New Girl S2 E23 – Virgins

Last updated on November 5, 2021

This podcast covers New Girl Season 2, Episode 23, Virgins, which originally aired on April 30, 2013 and was written by Elizabeth Meriwether and directed by Alec Berg.

Episode Recap

After Jess gets a text from Teddy, the guy who took her “flower”, the whole loft (plus Cece) share their stories about how they lost their virginity.

Episode Notes

On this episode’s Pop Culture section we reviewed:

• David Foster Wallace – When Jess was slowly telling her story, Schmidt asked her to get to the point and called her David Foster Wallace. 
• The Rolling Stones vs The Beatles – Cece lost her virginity to Mick Jagger, the front man for The Rolling Stones. Schmidt, however, called out “Beatlemania”.

Additional Pop Culture References such as:

• Gérard Depardieu – When Schmidt busts into Cece’s apartment, rather than answer who he is to Cece’s Auntie, he says he’s Gérard Depardieu. Gérard Xavier Marcel Depardieu is a French actor known for performances in The Last Metro, Police, Jean de Florette, and Cyrano de Bergerac. He was granted citizenship of Russia in January 2013 and became a cultural ambassador of Montenegro in the same month.
• Dave Matthews / “Daver” – In Schmidt’s flashback, Nick was going to a Dave Matthews concert and called himself a “Daver”. Dave Matthews Band is an American rock band, formed in 1991 in Charlottesville, Virginia. As of 2018, the band had sold more than 20 million concert tickets and a combined total of 38 million CDs and DVDs. Dave Matthews Band is known for their concerts where they play songs differently each performance and that is a staple of their live shows since the 1990s.
• “Stay (I Missed You)” – Lisa Loeb – All throughout Jess’s story, this song played over the scenes. “Stay (I Missed You)” is a song by American singer-songwriter Lisa Loeb that was released in May 1994 as the lead single from the original movie soundtrack to Reality Bites. Lyrically, the song deals with a relationship that has recently ended, but the narrator is now regretful.
• Titanic – During Nick’s Dad’s business trip, Winston and Nick were watching Titanic on TV. Titanic is a 1997 American epic romance and disaster film directed, written, produced, and co-edited by James Cameron. The film incorporates both historical and fictional aspects of the RMS Titanic and stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet. 
• Annie – In the flashback, Nick’s dad mentioned needing alcoholic drinks to get through Annie, which is a Broadway musical based upon the popular Harold Gray comic strip Little Orphan Annie and loosely based on the 1885 poem Little Orphant Annie written by James Whitcomb Riley. The original Broadway production opened in 1977 and ran for almost six years.
• “Anything Could Happen” – Ellie Goulding – When Jess and Nick get together, the song “Anything Could Happen” by Ellie Goulding is playing. “Anything Could Happen” is a song on English singer/songwriter Ellie Goulding’s second album, Halcyon. “Anything Could Happen” peaked at number five on the UK Singles Chart.

We also cover the flashback scene of Schmidt and Nick talking about sex in college as our “Schmidtism”. For “Not in the 2020s” we discuss Nick’s father getting a prostitute for his son and Jess asking her date to “be a man” again. For “Yes in the 2020s” we celebrate the consent and gender equality talked about on the episode as well as Schmidt and Nick’s talk about intercourse. We also give a brief look into Brenda Song (Daisy) and Johnny Pemberton (Jess’s prom date), the Guest Stars we feature on this episode.

Also in this episode were the following guest stars who we do not discuss in the podcast: Dennis Farina (Walt – Previously discussed in S2E13), Merritt Wever (Elizabeth – Previously discussed in S2E22), Satya Bhabha (Shivrang – Previously discussed in S2E18), Lauren Weedman (Mysteria), Carla Renata (Octopussy), Christopher Wallinger (Teddy), Dylan O’Brien (The Guy), Trixx Ian Vitolo (Murder Victim), Joseph Culp (Mick Jagger Voice), and Nick Adams (Bartender).

We also share this article (which contains spoilers) where we learned that while they were hoping for an easy episode, this was the hardest episode due to the costume changes and everyone being in each other’s flashbacks. We also talk about how this was Dennis Farina’s last role before his death.

While not discussed in the podcast, we noted other references in this episode including:

• Tuxedo vs. Suit – When Nick says he’s worn a tuxedo before, Schmidt explains to him that a tuxedo is different from a suit. The main difference is that tuxedos have satin details, are only worn with white shirts that have a wing or turndown collar, and typically are accessorized with a cummerbund, waistcoat, suspenders, and a self-tied bow tie.
• Iraqi War – Schmidt says it was during the Iraqi War that he learned that men could be on top during sex. The Iraqi War was a United states led invasion of Iraq to overthrow Saddam Hussein and lasted 8 years from 2003 to 2011.
• Took My Flower – Jess brings about the plot of this episode by talking about Teddy, the man who “took her flower”. This is a euphemism to indicate taking someone’s virginity.

This episode got an 8.5/10 rating from Kritika whose favorite character was Nick and Kelly rated this episode a 9/10 and her favorite character was Schmidt!

Thanks for listening and stay tuned for Episode 24!

Music: “Hotshot” by scottholmesmusic.com