Last updated on January 29, 2023
This podcast covers New Girl Season 3, Episode 20, Mars Landing, which originally aired on March 25, 2014 and was directed by Lynn Shelton and was written by Josh Malmuth & Nina Pedrad.
Episode Recap
After a game of True American, the whole gang is hung over. Jess and Nick get into a fight over their differences while the guys try to hit on women moving into Schmidt’s old apartment.
Episode Notes
On this episode’s Pop Culture section we reviewed:
- Emojis vs. Emoticons – Schmidt said Cece should text Buster “one of the little yellow men, the emoticons.”
- Reginald VelJohnson / Carl Winslow / Family Matters – Nick shared that he lost a bet and had to name his first born child “Reginald VelJohnson” who is the actor who played Carl Winslow on the TV show Family Matters.
Additional Pop Culture References such as:
- Magic Johnson’s Child EJ – After True American, Coach thought he “looked like Magic Johnson’s son, EJ,” for wearing ladies sunglasses. EJ is one of Magic Johnson’s three children and currently identifies as gender-fluid. EJ is an actor and an advocate for the LGBTQ+ community.
- Jewel / Pieces of You – When Schmidt was reviewing Cece’s text to Buster, he asked if she had written a Jewel song and if it was from Jewel’s album Pieces of You. Jewel Kilcher is an American singer-songwriter, actress, and author who has received four Grammy Award nominations and has sold over 30 million albums worldwide. Pieces of You is Jewel’s debut studio album from 1995. While the album initially failed to chart, Pieces of You is currently certified 12-times platinum.
- Zachary Quinto – Schmidt was trying to impress the new neighbors by pretending to be on the phone and saying “It’s my garden party, and Zachary Quinto is not on the list.” Zachary John Quinto is an American actor and film producer known for acting in the science fiction drama series Heroes and as Spock in Star Trek films. Quinto also starred in American Horror Story: Asylum, for which he received an Emmy nomination.
- Santa Claus – Nick said he didn’t build the toy for the birthday party because he wasn’t Santa Claus. We shared more about Santa in our podcast episode S2E11 – Santa. Santa Claus, also known as Father Christmas, Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Kris Kringle, or simply Santa, is a legendary figure originating in Western Christian culture who is said to bring gifts during the late evening and overnight hours on Christmas Eve.
- Saving Private Ryan – Nick quoted Saving Private Ryan while breaking up with Jess because it was a big moment in that movie and this was a big moment for them. Saving Private Ryan is a 1998 American epic war film directed by Steven Spielberg. Set in 1944, during the Normandy landings of World War II, the film follows a group of soldiers on their mission to extricate Private James Ryan from the war effort after all of his brothers are killed in battle.
In our “Most Likely To” segment, we discuss who would be more likely to live on Mars, never go to a party they’d been invited to, name their child based on a lost bet, or drunk text someone. Additionally, we cover the sex blink and fight between Schmidt and Coach as our “Schmidtism”. For our “Not in the 2020s” section, we talk about how Schmidt and Coach treated Winston and their idea that helping a girl move was “bad”. In our “Yes in the 2020s” section we celebrate the mature breakup between Jess and Nick and Michelle’s sex-positivity. We also explore the careers of James Frecheville (Buster) and Alexandra Daddario (Michelle), the Guest Stars we feature in this episode.
Also in this episode were the following guest stars who we do not discuss in the podcast: June Diane Raphael (Sadie – Previously Discussed in S1E15) and Stevie Nelson (Laurie).
In our Trivia & Fun Facts section, we reference this AV Club article, written at the time of the episode’s original airing, that mentions some of the similarities between this episode and S2E15 Cooler, where Jess and Nick first kiss. Neither of us found the bear in this episode.
While not discussed in the podcast, we noted other references in this episode including:
- Afghanistan / Second Tour – During the episode, Laurie says her boyfriend was serving his second tour in Afghanistan. The United States invaded Afghanistan in 2011 after the 9-11 attacks, leading to the longest war in the United States’s history. In military terms, a “tour” is the length of time that a soldier leaves their base, usually to be stationed in another country. Having “tours of duty” for soldiers allows them to have time off between tours of service and for the military to rotate their soldiers without overstretching them.
- Zippo – In the episode, Nick mentions that he likes doing Zippo tricks. Zippo is a reusable lighter created by the Zippo Manufacturing Company in the United States that was founded 91 years ago. They have been known as a distinct symbol of the USA. In this article, there is a list of Zippo “tricks” that can be done with the Zippo lighters.
- True American References – Throughout the short game of True American, there were many references to historical figures and places like:
- JFK – This is the nickname for President John F. Kennedy, the 35th President of the United States of America.
- FDR – This is the nickname for President Franklin D. Roosevelt, the 32nd President of the United States of America.
- Grover Cleveland – President Grover Cleveland was both the 22nd and 24th President of the United States of America. He was the only President to serve two non-consecutive terms as President.
- Ellis Island – Ellis Island was the immigration station in New York from 1855 to 1890, where approximately 8 million immigrants passed through. There is a prevalent rumor that some immigrants changed their last names when they passed through Ellis Island.
- Eli Whitney / Cotton Gin – Eli Whitney is known for inventing the cotton gin which is a key invention during the Industrial Revolution. The cotton gin is short for cotton “engine” which was a machine that quickly separated cotton fibers from their seeds that was much faster than manually separating the two.
This episode got a 6/10 rating from Kritika and a 5/10 from Kelly and we both had the same favorite character: Winston!
Thanks for listening and stay tuned for Episode 21!
Music: “Hotshot” by scottholmesmusic.com
Be First to Comment