The Not So New Problem With New Girl's Schmidt

this is Schmidt in season one of new girl did you see that cleavage I just want to get my arms stuck down there like 127 Hour style Schmidt this is Schmidt in the final season of New Girl daddy do the special quotes I I know they're all honey they're all special throughout the series Winston Schmidt really balances himself out in a way that would go on to earn Performer Max Greenfield in Emmy and a Golden Globe nomination however in the earlier seasons of New Girl Schmidt is fairly problematic and extremely unlikable he was narcissistic impulsive cocky and arrogant he needed some extreme changes to happen very quickly in order for his character to realistically fit into his relationship roles within the show he didn't used to be like this Schmidt what are you talking about you've gotten so much worse it's on and Poppin before we get started don't forget to like And subscribe to nerdstalgic if you haven't done so already new girl burst into Prime Time television in 2011. the sitcom had similar energy to friends in the sense that the show is about a relatively young group of friends trying to navigate their way through adulthood the thing that makes new girl work so well is that the principal cast is just so absolutely likable Zoe Deschanel's manic pixie dream girl drives the central focus of new girl's primary narrative her performance as Jess day feels authentic and captivating she is also flanked on all sides by breakout performances from Jake Johnson LaMore Morris as Winston Bishop Damon Wayans Jr as coach and Max Greenfield as Schmidt who initially came so dangerously close to not working at all within the context of the show okay I get it I'll laugh at Schmidt great Schmidt's introduction to us on New Girl is aggressively strange the first thing that he does makes you almost instantly hate him he takes off his shirt in front of Jess who he's meeting for the first time presents his body to her and asks what she thinks of it what about these things look amazing to you sorry in the pilot episode Schmidt's entire character comes off as a somewhat misogynistic entitled arrogant Man Child one can't help but wonder if there's enough space in the douchebag jar for an entire human being at the Forefront of Schmidt's character lies an air of unfettered self-absorption which limits our view of his better character traits the narcissistic qualities present in the early portrayal of his character feel a bit out of place in regard to the show's overall Rhythm and pacing it's clear what the writers were trying to do here they were trying to set Schmidt up to be a comedic foil early on in the series however imbuing a character with too many negative and problematic traits without balancing them with some empathy or Charm isn't the smartest way to introduce an audience to characters Schmidt you have a real problem throughout the show's inaugural season Schmidt consistently finds himself in strangely problematic places he is presented as a terrible friend on paper this probably comes off as fun and funny from a writer's perspective characters like Schmidt which are so clearly defined by their inherent flaws are somewhat simpler to plug into any given scenario since we know what Schmidt's deal is it becomes a source of familiarity to understand how he will respond to any given set of stimuli Schmidt's relatability is rooted in his Endless Quest for perfection in nearly all of his dealings but this often works as a detriment to his character as much as it serves him not only does this prevent him from actually being able to consider anyone else's perspective on the world around him it also prevents the other characters on the show from getting too close to him when we start to get Schmidt's backstory and we see these clips of him as a chubby college student these behaviors start to make sense however those scenes don't start happening until you get about 19 episodes into the first season that's quite a long time to get some relatable justification for his abrasive demeanor this will just always be the fat kid with the Big Dreams Schmidt is also initially betrayed as a manipulator he employs questionable tactics at times to get people to behave in the ways he would like them to behave while the tactic Schmidt utilizes to get characters to bend to his will are definitely fun there's an unintended function that occurs from the viewer's perspective when watching the early development of his character we don't trust him at all it's hard to be on a character's side when you have zero trust for that character's ability to care for others Schmidt also lies through his teeth throughout the show he pretends he's related to Mitt Romney he manipulates CeCe into a variety of different scenarios and he goes out of his way to inflict suffering on his friends Schmidt behaves more often than not like a terrible person ouch this works well for a show Like It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia where literally every principal character behaves in untrustworthy ways and is arguably a terrible person but for a sitcom like new girl Behavior like this almost serves as a hindrance to progress as The Show Goes On they hate me because of my personality I can totally change my personality Schmidt begins to course correct as the show plays out and the writers do a really fantastic job of turning the more problematic aspects of his character into challenges that Schmidt is required to overcome in his quest to be a better person but his journey is still littered with abhorrent Behavior along the way take for instance the beginning of the show's third season Nick and Jess are dating and for all intents and purposes they seem extremely happy with one another Schmidt feels like the two of them dating pose some kind of threat or problem to him and decides to take it upon himself to do everything in his power to force their relationship to end at this point in time Schmidt has a vast understanding of Nick's feelings towards Jess and he knows full well that Nick wants to be with her it was just needless Conflict for the sake of creating conflict are you like a couple now have you thought any of this through Nick stop being so selfish and just help me Schmidt really starts to turn Corners in his developing relationship with CC throughout the course of the show but by normal human standards CeCe should have moved on and not looked back several times over Not only was Schmidt at one point in time carrying on a double life with her he lied to her manipulated her and tried to control her actions even when he had no business doing so running around and imposing your will over others because of your personal dislike in their decisions is not something friends do and it's certainly not something you do to someone who you have romantic feelings for Schmidt's increasingly poor Behavior started to taper off after season three thankfully the writers pulled the ripcord at the very last minute before they went too far and slowly but surely Schmidt began a long path to Redemption his manipulations became less frequent his narcissism while still present begins lessening and there's a point about Midway through season 3 where it almost seems like Schmidt has been seeing some sort of therapist in the way he reacts to things he starts becoming more reasonable and starts to feel like a fully fleshed out human rather than his somewhat cartoonish presentation of a well-intended narcissist can we just take a moment to celebrate me Schmidt really did it this time Winston Saint Marie Schmidt is one of those characters that tries to Garner the audience's Intrigue through extreme outlandish problematic behavior however the inherent likability of the characters in new girl make Schmidt's Antics stand out like a sore thumb thankfully the writers decided to change the direction of his character just in time before he did something completely irredeemable his problematic Behavior ends up working to his Advantage later on because it gives him a full and complete Arc which holds true to the age-old saying there are no mistakes there are only New Opportunities new girls writers took the mistakes they were making with Schmidt's development and were able to weave them into a finale that made it all feel intentional it's a master's drug that you are able to accomplish but his character does end up in a place that feels relatable and more importantly forgivable and that's it for this one folks feel free to let us know what you think in the comments section below you might see some links floating around in the player window here feel free to click on those if you'd like to stick around and thanks for watching nerdstalgic

Channel: Nerdstalgic

Views: 62,859

Keywords: New Girl, New Girl Schmidt, New Girl Problem, New Girl Final Season, New Girl Jess Day, Nerdstalgic, New Girl Nick Miller, New Girl Jake Johnson, New Girl Max Greenfield, New Girl Schmidt Problem, New Girl Sitcom, New Girl NBC, New Girl Friends, Friends, Friends Finale Season, Friends Reunion, Friends Best Of, Friends Ross and Rachel, The Office, The Office Michael Scott, Parks and Recreation, Parks and Recreation Andy Dwyer, Sitcoms, New Rockstars, IGN, Screen Crush, Nerdist

Id: NG8IX80xLL4

Length: 8min 2sec (482 seconds)

Published: Mon Jun 12 2023