Jess and Coach had to deal with the repercussions of a new no fraternization rule at their work on New Girl season 4, episode 5, “Landline.” Read our recap to find out what happened.
Jess gets a call from her boss informing her that there is a replacement for her class, but she can’t hear the rest of his news because they have no service in their apartment except right over Nick’s bed. Which means they all stand on his bed trying to talk on the phone at the same time.
To try and solve the phone problem, Jess proposes they get a landline phone. When it rings they get too freaked out that they don’t even answer it. It reminds Winston how well he used talk on the phone with girls.
Nick gets annoyed with Schmidt and Winston when they don’t have time for him. While everyone is at work, Nick takes to answering the phone and taking messages for them. Apparently he likes playing secretary and getting into their business.
Jess is surprised when she gets an angry call that reveals Coach is sleeping with the school nurse. She makes them fill out paperwork for legal purposes. But the nurse gets mad when Coach doesn’t say they’re dating. Things get even worse when another teacher comes in and makes it clear she’s sleeping with Coach too.
Just as Jess is reprimanding Coach for his extracurricular activities, the principal brings in the new teacher Ryan. She’s smitten right away and it throws her off. Still, she sticks to her guns and holds a meeting to tell the teachers about what is appropriate.
Trying to seek revenge, Coach asks for a visual lesson. He kindly volunteers Ryan to help Jess show them how to shut down a sexual situation. But one touch from Ryan makes Jess forget they’re in front of the rest of the teachers.
When Schmidt and Winston decide to get an answering machine, Nick is upset once again. He doesn’t think they should trust technology. Their first message is for Nick about a custom secretary headset. Things get awkward.
When the machine breaks, Nick is quite happy. Even though he heard an important message for Schmidt, he withholds the information to prove a point. Winston gets Nick to admit that he’s freaking out about the phone because he misses his friends.
At the end of the day Jess apologizes to Coach. She says she understands that sometimes you can’t control your feelings. When Jess tells him that she’s removed the no fraternization rule, the nurse pops out from under the covers.
Unfortunately for Jess, the principal tell her that as an administrator she can’t date other co-workers. Too bad because Ryan seemed interested in her as well.