‘New Girl’ Season 3 Spoilers: EP Dave Finkel Talks Schmidt Love Triangle, Love Interest For Winston

“New Girl” isn’t slowing down when it returns in the fall for its third season. The International Business Times sat down with executive producer Dave Finkel at the 2013 ATX Television Festival in Austin, Texas, to talk about the hilarious (and surprising) season two finale and what’s in store for our favorite characters when the Fox sitcom returns.

For fans, the big jaw-dropper of the season two finale wasn’t Taylor Swift’s hilarious cameo (who Finkel explained is a big fan of the show), but instead Schmidt being put in the middle of a love triangle. As viewers remember from “Elaine’s Big Day,” Shivrang and Cece couldn’t go through with the wedding. Shivrang ended up in the arms of Elaine (guest star Taylor Swift), and Cece revealed that she was in love with Schmidt, who had brought Elizabeth along as his date (awkward!).

Schmidt was put in the middle of Elizabath and Cece and forced to choose one of the girls, but instead he ran. “He didn’t know what to do,” Finkel explained. “I think he legitimately cares a great deal about both these women. Elizabeth has history, and I think he really cares about Cece.”

But Finkel remained mum on who Schmidt might choose when the series returns in the fall. “I think it’s fun to figure out,” he continued. “Merritt [Wever] is a huge addition to the show. So figuring out what that’s going to be like is going to be interesting -- I don’t know.”

The two women are obviously wildly different, and the executive producer believes that fans are really split down the middle on who they want Schmidt to end up with. “People love Elizabeth,” Finkel said. “They legitimately love Elizabeth; they like who Schmidt becomes with Elizabeth.”

“It’s a matter of who his heart is with now and who he needs. We literally don’t know the answer,” he said of the process in deciding. “I like to feel real, because when you’re writing it and you don’t know the answer, you’re really writing it like the character. It makes it more exciting.”

Who Schmidt ends up with may be a mystery for now, but Finkel was kind enough to dish a little bit about what’s in store for Winston in season three. Sitting next to Winston’s Lamorne Morris in the Austin bar, Maggie Mae’s, the executive producer slyly explained that Morris is the “clutch player” of the cast, at which point Morris interrupted by saying, “You mean colored player?” For those that don’t know, Morris is the only African-American cast member on “New Girl.” Finkel laughed, firing back that it’s more acceptable if they call it a clutch player.

“He’s just a solid actor and really funny,” Finkel said of Morris. “This guy comes in, and he destroys it. His wisdom is so deep that he’s just a really good actor. So we want to figure out a richer texture for him.”

Winston’s ex-girlfriend Shelby may be gone, but Brenda Song’s Daisy may be returning as a love interest, pending scheduling. “I don’t know what the deal is with Brenda, because I know she has a show,” Finkel said referring to the upcoming sitcom “Dads.” “I think Daisy is interesting, because she doesn’t let him get away with his typical bulls---. It’s nice to have somebody that challenges him, so if we can find her or somebody like that it would be very useful for us.”

“New Girl” returns for its third season on Fox this fall. Click here to check out what Finkel told IBTimes about the potential return of Coach’s Damon Wayans Jr.