Jessica Day's 7 Best And 7 Worst Episodes Of New Girl Ranked

With the incredible comedic performances of cast members like Lamorne Morris and Max Greenfield in "New Girl," it can sometimes be easy to forget the anchoring brilliance of Zooey Deschanel's work as Jessica Day. Jess is a great protagonist not just because she's funny, but also because she's different from most other sitcom main characters. She isn't an aimless, cynical 30-something, she's a woman with passion and optimism and agency. She's far from perfect and has plenty to learn, which is a running theme in the show, but there's plenty of room to grow.

It's refreshing that Jess wants to see the best in people, and even more refreshing to see an unapologetically feminine protagonist who loves a job that's not remotely adjacent to the media and entertainment business. Jess bakes and works with kids and nurtures her friendships and wears adorable clothes, but she's no less strong or three-dimensional because of those aspects of her personality. She's an iconic TV character who will no doubt endure for a long time, but sometimes she leans a bit too much into the quirkiness and the writers don't always get it right. These are Jessica Day's best and worst episodes of "New Girl."

Jess' behavior in this episode is so irritating that even Zooey Deschanel herself called it "grating" on her rewatch podcast with Hannah Simone and Lamorne Morris. Nick becomes self-conscious about his body after his roommates tease him about his stomach pudge. In preparation for a date with the beautiful and difficult-to-read Amanda (Lake Bell), Nick strips in his room and dances to reggae to build up his body confidence. Jess opens the door to ask Nick to turn it down, and, realizing that he's naked, runs away — but not before letting out an unhinged giggle/shriek.

Throughout the rest of the episode, Jess literally cannot say the words "penis" or "testicle." This is out of character, as evidenced by her much more coherent maturity level in the rest of the show (she actually said the word penis two episodes before this, making the whole thing even more nonsensical). It's just not a good look for Jess, but it seems a failure of writing more than anything else.

Jess and Cece's friendship is a huge pillar of the series, but the episode "Models," which revolves around Jess' issues with Cece's job, is just not an example of Jess' best traits. Cece overhears Jess deriding modeling as a profession and implying that it has made Cece "dumber." Jess feels terrible, and rightfully so — the scene highlights her tendency to judge people for having different priorities from herself. The next day, Cece is horrifically hungover but cannot cancel a car show job for her agency. Jess goes to the event with her and offers to fill in when Cece nearly pukes upon seeing the spinning platform she's expected to stand on.

It's not that Jess isn't funny as she struggles to highlight the car in comically large faux lashes and heels — she's hilarious, in fact. However, the main comedic showcase of the episode surrounds Ford product placement, and it feels a bit in-your-face. Combine that with Jess' initial judgments of Cece and her profession, and it's one of her worst episodes.

Jess gives off major Annie Hall vibes in this episode, with her twirly mannerisms and manic energy surrounding her birthday expectations. Nick asks to spend her birthday with her and secretly plans a surprise party for the evening without realizing that he would need to fill the day with activities as well. Jess, not knowing about the party, only sees Nick scrambling to think of something for them to do and becomes increasingly upset at his apparent lack of foresight.

When Nick and Jess come upon a birthday tableau set-up in the park, she is ecstatic and digs into the cupcakes right before a little girl yells, "That lady stole my birthday!" Jess runs away crying, and even though Nick is able to salvage the party by surprising her later at the movie theater, it's still sad to see such a positive character so let down — albeit because she had unrealistic expectations.

After a series of bad dates and dud guys, Jess has finally found someone she likes enough to bring over to the loft for some intimacy. The gang informs her that it will be difficult to convince her new guy Ian (Michael Stahl-David) that Nick's presence as Jess' ex-boyfriend/current roommate isn't a deal breaker-level of weird, but she brushes them off. However, she quickly realizes they're right upon seeing Ian's reaction. In a panic, she takes Nick's suggestion and tells Ian that Nick has recently come out as gay, which is the only thing that assures Ian enough to come over to the loft with Jess.

Nick promises to help Jess maintain her lie but then accidentally brings a girl home later that night. Ian eventually discovers the truth about Nick and storms out on Jess. It's not too difficult to sympathize with Jess in this scenario — after all, it's not like they can really kick Nick out of the loft (and therefore off the show). But it's still a really bad look to get someone to come home with you by lying to them about something so significant. This is definitely not Jess' finest moment.

"Goosebumps Walkaway" marks the return of Jess to the loft after serving in a sequestered jury (and Zooey Deschanel's return to "New Girl" from maternity leave). She comes home to find that Cece and Winston have gotten closer, Schmidt is planning the wedding in a frenzy, and Nick and Reagan (Megan Fox) are into each other. She finds out about this last thing almost immediately thanks to Nick's awkward tendency to blurt things out, and it leads to a really weird moment that hangs over the rest of the episode. Reagan spends the episode helping Jess find a juror with whom she had a brief flirtation, and Jess helps Reagan come to terms with her feelings for Nick.

It's not the Reagan/Jess combination that makes this episode one of Jess' worst — in fact, Jess and Reagan often have a very funny dynamic when they're together. What makes this episode so frustrating is how much the writers are trying to tell the audience that Jess is fine with Nick and Reagan's relationship. Jess offering advice and support to a potential romantic partner for Nick is just weird, no matter how they frame it. Yes, they acknowledge this weirdness in later episodes, but having even just one episode where Jess is totally cool with Nick and Reagan's romance feels forced and untrue.

It's not nearly as easy to get a restraining order against someone as TV might have you believe. At the beginning of "300 Feet," Jess finds out that Sam has filed one against her, meaning she cannot come within 300 feet of him. At this point, all Jess has done is drop off some baked goods and attempt to apologize for their past, but this is sitcom land. What's even more concerning is how casually Jess regards the restraining order, deciding to find a way to make contact with Sam anyway and ask him to drop it.

Winston thankfully has something to say about this as a cop, but Jess doesn't listen and ends up in the back of Sam's pickup truck going through a car wash. The episode ends with the two of them making out in the middle of the road. It's all a bit creepy, and definitely doesn't show Jess in her best light. "300 Feet" makes light of a serious issue, and not in a particularly funny way. The episode hasn't aged well and is among the worst "New Girl" installments ever aired.

Hollywood had a high degree of confidence that Hilary Clinton would win the 2016 presidential election, and so did Jess. The writers of "New Girl" had the protagonist spend an entire episode excitedly volunteering for the Clinton campaign and arguing with Schmidt about his Republican views (he doesn't support Donald Trump, instead loathing both candidates).

It's hard for a network sitcom like "New Girl" to do a story about politics in a way that isn't cringe, let alone in a way that's effective or enjoyable. People watch shows like "New Girl" for safe escapism and joy, and having the ugliness of the 2016 presidential election leak into the show was a tactical error. On top of everything, it's not a particularly funny episode, and Jess and Cece come off as out-of-touch elder millennials in their interactions with the UCLA sorority house they're canvassing. It wasn't fun to watch at the time, and it's even worse today.