New Girl: 5 Reasons Why Jess Needs to Stay Single

[Spoiler alert: The following contains information from Tuesday's episode of New Girl. Read at your own risk.]

Dust off that Dirty Dancing DVD and get ready for a "(I've Had) The Time of My Life" sing-along, because Jessica Day (Zooey Deschanel) just went through another painful breakup on New Girl (Tuesdays, 9/8c, Fox). Although Jess and Ryan (Julian Morris) resolved to make their long-distance relationship after he moved back to England for work, things hit a breaking point when Ryan couldn't make it to Jess' dad's wedding and Jess called it quits. Although Jess seemed sad to say goodbye, we've come up with five reasons why going solo is the right call:

1. Her relationship with Ryan has run its course. What was Jess' first reaction when her boyfriend asked her to move in with him? She pretended not to hear and then ran away. You don't need a psychology degree to know that that is not an appropriate response to that sort of question. If it was right, then Jess would have wanted to accept Ryan's offer, or least have a thoughtful conversation with him about it without trying to avoid him. Also, as much as Ryan has been a respectable addition to Jess' life, let's face it. He is the rebound guy. You don't settle down with the rebound guy. You date him, dump him and then actually get your life in order.

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2. She's already been in enough long-term relationships. When New Girl first launched, Jess was in her mid-to-late 20s and fresh out of a six-year relationship with her cheating S.O.B. of a boyfriend Spencer. That means, for most of her adult life up until her move into the loft, she had been in a serious relationship. Yes, she went out and flirted a little bit, but it did not take long for Jess to dive into one serious relationship after another. First, with Paul (Justin Long), a music teacher with whom she worked. Then, Russell (Dermont Mulroney), the parent of one of her students. That was followed by Dr. Sam (David Walton), a man who only believed in casual sexual relationships, that is, until he met Jess. Jess split with Sam because of her feelings for Nick (Jake Johnson), whom she dated for almost the entirety of Season 3. And then, just five episodes into Season 4, Jess met Ryan. For a girl who has struggled so much with commitment (see: when she couldn't tell Paul she loved him in Season 1, when she balked at moving in with Ryan), she seems to find herself in monogamous relationships a lot. It's time to change that, and really let Jess be on her own for awhile.

3. She needs to put her pick-up skills to the test. Looking back now on the New Girl pilot, it's a wonder how Jess ever landed any of the men listed above (aside from Nick). She sings a lot. She cries even more. She uses weird voices and come-ons like, "Hey, sailor" in a completely un-ironic fashion. And she thinks it's acceptable to wear denim overalls on a date. But now, Jess is a woman of the world. She's dated lots of different types of guys (older and younger, commitment-phobic and commitment-friendly) and her game, as Schmidt (Max Greenfield) would say, has improved dramatically. Why not put it to good use and get into some adventures?

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4. She'll have more time for Cece! Aside from her on-and-off (and on-and-off) relationship with Schmidt over the years, New Girl has repeatedly struggled with how to best utilize Cece (Hannah Simone). Now that Schmidt is officially dating the coolest woman on earth, it's the perfect time for Jess and Cece to reconnect and hit the dating scene as a united front. Granted, it's not ideal for any human being fresh off of a serious relationship to hit the bars accompanied by a model, but Cece has always had Jess' best interest at heart, and they seem to have very different taste in guys so the potential for any romantic overlap seems minimal.

5. Fans already know how this story ends. Jess and Nick have been broken up for awhile, but now that the shippers have gotten a taste of what they're like as a couple, it's nearly impossible to see New Girl ending with anything but a Jess-Nick pairing. Johnson himself told TVGuide.com he wants the series to end with a Nick-Jess romantic reconciliation. So why bother trying to get viewers emotionally invested in one prince charming after another when they likely have some sort of an expiration date? Before The Mindy Project became The Mindy and Danny Show, many of the comedy's most memorable episodes involved Mindy going on outrageous, unconventional and downright awful dates with crazy characters like Adam the Gigolo (Josh Meyers) and Sk8er man Graham (Timothy Olyphant). So why not throw a few losers and loose cannons at Jess and see what happens? What's the worst that could happen?

New Girl airs Tuesdays at 9/8c on Fox. What do you think Jess should do?

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