Thoughts on 6x12 - “The Cubicle”
I enjoyed this episode, despite having a part of it spoiled for me :)
(Do you sense the passive aggressiveness? *cough* people not tagging spoilers *cough* )
Anyway, I liked this episode, especially in terms of character development. We’re getting to the juice now, folks. It’s being squeezed out like a baby. Adon’t want to keep you, so here goes:
Very interesting how in the dining table scenes, Nick and Reagan are not sat next to each other. Neither did the director frame them as a couple in the same shot, only in a group shot.
Jess loves Nick's book so much that she can quote the characters and make puns about them. Reagan falls asleep. She doesn't like reading fiction; Jess taught students how to write fiction.
Robby doesn't think Jess ever does anything wrong; to be fair, he doesn't see anything wrong in anyone. She hates this. Nick is the opposite. "How can I date someone realistically?" Jess ponders. "I mess stuff up all the time. Ask Nick, he knows." Jess doesn't know if she can date someone who doesn't see her flaws. This is not a problem with Nick.
Nick does not attempt to resolve or interfere in the argument between Jess and Robby. In fact, he tells them to “please, keep fighting” while he drinks himself numb in the cubicle. It’s almost as if he wants them to argue.
When Robby tells Jess he is not going to sue her, she responds
“Then how can I ever trust you?” Nick and Jess had many issues, but they certainly had no trust issues. Jess completely trusted Nick, and vice versa. Neither questioned this, ever — not in their friendship or relationship, in six years.
The only isolated pairing we see inside the cubicle are Nick and Jess, in dim romantic lighting — not Nick and Reagan, or Jess and Robby. Not only are they inside the cubicle, they’re also next to one: alcohol is like a cubicle for your body.
When asked what is wrong with Jess, not only does Nick have an answer, his mind immediately goes to how she acts in a relationship; how she acted in theirs. He doesn’t state it outright but Jess understands anyway. This is a contrast to him and Reagan, who have trouble communicating and usually avoid doing so.
When told that she looks for reasons to doubt things if they’re going good, Jess first response is to ask if this was about their relationship. Her feelings for Nick leads to her first thought being about them as a couple. This was Nick’s first thought too.
They briefly discuss what went wrong in their relationship, before concluding:
N: "I don't want to fight with you."
J: "Let’s not fight."
Then, they simply don't fight. They've matured from being kids, thirty-something year old kids, and they can let things go for the sake of each other’s company.
Nick and Jess conclude that they need to face the music. It plays, and it takes another 10 seconds of looks before they finally do face the music.
Again, Nick and Reagan have problems communicating. This time, however, they resolve it themselves, which is an improvement. Though you could say Jess indirectly pushed Nick to confront them.
Like Emily L. Stephens of the AV Club said, Jess and Robby’s relationship issues are only temporarily resolved — Robby will pay the bills because he’s rich and Jess will knit him their worth in scarves. They reached a compromise instead of really making Robby see her flaws, or Jess considering this as detrimental to their relationship as she was. It’s patching a roof instead of replacing it. This issue may very well come up again in the future and possibly turn out to be fatal...for the relationship, not the characters.
Is it just me who likes Reagan? I’ve never really harboured negative thoughts towards the character, but now she’s really grown on me. She questions the most simple things: “Would that mailbox be functional?”
Reagan’s taking part in a wider variety of jokes rather than the deadpan ones, and playing them more freely: see the physical comedy of standing up too quickly, or kidding about going to sleep. I like Reagan. I might just love her. I’ll miss her when she leaves, and I hope she sticks around as a friend.
I think Reagan as a character is naturally guarded in a relationship anyway, so it follows that she would be like that with Nick. If you don’t see chemistry yourself, at the very least you can acknowledge that they’re both very cute people so logically they look cute together.
