Last week on New Girl, we watched Schmidt try to break up Nick and Jess by playing on their weaknesses. While "The Captain" definitely made everyone really uncomfortable and press pause for a moment, I think this week Nick and Jess hit their first real snag.

"The Box" featured a big enough fight for them to both stop and say "can this really work out?"

When couples get over the honeymoon phase and the real stuff sets in, that's when a relationship gets complicated. Roommates dating has always been risky because... what will happen if they don't work out?

Right now we're in New Girl season 3 and it's a relatively successful sitcom and will hopefully continue for a bit longer. Are writers really going to keep a couple together for the entire series? Likely not. Whether it's How I Met Your Mother or The Vampire Diaries, the main couple is always at risk. 

I think all loyal viewers of New Girl could've predicted that the first big issue would come from the fact that Nick is... how do I put this...not a completely functioning member of society. As Jess so awkwardly pointed out, he doesn't have a bank account, he doesn't pay taxes and he apparently even has a non-functioning LLC that is getting billed. The guy keeps a box of important documents stashed in his closet to be ignored. Jess is Miss Responsible. She couldn't resist taking the money from Nick's inheritance and trying to settle up some of his bills.

However, maybe Jess should've heeded Winston's advice and just let Nick do his thing. There's a bunch of ways to look at what went down in this episode. Let's evaluate: First and foremost it's Nick's money to spend and nobody else's. Going through someone else's things and spending their money, even if it's in their best interest, is disrespectful. Unless that person is legally under your care like a child or dependent, it's just not right. 

Are we ever gonna get to the point where you stop working on me? Or instead of changing me, maybe once Jess, see it my way. | permalink

On the opposite side of the coin, Nick clearly needs a push in a better direction. Not paying your taxes is illegal and not having a bank account isn't very smart. Winston may know to leave well enough alone if he doesn't want to fight with Nick, but Winston's still out $1,900. Jess disrespected her boyfriend's property and privacy, but in the end he thanked her for it. I highly doubt that fight would have gone that way in real life. 

Bottom line: when you love someone, which like these two do even though they haven't declared it yet, you love their flaws too. Does that mean you can't try and guide them on a better path? No, of course you can. But there are boundaries and Jess overstepped hers. She even had to fake yell at the teller in the end over the processing fee as a show of good faith to Nick that she was on his side. 

My concern here is that I'm at the bottom of the review and I've barely spoken about the former funniest member of this series: Schmidt. You had Schmidt going to a rabbi played by Jon Lovitz. That should've been a gold mine for comedic performances. Instead it was mediocre. Despite their chemistry, I worried this is turning into the Nick and Jess show.

Damon Wayans Jr. needs to move in already and shake things up!