Good News If You Missed Reagan On 'New Girl'

Though she won't be appearing until mid-season, New Girl is officially bringing back its newest girl: Megan Fox, of course. The actress — who plays Reagan — will be returning for a New Girl Season 6 arc that could last up to eight episodes, Entertainment Weekly has confirmed. Great news and all, but wait, since Zooey Deschanel's no longer on maternity leave (aka, the reason the showrunners originally brought in Fox), why is Fox coming back to New Girl ? The answer, my friends and fellow New Girl lovers, is simple: To stir up the loft pot, lest things start getting too comfortable.

When New Girl first premiered in 2011, the show was positioned to be all about Jess (Deschanel), a newly single teacher that moves in with three male roommates. And, for a while, it was. As with all sitcoms that last more than a season, though, New Girl has undergone some changes. In the show's fifth season, New Girl's main girl was swapped out with the cool, sardonic Reagan while Jess was away on jury duty. The decision was a risky one — mess with the beloved sitcom trope of keeping things (and characters!) consistent? But, what happened was some sort of magic: It reignited all the things we cherished about New Girl in the first place. What ensued was unbeatable dramatic tension, and a budding relationship between Nick (Jake Johnson) and Reagan.

With the Season 5 finale centering around the conclusion to Schmidt and Cece's on-again-off-again romance (they're finally married! yay!), it seemed like we would be nearing a New Girl conclusion. And then, with Jess's return and breakup with Sam (which of course meant the return of the Jess and Nick love affair), that fate seemed all too imminent. Schmidt and Cece are married, Jess and Nick are flirtatious, Winston's happy with Aly, so... where's the forward momentum? Though Nick was headed off to go spend some time with Reagan in New Orleans, it seemed clear where New Girl was headed: back to Nick and Jess land. All the seeds were planted. Jess was telling Nick things like, "I'm tired of you being the only person who doesn't see how incredible you are," and getting visibly upset seeing him with Reagan.

However, now that we know Reagan is coming back, things aren't so clear for Season 6's trajectory.

Jess might snap back to her old ways in trying to figure out if she and Nick are meant to be, but if Reagan's still in the picture, it's not going to be a happily ever after. Though Nick and Jess have insane chemistry, there's no denying that some of the show's strongest moments occur when the two aren't together. It seems like the show's creators recognize the power of not letting things get easy, and who better to keep us on our toes than Reagan?

So if I had to guess, that's what I would say. Reagan's back because she's the new girl in town, and well, we just kind of need her.

Images: Fox; Giphy (2)