Last updated on August 15, 2021
This podcast covers New Girl Season 2, Episode 13, A Father’s Love, which originally aired on January 15, 2013 and was directed by Jake Kasdan and written by Berkley Johnson and Josh Malmuth.
Episode Recap
Nick is surprised when his father shows up for an unexpected visit and Jess finds out that he’s a con man when hilarity ensues at a horse race track. Meanwhile, Schmidt runs into Robby and both try to win Cece back.
Episode Notes
On this episode’s Pop Culture section we reviewed:
- Kalinka – When Nick and his dad were being confronted by the Russian horse dealers, the Russians started singing the Russian folk tune, Kalinka.
- Sugar Ray [Leonard] / Sugar Ray [Robinson] – The con Nick did as a kid was called the Sugar Ray, where he would pretend to be a diabetic kid.
Additional Pop Culture References such as:
- Chicago Bulls (“Chica Go Bills”) – The hats Walt tried to get Nick and Winston to sell as kids didn’t say “Chicago Bulls”, but instead said “Chica Go Bills”. The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago. The Bulls compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league’s Eastern Conference Central Division.
- The Music Man – Professor Harold Hill from The Music Man used the scheme of “Fake trombones for a fake band” like Jess references when she learns that Walt is a con man. The Music Man is a 1962 American musical film based on Meredith Willson’s 1957 Broadway musical of the same name. The premise is that Harold Hill poses as a boys’ band leader to con naïve Iowa townsfolk.
- Uncle Buck – When Jess is trying to sell the horse, she exclaims, “Damn it, Uncle Buck! This horse will never race again.” Uncle Buck is a 1989 American comedy film written and directed by John Hughes and starred John Candy as Uncle Buck, a bachelor and all-around-slob who babysits his brother’s rebellious teenage daughter and her younger brother and sister.
- When Schmidt is bummed he never got Cece to wear a sari for sexual reasons, he spoofed a few movie scenarios in his head:
- Monsoon Wedding – Monsoon Wedding is a 2001 Indian comedy-drama film that depicts romantic entanglements during a traditional Punjabi Hindu wedding in Delhi. Although it is set entirely in New Delhi, the film was an international co-production between companies in India, the United States, Italy, France, and Germany.
- Slumdog Millionaire – Slumdog Millionaire is a 2008 British drama film that is a loose adaptation of the novel Q & A by Indian author Vikas Swarup, telling the story of 18-year-old Jamal Malik from the Juhu slums of Mumbai reflecting on his life after being accused of cheating on the Indian version of “Who Wants to be a Millionaire?”.
- The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel – The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel is a 2011 British comedy-drama film based on the novel These Foolish Things by Deborah Moggach, and features a group of British pensioners moving to a retirement hotel in India, run by a young and eager man.
- Hilary Swank – Jess says Nick seems like Hilary Swank mixed with a wet dog when he was nervous about lying. Hilary Ann Swank is an American actress and film producer. She began acting in 1992 and came to international recognition in the early 2000s for her performances as Brandon Teena, a trans man, in Kimberly Peirce’s Boys Don’t Cry, and as Maggie Fitzgerald, an aspiring boxer, in Clint Eastwood’s Million Dollar Baby.
- When Schmidt and Robby were brainstorming a plan to get Cece back they referenced:
- Ocean’s Twelve / Brad Pitt – Ocean’s Twelve is an American heist comedy film and is the second installment of the Ocean’s franchise. William Bradley [Brad] Pitt is an American actor and film producer who received multiple accolades including: two Golden Globe Awards and an Academy Award for his acting, and another Academy Award, another Golden Globe Award and a Primetime Emmy Award as a producer.
- Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid – Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid is a 1969 American Western film based loosely on fact, telling the story of Wild West outlaws Robert LeRoy Parker, known as Butch Cassidy, and his partner Harry Longabaugh, the “Sundance Kid” who are two con men on the run. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid was selected by the American Film Institute as the 7th-greatest Western of all time in 2008.
We also cover Robby and Schmidt’s conversation about elephants as our “Schmidtism” this episode. For our “not in the 2020s” we discuss Schmidt and Robby crashing Cece’s house, how they exclaimed ‘white guy power’, and their lack of sensitivity for others’ cultures. Our “yes in the 2020s” covers Schmidt and Robby’s friendship. We also give a brief look into Dennis Farina (Walt), Stone Eisenmann (Young Nick), and Jordan Fuller (Young Winston), the guest stars of this episode.
Also in this episode were the following guest stars who we do not discuss in the podcast: Nelson Franklin (Robby – Previously discussed in S2E1), Pasha D. Lychnikoff (Buyer #1), Ivo Nandi (Buyer #2), Nick Vallelonga (Owner), Cris D’Annunzio (Dusty), Mona Sishodia (Pavun’s aunt), Juliocesar Chavez (Kid), Sunit Gupta (Pavun’s Father), Thushari Jayasekera (Pavun’s cousin), and Andy Kimbel (Race Fan).
We also discuss how the character Pavun Shetty is played by himself and he was a producer on New Girl, how Nick’s room has a picture of Jimmy Croche in it, and how the glass of orange juice that Schmidt knocks over while stalking Cece is upright when he talks to Robby later.
While not discussed in the podcast, we noted other references in this episode including:
- (Vice President) Joe Biden – In this episode, Nick mentions that one of the people he’d want to be unpredictable is Vice President Joe Biden. Joseph Biden Jr. was born in 1942 and served as the 47th Vice President of the United States from 2009 to 2017 under President Barack Obama. He was also elected the 46th President of the United States in 2021. Prior to his time as a Vice President he was also the Delaware Senator for 36 years, being sworn in just after he turned 30.
- Sari – When Cece is meeting with Pavun’s family, she’s wearing a sari which makes Schmidt upset. A sari is an article of clothing, traditionally from the Indian subcontinent that is wrapped around the waist with one end around the shoulder. There are many styles of wearing the sari and most are worn with a blouse and an under-skirt called a petticoat.
- Throughout the episode Schmidt and Robby circled through multiple ideas on how to get Cece back including the following:
- Trojan horse – This is a reference to the wooden horse used by the Greeks to enter Troy and win the Trojan War by sneaking inside and destroying the city. Since, it has metaphorically been used to mean any trick that invites the target to invite their enemy into a secure location that they are in.
- Buying a Star – Although there are a number of registries that allow you to buy and name a star which results in a certificate with the star’s name, no astronomer or observatory will refer to the star by the name you purchased as this is more of a novelty gift.
- United States Navy Ball – The “Naval Officers’ Ball” that Robby mentioned is an annual celebratory ball recognizing the birthday of the United States Navy, which was signed into order on October 13, 1775. During the Ball, there is also a keynote speech, dinner and desserts, a cake cutting ceremony, official toasts from high level officers, and even musical performances.
This episode got a 7.5/10 Rating from Kritika whose favorite character was Nick and Kelly rated this episode a 7.5/10 and her favorite character was Jess!
Thanks for listening and stay tuned for Episode 14!
Music: “Hotshot” by scottholmesmusic.com
Be First to Comment