New Girl Wiki
Register
Advertisement

Paul Genzlinger is a recurring character on FOX comedy New Girl. He is portrayed by Justin Long.

Character[]

Genzlinger is a music teacher at Jess's former school. He has a background in musical theatre. He's a sensitive and amiable guy that plays the violin and breaks into song at the drop of a hat, like Jess. He was very close to his grandmother. The guys think he's a male version of Jess, and Nick dislikes him. Paul is the first guy Jess dates after Spencer, but they're only together a month before he tells her he loves her, and they break up.

He returns later in season one when Jess "backslides" into bed with him, a reaction to breaking up with her latest boyfriend, Russell. At the time, Paul is dating an Asian girl who looks and dresses a lot like Jess, named Jenn, and they soon become engaged.

History[]

Thanksgiving[]

From backstage, Jess is gleefully watching students perform the Thanksgiving musical at school, and she's dressed as a giant turkey. Paul, dressed as a giant squash, approaches to thank her for helping out backstage, telling her it's made a big difference to the show this year. She smiles, and he nervously asks how her boyfriend is doing, so she tells him that they broke up with a nervous, "Good riddance - just kidding!" before she asks about his plans for Thanksgiving. He tells her that he had intended to spend the holiday with his grandmother, but that she died just before Halloween. Suddenly, Jess realizes why the school's Halloween madrigal had been so deep, cutting to a memory of the kids, dressed in Halloween costumes, singing about the point of life itself. Paul is dressed as a giant yellow squash, and he's about to walk away to prepare the next section of the show when Jess stops him. She has an idea.

She arrives back at the loft with a huge frozen turkey and informs the guys that she's going to cook Thanksgiving dinner for them - and for Paul - much to their surprise. None of them want to celebrate the holiday, but Jess doesn't take no for an answer, informing them that she's really excited about Paul because he's really hot and teaches at her school. Schmidt asks her to be honest and wonders if she's named the turkey Paul. She hasn't - the turkey's name is Hank - she tells them, as in 'Hanksgiving.'

While Jess unloads her groceries, Winston asks if they'll be able to hang out with Paul or if "he's also a teacher." Jess insists that he's a total guys-guy, who typically spent Thanksgiving with his now-deceased Nana, but the guys aren't confident that they'll like him. When Jess leaves the kitchen, Winston tells the guys that they need to find out if Paul's cool enough to essentially become their fifth roommate. "We deserve to be happy," he says.

Jess has never made Thanksgiving dinner before, and she gets Schmidt to offer to cook it by promising to invite Cece, even though he thinks it's ridiculous that Jess asked a guy out on a first date for the least sexy holiday in America. Sexier options, he opines, would have been the Fourth of July, Women's History Month, or Christmas.

The next day, with just three hours before Paul is due to arrive, the turkey is still frozen solid. Nothing appears to work to defrost it, and Cece arrives to find Jess on the floor, hugging Hank with her whole body. Finally, the gang decides to defrost the turkey in the dryer, which just starts its spin cycle when Paul arrives early.

Still dressed in her baking clothes and with her hair a mess, Jess freaks out. She's not ready, but she goes to get the door anyway. Paul walks in carrying his violin, and Jess introduces him to her friends. To break the ice, Jess sings a Thanksgiving song she's made up on the spot - "It ain't so quirky to eat a lot of turkey, on a Thanksgiving day-ay-ay!" she chirps. At first nervous, he joins right in, responding, "My belly's wantin' something, a pie made out of pumpkin, in every gobble-gobble way-ay-ay!" He and Jess giggle to themselves as her friends look on, dumbfounded. Nick, especially, can't believe that "there's two of them!"

Jess gets Paul, who's talking to Cece, a pumpkin beer before she goes to get dressed, but runs back in to let the group know that Paul brought his violin for some entertainment. He stands up and says he'll perform, "Only if you don't mind being enchanted!" Jess and Cece chuckle, but Nick complains about just wanting to watch the game under his breath.

Annoyed, Jess pulls Nick aside and begs him to be nice to Paul and not make his usual "turtle face," because he's the first guy she's liked since Spencer. Reluctantly, he agrees to help her out and be nice.

In the living room, Paul sits down with Winston and discusses the intimidating fact that Jess has guy roommates. He compares the situation to Goldilocks and the Three Bears, joking with Winston that he's probably the bear who's bed is just right. Perturbed, Winston suggests that they play a word association game. Paul loves the idea, and offers "kazoo," even though they haven't started playing yet. In playing the word game, Winston learns that Paul thinks boundaries are important, other people's stuff is private and loud, early morning sex is nice work if you can get some before he blows on a kazoo he just happens to have in his jacket pocket. Though he's slowly warming up to Paul, Winston still finds him strange.

They're interrupted then by Nick, who emerges from Jess' room with a coffee in hand, and he's immediately thrown off by Paul's insistence on calling him, Nicholas. They disagree over whether the pumpkin beer is an ale or a lager, and Paul appears to know more about the process of fermentation than Nick does, even though Nick is a bartender. But when Nick turns on the Lions game, Paul knows next to nothing about football - he assumes that the Lions are based in Des Moines, not Detroit.

Their awkward conversation is interrupted by Jess, who emerges from her room in a pretty red dress. Paul thinks she looks beautiful, and they laugh together when she asks, "What you gobblin' about, turkeys?"

At halftime of the football game, Paul grabs the remote and turns on the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Nick makes his turtle face but doesn't object out loud, as Paul explains that he would always watch the parade with his Nana when she was alive. He pulls out his phone to show off a picture of her, remarking that they used to get into "the funniest arm wrestling matches," before Winston pulls out his own phone to show off pictures of his grandfather, Nelson, who died the year before. He and Paul bond even more.

In the kitchen, Cece has triggered Schmidt's intense germophobia and he's thrown out all the walnuts. He needs more, and Paul immediately offers to go get some. Except, he realizes, he's had two pumpkin ales and shouldn't be driving, so Jess offers Nick, who hasn't been drinking, to go with him. Nick could not be less enthusiastic, but remembers his promise to Jess, and goes with him.

As they drive to the store, Nick and Paul are struggling to make conversation. To fill the silence, Paul makes up a song about going to get walnuts, for which Nick, aggravated, calls him out. Paul asks about Nick's hometown - Chicago - and remarks that Thanksgiving in L.A. feels strange without an autumn crisp in the air. Nick is giving one-word replies, and Paul brings up what Nick does for a living. When Nick says he dropped out of law school with three semesters to go and works in a bar, Paul says that our twenties are for figuring it all out - to which Nick replies he's already 30. To fill yet another lull in the conversation, Paul notices the store Mr. Copy-Cat out the passenger side window, believing it to be where he gets his copies made until he realizes that he uses their other location. Completely facetious, Nick can't even feign interest in their pointless, painfully awkward conversation.

Back at the loft, Schmidt is about to lose it with Cece as she makes a mess in the kitchen when Nick and Paul return with the walnuts. He tells Jess that he doesn't think Nick likes him very much, and she tries to tell him that's not true before the dryer explodes with the turkey inside, filling the apartment with smoke.

While Nick, Winston, and Schmidt try to air the smoke out of the loft, Jess disappointedly laments a holiday gone wrong to her date from the hallway. He insists he's had a great time as he chokes from smoke inhalation, and the guys are about to head to the bar because they can't stay in the loft. But Paul is insistent that they still find a way to enjoy the Thanksgiving dinner that Schmidt has been slaving over all day, even though they've barely spent time together and he doesn't remember Schmidt's name. He tells Schmidt that his last name is Genzlinger, and he wants to eat the food he's been making all day. Winston and Schmidt are both on board with "Genzlinger," so Nick has no choice but to go along.

Jess is struck by a sudden idea, grabbing a set of keys for Mrs. Beverly's apartment next door. She's out of town visiting her sister, Jess reveals, so Nick reminds her that breaking and entering is a felony. "Hey, law school - nice!" Paul cuts in and Nick scowls as Jess explains that the two women have exchanged keys to water each other's plants and get the mail when they're away.

Once everyone else is inside Mrs. Beverly's apartment, Jess shuts herself and Nick outside and calls him out for being rude to Paul even though she'd asked him to be nice. Nick admits that he doesn't like Paul, but asks Jess why it matters what he thinks as long as she likes him. Jess insists that she does like Paul - a lot - and can't wait to have sex with him in all kinds of interesting ways - big time. Unfortunately, the door is thin and everyone can hear their entire conversation, which embarrasses Paul as Schmidt, Cece, and Winston offer him a thumbs-up while Jess lists various sexual positions she can't wait to try. Finally, Winston sticks his head into the hallway and assures her that they all really love Paul, but can hear everything she's saying. Mortified, she steps into the apartment and tries to cover herself by suggesting that she and Nick were rehearsing a play he wrote, called "Big Time," that's not very good. No one quite knows what to say, especially Paul.

With dinner nearly ready, Paul is tuning his violin on the couch, while Nick drinks a beer and makes a turtle face. Paul catches him glaring at him and sits next to him on the couch to say something - getting too close for Nick's comfort. He tells him that he doesn't care if Nick finds him annoying and instead feels sorry for him because he knows that at this point in Nick's life, he'll never dislike Paul as much as he dislikes himself. This offends Nick, who calls Paul "Violin" as Winston listens intently.

He gets up and plays a few bars on his violin for Jess, who can't believe he hasn't left. Cece has assured her that, though Paul isn't a "normal guy," a normal one would have left long ago, but he's still there to hang out with her. Paul senses something and asks Jess if anything went on between her and Nick, like whether they might have dated, but she assures him that's not the case, perhaps too eagerly, before he admits that he'd love to see her again - "Big time."

Nick can't believe that Winston actually likes Paul, but Winston points out that Paul's a nice guy, and actually asked him his grandfather's name, which is something Nick has never done despite all the years they've been friends.

Finally, dinner is ready, and the gang gathers around the dinner table while Jess and Paul prepare to recreate the school's Thanksgiving madrigal for their friends. Schmidt, Cece, and Winston are excited about the performance, but Nick sits down at the table and scowls as the strains of Paul's violin pick up. Jess begins to narrate, but suddenly Paul is screaming wildly - there's a dead body in the bathroom, and they all crowd around the doorway to find Mrs. Beverly, dead on the floor. Thanksgiving is officially over, as they have to call 911.

Paul is traumatized, Mrs. Beverly's corpse reminding him of his grandmother, and he wears a heat blanket while Jess and the gang escort him into the hallway. Schmidt invites Paul to Best Buy with them later, as now they need a new dryer, while he steps into the elevator. Paul is mortified when the EMTs wheel the dead body in with him. He hugs the wall of the elevator and looks ready to run before the doors slide closed and trap him in with the corpse of Mrs. Beverly, an old woman not unlike his grandmother.

While the gang waits in a long line outside Best Buy, Jess is still mad at Nick for being rude to Paul, as they discuss their hunger because they never got to eat. Suddenly, the familiar strains of Paul's violin can be heard, and he joins them in line with turkey subs and a more positive outlook on life and death.

With Paul's arrival, a man behind them makes a huge deal about cutting in line, so Nick steps to the back in order to make room for Paul. But Jess and the gang step out with him, as Jess and Paul dance merrily to the back of the line, singing the Thanksgiving madrigal song.

"It's gonna get a lot worse before it gets better," Schmidt surmises with a grin as he, Cece, Nick, and Winston observe how annoyingly perfect Jess and Paul are for each other.

Bad in Bed[]

Jess and Paul return to the loft following a date. They begin removing each other's clothes in the hallway and can't keep their hands off each other. They don't even notice Nick stir in the living room, where he had passed out on the couch.

They make it to Jess' bedroom and Paul asks if they're about to have sex, to which Jess says, "Of course!" before awkwardly singing a hard rock refrain about intercourse. Recognizing how weird she's being, she excuses herself to the washroom, where she attempts to give herself a pep talk to get over her nerves. Thinking that she's ready to take her relationship with Paul to the next level, she soon realizes that she's not, as they lie awkwardly in her bed. Jess apologizes, explaining that she hasn't slept with anyone but Spencer in six years, comparing first-time sex to starting a new job with a "really weird interview."

Paul insists that it's fine, but Jess wants to get over it - she vows to "take him to pound town" the next night, after another date. Paul's eyes grow wide as she describes having a "v-bomb on the p-bomb," and he nervously verifies whether he would have the p-bomb.

The next morning, Nick is discussing with Schmidt and Winston how much he hates getting his haircut because he always has to socialize with his hairdresser when Jess walks into the kitchen and informs her roommates that Paul will be coming over that night, and she's going to tap him like a maple tree. Nick asks why she's telling them this, and they recognize that she's nervous about it, even though she denies it out loud.

Later that day, Jess goes lingerie shopping with Cece and admits that she's nervous because everything she knows about sex, she learned from Spencer or the Clinton impeachment trials. She wants to impress Paul, and purchases a starfish string-kini, joking that she hopes Paul brings some coral polyps to their date because the starfish is hungry. Cece rolls her eyes and gets her friend to pay for the weird lingerie that's totally unlike her.

Arriving back at the loft with her shopping, Jess calls Paul to confirm their 8 o'clock date in Koreatown, throwing open Schmidt's laptop to check the address. But she's surprised to see that Schmidt has left porn open on the screen, and dives unwittingly into five and a half hours of research that confuses her more than anything else.

She begs her roommates for help being good at sex, freaking out that she won't be able to please Paul. But she can't even get her questions out, and the guys manage to convince her that Paul loves porn like every other guy on Earth. She asks the guys if there are any trendy moves she should be doing, admitting that with Spencer she used the same four moves over and over for six years. Schmidt suggests role-playing, and debates with Nick whether or not choking is sexy. The conversation quickly devolves into a debate between the roommates over which one of them is best at sex, and Jess is relieved when Paul arrives at the loft to pick her up and save her from the competitive and awkward conversation.

Schmidt closes the laptop, which still has open porn on it, when Paul walks in, kissing Jess to greet her and calling her "Goose." He says hi to the guys, letting them know that the nickname comes from the phrase "Me gusta Jess." They don't care but invite him to sit down with them on the couch while Jess tries to climb into her starfish lingerie inside her room.

On their date, Jess is drinking wine and nervously brings up how excited she is to have sex that night. Equally nervous, Paul agrees and says that sex is the bomb - before he backtracks, thinking he sounds like a guy from Entourage. She asks if he likes porn, and Paul says no, but changes his answer when he asks Jess if she likes it, and she half-commits to a nod of her head. Their conversation grows progressively more awkward, and they drink their wine a little faster.

They get back to the loft and go to Jess' bedroom. She puts on an old-time newscaster's voice and strips down to her lingerie, which shocks Paul as she encourages him to play along with voices and "talk dirty." He adopts a Jimmy Stewart imitation, and she spanks him. He's getting progressively more nervous, and can't figure out how to get her out of her string-kini, calling it chain-mail before he abandons the voices. Jess pretends to be a lumberjack, pushes him onto the bed and cries that she's going to split him like a log, which scares Paul. He begs her to start over, going back to basics using their regular voices, and they start making out on the bed. He thinks this is nice, but suddenly Jess starts choking him. He can't breathe and releases himself from her grip. Jess feels bad and offers to get him some water, but he says he's going to get some water at home. He can barely look at her as he slinks out the door, rubbing his sore neck.

The next morning, Jess walks into the kitchen. Nick asks how her night went, but it's clear it didn't go well when she realizes she's out of tea and tosses a handful of tennis balls into the living room in frustration. Nick and Winston go to her room to check on her, and she admits that the night was a disaster because she lightly choked him. Winston tells her that's what happens when you listen to Schmidt, and they both tell her to stop worrying about it because Paul is clearly crazy about her.

Later that day, Paul stops by the loft to talk about the night before. He tries to say hello to Nick, but as usual, Nick doesn't want to talk to him. In the hallway with Jess, Paul admits that Jess intimidates him, but says he's up for trying all the crazy sex stuff that she's into as long as they take it slow and don't use felt, choking, or bugs. He presses the button for the elevator and Jess admits that the night before was a low point for her, vowing not to do the crazy sex stuff and stepping into the elevator when it arrives, offering to walk him down to the lobby.

They start making out inside the elevator, and as one thing leads to another she presses the emergency stop button, and they have sex. When they finally let the elevator go, it opens again on the fourth floor, where Nick, Schmidt, and Winston are waiting for it on the other side. They invite Jess and Paul to join them at the movies, and Nick spots Jess' shoe lying alone in the corner of the elevator. She and Paul look guilty, but satisfied, as the elevator doors close again.

The 23rd[]

Jess runs into the apartment in a panic, begging the guys to come to the mall with her for some last minute Christmas shopping - namely, she has no clue what to get Paul for a gift and needs their help.

At the mall, Schmidt and Winston go one way while Jess and Nick search for his gift. Jess explains to Nick that she doesn't know what to get Paul because she really likes him, but has only been with him for a month. She knows she doesn't want to spring for anything fancy so soon but is torn between a gag gift or something standard. She pulls a homemade card from her pocket, showing Nick her original idea - a gift certificate for "nerdy weird sex that works for both of us" - that now she's second-guessing because she doesn't want him to think she's using him for his body. Nick tells her to think about how she feels about Paul, and then get a gift that reflects that, before he yanks the gift card from Jess' grip and jokes about cashing it in for weird nerd sex with Jess one night.

Back at the apartment, Jess and Paul are sitting on her bed, counting down from three before they exchange gifts at the same time. He gives her a trip to Vienna and Salzburg for a music festival with him, and she gives him a stuffed toy - an anatomically correct heart of a 50-year-old non-smoker, that beats when squeezed. She thought it was romantic before she got completely upstaged by Paul's gift, and now she just thinks the heart is creepy. She immediately feels bad because his gift is so much more expensive than hers, but Paul insists that he loves the gift, because it's funny, sweet, and quirky, just like her, and as he pulls her in for a hug he tells her that he loves her, too. Jess freezes. Unsure how to respond, she slowly mutters, "Thank you," as they pull back awkwardly from their hug.

Paul arrives at Schmidt's office Christmas party with Nick, Jess, and Winston, and they meet Cece and her latest boyfriend, Kyle, at the front doors. They all walk into the crowded party together, where they immediately spot Schmidt dressed as Sexy Santa. He stands to greet them and is immediately admonished from across the room for breaking character by his domineering boss, Kim.

As the party wears on, Jess escapes behind a pillar to think about what happened with Paul, but Nick finds her and can tell that something's wrong. He asks her about it, and she tells him everything. She says she doesn't know what to do because she's always the one that loves more, and Nick tells her that if she doesn't have feelings for Paul she has to tell him and not lead him on, even though it's the holiday season. Jess tells Nick that she's going to tell him and marches off, but instead winds up hiding from the inevitable in the bathroom eating cookies. Cece finds her while hiding from Kyle, whom she says is being a creep, and listens to Jess' latest problem. Jess wonders if she should just try to make things work because she thinks Paul's such a great guy, but Cece gives Jess the same advice that Nick did.

Meanwhile, Nick finds Paul alone on a patio outside the party and asks him how he's doing. Finding the question strange, especially from Nick, who doesn't like him much, Paul says he's good and tells Nick that he and Jess talked. Trying to be understanding, Nick says that he knows it's hard, but says the fact that Jess doesn't love him doesn't mean she won't, it just means she doesn't right now. Shocked, Paul reveals that he talked to Jess about getting Nick to the airport on time, so he didn't miss his flight home to Chicago for Christmas. He has a 4 a.m. flight and is well known for missing it every single year.

Immediately realizing what he's done, Nick tries to backtrack, saying he's drunk, kidding, and that his conversation with Paul never happened. But it's too late. Paul asks Nick what else Jess said, and Nick reveals that Jess said the sex was really great, but that she wasn't ready to jump into anything before he realizes that he shouldn't, and doesn't want to, be having this conversation. Paul starts to freak out, and Nick pulls him in for an awkward hug. Jess leaves the bathroom and finds Paul and Nick outside, stepping into a mess with Nick having just superseded her chance to talk to Paul about her feelings. Paul tries to cover his budding tears by saying that he and Nick were bonding over how moved they are by jazz music, but Nick knows that Jess won't believe that, so he tells her the truth.

Jess is livid and starts to yell at Nick, who awkwardly tries to excuse himself from the confrontation by heading for the door. But it's locked from the inside and no one can hear him yelling for help, so he's stuck out there and is forced to be a third wheel while Paul and Jess depressingly discuss their relationship status.

Paul says that he was aware that she was just getting out of a long relationship with her ex, Spencer, but says that he thought they were feeling the same things for each other. Jess says that they were, but that Paul might have been feeling them a little bit more than her. Nick's phone rings in the middle of their conversation - it's his mother calling to make sure he's not going to miss his flight, so he has to answer, even though he knows it's totally rude to interrupt them. Jess asks Paul if they could slow things down a little and keep going, but Paul says he's not sure that he can take a step back. He says slowing down doesn't feel natural, so he says that he's not sure he can do it anymore, and they break up. At that moment, Winston appears on the patio to ask if they've seen Schmidt's boss' son, Elvin. Nick makes his escape, finally, and Jess and Paul look sadly at one another. Without a word, Winston leaves them alone.

To make it up to Jess, who is quiet and sad on the drive to the airport in the middle of the night, Nick misses his flight home yet again. Instead, he takes Jess and the gang to see "Candycane Lane" - a street of large homes that go overboard with decorations every holiday season, just to show off.

Backslide[]

Jess is drinking at Nick's bar with Schmidt and Winston, reckoning that she'll end up alone because she ended things with Russell even though he was pretty much perfect. They warn her not to "backslide" into bed with Russell, as Nick has done with Caroline, and they offer to take away her phone.

Leaving the bar for the night, Jess pulls out her phone and makes a call to someone familiar. The next morning, we discover that she hasn't "backslid" into bed with Russell, but with Paul, instead. He fights for his arm from underneath her, shaking it awake as she smiles to herself.

He follows Jess into the living room, where Schmidt and Winston are arguing over Winston's new ear piercing. Surprised to see him, they call him "Mercedes Genz" and "Genzel Washington", with Schmidt remarking with a laugh, "It's the Genz of the world as we know it!" Groggily, Paul greets Schmidt and "Washington" for the first time in months. Winston's not impressed that Paul forgot his name, but lets it go.

Jess and Paul awkwardly hug one another goodbye, and the second he's gone Schmidt and Winston accuse her of backsliding. "You backslid all the way down the hill and back into the parking lot!" Schmidt says. Jess says instead that she's actually considering trying again with Paul, considering the only thing wrong the last time was timing. But Schmidt reminds her that Paul is also a really ugly crier. Jess agrees with this, calling him the all-time worst crier and comparing his tears to a slow-motion sneeze.

At school during lunch break, Jess walks into the music room to talk to Paul about the night before. She tells Paul that she thinks the two of them have something good, but Paul admits, his brow furrowed in guilt, that he has a very serious girlfriend. Surprised, Jess asks him why he didn't tell her, and as Paul devolves into a flood of ugly tears, he remarks that now he knows how Bill Clinton feels. But Jess, feeling guilty, thinks it's worse to unwittingly feel like Monica Lewinsky. He apologizes for making her feel that way, and Jess begs him to stop his ugly crying when they're interrupted by his girlfriend. She's Asian, with long black hair, chunky bangs, black-framed glasses and with vintage style; she's Jess' doppelganger. She can tell that Paul is upset and asks what's wrong, so Jess steps in to help cover for him, blurting out, "I'm sorry, but that's just the way the electoral college works, man!" Playing along, Paul says wistfully, "It just seems so unfair. So votes don't mean as much!" Making a fast exit from the awkward scene, Jess agrees that the matter upsets her before she walks out the door.

Back at the loft after work, Jess finds Schmidt and Winston playing video games and tells them that Paul made her a cheater and that he cheated on a girl she calls "Asian Me." He doesn't know her name, but she wants to tell her the truth about Paul. Schmidt and Winston urge her not to get involved in Paul's relationship, but she's too guilt-ridden not to.

At school the next day, Jess finds Paul inside the music room and says she won't let him lie to his girlfriend, that he has to tell her the truth about them, or she will. Paul knows that Jess is right, and admits that the relationship is so serious he already has an engagement ring. He calls his girlfriend his soul mate and has been trying to find the right way to propose for two weeks. He calls sleeping with Jess the biggest mistake of his life but says he was so confused and is now petrified to lose her.

Just then, Paul's girlfriend walks into the music room to bring Paul the tuner he had left in her car, and she's surprised to see Jess in there with him. She introduces herself as Jenn, which doesn't seem to surprise Jess considering their other similarities. But she's about to leave the room without telling Jenn the truth because she can see how much he really cares for her when Paul blurts out his admission of adultery.

Jenn is upset and immediately starts crying - she's as ugly a crier as Paul is. She tells Paul goodbye and starts to walk away before Jess steps forward. She knows she's already done enough, but she tells Jenn that she and Paul are truly perfect for each other and to try to pretend it never happened. She tells Jenn, who's confused, that she thought Jenn was "Asian Me," but that she knows now she's just "Caucasian You," and reveals that Paul has something to ask her.

Nervously, Paul gets down on one knee and proposes, even though he acknowledges that it's a terrible time to do it. "I want to spend the rest of my life with you, Jennifer Ruth Toyoji!" he declares, imploring her hand in marriage if she still loves him at all. Jess opens the ring box for him and asks if Jenn will marry Paul, smiling happily for them as Jenn tearfully accepts his proposal. From the back of the room, a student, who no one saw arriving, plays "Here Comes the Bride" on his recorder.

Coming home with a renewed outlook on love, she finds Nick in the bathroom following a shower, and tells him that Paul's engagement to his girlfriend has made her realize that timing doesn't matter, which he's using as his primary reason for getting back together with Caroline. "If you really love someone, it's simple," she tells Nick, but he breaks the news that he's made the decision to move in with her, leaving Jess, devastated, alone in the bathroom imitating Tom Waits.

Quotes[]

"My belly's wanting something, a pie made out of pumpkin, in every gobble gobble way-ay-ay"
—Genzlinger singing to Jess
"It's like Goldilocks and the Three Bears. Bet you're the bear who's bed is just right. Hmm?"
—On the loft to Winston
"I feel like you think I'm kind of annoying, and if that's the case, I don't care. I actually feel sort of sorry for you, because, at this point in your life, I know that you'll never dislike me more than you dislike yourself"
—Genz to Nick
"When I was on the elevator ride from hell, the coroners told me to stop crying like a girl. I told them that was sexist"
—To Jess
"Sex is the bomb - sorry, that sounded like a guy from Entourage'"
—To Jess
"Jess and I slept together...It happened two days ago, and we did lots of stuff. There was talking, and there were hands, and I think we ruined a throw pillow"
—To Jenn

Trivia[]

  • Paul used to spend every Thanksgiving with his grandmother, but she died about a month before the holiday in 2011, while he was running the Halloween musical.
  • He can play the violin.
  • He's allergic to felt.
  • He and his grandmother loved to watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade together, and had "the funniest arm-wrestling matches."
  • He discovered the dead body of Jess's neighbor on Thanksgiving.
  • He likes Air Bud 2, loves dogs, and likes to whistle. He gets his copies made at Mr. Copy-Cat. He doesn't like bugs.
  • He can do a bang-on Jimmy Stewart imitation.
  • He is an ugly crier.
  • He had sex with Jess while he was dating Jenn, the "Asian" Jess. He later proposes to Jenn. (Season 2 "Backslide")
  • In Season 4 "Walk of Shame", we learn that Paul had left teaching and had been working as a musical party clown, and is no longer with Jenn. Because of Jess's encouragement, he quits that party job.

Photos[]

Advertisement