Linda Cardellini on New Girl Is Better Than Linda Cardellini on Mad Men

I have been really up and down with New Girl over the last couple of weeks—last night’s episode was OK, I thought. Just OK. I feel like the Prince party really woke me up to how antsy I am to see big, long stretches of action set outside of the loft, and now I can’t unfeel those feelings. The thing is, last night’s ep did have plenty of action outside the loft—Schmidt schemed at a bar mitzvah, Winston’s girl Birdie put on a soup party—but with so much packed into the ep, it didn’t feel like we got to have maximum fun with any of those scenarios.

However, there was one thing that really cheered me: Linda Cardellini.

We have already established that Freaks and Geeks‘ Lindsay Weir would have been horrified by Sylvia Rosen’s dalliances with Don Draper. And so, continuing along in this universe where all of Linda Cardellini’s characters are connected, we need to talk about how great it was to see her let loose on New Girl last night. (I mean, that whole Mad Men affair led to some rough times.)

Cardellini may have been playing Abby, Jess’s supposed mess of an older sister, but if you ask me, it’s a vast improvement from Sylvia. So far, Abby hasn’t tried to sleep with Nick. Also, she’s not so judge-y (remember Sylvia’s snooty exchange with Megan?). And she doesn’t skulk around weird areas of the apartment building, like the garbage area, scouting for trysts.

But what truly comforted me was seeing how gorgeous and relaxed Cardellini looked—such a welcome change from Sylvia’s helmet hair and perpetual scowl.

The woman doesn’t age, I swear. And those waves are distinctly Lindsay Weir, no? We’ve come full circle, people. And P.S. Jess, don’t be so embarrassed of your sister! She could’ve had an affair with a married dude and been caught red-handed by his kid. It could always be worse.