new girl road trip script

Episode Transcripts

View history

The following are transcripts for New Girl.

Season 1 - Transcripts

"Pilot" Transcript
"Kryptonite" Transcript
"Wedding" transcript
"Naked" transcript
"Cece Crashes" transcript
"Thanksgiving" transcript
"Bells" transcript
"Bad in Bed" transcript
"The 23rd" transcript
"The Story of 50" transcript
"Jess and Julia" transcript
"The Landlord" transcript
"Valentine's Day" transcript
"Bully" transcript
"Injured" transcript
"Control" transcript
"Fancyman (Part 1)" transcript
"Fancyman (Part 2)" transcript
"Secrets" transcript
"Normal" transcript
"Kids" transcript
"Tomatoes" transcript
"Backslide" transcript
"See Ya" transcript

Season 2 - Transcripts

"Re-Launch" transcript
"Katie" transcript
"Fluffer" transcript
"Neighbors" transcript
"Models" transcript
"Halloween" transcript
"Menzies" transcript
"Parents" transcript
"Eggs" transcript
"Bathtub" transcript
"Santa" transcript
"Cabin" transcript
"A Father's Love" transcript
"Pepperwood" transcript
"Cooler" transcript
"Table 34" transcript
"Parking Spot" transcript
"TinFinity" transcript
"Quick Hardening Qaulk" transcript
"Chicago" transcript
"First Date" transcript
"Bachelorette Party" transcript
"Virgins" transcript
"Winston's Birthday Party" transcript
"Elaine's Big Day" transcript

Season 3 - Transcripts

New Girl: Road Trip

Edit source
View history

"Road Trip" is the seventeenth episode of season five of the situation comedy series New Girl , and the 120th episode of the series overall. It was directed by Trent O'Donnell with a script written by Matt Fusfeld and Alex Cuthbertson . It first aired on the FOX Network on Tuesday, April 26th , 2016 at 8:30 pm. In this episode, the gang travels to Brooklyn , New York where Jess Day helps Jake Peralta of the 99th Precinct out with a case.

Celebrities
General Hospital
Days of Our Lives
Young and The Restless
The Bold and the Beautiful
Movie Lists
Game of Thrones
The Walking Dead
Whatever Happened To
Supernatural
The Late Show
Grey's Anatomy
Once Upon a Time

New Girl Season 5 Episodes 17 & 18 Review: “Road Trip”/”A Chill Day In”

While I’m sure Liz Merriwether and her New Girl writing team didn’t know that “Road Trip” and “A Chill Day In” would air on the same night when they were breaking the episodes, the scheduling for these two installments could not have worked out any better for the FOX sitcom. “Road Trip” and “A Chill Day In” feel like two perfect puzzle pieces, and they’re pretty much mirror episodes of each other, with very similar plots and themes; hell, they even take place during the same time, as Schmidt and the guys get side-tracked on their trip to Vegas, while Cece and Jess’s “chill day” turns into something much crazier. Ultimately, both New Girl episodes are this show at its best, as they tell really heartfelt Schmidt, Cece, and Winston stories, while also subverting many of the typical bachelor and bachelorette party TV tropes and examining masculinity and femininity in very different ways than what we’ve come to expect from television.

As I hinted at above, while “Road Trip” and “A Chill Day In” are a little bit different in their locations and events, the real meat of both of these episodes is essentially the same. After he’s emasculated during a road rage incident, Schmidt admits to Nick that he’s worried about whether or not he can take care of Cece, whether or not he can really be the best husband for her. Meanwhile, after Cece and Jess destroy a wedding present from Schmidt’s mom (which came with an insulting note, insinuating that Cece wasn’t wife material), the bride-to-be also wonders if she will be able to take care of Schmidt in the way that a wife should.

Ultimately, Nick and Jess (who is hilariously high throughout the entirety of “A Chill Day In,” but more on that later) are able to reassure their best friends that they’ll be able to take care of their soon-to-be spouses. Nick goes through the countless times that Schmidt has been there for him, even when he hasn’t asked him to be or wanted him to be. He even calls Schmidt his husband because of how much he’s taken care of him throughout their friendship and explains that his time being Nick’s friend proves why he’ll be the perfect man for Cece.

Similarly, Jess also reflects on her friendship with Cece to show her friend why she’ll be an amazing wife to Schmidt. Throughout their years as friends, Cece has always be the fierce one, the one takes charge and makes sure that Jess is okay, no matter what nonsense they get into. As Jess puts it, Cece is a mama bear, and she’ll bring that same type of fierceness to her marriage with Schmidt.

Neither Schmidt nor Cece’s personalities embody the stereotypical traits of their respective genders; neither of them fits the traditional mold for husband or wife, and tonight’s New Girl episodes remind them (and us) that it’s completely okay. Traditional masculinity and femininity are constructs that have been created, and just because we don’t fall into one of these overly strict categories, that doesn’t make us any less of a person. Schmidt and Cece work so well together because they’re who they truly are, and they love each other for it; that’s the important message here.

In addition to the real heart and deep emotion coursing through both of the main stories on New Girl tonight, there’s also some excellent moments of levity. In particular, the use of music in “Road Trip” and “A Chill Day In” is fantastic, as Katy Perry’s “Roar” serves as the soundtrack to the hilarious fight between Schmidt’s bachelor party gang and the bikers at the bar, while Mark Morrison’s “Return of the Mack” (also wonderfully utilized in Netflix’s Master of None ) acts as a hilarious introduction to Jess and Cece’s weed-filled day and as an anthem for when Cece embraces her mama bear roots and breaks herself, Jess, and Aly out of “mall prison.”

And speaking of Aly, we have to talk about her and Winston, as the partners finally kiss in “A Chill Day In” after she learns about his feelings for her. The situation is still complicated, of course; despite what Jess thought she saw and heard, Aly and Tripp haven’t officially broken up. However, despite the uncertainty of what’s to come for this potential new couple, they’ve been a blast to follow all throughout Season 5, and the little bit of payoff we do get in tonight’s second episode, with Winston remembering Aly’s work anniversary and her kissing him afterward, is so marvelous that it doesn’t really matter what happens in future episodes.

While last week’s combo of “Jeff Day” and “Helmet” was more of a miss and hit, tonight’s pairing of “Road Trip” and “A Chill Day In” is an absolutely grand slam for New Girl . These are both phenomenal episodes of the FOX sitcom, two of the very best from Season 5, and they’ve got me excited for what will happen next as we continue to approach Schmidt and Cece’s season-finale wedding. Whatever the New Girl writers have in store, I’m not sure if it can top this incredible double-header, but I can’t wait to see them try.

Other thoughts:

I mentioned this a little bit above, but how refreshing was it to have a TV show not follow the typical bachelor party/bachelorette party tropes? Schmidt and the guys end up at a terrible biker bar in the desert, while Cece and Jess get stoned and shoplift a breadmaker. Neither of those stories sounds like a bachelor party TV episode, and that’s why both “Road Trip” and “A Chill Day In” work so well.
I forgot to mention that “A Chill Day In” brings us the wonderful return of Nadia, who not only sells Jess weed (while also attempting to give her a Russian nesting doll grenade) but also kidnaps the group for what looks like one epic dance party at the end of the episode. Also, how perfect was Robbie instantly falling for her? God, these episodes were just so great, you guys.
Cece and Jess destroying the breadmaker was hilarious. I especially loved their chanting of “USA!” after Jess shouted out that “Homemade bread is for Europeans!”
What moment from “Road Trip” was more outrageously funny: Robbie’s enthusiastic and then suddenly horrified reaction to punching a woman during the big fight, or Big Schmidt stripping down as he ran towards his new Native American girlfriend at the end of the episode?
High Jess might be my favorite version of Jess. Every line out of her mouth was gold: “Hey, remember Coach?” “Oh yeah.” “Where is he?”, “That’s a lot of dough. I’m trying to wink. Am I winking?”, and, of course, “Baby in a raincoat.”
“My favorite kind of white people are redheads with high socks. Male or female.” Nick Miller at his weirdest and finest, ladies and gentlemen.
“It’s not the feathers you have to worry about. It’s the eggshells.”

What did everyone else think about tonight’s episodes of New Girl ? Comment below and let me know.

[Photo credit: Adam Taylor/FOX]

A graduate of Saint Joseph's University in Philadelphia, where he majored in English and Film, Chris has been writing for TVOvermind for over four years and has written about several different television shows, such as New Girl, Breaking Bad, Glee, and Homeland. Contact him through Twitter (@ckinger13) or email ([email protected]).

You must be logged in to post a comment.

No Responses

Visitor Rating: 5 Stars

Road Trip (2016)

TV-14 | Comedy, Romance

Cast & Crew

Fred Melamed

J. Cronkite Valley-Forge

Big Schmidt

Patrick Brammall

Aaron Takahashi

Car Rental Employee

Information

Accessibility

Internet Service Terms Apple TV & Privacy Cookie Policy Support

Log in or sign up for Rotten Tomatoes

Trouble logging in?

By continuing, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies , and to receive email from the Fandango Media Brands .

By creating an account, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies , and to receive email from Rotten Tomatoes and to receive email from the Fandango Media Brands .

By creating an account, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies , and to receive email from Rotten Tomatoes.

Email not verified

Let's keep in touch.

Sign up for the Rotten Tomatoes newsletter to get weekly updates on:

Upcoming Movies and TV shows
Trivia & Rotten Tomatoes Podcast
Media News + More

By clicking "Sign Me Up," you are agreeing to receive occasional emails and communications from Fandango Media (Fandango, Vudu, and Rotten Tomatoes) and consenting to Fandango's Privacy Policy and Terms and Policies . Please allow 10 business days for your account to reflect your preferences.

OK, got it!

Movies / TV

No results found.

What's the Tomatometer®?
Login/signup

Movies in theaters

Opening this week
Top box office
Coming soon to theaters
Certified fresh movies

Movies at home

Fandango at Home
Netflix streaming
Prime Video
Most popular streaming movies
What to Watch New

Certified fresh picks

Hit Man Link to Hit Man
Am I OK? Link to Am I OK?
Jim Henson Idea Man Link to Jim Henson Idea Man

New TV Tonight

Star Wars: The Acolyte: Season 1
Ren Faire: Season 1
Sweet Tooth: Season 3
Clipped: Season 1
Queenie: Season 1
Mayor of Kingstown: Season 3
Becoming Karl Lagerfeld: Season 1
Criminal Minds: Season 17
Power Book II: Ghost: Season 4
Erased: WW2's Heroes of Color: Season 1

New Girl – Season 5, Episode 17

Where to watch, new girl — season 5, episode 17.

Watch New Girl — Season 5, Episode 17 with a subscription on Peacock, Hulu, or buy it on Fandango at Home, Prime Video.

More Like This

Cast & crew.

Zooey Deschanel

Jake Johnson

Max Greenfield

Lamorne Morris

Hannah Simone

Big Schmidt

Episode Info

Competitions

Half-Hour TV

After a bad break-up, Jess, an offbeat young woman, moves into an apartment loft with three single men. Although they find her behavior very unusual, the men support her - most of the time.

Download Options

1 Script Available for Download

101 - Pilot

After breaking up with her two-timing boyfriend, schoolteacher Jess Day moves in with three single males: a bartender, a womanizer, and a personal trainer.

Release Year: 2011

1 Scripts Available for Download

Similar Scripts

The House Bunny

Billy Madison

The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air

What About Bob?

The Brothers Solomon

Scripts by company.

Malcolm in the Middle

Modern Family

Only Murders in the Building

Last Man on Earth

Arrested Development

War For The Planet Of The Apes

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

The Greatest Showman

Rise of the Planet of the Apes

Hidden Figures

Fresh Off The Boat

Scripts by writers.

No Strings Attached

Single Parents

Related articles, two of the most important storytelling concepts you’ve never heard of.

Britton Perelman · April 28, 2022

New Girl: Season 2 Premiere

Tony LaScala · September 27, 2012

New Girl: Season 1 Finale

Tony LaScala · May 10, 2012

Emerging Screenwriters Suspense Screenplay Competition

Deadline: June 6th, 2024

Emerging Screenwriters Animation Screenplay Competition

Emerging Screenwriters Action & Adventure Screenplay Competition

Series bible.

Written by Elizabeth Meriwether

Have any issues? Contact us.

Create Account

Gain access to hundreds of Hollywood's top screenplays for free.

Already have an account? Sign in.

Top 50 by Year

Lists Explorer

100 Most Featured Movie Songs

100 Most Featured TV Songs

New Girl Soundtrack [ 2011 ]

Episode 17 • road trip.

Thunderstruck

Add scene description

My Wicked Bones

Elvis Costello

C'mon, there's no such thing as a stupid question. Get the ball rolling and be the first.

Hey Girl (Theme from "New Girl")

Zooey Deschanel

Tv Show Info

Music Supervisors

Manish Raval

External Links

Contributors

WhatSong is the worlds largest collection of movie & tv show soundtracks and playlists.

Quick links

Search Please fill out this field.
Newsletters
Sweepstakes

New Girl recap: The top 5 moments from Road Trip / A Chill Day In

Let the bachelor and bachelorette party mayhem begin

New Girl aired three episodes on Tuesday, one being an encore showing of “Prince,” in honor of the late music legend. The others were new episodes, “Road Trip” and “A Chill Day In,” which center on Schmidt’s bachelor party and Cece’s bachelorette party, respectively.

Those parties were, um, unique. Schmidt decided he wanted to have a super manly goodbye to singledom, so he ditches his laid-back plans for Las Vegas, but all his tough guy efforts takes a terrible turn. Cece also ditches her night of relaxation, but her reasoning? She and Jess get really, REALLY high, and so wildness ensues.

Both parties result in sweet, genuine talks, as well as crazy, frenzied fights — but best of all, there’s a BIG development with Winston and Aly. With that, here are the top 5 moments from “Road Trip” and “A Chill Day.”

The fights. Not an angry exchange of words, this week’s episodes featured full-blown physical altercations. Schmidt and his groomsmen — note the glorious return of Rob Riggle as Big Schmidt, Nelson Franklin as Robby, and Fred Melamed as J. Cronkite Valley Forge — wind up at a bar in the middle of a desert and Schmidt provokes some locals by requesting ice in his drink. One thing leads to another and they get into a brawl, set to Katy Perry’s “Roar” with A+ slow-mo, where they lose terribly. You know who doesn’t lose terribly? Cece, Jess, and Aly. The trio end up in mall jail after attempting to steal the floor model of a $1,200 breadmaker to replace the one from Schmidt’s mother that they beat with a stick (the theft was Cece and Jess’ idea and poor Aly happened to get caught up in it). Cece loses it when a mall cop with an inflated sense of authority yells at Jess, so she starts throwing lost and found items everywhere, set to Mark Morrison’s “Return of the Mack” and also with A+ slow-mo. That creates the perfect distraction for them to make their getaway.

The pep talks. As the aforementioned shenanigans are going down, best man Nick and maid of honor Jess give pep talks to assuage any doubts that Schmidt and Cece have about themselves and their abilities to make good spouses. The reason why Schmidt had been making such a big deal about having a manly bachelor party was because he wanted to prove that he was tough enough to protect Cece. Nick reminds Schmidt of how he takes care of him, saying, “You’re going to be a great husband to Cece because you’re a great husband to me.” Then, in an ironic twist, Nick can’t deal with how “unmanly” he’s being. Cece has similar doubts about whether she’ll be able to watch over Schmidt (a passive aggressive note from his mother that came with the breadmaker caused a lot of these feelings, and led to the breadmaker beat down), but Jess says that couldn’t be further from the truth. “How can you say you don’t take care of people? You’ve been taking care of me my entire life. You’re fierce, and you’re strong, and you would stand up for anyone that you love. You’re like a big, scary mama bear.” And she proves that with the mall jail escape.

Cece and Jess’ high thoughts. Jess smokes weed about every 10 years, because she gets WEIRD. What follows when she and Cece smoke in the episode are some very high thoughts. “Hey, remember Coach,” Jess asks. “Where is he?” (Love whenever they give a shoutout to the former loftee.) She soon turns to the featured programming, Anne of Green Gables , naturally. “Like why are Gilbert’s lips so sexual,” Jess asks, another poignant question, to which Cece Responds, “I love Schmidt. You know I love Schmidt, but I would throw it all away for Gilbert. I would just ruin my life for that boy.” Then Cece weighs in with another key observation, something inspired by the two wearing socks on their hands. “The very fact that socks exist is proof that shoes don’t work,” she says. Jess chimes in, “My hearing is so good without my glasses on. I’m a superhear-o, just eating up sounds with my ear mouth.” It went on and on and on… in the best way.

Winston and Aly kiss!! Turns out Jess is not only funny when she’s high, but she also really confuses situations, like how she assumes that Aly and her boyfriend, Tripp, broke up when they really just had a bad fight. She was so convinced that they were done that she texts Winston, who returns with the bachelor party crew to confess his feelings. Jess spills the beans about Winston’s feelings to Aly, and that’s when she and Cece discover that Aly and Tripp are still together. Then Winston comes through the door and starts pouring his heart out. Aly has to stop him, and it gets weird, but then he congratulates her on her fifth anniversary of being a cop (or “Police Navidad,” something Tripp could care less about) and that’s when Aly kisses him! (I know I’m not the only one who squealed…) Aly still has yet to break up with Tripp, but one can hope the end of them is near, as great as the animal agent jokes are.

WANT MORE? Keep up with all the latest from last night’s television by subscribing to our newsletter. Head here for more details .

Nadia’s surprise. You might be wondering, where did sweet, innocent Jess get all that weed from? That’s compliments of Cece’s former roommate (and new romantic obsession of Robby) Nadia, who is VERY out there. She showed her, hmm, strong sense of spirit again when she had the bachelor and bachelorette groups kidnapped from the loft and brought onto a party truck full of strippers and disco lights. It’s the most actual partying that happens in the episode, and while it’s cute to see everyone paired up and having a good time, things do get weird, in traditional Nadia fashion. Case in point, she asks who wants the first tattoo, and Nick, who is apparently just as weird, immediately responds that he wants a shamrock on his knuckle. #SAME

Honorable Mentions:

So many to choose from this week! But here are some favorites…

The bachelor party crew’s need to cheer everything, including the words “noteworthy” and “breadmaker.”
Drunk Winston.
Jess and Cece assuming that a postal worker is a stripper, and subsequently catcalling him.
The floor model breadmaker playing “feel like baking love” over and over and over again because it has some kind of motion sensor. Jess and Cece don’t seem to understand that it has a motion sensor, or they are too high to deal.
Jess pleading with Cece to let her tell Aly about Winston’s feelings for her.
Nick’s genuine anger that he has to wait another 10 years for “High Jess.”

Skip to main content
Keyboard shortcuts for audio player

Consider This from NPR

LISTEN & FOLLOW
Apple Podcasts
Google Podcasts
Amazon Music

Your support helps make our show possible and unlocks access to our sponsor-free feed.

Hollywood flips the script in the new movie 'Ezra'

William A. Fitzgerald and Bobby Carnavale in the film Ezra. Bleeker Street hide caption

William A. Fitzgerald and Bobby Carnavale in the film Ezra.

'Ezra' is a road trip movie, a movie about fathers and sons. In this film, the father Max, played by Bobby Cannavale, hasn't quite figured out what his son Ezra's autism diagnosis means for their life together. The movie, directed by Tony Goldwyn, draws on the real experiences of screenwriter Tony Spiridakis. William A. Fitzgerald, who plays Max, has autism, as well as producer Alex Plank. Hollywood hasn't always gotten it right when it comes to portraying neurodivergent people on screen. The new movie 'Ezra' is flipping the script. NPR's Juana Summers speaks with screenwriter Tony Spiridakis and producer Alex Plank. For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for C onsider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org . Email us at [email protected] .

This episode was produced by Gus Contreras and Kathryn Fink. It was edited by Sarah Handel. Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun.

New Girl (2011–2018): Season 1, Episode 1 - Pilot - full transcript