If you were hoping the start of a New Year would bring about a reconciliation between Schmidt and Cece on New Girl , then chances are Tuesday's episode "Shark" left you severely disappointed. That's because New Girl introduced a new love interest for Schmidt in the form of Councilwoman Fawn Moscato, played by Zoe Lister-Jones, who goes toe-to-toe with our favorite loftmates due to a night construction dispute. Will this little romantic tryst last? Right now it's still hard to say. However, one thing was made abundantly clear — Schmidt is already starting to fall pretty hard for this strong, independent lady. (He's her Hillary!)
Seriously, though, I haven't seen Schmidt so infatuated with a woman since, well, Cece, which is what makes me all the more worried that this little romance could become something pretty serious down the line. And while I love the kind of sass and flair Lister-Jones is bringing to her role, it's hard for me to completely invest myself in another potential relationship when I've been so anxious to see a Schmidt and Cece reunion finally come to fruition. And yet, the writers are still choosing to keep these two apart. But why?
There are certainly deep, underlying feelings there. You can tell that just by the way they look at one another even when they're referring to themselves as "just friends." I'm not saying I expected these two to simply jump back into a relationship together (though if they did you'd hear no complaints from me). But I had hoped this slow burn would eventually grow more and more heated with time — not almost completely fizzle out altogether. And that's what this episode made it feel like. The end of one great romance and the start of a new one. I mean, Fawn used him for political gain, belittled him, is completely power-hungry, and yet Schmidt not only went crawling back to her, but also deemed to call her the "sexiest woman he's ever met."
Of course, things have looked bad in the Schmidt-Cece department before. (Hey, remember when Cece was engaged?) So I guess I could be jumping the gun just a little here. But I'm getting a little tired of all this back and forth nonsense. I don't mind being teased, writers, as long as it pays off in the end. And right now I feel a little short changed.
Images: Ray Mickshaw/FOX; earnmysong/Tumblr
