Penny Thoughts ‘13—New Girl, season 2 (2012-2013) ***½

TV-14, 25 24-min. episodes

Creator: Elizabeth Meriwether

Directors: Steve Pink, Larry Charles, Fred Goss, Eric Apple, Jesse Peretz, Jason Woliner, Neal Brennan, Tristram Shapeero, Craig Zisk, Alec Berg, Jake Kasdan, Lynn Shelton, Max Winkler, Lorene Scarfia, Matt Sohn

Writers: Elizabeth Meriwether, Kay Cannon, J.J. Philbin, Berkley Johnson, Josh Malmuth, David Iserson, Kim Rosenstock, Ryan Koh, Donick Cary, Luvh Rakhe, Nick Adams, Rebecca Addelman, Brett Baer, David Finkel, Sophia Lear

Starring: Zooey Deschanel, Jake Johnson, Max Greenberg, Lamorne Morris, Hannah Simone

Guest starring: Parker Posey, Rachael Harris, Nelson Franklin, David Walton, Anna Maria Horsford, Raymond J. Barry, Josh Gad, Latika Sye, Kali Hawk, Charlie Saxton, Morgan Krantz, Jinny Chung, Jasmine DiAngelo, Rebecca Reid, Jason Antoon, James Michael Connor, Maria Thayer, Carla Gugino, Ralph Ahn, Stone Eisenmann, Jamie Lee Curtis, Rob Riggle, Rob Reiner, Jeff Kober, Olivia Munn, Dennis Farina, Jordan Fuller, Nathan Corddry, Marcelo Tubert, Marcia Ann Burrs, Satya Bhabha, Meera Simhan, Andy Gala, Brenda Song, Steve Agee, Steve Howey, Odette Annable, Margo Martindale, Ellen Albertini Dow, Eric Edelstein, Bill Burr, Nick Kroll, Lila Lucchetti, Dermot Mulroney, Merritt Weaver, Lauren Dair Owens, Jaidan Jiron, Curtis Armstrong, Mary Lynn Rajskub, Taylor Swift

It’s nice when a television series doesn’t take five seasons to do what we all want it to from the pilot episode on. I don’t understand the thinking behind throwing two people together in a sitcom who obviously should be together and then making them wait five seasons to realize it. That being said, it took far too long for Jess and Nick to get together on “New Girl”. I know. Where are they going to go with it now? Who cares? It’s over with. Now, we can concentrate a little more on what makes this series so fun.

Just what is that? I have no idea, but it’s great. I think it has something to do with the fact that the writers of this show aren’t really all that concerned with being realistic. These people don’t behave like real people; they behave the way we wish we did. If you want something, take it. If you think something, say it. Be damned with the consequences. However, those consequences always come back to haunt them. That’s why it fun. It teaches us why we don’t act this way.

In my first season review, I compare it to “Seinfeld”. For the most part, that’s true. I think it got a little too caught up in the relationships this season, but they were still a lot of fun to explore because of the unconventional way these characters go about everything. While the spotlight is squarely upon Zooey Deschanel and Jake Johnson, especially as they grow closer, it has always given fair time to the character of Schmidt, who pretty much stole the first season. This year the fourth roommate gets a better treatment, and quickly Lamorne Morris’s character Winston is shaping into my favorite of the bunch.

Perhaps it’s because Winston’s just not so attached to what he’s supposed to be in the full dynamic of the group; but he is always the voice of reason when none of the other characters can muster it, and the rest of the time he’s just out there. I love how they developed his inability to play practical jokes this season. The “jokes” he comes up with are absurdly morbid most of the time, if not down right deadly. This trait culminated in the introduction of a badger to a traditional Indian wedding in this season’s finale. Now, when is a badger not funny? Only when it’s chewing your face off, that’s when.