"You're the deer! He wants to kill you! You're the deer!"
— Nick
"Pepperwood" is the 14th episode of New Girl's second season.
Nick becomes convinced that Jess's student Edgar is a murderer who wants her dead, and takes on the alias of "Julius Pepperwood" to snoop around him. Winston, Schmidt, and Cece discuss each other's "pogos" (what they talk about behind someone's back).
Tropes in this episode:
- Mistaken for Murderer: Nick and Jess's plot. Nick assumes that Jess's creepy student Edgar is out to kill her. It turns out that he's a fairly normal guy.
- Momma's Boy: Discussed as a "psycho" tell.Nick: Edgar lives with his mother. Of course he does!
Jess: So? A lot of normal people live with their mothers — my uncle Randy.
Nick: He can’t go near parks! - Raging Stiffie: Much is made about how Winston gets a boner around Cece. It turns out that Winston randomly getting boners is a regular thing that the roommates talk about.
- Relative Error: Inverted. Nick and Jess assume the older woman who lives with Edgar is his mom. She turns out to be his lover, which further unsettles them.
- Safe Word: When discussing safe words for the snooping they're doing at Edgar's place, Nick and Jess settle on "apricot". It doesn't help, as Jess immediately starts signaling for help, when Edgar walks in, before Nick has time to confirm that he understands.
- Take Our Word for It: Schmidt's toenails are horrific, not that the camera ever pans down for the audience to see. The sound of Schmidt walking barefoot is accompanied by the loud sound of his nails clacking against the floor, though.
- Write Who You Know: In-Universe, Nick's novel stars "Jessica Night", not at all based on his friend Jessica Day.
