If you would like to read my review of last episode, click here.
Synopsis: Over a drunken power lunch, Jess and Cece decide to stand up to Russell and demand Jess be given more responsibility in her new job. Meanwhile, Nick struggles to come up with ideas for a new book and Schmidt is desperate to get Ruth to sleep. (TVGuide)
Writer: Sarah Tapscott
Director: Josh Greenbaum
Rating: TV-PG
Running Time: 22mins
Airs: Tuesdays at 9:30 pm on Citytv (Canada)/FOX (United States)
“Tuesday Meeting”starts off with Nick taking photos for a magazine while he tells Jess he has a meeting with his editor. She’s got a little more pip in her step because of her new job, but it isn’t what she expected. Randomly Winston appears calling his presence a slow move as the photographers tell Jess she’s in the shot and gets her to crawl out of the apartment.
Cece is exhausted at her job, but she’s excited for her lunch with Jess. Schmidt reassures her that she will have a good day while he shows his disdain for being a stay-at-home dad. Nick meets with his editor who says he is done with the Pepperwood Chronicles as it has become stale, which catches Nick by surprise. At their lunch, Cece avoids talking about her hectic home life to talk about Jess’ new job, but after a long drink she admits she plans to quit after lunch.
Nick comes home to find Winston and Schmidt there; Winston wants to reenact 3 Men and a Baby with them while Schmidt is so overtired words are sounding funny. However, Nick needs their help with his next big thing, but he can’t come up with anything and storms off. Cece questions what Jess is doing at her job while she is making weird overtired decisions at lunch and they figure out the problem: Tuesday meetings where men dominate the conversation, and they plan to do something about it. Meanwhile, Nick is feeling lost with his writing career so Winston and Schmidt take matters into their own hands and fill his idea books with quotes from Mao’s Little Red Book giving him a confidence boost.
At Schmidt’s, he comes down to find Winston watching 3 Men and a Baby again. He wants to keep quiet to avoid waking Ruth, but Nick arrives to confront them about him giving his editor Communist quotes. As Ruth comes in from the commotion, Winston has an idea and they reenact 3 Men and a Baby as they try to put her to sleep. Jess and a drunk Cece storm into Jess’ work to confront Russell about her being left out of the meetings. He suggests she doesn’t want to be there, but then she goes on a rant about being included until she discovers it’s a group for divorced fathers.
Jess apologizes to Russell for her actions, but he admits he has trust issues and she deserves more work around the office. The guys sit around Ruth’s bed while they ask Nick to tell her a bedtime story and he starts to tell his life story. As they hear him hit on an interesting story, they get him to write it down believing they helped beat his writer’s block. And Schmidt falls asleep eyes wide open. The episode ends with Jess bringing Cece home and the group putting the new parents to bed as each of them decide to do their own thing to try and put them to sleep.
Overall, this was an alright episode. The more serious adult themes of the first episode are not being lost to the more physical slapstick humour of previous seasons as there is a good split between the two. However, this is a show that relies on the relationship between Nick and Schmidt and this episode just didn’t have that charm. Obviously the addition of Ruth has caused Cece and Schmidt to deal with the obstacles that come with adulthood and how that affects their social lives, but it feels like Jess, Nick and Winston haven’t taken that step, despite the time jump, most likely due to no huge life-altering milestones occurring in their lives. Hopefully through these final episodes they grow to the level that Schmidt and Cece are at rather than make these parents a terrible example for their child, although in a show like this the latter is more likely.
Score: 6/10
What did you think of “Tuesday Meeting”? Let me know in the comments below!
If you liked this, check out my other reviews here and my website! Don’t forget to follow me on Twitter and like me on Facebook.
