Unpopular Opinion: I Don’t Want Nick and Jess To Be Together On ‘New Girl’
By Gaby Dunn
Okay, so the kiss was hot. And yes, I get that we’ve been gunning toward the two of them being together since the pilot episode of the show. Although I was more intrigued by her brief interest in casual sex with Schmidt.
Here’s the thing: until the writers started literally throwing it in my face with longing looks and lingering touches, I never thought it was HOLY SHIT MEANT TO BE INEVITABLE that Nick and Jess hook up. Perhaps due to my young initiation into fan-fiction, I almost resent being told by the writers who we should be rooting for to bone when there may be another duo that has way better chemistry. (For example, how Smallville’s writers used to force Clark and Lana when they made each other seem like dead fish on camera.) Anyway, I never thought Jess and Nick were necessarily endgame until it was SHOVED into my brain that they had to be in the beginning of this season. A cute flirty friendship, yes, but OTP? No way.
I bought it when they said they were friends who were attracted to each other. That’s a completely reasonable thing that didn’t need to be pushed. I’ve had plenty of friends that we acknowledged an initial attraction to each other and then instead of jumping into bed, we cultivated a friendship that today, I am much happier to have without being tainted by doing it.
I loved Nick and Jess’ dynamic. I loved that they made fun of each other and sort of found each other inexplicable, but were drawn to each other as friends. I like that their relationship was more complicated than just an attraction or romance. I liked that they were a bit at odds and that the friction took precedence over the more boring “slowly falling in love.” The cliche of “I want to kiss you but not like this” could be seen coming a mile away. I was kind of bored by it, until it led to Nick jumping out the window of the loft.
I’m worried the dynamic of the loft is ruined. I liked Jess’ place as one of the boys and don’t want to see her relegated to “Nick’s girlfriend.” The best parts of the show are when the boys are being the boys together. I love the threesome of Nick, Schmidt and Winston. I don’t want Nick shoved into a corner with Jess, where all his storylines will lie.
Now that they have kissed, I share Schmidt and Winston’s pain. I like Jess being Jess and thwarting Nick’s sexual plans. I like them as friends. I don’t want her to become his sexual plans. I like Nick being annoyed with Jess and Jess always trying to fix everything. This is so much more believable when they don’t want to tongue each other. Although in this recent episode, their dynamic as they freaked out over the kiss was funny but how long can they keep that going?
Can you possibly picture them being romantic and mushy and gross? Can you picture them doing Valentine’s Day? Or cuddling? Maybe if you ship them you can. For me, it changes everything and I hate it!
When I first heard the rumblings on Twitter and Facebook that Nick and Jess had kissed FOR REALS in the episode two weeks ago, I was initially really disappointed. I think the show is blowing it’s load a little early. Like I said above, I like them so much as friends, that this has the potential to ruin everything or cause early cancellation for a show that I think is one of the best new things to come on television recently. What happens if they break up? What happens if they become boring because now they’re a couple and the writers run out of storylines?
Again, not saying it wasn’t long overdue or that it didn’t make sense to the storyline. Not saying it wasn’t SUPER HOT. (I watched it more than once, come on.) I just feel worried about what this means for the show going forward.
I guess I just have to trust that the writers know what they’re doing (especially as someone who hopes to write for TV). But I don’t know. I wasn’t cheering about the Nick and Jess kiss like the rest of the fans and the internet. I was mostly filled with dread.