This season finale was... weird. I liked a lot of aspects of "Elaine's Big Day," but at times it was over-the-top ridiculous and then felt like it wrapped things up a little too easily. I even decided to sleep on it and give it a second watch, and the things that annoyed me still annoyed me, but as far as the state of the romantic entanglements on the show, I'm satisfied. But not happy about the fact that I've got "Cotton-Eyed Joe" stuck in my head and feel the irresistible urge to line dance.

Winston Rules
I complain a lot about Winston getting the short shift and while he didn't exactly have a storyline, he totally stole the episode for me thanks to his chance to go wild with his pranks, and then his having some profound revelations while trapped in the air duct.
"Guys, I've been thinking a lot about the Earth. We've got to leave it better than we found it."
"Sometimes I feel like I never really felt love, you know. You know?"
"Boobies."
Even while he was bleeding out, he was able to give Nick some sage advice about his relationship with Jess: "That was also your dad's move. When things get messy you just run away, but you know there are other moves."
More wise Winston in Season 3, please.

Physical Hits
Aside from the innate humor of watching people be trapped in an air duct, two of the things that really made me chuckle, especially on the second viewing, were the quick little physical bits. When Winston tells Schmidt that the badger went north, Schmidt takes like two seconds to orient himself before heading in the right direction. The other one was when Winston crawled out of the air duct, made a huge noise and Nick sitting two feet away didn't even flinch. These tiny details really make this show work.

The Other Woman
If they were going to bring on Taylor Swift, I'm at least grateful that it was short. I won't say painless, because even in her minute of screen time she managed to overact in the most ridiculous way possible. Also, am I supposed to believe that she's the same age as Shivrang? Their whole hidden love affair just seemed like too easy as a get-out-of-jail card for Cece, so she wasn't the bad guy for dumping him.

Runaway Baby
It seems fitting that when pressed to decide between the two women that he loves, Schmidt panics, offers to just chill and listen to Coldplay and then high-tails it out of there as fast as he can. Schmidt's not what you'd call great under pressure. I'm so pulling for the awesomeness that is Elizabeth.

At Least It Was Pretty
Cece's non-wedding was a total disaster because of Schmidt's sabotage (he'd have even been happy to sabotage her tax audit). This is what happens when you let Winston and a badger out of the cage. You get spooking the groom's horse, duct-taping the DJ booth, playing "Cotton-Eyed Joe" during the bridal processional and dropping a badger (as well as Nick and Jess) on top of the priest. When Schmidt "sabo's" something, he doesn't hold back, though at least he knew when things got a little out of hand to go get Jess. Still, this part all felt really terrible and mean-spirited on Schmidt's part. Playing crappy music is kind of funny, but the rest just seemed a step too far.

Drive My Car
After Jess told Nick about her dad's real feelings (and Rob Reiner gave the side-eye to Nick more than a few times), and Jess revealed that she had doubts about the entire situation, they decided to call it. Though they immediately decided to uncall it. Jess saying "before you say no... don't say no" was very sweet. They drove off to parts unknown together and it was a fitting way to end the season with this on-again/off-again couple. In happy, but uncertain, waters.

Think you've got game? Prove it! Check out Games Without Pity, our new area featuring trivia, puzzle, card, strategy, action and word games -- all free to play and guaranteed to help pass the time until your next show starts.