Crazy Ex-Girlfriend 4x08 Review: “I’m Not the Person I Used To Be” (Meta Meet Cute) [Contributor: Jenn]

“I’m Not the Person I Used To Be”

Original Airdate: December 7, 2018

Sometimes when you catch up with old friends, it’s like no time has passed at all. And sometimes when you catch up with old friends, it’s like they’re entirely different people. Their lives don’t remotely resemble what you remember. Maybe they used to party in high school, gossip about people, or run with the cool crowd. Then you run into them at a grocery store and they’re married with a stable career and toting two kids. It’s jarring sometimes to reconcile the memory of who someone used to be with who they are in the present.

In the case of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, this well-known feeling works in their very meta favor for a very meta episode. “I’m Not the Person I Used To Be” features the return of Greg — sorta. We all knew Santino Fontana wasn’t returning to the show and that Skylar Astin (of Pitch Perfect fame) would be recast in the role as Greg. We also all wondered how the recast would be explained. And in a characteristically brilliant move for the series, Greg’s reappearance and completely new face is explained pretty well. Let’s dive into what this episode establishes for Rebecca and our characters for the rest of the series.

HELLO, NICE TO MEET YOU

When Greg unexpectedly shows up at Josh’s 12-year (don’t worry about it) high school reunion, Valencia and Heather immediately gasp. Rebecca is confused, however. That’s not Greg. It definitely is a totally different person. The meta commentary throughout the episode of how weird it is that no one else besides Rebecca sees the difference is so great. But as Heather and Valencia explain, Rebecca’s his ex. She hasn’t seen him in a long time, and because of that it’s understandable that she doesn’t recognize who he is anymore. He’s changed, and so has Rebecca. It makes sense she wouldn’t recognize the person who left West Covina and left her in tears.

As you’ll recall, Rebecca has been on the path to reconciliation. She’s decided that she’s going to make amends and fix what she’s broken. So when Greg shows up, Rebecca is reminded that she has some unfinished business with him. Namely, you know, the fact that she slept with his father. Their first exchange is uncomfortable until Greg and Rebecca decide to put the past behind them and start fresh. They really don’t know each other, after all. It’s been two years since they’ve last spoken. Rebecca is a little hurt when Greg reveals that he’s actually come back to town multiple times since, but asked everyone to hide that fact from her.

Rebecca spends the entire episode waffling between whether or not she should tell Greg what happened between her and his father. At first, she justifies her decision not to tell him — after all, when you start over with someone, why not just leave the past in the past? The thing is that the past never just stays in the past. Rebecca has spent most of the series justifying her misdeeds, trying to tell herself that she’s not really hurting anyone and that the ends justify the means. As long as it’s taken, now Rebecca knows that the only way to form healthy relationships is by coming clean about the past. You can drag around your past into new relationships, but it’ll eventually have to be unpacked — sometimes by an unwilling participant.

Right before Rebecca and Greg kiss, she tells him about her tryst. He’s understandably horrified and disgusted. Rebecca tells Greg though that it was the right thing to do; she’s tired of hiding and hurting people. As Greg is prepared to walk out the door, something pretty incredible happens — he acknowledges how hard it must have been for Rebecca to admit what she did to him. Greg expresses compassion for Rebecca when she expects him to throw his fist through a wall. Then, just before he departs, Greg says this: “You think I’ve changed. Maybe we both have.”

Rebecca Bunch is not perfect, and Crazy Ex-Girlfriend doesn’t pretend that she is. But when new!Greg acknowledges how much she’s changed from the woman he once knew, we’re reminded of the same thing. Rebecca still falters and fumbles, but what if Greg sees HER as an entirely new person too? The truth is that we’re all constantly changing — or we should be, if we want to become better people. And though Greg doesn’t tell Rebecca he wants to pursue a romantic relationship, he leaves the door open to a reconciliation. He acknowledges that Rebecca has changed. He acknowledges that he has too.

And that’s a step for a new beginning.

Additional fun elements:

• I love Intro Rebecca mentioning how she misses the season one theme song. Same.
• This week’s episode has SO many meta moments, but at least we know the series ends on Valentine’s Day and that Valencia and Greg are around until then.
• Speaking of Greg, I love Skylar Astin’s addition to the cast.
• Heather had the BEST moments this week: “BAAAAAAR!”
• “I drove him into the arms of Jesus.”
• “I’m not NOT gonna spy on that.”

What did you all think of the episode? What do you hope for the remainder of the series?

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Crazy Ex-Girlfriend 4x07 Review: “I Will Help You” (Hello, Mr. Nice Guys) [Contributor: Jenn]

“I Will Help You”

Original Airdate: November 30, 2018

In the November 16 episode of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (which was fun, especially because it spent most of its time playing around with different character pairings and dynamics; as a related aside), Rebecca and Darryl have a weird moment where they almost kiss. Why, you ask? Because Darryl spent the whole day being nice and kind to Rebecca. And she realizes that as icky and weird as their moment was, it gives her hope. She now knows she has the ability to be attracted to good guys — not horrible, messed-up ones.

So “I Will Help You” ending with epiphanies for Rebecca was entertaining, to say the least. But let’s back up and focus on what the episode was really about: telling the truth.

YOU’RE A MEAN ONE, MAMA BUNCH

We haven’t seen Rebecca’s mama since Rebecca tried to take her life. And when we return to Naomi’s life, we learn that she’s pretty much all caught up on what Rebecca’s been up to. With one notable exception. You see, Naomi doesn’t know Rebecca has quit the law firm. So she spends most of the episode bragging to Audra Levine and her mother about how successful Rebecca is. Slowly, Rebecca slips into more and more guilt over whether or not she should actually tell Naomi she’s running a small pretzel stand in the lobby of her old law firm.

There’s a stark contrast between the way Naomi ultimately wants to be perceived and the way Rebecca wants to be perceived. Though Rebecca comes through for her mother by providing her with a minor celebrity so Naomi isn’t caught in a lie, Naomi ultimately wants people to see her a certain way. She lies and bolsters herself because weakness is not an option. And it’s no wonder Rebecca learned to do the same. But what’s really refreshing at this point in Crazy Ex-Girlfriend is that Rebecca has learned that if she can’t be honest with herself, she can’t be healthy. And if she can’t be honest with others, she really can’t be healthy.

Rebecca has made a lot of mistakes in her life. A LOT. But the one thing that’s admirable is that this time around, she’s choosing to be better. She’s actively choosing the harder path rather than hide — from herself and others.

So when Rebecca reveals to her mother that she’s made the decision to open a pretzel stand, not practice law, Naomi doesn’t take it well. Moreover, Naomi confronts Rebecca, telling her that she’s called the law firm and told the new senior partner that Rebecca wants her job back. In the moment, Rebecca does something we all have wanted her to do — she stands up for herself.

She doesn’t blow up at her mom for no reason. She tells Naomi off by setting boundaries. That’s healthy! It’s so healthy, because Rebecca knows that she’ll never earn the approval of her mother but she sure can try to earn her respect. Rebecca tells Naomi that she crossed lines, and that if she wants to be a part of her life, she has to respect who she is. There is no wiggle room for anything else. And if Naomi can’t accept that, then she can’t be a part of Rebecca’s life.

It’s a rare moment in the series where (because of the blocking of the scene, too) Naomi doesn’t have the upper hand or bigger persona. In a tiny New York apartment, Rebecca has emboldened herself and become bigger; and Naomi has shrunk into a place of submission. After all she’s been through — some of it self-inflicted — we root for Rebecca to tell her mom exactly what her place in her life is.

With that bold, courageous step, Rebecca gains a little bit more of control of her life back.

THE NICE GUYS

There are two sub-plots this episode, both of which focus on the men in Rebecca’s life becoming better individuals. After Nathaniel’s emotional awakening last week when he confessed his heart to Heather, he’s decided to think more of others. Unlike what we’d expect, it’s not an act — Paula recognizes that Nathaniel really is trying to grow as a person, offering to help one of Rebecca’s prison clients pro bono, and giving her money she needs.

But Nathaniel isn’t the only one whose softness is on display in “I Will Help You” — Josh agrees to house sit while Rebecca is in New York. While he’s house-sitting, he decides he wants to do something nice for Rebecca as a thank you. So he enlists the advice of Darryl (for the most hilarious, short-lived song about how to clean and be an adult), and decides to go out of his way to tidy up the home.

When Rebecca returns, she’s surprised and impressed! But when her date cancels on her and she spends an evening laughing and eating with Josh, she begins to realize something — she’s in trouble. Because in that moment, she remembered all the great times she and Josh had and feels those feelings again. When Paula tells Rebecca that Nathaniel was selfless and she believe he’s actually trying to become better — for his own sake, not to impress Rebecca or win her back — Rebecca begins to do the same and reminisce on all their good times.

The episode ends with her vocalizing that she’s in trouble, but it’s a good kind of trouble! For the first time really in the series, Rebecca is attracted to all of the good qualities a man possesses. She’s not attracted to Josh to fill a void, she’s not attracted to Nathaniel because he’s mean and dismissive. She’s attracted to them because they’re kind, selfless, and learning to become better people. Rebecca Bunch is attempting to cultivate honesty in every area of her life, and the self-awareness of how she’s feeling (as well as her ability to vocalize it to Paula instead of internalize it) is really a sign of growth.

Rebecca can only go up from here, right?

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Crazy Ex-Girlfriend 4x05 Review: "I'm So Happy For You" (West Covina, Or Change) [Contributor: Jenn]

"I'm So Happy For You"

Original Airdate: November 9, 2018

"The more things change, the more they stay the same." "The only constant is change." There are so many cliches about change that I'm sure you could name off the top of your head. Why's that? Because everyone has to deal with change. And — unless you're one of those rare weirdos who just loves it when their life shakes up — most people are pretty resistant to change by nature. Even if they don't fight against it, they unconsciously try and avoid it. We like things to be predictable. We like to be comfortable. Change is the exact opposite of that. It's newness and starting fresh. It's having to get to know someone again instead of settling into comfortable familiarity.

This week, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend was all about change. Every storyline focused on changes disrupting our main characters and how they handled it. "I'm So Happy For You" eventually finds the characters in varying states of acceptance, but it takes a little bit of prying for them to get there.

COMPETITIVE MUCH?

It seems like an absurd confession (because Rebecca whispers it), but I actually relate to the reasons why Rebecca felt fearful about Heather and Valencia leaving in this episode. She confesses to her therapist that she's fueled by competition. Her friends seem to be moving forward in their lives — they're hitting the adult milestones of settling into their careers, permanent relationships, and owning homes — but Rebecca is fearful because she's not where they are. She doesn't want them to move on until she's hit all those milestones too. Look, as someone who's almost 30 and single, with no real possibility of an engagement, marriage, buying my first house, or children soon... I get it.

Sometimes the reason we're afraid of change is because we're afraid of being left behind in its wake.

Rebecca's logical solution? To find people who are further behind in their lives than she is to make herself feel better about her position in life. So she befriends her two much-younger coworkers in hopes that their presences will make her feel advanced and content. This obviously backfires because Rebecca is just burying the real fear (which eventually resurfaces) beneath a coping mechanism. It's then that Rebecca realizes exactly how terrible the young people she's hanging around with are and returns to her girl group by the end of the episode with heartfelt, self-deprecating apologies.

What I really love about this episode and Rebecca's progress is that it's realistic. I understand why Rebecca felt the need to compete with her friends' statuses. She was beginning to feel like she'd be left behind. And while Valencia and Heather, specifically, call Rebecca out for her horrible behavior... they also acknowledge that her self-flagellation isn't necessary. And Valencia and Heather aren't entirely excited about their change — they're scared, too! Change is scary!

But if it wasn't for Rebecca meddling to split Valencia and Josh apart, Valencia would never have realized her career path. She would never be in a position to be moving to New York. She wouldn't have changed who she was.

And Heather wouldn't have met her husband. Paula acknowledges too that she wouldn't be where she is without Rebecca. Though her actions have often been morally ambiguous at best and heinous at worst, the women know that they wouldn't be where they are or where they're going without the help of Rebecca Bunch. They would not have changed.

So while it doesn't make everything better (Rebecca still ends the episode feeling sad because she's losing two of her best friends), this small reassurance helps Rebecca realize that change is difficult for everyone. But ultimately, even the difficult pushes that change gives us can help us move into the places we're supposed to be.

COMFORTABLE IS GOOD, RIGHT?

White Josh echoes something in this episode that I recently said to my friend. We'd both recently broken up with our significant others, and I told her that I wish I could skip all the awkward small talk, getting-to-know-each-other phase and start my next relationship right in the middle of us knowing one another. White Josh feels similarly in the episode. He and Darryl aren't together, but they're spending a LOT of time together. (This leads to an impressive musical number.) See, Josh and Darryl have settled into a kind of relationship that is natural and easy. They're not together, but they know one another.

So when White Josh goes on a date, he returns back to Darryl's place and complains. His date wanted to ask all kinds of questions about him, his friends, and his life. Darryl is the first person to wake White Josh up with a splash of cold water to the face. They can't continue to remain comfortable, not change, but also not be together. White Josh has to realize that the pattern they fell into — the being together without actually being together — is holding both himself and Darryl back from truly finding happiness with someone else. You can't remain comfortable and move toward change; you have to sacrifice the things that are easy in order to become the best version of yourself.

As much as my friend and I want to skip over the difficult, awkward parts of dating — and as much as White Josh wants to do the same — we can't just fast-forward through the details to get to a place where we feel content. It's in the discontent that we become who we're going to be.

While I think we can assume White Josh and Darryl will end up together in the end, they both need to learn an important lesson right now in moving on.

AND THEN THERE WAS PAULA

I have mixed feelings about Paula's storyline this season. It feels weird that we've spent four years with her and we're now just starting to focus on her relationship with her kids in a meaningful way. Picking up from last week's storyline though, Brendan and Paula continue to bond. And then Brendan tells her that he's planning to move to South America.

After Paula gives Rebecca an inspired speech about how when you grow, you learn to say hello and goodbye to people pretty easily — the older you get, the more you have to do it and the more okay you get — she learns her son is moving, and she doesn't take it well. Thinking a relationship with a girl Brendan really cares about would keep him at home, Paula schemes... only to be schemed on by her own family who figure out her motives pretty quickly. (Sidenote: WHY did no one else on the show figure things out this quickly?!)

Paula gets to sing a nice song to her son about how she spent most of his life thinking he wasn't going places but, as it turns out, he is. And she's actually proud of him. It's a nice song, but I still don't know why I should care about Paula's family this much. They've been given a lot of focus, and I'm not sure it's earned. (I honestly think it's mostly to fill the B/C-plots this season.)

Still, at least Paula and Rebecca have each other again to lean on.

And they'll need each other with all the winds of change that keep coming!

More fun stuff:

• I still will not get tired of the "Meet Rebecca" variations at the end of the opening theme. 
• Did you all love the fact that Scott Michael Foster just appeared in one song and not the rest of the episode, and Nathaniel just wanted to be part of the musical number? No? Just me?
• The end montage with all the changes was incredibly sweet, to be honest.

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Crazy Ex-Girlfriend 4x03 Review: “I’m on My Own Path” (You’re a Weird Woman, Rebecca Bunch) [Contributor: Jenn]

“I’m on My Own Path”

Original Airdate: October 26, 2018

You know how there are those people who are always looking for signs? The ones who think that the television commercial is speaking directly to them. The ones who live their lives by fortunes from Chinese restaurant cookies. The ones who would pick up their lives and move across the country because a butter ad made them question their life choices.

Rebecca Bunch has an on-again, off-again relationship with signs. In “I’m on My Own Path” we actually see more of this, and what happens when Rebecca’s fear kicks in. Last week, we watched as Rebecca deflected her anxiety and locked herself in her home. This week, Rebecca might be physically freed from her chamber of fears, but that doesn’t mean she’s escaped their emotional hold on her life.

Of course, because this is Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, we get most of the existential plot through soft pretzels.

SALTY OR SWEET

Rebecca doesn’t know whether or not she’ll be reinstated as a lawyer. While she waits for the results, she begins to fret. Sure, she’s really good at law. But is that what she’s supposed to be doing with her life? Should she just keep cycling through the motions? What path does she need to actually be taking?

A high-profile client spends the episode relying on Rebecca’s legal expertise and manipulation of loopholes — she only trusts Rebecca to be her attorney. Afraid of her future and her identity, Rebecca decides to take a job at the pretzel shop in the lobby of the firm. Paula appropriately freaks out when her best friend decides to just start working at a pretzel shop instead of practice law. But Rebecca is hiding something from Paula — she’s already received her confirmation or rejection from the California Bar. She just can’t bring herself to open the letter.

I think what Rebecca struggles with is something we all do, to an extent. While her indecision is played for laughs and definitely heightened (how many people do you know who make decisions based on soft pretzels or butter ads?), we all struggle with the decisions we have to make. Do we take fate into our own hands, or do we let the current sweep us in whatever direction we don’t fight against? Do we live our lives the way we really want to, or do we just let life happen to us? For so long, Rebecca chose law because it was just something she felt like she was supposed to do. She’s good at it. She makes money. That’s what happiness looks like, right? Falling into the boxes that naturally fit us.

At this point in her journey though, Rebecca wants more. She doesn’t just want to exist; she wants to actually make conscious decisions. She wants to be doing things she feels passionate about — even if no one else understands it. So at the end of the episode, Rebecca purchases the pretzel shop. We don’t know if it’ll fail or succeed. But all Rebecca knows is that this is what actually feels meaningful to her. She is choosing to live a meaningful life, even if it’s not the easy or logical choice. I can admire that.

Meanwhile, Heather and Hector decide to get married, mostly so that Hector can be on Heather’s insurance and get a gross gash in his toe fixed. Their short courthouse ceremony is so sweet and genuine. Major kudos to Vella Lovell and Erick Lopez for making me fall in love with these two and their story. Hector, of course, is the one who wants a wedding while Heather balks at the idea of anything traditional.

It’s Valencia — my how she’s grown in so many ways — who points out that Heather doesn’t want a wedding but Hector does; he’s sacrificing for her but she’s not willing to budge even a little bit for him. Marriage and relationships in general are two-way streets. Heather recognizes that because she loves Hector, she will have a wedding. If it was just up to her, she wouldn’t; but it’s not up to her anymore. They’re doing life together.

And it’s such a beautiful little ceremony that left me misty-eyed. Love really is at the core of this show — in expected and unexpected ways.

Additional quotes and such:

• “Nathaniel’s just stomping around like a sad, handsome baby.”
• Speaking of Nathaniel... apparently he loves Rebecca. I don’t know how I feel about this yet. Come back to me later.
• I absolutely love the song about not being a lawyer and immediately wanted to send it to all of my lawyer friends.
• There’s a whole sub-plot this week where Josh wants to get back in the dating game, but no one he goes on a date with actually takes him seriously. He wants a relationship, but all they want is something superficial. I still don’t care for Josh stories (they feel so far removed from the real plot and issues of the series), but this one wasn’t terrible because it set up some nice scenes between Josh and Rebecca.
• “I dressed as you for Halloween.” “Really? What did you wear?” “Some white girl crap.” “... That tracks.”
• “In summation: loop there it is.”
• “Twisted Fate” was such a fun song.
• As someone who watched Emma Approved back in the day, I appreciated seeing Joanna Sotomura in this episode!
• I absolutely love Hector/Heather, have I said that lately?
• I miss White Josh, always and forever.

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Crazy Ex-Girlfriend 4x02 Review: "I Am Ashamed" (Little House of Horrors) [Contributor: Jenn]

"I Am Ashamed"

Original Airdate: October 19, 2018

I heard a thing a few years ago that has always stuck with me — "Guilt says, 'I've done something bad.' Shame says, 'I am something bad.'" Often, we conflate the two concepts. We know we should feel guilty for something bad that we've done to harm ourselves or someone else, but it easily spirals into shame; we go from believing we did something wrong to believing we are broken, wrong, horrible, no-good, and deserving of punishment always. Rebecca Bunch has never been a saint, that's for sure. She's struggled in the past with her mental health, relationships, and processing trauma. But in the final season of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, we're beginning to see Rebecca's self-actualization culminate into action. Granted, "I Am Ashamed" spends most of its time focused on Rebecca creating illusions of ghosts in order to deflect from her own shame, but eventually Rebecca gets it. Sorta.

SHAME, SHAME, I KNOW YOUR NAME

The central plot of "I Am Ashamed" is that Rebecca's been exposed to the world of West Covina. An article was published revealing all of her transgressions (of course, the meta joke is that so many of them could only be known by the viewers of the show), which sends Rebecca into a spiral. Obviously. Instead of putting away her laptop, Rebecca does what so many of us do — falls down an Internet rabbit hole. Rebecca's spiral leads her to the story of what happened in her house years ago. As you might remember — and if you didn't, the "previously on" segment helped — Rebecca and Heather live in a murder house. Rebecca learns in the episode that a young woman was innocently shot and killed, dying in a humiliating (and gross) way.

But instead of brushing off this information as insignificant, it's what fuels Rebecca to do or not do things in the episode. The shame Rebecca feels because people know all of the terrible things she did? It drives her to inaction; she spends the entire episode hiding in her house. It seems natural that a woman who suffers from phobias and control issues would fear the outside world after it abandoned and ridiculed her.

So try as they might throughout the episode, Heather, Valencia, and Paula can't get Rebecca to leave the house. She won't even step outside to have a session with her therapist. I have to give Rebecca some credit for the self-actualization she's experiencing recently. She isn't perfect, but she recognizes that her actions do have consequences and genuinely wants to become better. She struggles to do so, because falling back on her old habits (denial, hiding, blame-shifting, etc.) is much easier than admitting dark truths about herself.

Because "I Am Ashamed" is set around Halloween, Rebecca begins to hear noises and weird things in the house that lead her to believe the spirit of Devon, the girl who died in the house. The thing about Devon is that she's a perfect outlet for Rebecca's anxieties. Instead of acknowledging the shame she feels, Rebecca transfers her desperate, frantic energy onto finding out if a ghost is truly haunting her house. Devon died because she made one mistake. Now she's being judged for that one mistake, and Rebecca is (of course) internalizing the lesson and weight there.

At first, Heather and Paula are skeptical about the whole "haunted house" thing, clearly pointing out the real issues Rebecca is avoiding. Valencia is, unsurprisingly, the one of the group who's super into the spirit world. To humor their friend, the group leads a séance and tries to summon the spirit of Devon. They don't expect it to work, but suddenly weird things begin to happen and Paula and Heather are left to acknowledge the spookiness of it all. Rebecca then feels Devon wants them to visit her grave, so the women oblige because they're a girl group.

While at Devon's grave, Rebecca's internalizing comes to fruition. "Devon," she says, "I know what it's like to feel ashamed. And I know that it's easy sometimes to dwell in that shame rather than move on." It was a nice moment where Rebecca spoke to herself as much as to the ghost of this girl. Shame is hard to deal with, honestly. It creeps up when you least expect it. It makes your stomach tie in knots, and causes you to break out in sweats. Your shame keeps you locked inside metaphorical and literal places. But there is hope — that is the thing that really combats shame. It's the realization that we are all flawed but that our mistakes don't define us. And because shame thrives in secrecy, the first step — like Rebecca took — is confronting it, head-on.

This year, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend reminded us that embarrassment and regrets will always be bigger Halloween monsters than ghosts and zombies. But like ghosts and zombies, they too can be defeated.

Extra fun:

• There were some minor stories this episode — Nathaniel has a new not-so-silent partner at the firm, thanks to Rebecca's group therapy buddy. And then Darryl struggled with caring for his new daughter because so much has changed with parenting since the last time he did it. The story is played for laughs (Darryl leaves Heabecca with White Josh because he was told at his parenting group that breast milk is better than formula and goes through a black market vendor to get it), but ultimately even Darryl's ex-wife admits that he's a good parent and that his daughter will be okay even if he doesn't follow all of the advice everyone gives him).
• The new credits debuted this week! I love that we got to hear Rachel explain it at Comic-Con and perform it for us. Seeing it completed was so much fun, though I still prefer season one's credits above... everything else, honestly.
• "Thanks for sauntering back in here after weeks of absence."
• MISSED YOU, PATTON OSWALT.
• "Thank you for being the kind of person I would hate to hang out with on Halloween."
• I still don't know why Josh Chan is here, but he is.

What did you think of the episode? Sound off in the comments below!

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Crazy Ex-Girlfriend 4x01 Review: "I Want to Be Here" (Pirates of Penance) [Contributor: Jenn]

"I Want to Be Here"

Original Airdate: October 12, 2018

Welcome back to West Covina, friends! A lot has changed, and yet... not a lot has changed too. We catch up with our group pretty much exactly where we left off last season — Rebecca pleading guilty to almost killing Trent, and everyone shocked at her confession. "I Want to Be Here" focuses a lot on the progress that Rebecca has made (and wants to force herself to continue to make) as a person, but also very clearly points out that Rebecca has... *whispers* ... privilege.

Rebecca getting schooled on her privilege is one of the strongest things about the episode, especially because though it's played for laughs, it's important that our self-declared feminist recognize that while her intentions aren't necessarily wrong, they're not necessarily good either.

SAD BACKSTORIES

So as it turns out, the meta commentary of the judge saying Rebecca's confession wasn't so much of a confession as a speech, and most of it was with her back to the judge carries weight: the judge won't accept Rebecca's guilty plea. But our anti-heroine is insistent that she pay for the pain she's inflicted on others and all the damage she's caused over the years. She tells Paula and Darryl that she's going to continue to declare herself guilty and nothing they can do will stop her. As a sentence based on pure annoyance more than anything else, the judge tells Rebecca she's sentencing her to six weeks in jail.

As she enters, Rebecca's confident that she deserves what she's about to suffer through. So much so, in fact, that it's essentially all she repeats the entire time she's in jail. Rebecca's act of repentance becomes a bit too real for her to handle. So what does she do? She uses a musical number to try and project her own beliefs about jail onto her fellow inmates. As it turns out, the song doesn't resemble Chicago's "Cell Block Tango" so much as it resembles a bunch of tragic stories unfolding. And this is where Rebecca's privilege comes in: her entire life, Rebecca has been a privileged white woman. But in jail, that privilege is checked when she reveals that she doesn't HAVE to be in prison — she's doing it for the metaphorical penance!

Her inmates are rightfully disgusted. These are women who made difficult choices because they had no other options — they stole to keep themselves warm, or took the fall for a crime that they didn't commit because it meant that their child would have one parent to look after them. The women's stories are tragedies, not fun exploits for Rebecca to entertain herself with while she wastes time feeling good about herself and her life choices.

The realization of her actions strikes Rebecca harder than most things do. Even when she is released from prison later in the episode, she's not satisfied. She thought that pleading guilty to her crimes was going to be enough to prove that she's changed — to start fresh with her life. But the thing Rebecca failed to recognize was that her motives (whether explicit or implicit) are just as important as her actions. For her whole life, Rebecca had been blaming others for her choices and refusing to take responsibility. Now that she's willing to take the fall for her actions, she's realized that even that in and of itself isn't quite enough; she has to truly understand the consequences of the noble things she does. A noble thing is only noble if it's for someone other than yourself.

Ultimately, Rebecca's confession was sincere, but the aftermath was all about... Rebecca. Notice the episode titles this season — they're all focusing on "I." And while that's such an important mental shift (no longer is Rebecca's life controlled by the men she's dating or the friends she's surrounded by), it's only once Rebecca shifts her guilt into tangible action to benefit others that true change can happen. And I think that's a lesson Rebecca is going to have to continue and learn throughout the rest of the season. Her actions, good or bad, can be good or bad for those around her.

Rebecca Bunch decides that the best way to pay for what she's done is by paying it forward and offering free legal advice to her former inmates. It's a start, but it's something Rebecca will need to take her mind off other things that are falling apart.

BOYS ARE DUMB DUMB

That's pretty much the moral of this week's B-plot. Nathaniel is dumb for a whole host of reasons (at least he's pretty), but as I think I noted last season, I'm not quite sure if Nathaniel is in love with Rebecca as she is or who he wants her to be. He gets frustrated at the end of the episode because Rebecca doesn't want to just fly off with him for vacation. His patience is wearing thin with this whole "my girlfriend wants to fix herself and is putting it before us." Nathaniel loves Rebecca and vice versa; but do they love each other as they are? I think Nathaniel loves that Rebecca is an untamed mess, because he's an untamed mess. He spends most of the episode on a survival camping trip avoiding his feelings for Rebecca. (We see Nathaniel doing this a lot, so I'd like some more nuanced or varied storylines, please and thank you.)

If Rebecca gets better but Nathaniel doesn't, will she still love him? Will he still love her? He's all about running away from his problems but for once in her life, Rebecca wants to stay put and fix hers. She's got a real shot to do that now that she's out of jail; I just hope that she allows herself the chance to grow with or without Nathaniel. (I do like them together, I should note that, but I think that their relationship right now is pretty toxic because they're both unhealthy — two unhealthy people does not a healthy relationship make.)

Speaking of unhealthy, why is Josh still in this show again? He once played a pivotal role but now he's trying to self-diagnose via Internet quizzes because he thinks he's got a psychological disorder. Sighhhhhhh. The whole point of Josh's story is that he needs to make progress in his life, but that's been Josh's story for seasons now. I'd rather see White Josh, to be honest.

It seems like this season of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend will focus on Rebecca's true growth and the growth of the remaining members of our squad. I sincerely hope we get developed stories for all of them before our final curtain call.

Musical notes:

• I finally got on board doing Crazy Ex-Girlfriend reviews just in time for the final season! I'll do my best to make all the review subtitles equally terrible musical theatre puns.
• "It wasn't even a plea. It was more like a speech."
• I MISS WHITE JOSH.
• Heather and Hector's relationship continues to be wonderful, and I have missed them so much.
• Bring on all of the Harvard references, y'all.
• I have a feeling this was not the last we saw of Trent.
• Who else loved the eleven-part harmony in "No One Else Is Singing My Song"?

What did you think of the season premiere of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend? Sound off in the comments below!

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Why Crazy Ex-Girlfriend Was One of the Most Important Shows of 2017-2018 [Contributors: Jenn and Anne]

Ever since its debut, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend has been a boundary-pushing, raucous, wonderful comedy — a gem on The CW and critical darling. As the show has grown and evolved, its shed preconceived notions and embraced discussion of stigmas. This season, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend took a few darker twists and turns which made the show more nuanced, layered, and poignant than ever before. Because the series has been so important to us (and actually Anne is the one who pushed me to try comedies that had polarizing names), Anne and I decided to combine our forces and describe the ups and downs of this season on Crazy Ex-Girlfriend.

Rebecca Bunch is such a complex character — on the one hand, occasionally we will root for her, but often we root against her. This year, we saw quite an evolution of her character. By the finale, how did you feel about her arc?

Anne: I think that Rebecca still has a long way to go. I am a tremendous fan of this show — it is comfort television on weekends and comfort music on weekdays. Rewatching and re-listening so often has helped me to fully appreciate how ambitious the creators’ plan was for the character, to where each conflict Rebecca faced — whether unfairly or as a result of her own actions — made perfect sense within her emotional arc. If it were done, it would hardly be as ambitious. So I imagine there’s still a lot Rebecca has to learn, and that the arc isn’t concluded.

I wanted to mention the (presumably four-season) arc as a whole before answering what you were asking, about this season in particular. I thought the breakdown in season three made perfect sense and was necessary. For how strongly Rebecca reacted against Robert, with whom she was not even exclusively involved, it makes sense that Josh Chan — who, for the entire show, has been a bedrock of her happiness and hope — leaving her would cause such a downward spiral. And I think it has been important, as more people become involved in her life, that the artificiality of her moving to West Covina is shed. It makes the show darker and realer, and makes her decision in the finale justifiable (at least from an emotional standpoint).

Jenn: I’ve always enjoyed the fact that Crazy Ex-Girlfriend is a meta, raucous series. But I think that season three really helped elevate it from a smart comedy to a poignant one. This year saw darker twists and turns, but yet they never felt excessive or out of place. Rebecca is such an interesting character. We spent so much of our time in the series trying to decide whether or not her actions are justifiable. In season three, Rebecca Bunch became more self-aware, and we got the opportunity to see her realization that her actions have consequences and there are some lines that, once crossed, cannot be un-crossed.

Rebecca’s arc makes sense to me — she’s grown and progressed and has finally come to the point in which she’s willing and able to take responsibility and change, even if it’s difficult. In spite of the rocky road it took to get her there, Rebecca’s willingness to sacrifice (time, freedom, convenience) has allowed her to become a more well-developed character and also a more complex one. Rebecca still makes mistakes. We still disagree with some of the decisions she makes. She still takes two steps forward and one back. But that’s humanity in the show and in Rebecca.

Let’s talk about how Crazy Ex-Girlfriend was unafraid to go really dark this year. Why was that important for the show and its evolution?

Anne: I think it was important in the interest of blowing up the idea of “crazy ex-girlfriend.” Despite how many interviews the creators give and how concerning Rebecca was so often, I think that there is a huge chunk of people who miss season one Rebecca’s “quirky adventures,” and that’s not the story this show is interested in telling. I’m personally happy it’s not. I had a much harder time enjoying the back half of this season than the first — trying to watch Rebecca do the same antics with Nathaniel as she did with Josh. The first half of the season ruined forever the sanctuary of ignorance that Rebecca, and us viewers, could stay in. There’s nothing quirky about Rebecca’s behavior anymore; there never really was. Her actions have real consequences.

Now that we have seen with our eyes the consequences of Rebecca not receiving the treatment she needs, we know that that’s the endgame we need to be rooting for — not about the guys! That’s an idea that Rebecca hasn’t committed to (despite “Buttload of Cats,” ha) and an idea we’re not used to, either. My pea brain sees a guy like Scott Michael Foster and wants him to kiss anyone on screen at all times, okay, not necessarily watch Rebecca fill out therapy workbooks. A part of me has to wonder if our resistance to this idea is because we’re not used to a woman anti-hero character. Walter White didn’t end up with anyone. Don Draper didn’t end up with anyone. Dexter didn’t end up with anyone. (Actually, don’t get me started on Dexter...) Why is it essential that Rebecca does? Is it because the show is sold as a deconstruction of rom-coms, or is it that romantic love is seen as the only ending a woman has?

Jenn: I totally agree, Anne — especially in regards to the fact that the series now wants to remind us that Rebecca’s actions have genuine consequences and we should see her not as a quirky heroine but as a broken, messed-up woman who we can root for, not to find love but to find herself and healing.

I feel like the topic of mental health including this season’s reality of Rebecca’s attempted suicide is important in the show’s progression. Crazy Ex-Girlfriend is a misnomer — the show is not about love or ex-love. Those are integral elements that propel plot and characterization. At its core, this is a show about what it means to struggle to deal with life and heal. Everyone in the series has their own coping mechanism for when life gets difficult and most of them are toxic — denial, deflection, dependency, regression — but the series does a great job this year in pointing those things out and naming them as toxic behaviors. Rebecca’s diagnosis was the first step in her healing (emotionally, mentally, and physically) in order to have better, healthier relationships with her friends, co-workers, family, and loved ones.

I think the show knew that it was so easy to romanticize Rebecca’s unhealthy behaviors (because we see them, on a smaller scale, so easily romanticized in rom-coms — come on, jealousy? Light snooping? Sabotage? All things that female characters do on some small scale in romantic movies in order to propel themselves closer to the person they’re attracted to), so they completely demolished our perception of that this year by allowing us to see exactly how self-destruction works. Rebecca’s arc is the show — and Crazy Ex-Girlfriend reminded us that just because she’s the main character doesn’t mean she’s always right. The darkness of this season will help Rebecca and the show’s characters become more fully-realized human beings who become better through mistakes and triumphs.

Not many shows can successfully do time-jumps, but toward the end of this season, we got one on the show. How effective was it? What did you like/dislike about jumping a bit into the future?

Anne: I thought that episode was sorely needed. I mentioned that the back half of the season was not as enjoyable for me as the first — and I mean, that’s for a lot of reasons. But this episode helped to propel a lot of the action that could have lingered for too long, and gave Rebecca sufficient time to find a “new normal” that was just as threatening to her happiness as the quest for Josh Chan.

So I liked the movement and slight changes to status quo. I liked that it skipped past the pregnancy. I liked Dog Josh! And I did think, after a front half that was so, so jam-packed with plot propulsion, that time needed to stretch a little bit to fit it all, if that makes sense. It’s not required that shows follow the same timeline as ours, but let’s be real — it’s hard to make sense of it in our brains when shows play with time too much. Ask How I Met Your Mother (actually, don’t get me started on How I Met Your Mother...).

I did not like Mona’s place in the eight months (made no sense she’d stay that long), and I wish that Valencia-being-bisexual was touched upon more in advance. For a fan theory that was so popular to be true was awesome, but it felt dismissive of the character to not give it more time — although what’s new with Valencia? Same with Josh, to be honest.

Jenn: I just loved the way the episode framed the time jump itself, panning to the different characters at different periods in time. It was smart, from a directing standpoint, and visually appealing. Ultimately, I’m a fan of time jumps when they make sense — and this one did. We needed to see our characters change (or not change) in that eight-ish month time frame and to flash forward a little bit gave, like Anne said, that sense of relief that time is still moving forward. Because yes, the front half of the season was dark and great but also because of how heavy it was, narratively, it was slower — literally, it took up less time. Moving forward, I loved that we got to see very pregnant Heather. I’m in agreement with the Valencia decision: even if it was fan canon, it still didn’t quite feel earned.

While the emphasis this year was more on Rebecca’s personal journey and dealing with a lot of darkness in her life, we still focused a bit on romance — especially the romance between Nathaniel and Rebecca. What are your hopes for these two moving into next season?

Anne: I have never believed that Rebecca loved Nathaniel the way that Nathaniel loves Rebecca. They have bonkers chemistry, and I love both the actors’ jobs in portraying both, but I think with so much going on in Rebecca’s life, Nathaniel felt jam-packed in as a serious viable romantic candidate in a way that Greg did not.

I still don’t think Nathaniel understands Rebecca beyond “manic pixie dream girl,” which makes his unconditional acceptance of her implausible, and his inability to criticize her actions in the way that she needs is a huge problem for their relationship to develop honestly. I also think it’s scummy to have a girlfriend and a long-term mistress in a way that I don’t think can be forgiven. Not to mention poor Lolo. So... I don’t know. I think they had done such a great job with introducing that initial attraction budding into something more from Nathaniel’s side, but (and maybe intentionally?) they never did that with Rebecca in a convincing way. I guess the answer to your question, though, is “kissing.” Scott Michael Foster has great arms.

Jenn: Give me more of Scott Michael Foster always, honestly. Sometimes I forget that he wasn’t always a part of this series but he’s so, so great and talented and elevates everything. He’s got the whole “puppy in love” look nailed down. I definitely think Nathaniel romanticizes and oversimplifies Rebecca as a person and character (we see that in the finale a bit), but I don’t think it comes from a place of malice or anything. It’s weird because Nathaniel isn’t asking Rebecca to change who she is at all, and essentially he tells her that he loves her as she is. But that’s kind of problematic, right? Because Rebecca NEEDS to change and grow, and Nathaniel’s acceptance is (ironically) just as bad as if he would force Rebecca to change everything about herself.

I’m interested to see how this romance plays out. I think Rachel Bloom and Scott Michael Foster have excellent chemistry, but I’m curious to know what exactly they would glean from a real relationship with each other. Nathaniel is becoming a better version of himself around Rebecca (he’s more vulnerable and caring and thoughtful) because he loves her, but is Rebecca the best version of herself around Nathaniel? Or is she more content to remain who she is because that’s the way he loves her? It’s just so interesting to ponder.

Also, all feelings about Scott Michael Foster aside, I truly do miss Greg. I know that Greg and Rebecca had so many issues together but darn if I don’t still miss him a tiny bit.

Josh was once such a focal point of the series, but kind of faded into the background by the end of this year. What do you think of him now, compared to what you used to think?

Anne: I always respected Josh as a character because he was believable in a way that Heather, Valencia, Nathaniel, even Paula are not... I’ve met type-B “chill” guys who were afraid to confront uncomfortable situations, and have definitely had overkill crushes, so he always kind of hit home for me. I also think that Vincent Rodriguez III is just the greatest at being a fully realized character with flaws and strengths.

A huge disappointment I have had with this season is the lack of focus on him, actually. I always thought this was Rebecca and Josh’s story — after all, in order to be a “crazy ex-girlfriend,” you have to have an “ex-boyfriend,” right? I wish that in the back half of the season instead of focusing on Trent in such a plot-important way, they had focused on Rebecca and Josh. The conversation they had near the end of the season (where Josh thanks Rebecca for changing his perspective) is one I think should have happened in season four. Josh has one of the most incomplete arcs of the ensemble, and more time should be spent on him next year.

Jenn: Yeah, it’s weird because I never really cared for Josh. I never shipped him and Rebecca, because he was just such a man child (in a way that, while Greg had his serious flaws, never truly was), that it seemed implausible to me that Rebecca would even find him remotely attractive. But that’s probably because I’ve met so many type-B guys in my life who I immediately find unattractive for the whole aforementioned man-childness that I’m projecting onto Josh.

ANYWHO, Josh’s lack of any significance or purpose toward the back half of the season did feel like a misstep on the part of the show. I get that he’s no longer the crucial character he once was to the plot, but we had more of White Josh character development than Josh character development and though I’m a fan of some White Josh, something about that felt off. As much as I’ve never cared for Josh, the show almost dropped him off in the background — which is only startling because of how integral he once was to the show. I think there’s a way to gradually fade him into obscurity and I’m not sure that Crazy Ex-Girlfriend did that well.

Let’s talk about the importance of the series’ supporting characters! Which of their stories resonated with you this year? Who and what do you hope we see more of next season?

Anne: I am not the right person to ask this question to — I have never liked much a majority of the supporting characters. Ummm, I did love Father Brah playing poker. And the story with Tim and his poor, poor wife. As far as resonance, I thought the Naomi story in “I Never Want to See Josh Again.” was very emotional.

Here’s what I’ll say: a part of my apathy toward the supporting characters is because of Rebecca’s apathy toward them. I was driven nuts by how many conversations Paula, Valencia, Heather, even Rebecca’s therapy group that Rebecca would not listen to. She’d just steamroll and we’d move onto the next scene. I don’t know how that problem is fixed fully next year and it’s a shame because I love the supporting cast so much. But a baby? A pregnancy? I guess Paula’s still in law school? A job I don’t understand? A girlfriend who was introduced two minutes ago? So?

Jenn: I literally just want all of the Hector/Heather stories, and more of White Josh/Nathaniel scenes. In the back half of the season, those were some of my absolute favorite scenes. They provided levity but also actual depth. I actually have cared less for Paula this year than I did in the past two seasons, which makes me sad. It seems like she really serves no purpose apart from being Rebecca’s partner-in-crime and supposed rock (and again, the dizzying amount of circles the two women went in with conversations about what Rebecca should/should not do was really tiresome). And Darryl has always just kind of been present to me. I could do without the rest of the characters at the firm (especially because the one girl now has a show on Freeform), since they never really added much value, IMO.

Valencia’s character development into a really well-liked, but still flawed now-background protagonist has probably been my favorite development of the series. I like that she’s still got the personality that makes her irritating to other characters, but she still is able to learn and grow and change as a result and that makes her likable. Plus, putting the three women together in a house was one of the show’s best decisions.

I also totally agree with you, Anne, about Naomi’s story in “I Never Want to See Josh Again.” This show doesn’t make me cry often, but that whole episode left me feeling like the wind had been knocked out of me — and part of that was just the complexity of Naomi as a character and mother, and her relationship with Rebecca.

Is there anything else you’d like to add?

Jenn: I love this show, and I think that it continues to find ways to improve itself. Rachel Bloom deserves awards for the way she’s played this incredibly difficult-to-like, yet ultimately redeemable anti-heroine. And I will always commend Crazy Ex-Girlfriend for being unafraid to tackle the really difficult, really messy, really taboo stuff in a way that no other show on television — in my opinion — can with grace, hilarity, and poignancy.

Anne: Crazy Ex-Girlfriend is one of my favorite shows. Rachel Bloom is transcendent. The songs were amazing this season. And although I have much to say about this season on top of what I’ve already said, I agree with this title of this article: Crazy Ex-Girlfriend was important this year. It was raw where it mattered and moved fearlessly along. I hope we get our renewal; I will be excited, I think, to say the same next year.

What did you all think of this season of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend? Sound off in the comments below!

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Crazy Ex-Girlfriend 3x06 Review: "Josh Is Irrelevant." (A Diagnosis) [Contributor: Anne]

"Josh Is Irrelevant"

Original Airdate: November 17, 2017

In interviews, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend showrunners Aline Brosh McKenna and Rachel Bloom mentioned that the last three episodes were some of the most pivotal and important episodes thus far — and the ones that they were most excited to write. That enthusiasm has paid off in huge dividends. I’ve been an advocate of this show from the very beginning, but with “Josh Is Irrelevant.,” the sixth episode of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend’s third season, it’s hard not to draft the petition for Rachel Bloom and company to take home their deserved armful of Emmys. The show is on its hottest streak ever.

What stands out to me the most of this season is the thoughtfulness with which everything is handled. As a heavily serialized show, consistency and care go a long way in building trust for the viewers. And although I was never in this boat, the consistency and care demonstrated over two-and-a-half seasons established a solid foundation for converting skeptical viewers to stalwart fans. This show is good — meticulous, empathetic. So what if it’s a CW musical dramedy called Crazy Ex-Girlfriend; in the end, all of these initial hurdles for casual viewers are necessary, lovable parts of the show’s DNA.

The best scene of this episode for me was when Dr. Akopian read to Rebecca the list of symptoms associated with her diagnosis. As she does, Rebecca recalls specific moments throughout the three seasons that fit those symptoms. That’s the kind of consistency that I would call “thoughtful.” Mental illness is so misunderstood in society, and often misrepresented in television and movies. It is sensationalized, stigmatized, and generalized. But the situation is a lot more nuanced than that, and by a) making a solid case for Rebecca’s diagnosis while b) making her empathetic along the way, the character is fully-fleshed and her diagnosis intrinsic instead of drama for the sake of drama.

So there’s thoughtfulness of the story and its pacing; there’s thoughtfulness behind handling a topic as sensitive as mental illness; there’s thoughtfulness of all the character’s decisions, in a way to make even our protagonist — who is objectively not the best person — into someone we really love. These threads all entwine again and again while watching this show and make even smaller moments feel well-constructed.

Here’s another favorite of mine: Did you notice that the staging of the reconciliation with Darryl at the end of the episode is exactly the same as the episode where Rebecca is yelling at everyone? That they hug in the same place where (I guess) days before, Rebecca was doing everything in her power to push her friends away.

Or a third little moment: That Rebecca apologizes for “inconveniencing a lot of people,” the same phrase that was said by her mother in the pilot in reference to her last suicide attempt?

With these small choices, the show makes clear it understands itself, repeating for emotional emphasis and nuance. There’s little threads to pick at and consider. With the hugging scene, there’s obviously stark contrast between what Rebecca believed during her friend-convention — that nobody loved her — with what she knows now to be the truth. That’s so moving given Rebecca’s history of abandonment and loneliness, and resounding for viewers with mental illness to experience. With the second, it’s easy to hate Naomi for the comment — small phrases like that can stick around — but we just got off an episode where Naomi was driven to desperate, misguided measures to make sure her daughter didn’t kill herself. No one in Crazy Ex-Girlfriend is worth hating, or unworthy of redemption.

Speaking of, I think moving forward I am the most excited for Josh’s plot. Josh has been vilified even when he logically did not at all deserve Rebecca’s treatment of him. As a viewer, I too hate Josh a little bit. But Josh is simple and passive and immature in a callous way. And unlike Rebecca, he’s never really had to confront his issues because he moves onto whatever next distraction he can find for himself. Now that Rebecca has declared him irrelevant, and it is Josh on the outside looking in, his “effortless normalcy” is going to require some effort.

I can’t wait. I’ve never really seen a character like Josh before on TV, and definitely have never seen an easygoing character like him have to deal with his own anxiety. And once the show gets to that point, there will be huge relief. It’s been incredibly obvious to anyone watching that Josh is imperfect to say the least, and over time we’ve seen even Rebecca realize he is not worthy of obsession. Finally, we get to see Josh grapple with the consequences of his (non-)actions.

“Josh is Irrelevant.” is a major turning point for the show and for the season. There are so many paths to happiness, and I’m excited about which ones Rebecca will take. She’s had tunnel vision on Josh for so long, and by finally putting her obsession to rest and recognizing that there are more important things on her plate, the Crazy Ex-Girlfriend world expands. At the same time, while there is a turning point for the show and season, I’m confident the show will deliver continued quality, catchy songs, impeccable acting, and a wait between episodes that always feels far, far too long. See you all on December 7th!

Stray Observations:

• Nathaniel obviously went through some stuff this episode, huh? Critically, I thought it was well done, and Scott Michael Foster brought his serious acting chops as always to this alpha tool Mr. Darcy-turned-soft. But my pea brain didn’t love the family scenes as much as I should have. That said, I did love how his mother offered roses for Rebecca. I thought that was sweet and matronly.
• (Pea brain also is obsessed with Nathaniel and Rebecca, even though neither of them should probably be in a relationship right now. But God, did you see his smile when he made her laugh at the end of the episode? I hope they kiss again, and often.)
• (Pea brain also loves Scott Michael Foster, and would go with him to Rome at a moment’s notice.)
• The songs! “A Diagnosis” and “This is My Movement” both very well-sung and quite beautiful, although “This is My Movement” felt out of place in this episode. I get that they were trying to lighten the mood but with the serious emotional depth and earnestness on Rebecca’s end, “Movement” felt clunky.
• I care so much about Rebecca and her story that Paula, Heather, Valencia, and Hector take a serious backseat when I rewatch episodes. But I loved, so much, Rebecca waking up to find #gurlgroup4evah sleeping outside her door. It really is amazing when you consider none of these girls were friends with each other in the pilot.
• I hope Josh keeps the puppy. It was darling.
• This is my first review in a while! Crazy Ex-Girlfriend makes me feel like glitter is exploding inside me, so hopefully I’ll be back for the next episode, which has a very juicy title if you are a spoilers fiend like me.

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Crazy Ex-Girlfriend 1x14 Recap: "Josh is Going to Hawaii” (Double Negatives Always Stress Me Out) [Contributor: Alice Walker]

"Josh is Going to Hawaii"

Original Airdate: March 7, 2016

Hello everyone! I am subbing in for the wonderful Maddie this week, covering all of the shenanigans going down in West Covina (Californiaaaaaa).

This show has been pressing hard on the gas recently, cumulating in the big dramatic kiss that closed out last week’s episode. The aforementioned kiss should have you on cloud nine if you’re Team Josh, and doing a series on incredulous double takes if you’re Team Greg. Same goes for Rebecca and Josh respectively, as they both processing this plot twist in their own way in this episode.

At the beginning of “Josh is Going to Hawaii,” Josh heads straight to Father Brah, who is just one of the perfect supporting characters that makes this show feel so full. The good Father is stoned and filled with disturbing parables about dead bunnies, but his advice to a panicking Josh is solid — tell Valencia what happened, and pray that she forgives him. No one (well, except anyone who has ever seen a rom-com) thinks this is very lucky. Meanwhile, Rebecca is off getting her own advice from Paula. Sweet, overinvolved Paula who is so eager to live out her own dream role as Joan Cusack that she continues to dispense terrible love advice. Why Rebecca takes the word of a middle-aged woman in a struggling marriage as gospel is beyond me. Yet, under Paula’s advice, Rebecca agrees not to contact Josh.

As it turns out, she didn’t need to stress out about whether or not to contact him: Josh makes a beeline for her place and the two have an awkward conversation where Josh recounts his plan to come clean to Valencia, and Rebecca tries to rein in her exuberance at their inevitable break-up. Josh is still the great winner in this because after The Talk, he is planning to hop on a plane to Hawaii for some bro-time.

Cue the plotting music.

Rebecca is one in a series of women who might not be a great person, but is excellent at her job (a role Mindy Lahiri perfected). Rebecca’s brains have always been her biggest asset, so it’s a bit of a shock to find out that our homegirl is broke and has as much financial sense as a toddler. Apparently she bought a house, leased a car, and used some solid blackmail money without ever checking her bank account. Basically, she is one step away from debtors’ prison. It strains credulity, but the look on Paula’s face when she realizes Rebecca doesn’t even know how much she makes was pure gold. Desperate to make the grand gesture to Josh, she sells her family heirloom and books a ticket to Hawaii. Romance, party of two!

... Except for a little problem named Valencia.  After overhearing her gushing to her mother about her big talk with Josh (“love me more!”) Rebecca finally, finally feels guilty about the cheating that accompanied her big kiss. This realization is compounded when she overhears Josh and Valencia’s fight where he tells his longtime girlfriend that he in no way loves Rebecca. Not even a little. Not even at all. It would be a more tragic moment if Rebecca didn’t look every inch the stalker, spying on them through the window. Okay, maybe nervous breakdown party of one is more accurate.

After witnessing their reconciliation, our hero has her own reckoning: she is actually the Big Bad. She’s not the princess, not Kate Hudson, not the young ingénue. And she is completely right. We’re all #TeamRebecca because this is her story. We’re with her through everything, learning about her past and family. If this was told from Valencia’s point-of-view, we would probably all be #TeamKillOffRebecca. Sure, Valencia is an easy target because she’s so gorgeous, seems like a real terrible person, and Indian food makes her gassy. But Josh is still her longtime boyfriend, and Rebecca has done nothing but undermine that relationship since she got to town. Luckily, the best thing that could possibly happen to Rebecca, does: she is seated next to her therapist on the plane for her Hawaiian vacation. If anyone needs some time to be single and figure out her stuff, it is Rebecca. And that time is now.

In other romantic pairings this week: Josh and Heather both now get to enjoy the awkwardness that is working with an ex. Greg is still hung up on Rebecca but trying to let it go after seeing her and Josh kiss. Heather is apparently heartbroken over Greg, and we’ve all learned an important lesson about not lying to a guy you care about. Meanwhile, Darryl and White Josh continue to be the most adorable duo that ever lived. Darryl has zero chill whilst dating, and puts White Josh off with his over-commitment.  He tries dating around a bit, but we end with the two in flip-flops and board shorts drinking boba tea together, as God intended.

Sidebar: 

• Calling it now: Greg buys back Rebecca’s ring for her, Grand Romantic Gesture-style. 
• Does anyone know around what month it is in this show? Greg and Heather started dating around Christmas, and I wonder how long the two were actually together before they broke up.
• I loved how Darryl’s “Getting Bi” song took down all the stereotypes about bisexuality in the media. Giving him such a good plotline and pairing with with White Josh was the best thing the show has done all season.
• Paula’s reaction when Rebecca’s car got impounded was all of us. 
• That Disney music and make-up was so on point.

Thanks for having me this week, readers! Let me know what you thought of “Josh is Going to Hawaii” in the comments!

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Crazy Ex-Girlfriend 1x11 "That Text Was Not Meant for Josh!" (She's So Broken Inside) [Contributor: Maddie]

 

“That Text Was Not Meant for Josh!”

Original Airdate: February 9, 2016

As a highly empathetic person, I am one of those people who gets secondhand embarrassment so strongly that I need to physically leave the room during a fictional character’s embarrassing moments. It’s even worse when those moments happen in real life and there’s no escape. We’ve all sent a text to the wrong person and wanted the earth to swallow us whole upon the realization. For me, my mom saw a rather inappropriate text about an actor playing a superhero meant for my best friend. Yeah. As supremely awkward as that conversation was, it was nowhere close to the mortification Rebecca feels in “That Text Was Not Meant For Josh!” when she accidentally sends a text declaring Josh’s hotness and her love for him to Josh instead of Paula. The shenanigans following the “Text-mergency” are brilliant, and the song with the same title is sheer awesomeness, but once again this show uses sitcom misadventures to tell a much more nuanced and emotional story.

After Josh catches her in his apartment, Rebecca constructs an elaborate lie to make herself seem more sympathetic than stalker-y: her apartment was broken into so she rushed over to find him. She is able to sell it, and Josh goes out of his way to comfort her and make her feel safe. It’s a lie that crosses a line, and yet it is understandable. The show makes it very clear early on in the series that Rebecca has had serious abandonment issues since her father left and the emotional abuse she has received from her mother makes her crave unconditional love like Oprah craves bread. Thus, she will go to any measures to make sure that Josh doesn’t leave her.

Does this excuse her actions? Positively not. Can you empathize with Rebecca in this scenario? Absolutely. This lie came from a very human place. She has just recently come to terms with how in love with Josh she is, but also has enough internal self-hate that she refuses to let Josh see all of her in fear that he will leave. She giggles at his jokes and tries to write off her dramatic flair as a thing of the past to please him. So Rebecca scrambles to cover up a text that would definitely create an awkward moment, but is not guaranteed to ruin her relationship with him, by crafting a lie that certainly will. The trouble is since Rebecca has been so deprived of loving relationships, she doesn’t understand how truly catastrophic even the smallest of lies can be to a relationship. Lies in a relationship are the ultimate form of self-sabotage and will simply drive away the people we so desperately want to keep close. Which is why it hurts so very much that all the sweet moments slip through Rebecca’s fingers and a betrayed and deeply hurt Josh walks out the door.

I have been in this position before, and have seen the destruction it can cause. You keep up a lie to maintain the version of yourself that you believe they love while brutally damaging the chances of that person loving the real you. The lies build on each other and create more lies, but it is necessary because you truly cannot believe that person can love someone as broken as yourself. However, you don’t know that, but it’s too late because what started out as a small lie grew to blatant deception that has become big enough to rise to the surface, hurting those you love. Such is the case for Rebecca as well. By the time Josh finds out the truth, it’s a series of lies that he cannot ignore and shatters his view of her.

While the healthy response would be introspection, honesty, and taking steps to move forward, the more common response is to dwell in one’s self-loathing and give the inner-voice that normally whispers self-hate a microphone to belt a bombastic anthem about how you’re the worst. That’s why “You Stupid Bitch” is such a heartbreaking moment but brilliant piece of writing. It puts a spotlight on just how negatively Rebecca views herself and what a depressed spiral of self-loathing sounds like. I may have written this before, but they say the best comedy requires pain and misery and I truly believe no one is capturing this on television right now quite like Rachel Bloom. I was simultaneously laughing and crying while watching this scene that manages to entertain and provide catharsis.

Rebecca’s downward spiral has not quite hit rock bottom. Greg shows up, and upon seeing a despondent Rebecca sitting in a pile of broken glass, immediately rushes in alarm to comfort her and help anyway he can. At this point, my Greg and Rebecca shipping heart is soaring before it is promptly crushed. While scenes with Josh really are sweet and warm and nice, Rebecca’s moment with Greg are electric. Santino and Rachel’s chemistry really is fantastic in this scene. You can so easily tell how Greg urgently needs to know that Rebecca is okay, and how Rebecca is able to be truly vulnerable with him and show him even the messier parts of herself. But then the shoe drops: Greg realizes that he has arrived in the wake of Josh-drama and refuses to be the consolation prize, but not without giving a glimpse of the fact that he really does care about her. More importantly, he cares enough to want to be chosen by her. While Rebecca cries out that she really needs to be with someone and not alone, he emphasizes that her wanting someone isn’t enough — she needs to want HIM.

After a couple of episodes with some lovely Josh and Rebecca moments, it just took this one scene to bring me back to the Greg and Rebecca camp. To illustrate my point, I look to the king and queen of romantic comedies, Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan. Both films with them as the leads are rom-com classics, but one sticks with me far more than the other. Sleepless in Seattle is romantic and nice, but I also found it all flying across the country in a big gesture with sweeping music, longing stares, and little substance. Whereas in You’ve Got Mail we get the little moments that lead to truly getting to know all of a person before the big kiss in Riverside Park.  Kathleen Kelly doesn’t put on any front for Joe Fox or NY152 and vice versa, that way when he and Brinkley come strolling in, the audience actually believes that these two could legitimately work as a relationship in real life. People like to say that it’s great to have fantasy when it comes to romance, but is it? Reality is so much better than anything we can fantasize about. That’s why relationships that aren’t always nice and pretty are so dynamic to watch. Josh and Rebecca are heartwarming and enjoyable, but personally I find her and Greg the much more interesting story to tell. And unfortunately for me, the only character who knows what’s up right now is Scott.

Speaking of, the exploration of Scott and Paula’s marriage was a delightful plotline. Once they started connecting again, I adored their relationship and want more of it on my screen. Do you want to know how good it was? I am actually calling Scott by the character’s name instead of referring to him as Frank Morningside from Miss Congeniality like I have in every scene he’s been in before this episode. I loved that they bonded over Paula’s obsession with Rebecca’s love life. It is a completely cliché TV trope, but whenever you get sitcom characters actually reciting lyrics from the theme song, I am in heaven. Scott and Paula pulled it off brilliantly, and now they even beat Mr. Sheffield and Niles in The Nanny as my favorite use of said trope. It was delightful moments like these that gave depth to their relationship. These two are married but they are also best friends who truly enjoy each other’s’ company, but they had just forgotten that.

Seeing Scott and Paula’s mature relationship was a great foil to the messes that are Rebecca’s relationships. Just like it gave the show balance, it is also so important for Rebecca to see a healthy relationship that endures it ups and downs. One of the perks of having friends older than you — and at a better and more secure place in life — is that they know just what to say when you’re consumed in your own drama because they were there but figured out how to get their stuff together and get where they are now. Sure, when you’re ready, they want to commiserate with you about all the gory details of your problems; but they will also be there with a hug and sage advice when all you want to do is cry. The support from my friends/mentors has made me a better and more confident person, just as Paula provides that same comfort and healing to Rebecca.

Friends like that will help pick up the pieces, even if they kind of helped break the glass in the first place.

Stray Thoughts: 

• The band of lawyers was comedy gold that shouldn’t be forgotten just because the back half of the episode came in like a freight train with the feels.
• “Text-mergency” totally sounds better than “text-astrophe.”
• But seriously, Scott and Paula on a Rebecca mission was excellent and I want more!
• Also, more Father Brah, please.
• "There are other ways to get out of this building, but I walked by your patio." Right in the feels, Serrano!
• While the song may have destroyed me, I have to admit Rachel Bloom looked stunning in that evening gown for “You Stupid Bitch.”
• As someone who has lived in the area, I still get giddy for all the exterior shots of West Covina.

Thanks for reading these reviews even when they slightly become personal therapy sessions!

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Crazy Ex-Girlfriend 1x09 "I'm Going to the Beach With Josh and His Friends!" & 1x10 "I'm Back at Camp With Josh!" (What's Wrong With Being Confident?) [Contributor: Maddie]

“I’m Going to the Beach with Josh and His Friends”

Original Airdate: January 25, 2016

Over the hiatus, The CW’s website offered free streaming on all of the episodes of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend so I decided to check out the show. I had heard only great things about it, from those talking about Rachel Bloom’s Golden Globe win to our very own fearless leader Jenn. Since our tastes in TV are pretty similar, I had a feeling I would enjoy the show, but it only exceeded my expectations. Crazy Ex-Girlfriend is quirky and so much fun, filled with a great cast of interesting characters and ridiculously catchy musical numbers. For real though, I’ve had “I’m So Good At Yoga” stuck in my head for days. However, what sets it apart is how intelligent and heartfelt the show can be as well. Bloom has created a wonderful compelling mess of a character in Rebecca Bunch and she doesn’t shy away from how flawed Rebecca is and how much she is hurting. The midseason premiere was Rebecca at her most awkward and wonderful, but also at her most vulnerable and raw.

One of the reason this review is multiple weeks late is because this episode majorly messed with me and I kept crying while trying to write this review. There are a lot of ways I can identify with Rebecca, but this was the episode where I most sympathized with her. I knew exactly how she was feeling, and so this episode hurt like a son of a gun. As much as Rebecca is consumed with a desire for romance, in the form of her Josh-obsession, at her core she just want to belong and be loved. While romance is still something she yearns for, Rebecca also craves the love and support that comes from having friends.

Personal background here: until I joined this site six months ago I had never had a group of friends before. I’m used to a group of friends consisting of awesome people dispersed throughout the country, so believe me when I say I understand where Rebecca is at in the beginning of the episode. You go out to the movies, a restaurant, whatever, and all around you there are groups of people around you that look so happy. And the only thought running through your mind is how much you want to be a part of that. The shots of Rebecca standing a safe distance away seeing Josh, Greg, and the crew chat about the movie they had just seen was played with the perfect amount of wistfulness, longing, and a touch of awkward. It was such a real moment because when you are in a small town you can't help but run into the people excluding you from social gatherings and it sucks.

When I was a freshman in high school, I discovered there was a party for the entire grade besides me. I did not learn this from the conversations at school on Monday because that'd be much less painful than what really happened. The host of the party happened to live next door to my grandparents whom I happened to be spending the evening with. I heard the entire party, the laughter of people I so desperately wanted to be friends with, the frivolity that people my age supposedly engaged in. Alas, I was on the other side of the fence with that same awkwardness and melancholy that Rebecca exuded hiding behind the potted Sega Palm. That’s why the genuine surprise and cautious glee in Rebecca’s voice when she says she’d love to join the crew to the beach positively gutted me. Rachel Bloom played that moment with such vulnerability and earnestness that I couldn’t help but feel real emotions in response.

So once Rebecca gets the invitation for the beach day that she so desperately yearned for, she stays true to form and totally over-does it. I laughed out loud when she started pitching words games as a fun social activity because I have literally done the exact same thing before. Rebecca ups the ante and gets a party bus, which we all know from New Girl will make everything go great. Naturally, the rest of the group pairs off, which leaves Rebecca alone and desperate for attention; thus Rebecca goes from jumping through metaphorical hoops to get attention from Josh and his friends to literally jumping on a stripper pole to get their attention. Sure, girlfriend can work a pole, but at this point Rebecca is majorly dialing 1-800-TOO-MUCH.

An outraged Valencia orchestrates the party bus crew to have an airing of grievances like it’s Festivus, insinuating Rebecca is the root to everyone’s problems, which culminates in all secrets being exposed. Rebecca is left raw and humiliated with nowhere to escape when everyone learns she followed Josh to West Covina. Rachel Bloom breaks our hearts as Rebecca reveals she has been at her happiest in West Covina, and then it all falls to pieces. However, this leads to one of the sweetest moments in the series. Expecting further heartbreak and humiliation, Rebecca is surprised to find comfort, validation, kindness, and a moment of true connection with Josh. Amidst all of the loneliness and embarrassment of the day, Rebecca ended up getting a brief moment where everything was golden and wonderful.

While I heavily ship Rebecca and Greg, and am shocked that they only have eight works of fanfiction on Archive of Our Own, this episode helped the audience see why Rebecca could fall for someone like Josh Chan. Plain and simple, Josh cares. He’s the type of guy people mistakenly assume of having little emotional depth because he’s outwardly happy all the time, but that’s not the case. Josh makes the conscious decision to view his world and those around him with a positive outlook. Just as he sees the best in West Covina, his small town best known for a billion car dealerships and a mall with a good Cheesecake Factory, he sees the best in Rebecca — even with all of her baggage and neuroses. Vincent Rodriguez III plays Josh with such an earnest warmth that the audience can’t help but fall a little for him and his infectious smile. Likewise, Rebecca is drawn to the light he exudes to the point that in her mind, her interactions with him glow with a golden hue. The reprise of “West Covina” really is a beautifully bittersweet moment between them. This is the moment where Rebecca, and the audience, realize she isn’t merely infatuated with the idea of Josh but she truly loves him and can see how great they’d be together.

I feel like this is why Valencia was in her prime mean girl mode this episode. This was the episode that, to me, upgraded Valencia from antagonist to villainess. Her manipulation of events is with the signature blend of passive aggression and Machiavellian cunning that comes from the type of girl that makes high school a living hell for the rest of us. My initial reaction was something along the lines of: “Sure, Rebecca is a little weird but that’s no reason to be this mean to her. Go listen to some VeggieTales, Valencia!’

For real though, Valencia needs to watch some VeggieTales.

So why go to a full-on social assault of Regina George proportions? Valencia is beginning to feel legitimately threatened now that Ms. Bunch is here to stay and clearly has something with Josh. The status quo has been upset and the new variable in the equation has the chance to disrupt her life plans. Thus, she targets Rebecca with vicious ruthlessness, intent on social annihilation, and she almost succeeds. Unfortunately for her, she neither expected nor knows that the conflict she stirred about actually brought Rebecca and Josh closer together.

Conflict was another big theme of this episode. Sure, it is messy and is never easy but conflict is necessary to have lasting and meaningful relationships. In order to remain friends as adults, Josh and Greg needed to realize how different they are as people but because of the bond created by lifelong friendship they respect those differences. Likewise, Paula’s tough love helped Rebecca be emotionally honest with herself and acknowledge that she loves Josh. When Rebecca’s joy of declaring love faded to the heartbreak that she can’t be with him, Paula was there for her in a genuinely touching moment of female friendship.

While Rebecca’s initial efforts to achieve acceptance this episode went in flames, she did end the day having received kindness and support from those that mattered.

Stray Thoughts:

• I love that Gabrielle Ruiz’s voice is versatile enough to pull off both Bollywood and country pop genres.
• How did Paula beat Rebecca to the beach? Whether in a bus or minivan, Saturday beach traffic on The 10 will catch you.
• What is it with me and OTPs that use light imagery?
• I love Rebecca’s party playlist.
• The harmonies on Rebecca and Josh’s reprise of West Covina were heavenly.
• I love that they followed up on the throwaway gag of Hector oversleeping.
• Kenny Ortega directed this episode which means I want an alum from High School Musical to guest star now.

“I’m Back at Camp with Josh!”

Original Airdate: February 1, 2016

While there's nothing wrong with being confident, as stated by the Demi Lovato anthem, finding empowerment is still easier said than done. In this episode, different characters learn to find empowerment in unexpected places.

Rebecca begins the episode still in the glow of admitting her feelings for Josh but is unsure of her next move. She wants to remind Josh of how magical their time at camp together was, and serendipitously gets the opportunity to join Josh as counselors for a camp for underprivileged teens. Being around the environment where one spends time as a teen has a curious where bringing back the habits in insecurities to come with adolescence. Likewise, Rebecca is brought back to some of her 16-year-old roots.

Back when she was 16, Rebecca wrote a letter for Josh that she was going to give him at the end at the end of camp but then he broke up with her. Rebecca still has the letter and wants to give it to him despite Paul is urging not to. After several attempts to rekindle that camp magic, she finally gets a chance have a moment with Josh at the peak of one of the foothills at sunset. This is it. The moment Is picturesque, and Rebecca has braved mocking teenagers, an elbow to the face, mosquitoes, and anaphylactic shock to get to this moment. Alas, this is Crazy Ex-Girlfriend so we all know this moment isn't going to go out. Rebecca's big and bold and by the romantic setting and shows Josh the letter. She reads the flowery prose in a sweet moment of emotional intimacy, but has her hopes dashed is Josh find the letter hilarious. He laughs about "how weird and dramatic" she used to be, obliviously rubbing salt in the wound. Rebecca truly got for vulnerable and showed a part of herself to Josh, making his dismissal, albeit completely unintentional, of her feelings all the more heartbreaking. Ironically, it's at Rebecca's most devastated and disheartened that she gets her female empowerment speech to the campers. When Rebecca breaks down partway through her speech and is reduced to a blubbering mess, the teenage girls take pity on her and work to make her feel better with the trope that will never die: MAKEOVERS!

Something I adore about the show is the writers’ ability to write songs that are simultaneously catchy beyond belief and weird and complex in this message. "Put Yourself First" makes interesting commentary on how the super sexy version of female empowerment popularity is link to how it is still appealing to the male gaze, while still being a really fun pop song that you can totally dance to.

After the makeover magic, Rebecca doesn't exactly adhere to the girls’ “put yourself first” message and immediately acquiesces to having a talk with Josh, but the following moment is a great scene. Sometimes, while we may still be a work in progress in learning to love ourselves, we are able to see just how great those we care about are, and helping them realize that is everything.

Josh, who is more perceptive than he appears, realizes how upset Rebecca was earlier and rereads the letter. While Josh my think some of the flowery language which is dramatic, the core of the message means the world to him. Rebecca’s unwavering support and faith in him is something he's never see from anyone else. His happy-go-lucky ways are both a disappointment to his parents and to Valencia. So all the dramatics aside, a letter expressing that someone believes in him means the world when just that morning he was being belittled by Valencia. In return, Josh and Rebecca have their first moment of affection as he kisses her on the cheek. The camper spying on the conversation or shocked to see that a cheek kiss is all that happens, but to Rebecca, that small display of affection and affirmation is everything.

Meanwhile back at West Covina, Darryl is lonely and invites Greg, Hector, and White Josh to his place to try to make new friends. “Having a Few People Over” is officially one of my jams, and Pete Gardener kills it the entire episode. Watching Darryl gain confidence and develop an adorable friendship and possibly more with White Josh was so sincere and fun to watch. The sweet and simple joy the mere kiss on the cheek causes Darryl was so endearing to see.

Lastly, Greg found the confidence to face commitment issues. Heather wants to be an exclusive couple with him, and he immediately reacts by saying they need some space. Like Rebecca, Greg struggles with abandonment issues brought on by an absent parent. Thus, he gravitates towards relationships where both parties have one foot out the door. Consequently, it is easier to break up before things get serious enough to be invested emotionally. Additionally, he has a negative view of himself, which makes it difficult to see himself in a committed relationship with someone. Once Greg gets the confidence boost of having his high school crush be super into him, he is able to start seeing himself for someone who could be in a real relationship. While I find Heather and Greg's relationship coupling to be more of a fun novelty then an interesting dynamic for the show to explore, this lesson is still a huge deal and a great moment of character development for Greg.

Overall, this episode was an important step for several characters’ development and ability to move forward while still keeping the show’s quirky fun tone, and sets up the path for some potentially really wonderful storylines.

Stray Thoughts:

• Paula and Rebecca’s simultaneous soprano-toned“Yay!” was amazing and the pinnacle of ladies lunching together.
• I need to have people over solely so I can play “Having a Few People Over” when during party prep.
• Who else wanted one of the panda lollipops Josh had?
• Snailana Grande! I live for these puns.
• “I don’t watch [Empire] ironically anymore. Taraji is my everything.” Accurate, Heather.
• I honestly worry about the dating habits of today’s teenagers. Youths!
• For a show that mostly get its attention for its feminist themes, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend does a remarkable job of adding depth and complexity to its “bro” characters.

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