Nick and Bob get to bond a little more in this episode, which eventually becomes a confession of just what happened last night. Predictably, Bob loses his rag and Nick arms himself adequately, with what looks to be almost the entire cutlery drawer of weapons. Nobody does exasperated but ultimately self-loathing as well as Rob Reiner, and the parallel between Nick and Bob was a really nice reveal, something that I’d never realised before. Maybe I’m just stupid, it seems so obvious in retrospect.
Schmidt ruins things with Elizabeth by denying their relationship in front of his controlling boss. She looks down Elizabeth because of her appearance, and because of her Y2Kitty Cat t-shirt, which she wore in the flashback. Schmidt realises the mistake he’s made, and returns later on while she’s on a date with her landlord wearing the same clothes he wore to that same party all those years ago, and more fat dancing ensues.
If anything let the episode down, it’s the ending. It veers from the usual snark into an episode of Friends, with its rooftop restaurant and slow gather of all the characters and their stories into a neat little bow. Sure, there’s some leftfield moments – Winston’s “You know how much I love to explore space and time, man!” and Nick’s final embarrassed look, still not 100% comfortable with what’s happened or whether it will ruin the friendship – but it’s a safe finale where perhaps there should have been more edge.
