relationships — Blog — Melanie's Musings

DISCLAIMER: This is my first time writing an analytical post like this since I was in college. So I just want to say that these thoughts are my own interpretations and observations of the CW show “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend.” Spoilers if you haven’t watched the episode already. Feel free to agree or disagree in the comments below.

Season 2, Episode 4 entitled “When Will Josh and His Friend Leave Me Alone?” brought up many points about the status of Rebecca’s different relationships within West Covina. Picking up on last week’s cliffhanger, we said goodbye to Greg and Rebecca’s shitshow romance (or as how I like to refer to it, SantiNOOOOOO DON’T LEAVE!) Rebecca is now despondent that she has no one to chase after and no one to love her. She lost her “dream man” Josh Chan. She lost her “guy in the rom com who she once ignored but was perfect for her all along” Greg. She is alone and she struggles with her identity because she doesn’t know who she is apart from the affection she received from both men. When Paula tells her she should be herself, Rebecca exclaims “What? Who? No! Ew! Ugh who wants to be that?!”

In typical Rebecca fashion she overreacts and almost burns down her apartment complex- complete with a Crazy Lady 911 call. Rebecca is the queen of the quick fix. She never thinks more than one step ahead, which usually leads to her falling apart again at the climax of every episode. Her quick fix for the Crazy Lady 911 call? Giving herself a makeover and rebranding herself as “Miss Douche.”

What is most interesting about Rebecca is how much she affects the people around her, namely the women. It is her stubbornness that acts as a catalyst for many other characters’ major decisions. To quote Dr. Dream Ghost Akopian from last season, let’s “forget about the guys!”

Her neighbor Heather, known for being extremely brilliant and smart but laissez faire, realizes that her parents have rewarded her failure over the years which has made her complacent and comfortable. Heather sees her parents doting over Rebecca the way they have over her her entire life. Mr. and Mrs. Heather ("My last name is Davis!") make 2AM pancakes and let Rebecca give up on her "Miss Douche" quest without hesitation. It's because of this Heather realizes she needs to finally move on with her life. After Rebecca’s breakdown during the Miss Douche pageant, Heather ends up winning the title and $10,000 in prize money-- enough for her to move out of her parents’ house and in with Rebecca who desperately needs someone in her life with common sense.

How Rebecca affects Paula occurs in a less direct fashion, albeit much more poignant. After spending last season as the spunky cartoon raccoon sidekick to Rebecca’s love antics, Paula finally gets a chance to have her own spotlight. She finally decides to apply to law school only to find out that she is pregnant with her third child. When Rebecca goes AWOL at work for the “Miss Douche” contest, Paula is left to do all the work for their client. Because she is not a lawyer, her briefing nearly gets turned down. She gains courage in herself and in her dreams when her briefing is approved and the project manager assures her that she would make a great lawyer because she didn't phone it in and poured her heart into her work. With the support of her family, Paula gets an abortion so that she can continue with her dream of law school.

There are layers behind Paula’s decision to not tell Rebecca about her abortion. The surface level layer is that Rebecca is too self-centered to really grasp Paula’s situation. Rebecca came from money, went to Harvard and Yale, and has never really had to make nuanced decisions like this. Despite her not telling Rebecca, Rebecca is a major factor in Paula’s decision. It is because of Rebecca that Paula realized she was unhappy with her life. It is because of Rebecca that Paula saw her own potential by working alone on the briefing. It is because of Rebecca that Paula can see the effects of not having your own goals and dreams because you are defined by others. Even though Rebecca is not quite there on her own, Paula is the one learning most from Rebecca’s actions.

Lastly, we have Valencia. The last time we saw her was in the season 1 finale where she broke up with Josh for not being able to commit. Season 1 Valencia didn’t seem to have much levity at first. She was seen as the pretty girl who stood in the way of Rebecca’s love story with Josh and was treated as so. It wasn’t until the latter half of the first season we saw that behind Valencia’s manipulative behavior there was a girl who was insecure and also just wanted someone to love her. Valencia pops up at the end of this episode looking disheveled and scarfing down a donut- a far cry from the perfect blowout and boxed water we saw in season 1.

I don’t know how Rebecca has affected Valencia yet. They finally do have something in common as they are now both Josh’s ex-girlfriends. Even if they started with a rivalry they can now bond over Josh’s selfishness and his refusal to grow up, things they were blind to in the season before.

What I appreciate most about this point of season 2 is that the show is being flipped on its head. Like Rebecca, it is no longer defined by the men. To see Rebecca’s relationships blossom with the other women on the show brings something new to the table that I am excited to see play out. Hopefully, Rebecca can finally see how much she is valued for being her own self, even if she might be crazy (that’s a sexist term… and RIP season 1 theme song. You are forever in our hearts). And hey, maybe the show can finally pass a Bechdel test for once.

All photos courtesy of CW's "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend"