New Girl S1 E22 – Tomatoes

Last updated on February 25, 2021

This podcast covers New Girl Season 1, Episode 22, which originally aired on April 24, 2012 and was directed by Michael Spiller and written by David Walpert & Kim Rosenstock.

Episode Recap

Jess sees Russell’s ex-wife, Ouli, at the gym and invites her to dinner with Russell. The dinner is weird and Jess looks for more passion in her relationship with Russell, which ultimately leads to their breakup. Through a date with Cece’s roommate, Nadia, Schmidt and Cece own up to the feelings they have for each other despite Schmidt’s broken penis. All while Nick has sworn off women to instead grow….tomatoes. 

Episode Notes

On this episode’s Pop Culture section we focused on:

• Freeze Frame + The Breakfast Club Fist Pump – In the opening scene Nick is proud of his commitment to grow tomatoes and first jumps up in the air yelling “freeze frame” followed by him throwing his fist in the air similar to the scene from The Breakfast Club.
• Cheap Trick / “Surrender” – When Jess is trying to calm the disputes between Russell and Ouli, she sings the song “Surrender” by the band Cheap Trick. She also sang this song as a child when she was trying to stop her parents from fighting.

Additional Pop Culture References such as:

• “Thriller” Video – Winston says that Nick looks like one of the guys who crawls out of the grave in the “Thriller” video when he’s setting up his scarecrow. The “Thriller” video is the music video for a Michael Jackson song released in 1983 that references a number of horror films and has imagery of zombies climbing out of graves in it.
• Batmobile – When Russell is dropping Jess off at her apartment she mentions that the Batmobile doesn’t even have as many buttons as his car. This is a reference to the famous car that the fictional superhero Batman drives. It is known to have had many gadgets built in. While typically only characters are eligible for copyrights, the Batmobile is also copyrighted by DC Comics.
• The Tree of Life – Schmidt mentions that while having sex with Nadia he finally understands what the movie The Tree of Life was about. This movie is centered around finding the meaning of life from the perspective of a middle-aged man’s childhood memories mixed with imagery of the beginning of the known universe and planet.
• Bernadette Peters – In the final scene, Winston tries to mess with Schmidt by naming things that Schmidt finds attractive and he mentions the actress Bernadette Peters. Bernadette Peters is an American actress who has been in musical theater, TV, film, performed in solo concerts and released recordings over her five decade long career. 
• When Nick is stuffing his scarecrow into the trash, Winston compares it to if Martin Scorsese had a version of Wizard of Oz.
  • Martin Scorsese – Martin Scorsese is an American film director who is widely regarded as one of the most significant directors in film history. His works are also known for their depiction of violence and use of profanity liberally, giving them darker themes.
  • The Wizard of Oz – The Wizard of Oz is a book that was remade into many forms of media including into the musical Wicked mentioned on an earlier podcast. One of the main characters in the story is a scarecrow that is looking for its brain.
• When Schmidt and Nadia are on their date, Schmidt asks Nadia what she “likes about America”. Nadia responds with a list of things including: 
  • Despicable Me – Despicable Me is a 2010 movie about a criminal mastermind who uses a family of orphaned girls to try and execute his schemes. It spawned 3 sequels and 2 prequels of which two are still in development.
  • Tosh 2.0 – Tosh 2.0 is an American television show that aired on Comedy Central from 2009-2020 hosted by comedian Daniel Tosh. The show has a controversial tone and discusses topics like viral videos, pop culture, and celebrities.
  • Connect Four – Connect Four is a classic board game focused on connecting four checkers in a row while preventing your opponent from doing the same. 
  • David Fincher – David Andrew Leo Fincher is an American film director. Known for his psychological thrillers, such as Fight Club, The Social Network, and Gone Girl, his films have received thirty nominations at the Academy Awards including two for Best Director.
  • 1-800-SLIM – While 1-800-SLIM is not a real phone number, this is a play on 1-800-GET-THIN. 1-800-GET-THIN was an American marketing company that you could call to buy weight-loss products.
  • “Your Mama” Jokes – A “Your Mama” Joke is an insult targeted towards one’s mother. While the jokes are controversial, they gained prominence during the 1990s and early 2000s.
  • Wilmer Valderrama – Wilmer Eduardo Valderrama is an American actor, producer, singer, and television personality. He is known for his role as Fez in That ’70s Show and as Carlos Madrigal in From Dusk till Dawn: The Series.
  • “Mick Mouse” / Mickey Mouse – Mickey Mouse is a cartoon mouse created in 1928. Mickey serves as the mascot of the Walt Disney Company.

We also cover the Mick Mouse scene between Schmidt and Nadia as our “Schmidtism” this week. For “Not in 2020” on this episode we discuss the treatment of Nadia as a foreigner by all the characters and writers. We also explore the careers of Jeanne Tripplehorn and Rebecca Ballantine Reid, the guest stars of this episode.

This episode got an 8/10 Rating from Kritika whose favorite character was Nick and Kelly rated this episode a 7.5/10 and her favorite character was Winston!

Thanks for listening and stay tuned for Episode 23!

Music: “Hotshot” by scottholmesmusic.com