New Girl recap: Season 6, Episode 7

Here come the Thanksgiving episodes! With the holiday just days away, you bet turkey is making its way onto TV, and New Girl is no exception.

On the big day, Robby makes a surprise appearance, which is bad for Jess because she was planning on ending things once he recovered from his injuries; Schmidt’s dad, Gavin (Peter Gallagher), arrives, but is a total emotional mess after being broken up with; and Reagan doesn’t make it as planned, after her boss sends her to Omaha.

Needless to say, it’s a non-traditional Thanksgiving, but certainly an amusing one. With that, here are the top 5 “loft”-iest moments of “Last Thanksgiving”:

Winston’s injury. Last week, Robby basically destroyed his body in a gym accident that left him seriously injured, and this week Winston is injured, too. The thing is, it doesn’t come remotely close to what Robby is going through, and yet Winston acts like it does. He loves Robby because he was there for him when he was hurt “in the line of duty,” but it went more like this: “Winston, you sprained your ankle running for a bagel,” Schmidt says. “Yeah, I was at work though,” Winston replies. “Running for a bagel,” Schmidt reiterates. “Robby’s the only one who understands my pain,” Winston concludes, stubbornly.

Kitchen nightmares. It’s Thanksgiving, so you know there’s bound to be some kitchen drama. Where Nick is concerned, it doesn’t start out that way. He’s actually quite good in the kitchen, chopping away as he’s super excited with Reagan coming to town. “My girl’s coming. Of course my hands are dancing. These knives are a part of me, like that scissorhand guy. What is his name again? Is it Rick Snip?” When Reagan calls to say she can’t make it, his sudden culinary prowess disappears as quickly as it arrived; he chops what looks like an onion in half and pours a bunch of whiskey into the pan with it. Then there’s Robby, who showed up at the loft after he wasn’t allowed to fly because he was too injured. Winston says he’ll watch over him so Jess doesn’t have to break his heart on a holiday, but Robby can’t handle Winston’s bagel story so he returns to Jess. Her solution? She puts him on crouton duty, but the salad is slightly too far out of reach, so he has to throw the croutons into the bowl — and he has really bad aim.

Robby’s speech. Desperate to help his dad feel better, Schmidt goes to Gavin’s ex with Nick along for the ride and pleads that she takes him back. She won’t though because he had been seeing five other women, so Schmidt loses it and confronts his dad back at the loft. Robby joins in on that, because he had seen Gavin making moves on Jess earlier, and he stands up — and wobbles — to give a really nice speech. “You tried to make Jess the seventh woman you’re dating and you don’t even know the first thing about her,” Robby says to Gavin, upon him announcing that he thought Jess was Robby’s physical therapist. “Did you know when she was six, she tried to eat a lightning bug so that her heart would glow like E.T.? Did you know that she tried to give herself Lyme disease out of solidarity to her fourth grade classmate? Or, that she never lets any of her electronics go below below 25 percent just in case someone else needs to use them? Did you know that she’s terrified of the large bubbles in the bubble wrap, but she loves the little, tiny ones? It’s so cute, man. It’d be one thing if you actually had feelings for Jess, but you don’t. You’re just desperate and lonely and you’re trying to use her. You can’t use Jess, because she is a dream girl.”

Schmidt’s speech. After Cece tells Schmidt that it looks like he’s going to have to be the bigger man when it comes to his dad, Schmidt gives a speech too in which he comes to terms. “Dad, I said a lot of things earlier. I don’t want you to be out of my life. I was waiting for you to be someone who you’re not, but I know who you are and I still love you, but you need to listen to me, son to father, get a therapist.” Gavin says he has one, but Schmidt responds, “A better one, and I shouldn’t have to say this, but one that you’re not sleeping with.” Talk about a heartfelt moment.

Another memorable loft Thanksgiving. Perhaps the craziest part of this Thanksgiving is after Robby gives his speech, he completely wipes out and knocks the fully prepared turkey out of Cece’s hand and onto the floor. Nick picks it up, but it’s really hot, so he ends up throwing it against the wall. There you have it, “floor turkey.” After that, Jess goes after Robby because she finally felt the spark that had been missing. (Mind you, this spark came after Jess had friend zoned Robby.) He returns, and they all have a nice holiday. “Happy last loft Thanksgiving everyone,” Jess says, as Schmidt and Cece will be in a new home next year. “They weren’t always perfect, but they were memorable.”

Honorable Mentions:

• Winston’s definition of “oomph.”
• “Remember when you tongue kissed that guy,” Nick to Jess when Gavin arrives.
• “Robby, you’re a great guy, but nothing is ever going to happen between us. However, someday you’re going to open a really wonderful bed and breakfast,” Jess says to Cece, practicing her breakup. Cece tells her that was pretty good, to which Jess responds, “Right? Can you imagine the wine and cheese hour he would put on?”
• Gavin telling Nick that he’s going to be alright because he’s young and has a “rocking bod with kickass buns,” whereas he has “garbage buns,” as they drink over their girl problems.
• Reagan’s inappropriate text to Nick being read out loud by Nick’s phone at the Thanksgiving table.

Episode grade: B+