New Girl S2 E6 – Halloween

Last updated on June 10, 2021

This podcast covers New Girl Season 2, Episode 6, Halloween, which originally aired on October 30, 2012 and was written by David Iserson and directed by Jesse Peretz.

Episode Recap

Jess is working at a haunted house for a Halloween festival and realizes that she has real feelings for Sam. Meanwhile, Nick reconnects with an old college flame, Schmidt tries to get back together with Cece, and Winston tries to rekindle his relationship with Shelby.

Episode Notes

On this episode’s Pop Culture section we reviewed:

• Beverly Hills Chihuahua – When Nick is telling Amelia about Los Angeles he says that many of the scenes of Beverly Hills Chihuahua were shot in the city.
• Axel Foley – Schmidt calls Winston Axel Foley when Winston’s dressed up as a cop for Halloween.

Additional Pop Culture References such as:

• Woody Allen – Schmidt thought Jess’ haunted house costume looked like a zombie version of Woody Allen. For over six decades, Woody Allen is known for being an American film director, writer, actor, and comedian for multiple Academy Award-winning films. Woody Allen is also known for his odd relationships and recently, allegations of sexual abuse.
• Marx Brothers – Winston added to the conversation of ragging on Jess’ costume by imitating the Marx Brothers. The Marx Brothers were an American family comedy act that was in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in motion pictures from 1905 to 1949. The brother’s characters consisted of Chico, Harpo, Groucho, and Zeppo, each of whom developed a highly distinctive stage persona.
• [The Teenage Mutant] Ninja Turtle[s] – Robby mentioned that it was his dream to be a Ninja Turtle. Ninja Turtle is short for The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles which are are a fictional superhero quartet of juvenile bipedal tortoises, trained in the ancient art of ninjitsu ninja that appear in a self-titled franchise consisting of comic books, animated children’s cartoons, feature films, and other tie-in products.
• Bea Arthur – While not mentioned in the episode, Nick was dressed up as Bea Arthur by wearing a bee antenna and a shirt that says Arthur. Bea Arthur was an American activist, comedian, and actress. She started her career in 1947 and performed in musicals, operas, tv, and film.
• Bugs Bunny – When Sam is trying to downplay his interaction with kids at this office, he says that the kid gave him a picture where she just traced Bugs Bunny. Bugs Bunny is an animated cartoon character created in the 1930s and has since appeared in more films than any other cartoon character and has his own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
• Guy who shot John Lennon –  Schmidt thought Robby looked like a guy who shot John Lennon dressed as a Ninja Turtle in his Halloween costume. Mark David Chapman murdered John Lennon in 1980 and at the time Mark David Chapman’s appearance was similar to Robby’s in this episode. John Lennon was a British singer-songwriter who was a frontman of The Beatles, the famed British rock band. 
• Matthew McConaughey in Magic Mike – Schmidt’s second costume after he gives Robby his Abe Lincoln suit is Matthew McConaughey in the movie Magic Mike. This movie aired in 2012 and centered around a young, new male stripper and his mentor. Matthew McConaughey plays Dallas, a strip club owner who has dreams of a full empire of clubs.

We also cover how Schmidt is obviously going to be young Abe Lincoln for Halloween as our “Schmidtism”. Our “not in the 2020s” were how Schmidt continues to put Robby down and the way he jumped up on the carousel with Cece. Our “yes in the 2020s” was everything about Robby and Sam being honest. We also explore the careers of Maria Thayer (Amelia) and Nate Hartley (Frankenstein’s monster), the guest stars of this episode.

Also in this episode were the following guest stars who we do not discuss in the podcast: Zoë Hall (the demon nurse), Lora Plattner (the mummy), Hesley Harps (the coat of arms), and Ryan Christiansen (the cop).

In this podcast we also mentioned the iconic scene from Beverly Hills Cop where Axel Foley put a banana in a car’s tailpipe. In our spoiler section, we also mentioned an article that covers how this episode might predict future storylines which you can find here (but does have spoilers!).

The Halloween costumes of the episode are:

• Jess – Zombie of Christina Barcelona
• Schmidt – Young Abraham Lincoln (and later Matthew McConaughey from Magic Mike)
• Nick – Bea Arthur
• Winston – Cop
• Cece – Angel
• Robby – Ninja Turtle
• Shelby – Reigning Cats and Dogs
• Sam – Clown (although he only wears a nose)

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

• Abraham Lincoln – Schmidt decides to dress up like Young Abe Lincoln for Halloween; Abraham Lincoln was the United States’ 16th President from 1861 until 1865 when he was assassinated. He led the United States through the American Civil War and is often remembered as a hero of the US and is always ranked as one of the greatest American presidents in history. 
• Queen of England – When Winston is trying to explain why Shelby’s outfit doesn’t make sense, he says that he doesn’t see the Queen of England running around with a cape and British people stapled to it. The current Queen of England is Elizabeth II born in 1926 and she became the queen in 1952. She is the longest serving female head of state and the world’s oldest living monarch.
• Purim – When Cece tells Schmidt to change she mentions that he has more costumes in his closet and Schmidt clarifies that they’re for Purim which occurs in March. Purim is a Jewish holiday which is recounted in the Book of Esther from the 5th century BCE to remember the saving of the Jewish people from a Persian official. It is celebrated on the 14th day of the Hebrew month Adar and some customs include wearing masks and costumes while celebrating publicly and in parades.
• Guillotine Choke Hold – As Schmidt is talking to Winston about Cece, he mentions putting Robby into a guillotine choke hold to “show [him] a nice guy”. This is a martial arts and wrestling form using the arms to circle their opponent’s neck like a guillotine. This prevents airflow to the lungs and is done to prevent the opponent from escaping. A guillotine was best known in the French Revolution as a way to carry out executions by beheading.

This episode got an 8/10 Rating from Kritika whose favorite character was Nick and Kelly rated this episode an 8.5/10 and her favorite character was Jess!

Thanks for listening and stay tuned for Episode 7!

Music: “Hotshot” by scottholmesmusic.com