New Girl: 5 Times Jess Should Have Broken Up With Nick (& 5 Times He Should Have Broken Up With Her)

Every great hangout comedy has a central will they/won’t they romance that helps drive the love-based thrust of the premise. On New Girl, this romance was between the characters of Nick Miller (Jake Johnson) and Jess Day (Zooey Deschanel). In their loft, they were the Ross and Rachel (from Friends) of the group.

However, their relationship was exceedingly rocky. Schmidt and Cece ended up being a much more fun pairing to watch as Nick and Jess just seemed wrong for each other all throughout season three. It took a lot of maturation from both of them before they eventually ended up in a place where breaking up was not a viable option. Still, there were plenty of moments when one should’ve ended things with the other.

10 Break Up With Nick: Girlfriend Hesitation

In the early stages of Nick and Jess’s relationship, the word “girlfriend” is tossed out by Coach. Ever the commitment-phobe, this label causes Nick to pause, which is definitely the one thing he shouldn’t have done.

It seemed pretty clear that the two were dating by this point, so “girlfriend” was not that far-fetched. But Nick’s early hesitation showed there were problems between them from the very beginning.

9 Break Up With Jess: Strippers

Even though Nick’s hesitation was wrong, Jess handles it in the completely wrong way. Rather than trying to communicate with him about the mishap, she instead decides that she wants revenge for her hurt feelings.

As a result, Jess ends up with a stripper in her bed and the need to convince Nick that nothing was going to happen between her and the stripper. Healthy communication is key to a relationship and these two showed time and again that they were incapable of it.

8 Break Up With Nick: Bulls And Pistons

Being from Chicago, Nick is obviously a big fan of the Chicago Bulls. However, yet another misunderstanding arises when Jess forces herself to be into the Detroit Pistons as a way of bonding with Coach.

For whatever twisted reason, Nick decides to take offense to her Pistons fanhood and he becomes withholding in their relationship. It’s such a bizarre, childish thing to get upset about in a relationship. It almost seemed like they were actively looking for reasons to end it.

7 Break Up With Jess: Ignoring Advice

Jess had a lot of growing pains in her career and she was always striving to be accepted by her educational contemporaries. This resulted in Jess going to some extensive lengths to be accepted by the other teachers.

At one point in the episode, “Nerd,” it actually results in criminal activity. Nick strongly advises her against it and does his best to stop her from going through with it, but she doesn’t listen. This should’ve been a sign for Nick to break up with her, due to her out of whack priorities.

6 Break Up With Nick: Box Of Money

The main instigator for actual season three break-up was the fact that Nick was not a responsible adult and he kept his money in a box. Many in the New Girl fandom demonized Jess for this by citing that she knew what kind of man he was.

However, she’s definitely right to do this. They’re not kids anymore and they’re not even irresponsible people in their early 20s. Nick needed to get his life together and the break-up pushed him towards that.

5 Break Up With Jess: Secret Fees

Nick is not entirely to blame in this money situation, though. It’s a seed for their eventual break-up, but he does cave and decides to get a bank account. Of course, he only does so when he’s pushed to that point by Jess.

Jess’s heart was in the right place when she paid off some of Nick’s debt in the episode, “The Box.” But she still did so in a duplicitous manner without telling him. It’s a major violation of trust.

4 Break Up With Nick: Moving In Together

Yes, Nick and Jess already live in the same loft, but for them, a major relationship step consisted of moving into the same bedroom as one another. Even something as simple as going across the hallway became impossible for them to do.

Not only does it show how many cracks their relationship has, but it shows that Nick is very skeptical of being with her. He hesitates multiple times in the entire process of moving in together. Jess should’ve just cut her losses there.

3 Break Up With Jess: Birthdays

One of the most uncomfortable things to watch in a sitcom is when a character acts petulant because their birthday didn’t go the way they anticipated. Jess is exactly the kind of character who reacts that way when she thinks Nick didn’t plan anything.

Of course, he did. And it’s exceedingly sweet. It all worked out in the end to ensure the element of surprise, but it was a tough watch to get to that point.

2 Break Up With Nick: Ashamed Of Nick

In the season three episode, “Sister,” there is a big debate over whether Jess is ashamed of her sister, Abby (played by Linda Cardellini), or Nick. Eventually, they come to an agreement that it’s Abby, but there’s also a lot of evidence that she was covering up her embarrassment of Nick.

Whether it’s genuine concern for Nick or a holier-than-thou attitude, it’s unhealthy either way. It would’ve been for the best to break up with Nick the minute Jess realized this, rather than trying to cover it up.

1 Break Up With Jess: Finger Guns

Nick and Jess’s relationship began with controversy over the boyfriend/girlfriend monikers, so it only makes sense that they would have a hard time saying, “I love you” to one another, as well.

In the episode, “Prince,” Nick is the first one to say those three magic words and Jess responds terribly. She just gives him finger guns. Now, she’s under no obligation to reciprocate the sentiments, but if they were at that much of a disconnect, then maybe a break-up was in the cards. Fortunately, they ended up reunited and together forever in the final season, however unrealistic that might be.

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