'New Girl' Recap: Season 5, Episode 19: 'Dress'

CeCe tries to sneak a peek at her wedding dress, which Jess is trying to save. Jess refuses to let her see it until it's done, but reassures her it will be completed the next night, so CeCe has time to plan her hair, etc., around it.

It's a lie, however. She hasn't made any progress on the hideous dress.

Nick wants to ask Reagan to the wedding, but he's concerned because she hasn't responded to his text yet. Winston and Aly don't calm him down when they suggest she might be dead. Nick asks CeCe to contact her and see if there's a response.

Schmidt finds Jess with the dress, which has not changed. Jess admits she's been procrastinating, worried she won't be able to make it perfect. It doesn't help that CeCe keeps checking in on her, and she can't work under the pressure. Schmidt takes her to the men's room at his work, his "wedding workshop." As the only male in the building he has turned the bathroom into his creative work space for wedding planning.

Winston and Aly agree they need to keep things quiet about their relationship, but at work, things get tense when Aly joins in with everyone else to tease Winston.

Schmidt's boss, Kim, calls him into her office. She has been getting accidentally copied on all of his wedding planning emails, which also note how busy he is with planning, and how he isn't getting work done. This apparently includes a major project he is late on producing. She warns him if she catches him doing anything wedding related, he will be fired. He runs to the bathroom to kick Jess out, but she has left a note that she is on an idea walk. He races off to find her.

Winston discusses things with Nick, worried about this new change between him and Aly, but Nick says if she wants to keep it normal, keep it normal. CeCe hasn't gotten a text back from Reagan, so Nick texts her from his burner phone and gets an immediate response. She thinks it's "Karen," so Nick decides to be Karen and get some answers. Winston goes back to work and teases and pranks Aly like he used to do, since that's what she seems set on. It's not quite the "normal" Aly was going for. She and Winston end up making out in the evidence room, where the super-nice Officer Daniels discovers them.

Schmidt finds Jess, but unfortunately at the same time as Kim. He lies and says she is the new temp. Kim takes her and makes her run errands including picking up her kids. Jess can't escape.

Winston and Aly ask Daniels to keep what he has seen under wraps, and he's perfectly fine with it... for $5,000. They decide to just announce to everyone that they are dating. Unfortunately that means they can't be partners while dating. They're split up, and one of them will be partnered with their floater.... Daniels, who just tried to blackmail them. They argue over who will be stuck with him, but Winston decides to take him.

Jess ends up bringing Kim's three naughty children back to work in an attempt to continue with the dress, but she and Schmidt are caught. Schmidt gets fired. Jess speaks with Kim and tries to get him the job back. She finds out Kim wants her horrible children to get into the school she works at, Banyon Canyon. Jess discovers she has leverage and gets Schmidt his job back.

Nick has become overwhelmed with his Reagan drama. He has bought countless burner phones but she still hasn't answered his original text. CeCe coaches him to just ask her to the wedding, and Reagan responds and says she knew it was him on the burner phones. She can't go to the wedding because she works... but she misses him.

Jess has failed at the dress, though as she takes it off the dress form, she realizes that, turned inside-out, it's perfect.