"Cooler" is the fifteenth episode of New Girl's second season.
Nick, Schmidt, and Winston try to pick up girls. Bringing their dates home spirals into a game of True American that brings some truths out.
Tropes in this episode:
- Almost Kiss: Nick and Jess try to kiss under the pressure of a drinking game throughout most of the episode. They got a lot of false starts on that front before Nick kisses Jess for real after everyone else has gone to bed.Jess: God, Miller just kiss me already.
- Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: Of course, everybody was screaming, but when they thought Nick was trying to jump off the building Schmidt burst into tears and passed out. This from a guy whose usual approach to the friendship is mockery with occasional forays into Homoerotic Subtext.
- Big Damn Kiss: An entire episode's worth of buildup. During a game of True American, Nick and Jess end up having to kiss, with a clear and present threat of tongue. Nick ends up climbing out the window instead after telling her "Not like this!" Then at the end of the episode..."I meant something like that."
- Conspicuous Trenchcoat: It's implied that Nick's trenchcoat is seen as suspicious, at it apparently had something to do with getting them kicked out of an establishment.
- Headbutt of Love: Nick and Jess briefly touch foreheads after their first kiss. Followed by more kissing.
- Now or Never Kiss: After accidentally confessing that he really does want to kiss her, Nick and Jess find themselves awake in the middle of the night, whereupon Nick figures that, well, he already reached the point of no return...cue liplock.
- Open Mouth, Insert Foot: When pressed about why he can't just kiss her, Nick blurts out that he didn't want to kiss her in a meaningless context like a drinking game. And then he nearly threw himself off a building in embarrassment.
- Sinister Scraping Sound: Jess is freaked when left alone by herself because she hears scratching noises. It turns out be a neighbor's Big Friendly Dog that tackles Nick.
- Smash Cut: Jess's boyfriend Sam pops up while she's trapped in a closet with Nick, and Jess and the audience is led to believe this is her out... cue an abrupt cut for Sam chanting along the others for them to kiss.
- Ten Minutes in the Closet: Played with when Nick and Jess get locked "behind the iron curtain" to kiss as part of a game, though they had no immediate issues to resolve (that they knew of) and Nick jumped out a window to avoid having to go through with it...until later.
- Weakness Turns Her On: Nick and Schmidt compete over a girl who is aroused by other people's misery.
- Wedding Ring Defense: Daisy is able to help Winston with his crippling inability to speak to women because as a married woman, there's no pressure. At the end of the episode, she takes off the ring and reveals that she's single and using this trope to dodge creeps.
