'New Girl' Season 1, Episode 10 Recap - 'Story of the 50'

The Douchebag Jar makes its big return! And you thought that "New Girl" had given up on that gag. No sir.

This episode was a cute little foray into sitcom land for "New Girl," as it took a rather "How I Met Your Mother" style approach to the episode's structure: we're presented with a mystery at the beginning of the episode as the roommates declare that Schmidt must put $50 in the Douchebag Jar. What horrible thing did he do last night during his 29th birthday that brought things to this point? Let's go back in time and find out!

It all starts as Schmidt's birthday plans fall through: his party bus reservation was given to Frankie Muniz. Jess jumps in and offers to plan a new party for him, which is of course Jess-ified: the party bus is a school bus, Jess was forced into inviting her principal (Rachael Harris) in order to get some pot, and the stripper turns out to be a dude (played by the ever-hilarious Matt Besser).

Nick, who has been avoiding introducing his new girlfriend Julia (another awesome guest star in Lizzy Caplan) to the roommates, ends up having to take her to this disaster party, where she discovers all kinds of embarrassing stuff about him. Most of it involves "bro juice." But the tables are turned when she clocks Schmidt's "bronemy" (or "fremesis" if you prefer) in the face and reveals that she has crazy anger issues. Fortunately, the two of them are adorable together, and Caplan should be on for at least a short arc.

So what's the answer to the big mystery? This: after such a fun night, orchestrated by Jess, Schmidt gets in the mood and tries to kiss her, which is of course a disaster. Hence, the $50 in the Douchebag Jar. However, any one of Schmidt's douchebag-o-rama lines throughout the credits could also warrant a pretty big bill.

Bonus points for flashback to Fat Schmidt, complete with fatsuit. Awesome.

Notes & Quotes:

-"You honk the nipple. It's pretty awesome."

-Bros before hoes on the moon sounds like a pretty great party to me, actually.

-"Schmidt has a friend who legally changed his name to doinit. One word."

-"....in a hot way."

-"....and he's also one of my best friends."