girl finally as something more than just Jess being cute and the guys having to deal with that cuteness’ repercussions, such as awkwardness when it comes to sex or having to get stuff back from her ex. Yes, it makes sense that their Christmas episode would be the one to bring all the core characters together in a great way, but it seems more like New Girl is finally finding an interesting balance between its characters and who they really are.
The basic premise of “The 23rd” is one that has been seen countless times in sitcom history: one person in a relationship says “I love you,” the other person doesn’t respond in the desired way. From the moment Paul states his feeling to Jess, we know he’s gone. Frankly, we knew he wasn’t going to be sticking around from the moment he showed up in a gourd costume in “Thanksgiving.”
The entire group is invited to Schmidt’s office Christmas party, where he plays sexy Santa, since he’s the only man—even though he’s Jewish. Not sure why all Schmidt’s friends are invited to a Christmas party where none of them work, but that’s irrelevant.