Monday, April 22, 2019

Crazy Ex Girlfriend Series Finale Makes (almost) Everyone Happy

Love these Valentine's Day inspired outfits

Crazy Ex Girlfriend, my favorite show, recently aired its SERIES FINALE. In my opinion, the finale was designed in a way to appeal to (almost) every fan. Let me explain. I believe there were four types of fans who went into the finale.

  1. People who wanted Rebecca to end up alone, healthy, and happy with herself.
  2. People who wanted Rebecca to end up with Greg.
  3. People who wanted Rebecca to end up with Nathaniel.
  4. People who wanted Rebecca to end up with Josh.



Now, of course, fans of #1, should be the happiest. Rebecca really didn't choose a man. The finale focused on her finding her passion and her own happiness. However, I believe fans #2 and #3 can also be happy with the finale. 

The only type of fan that should be unhappy are #4, the Josh-endgame fans. The writers gave Josh a serious girlfriend for the finale. Even though the camera panned on all three of our men when Rebecca said her romantic partner could possibly be in this room, it is very small chance that it will be Josh. I haven't kept up with the fandom, but I think by the time season four aired, there were very few Rebecca/Josh shippers. I'm sure there still are some, but I think they are a minority which goes back to my claim that the finale made almost everyone happy.

Now fans of #2 should be the second-happiest. As explained in episode 16's review, Greg is singled out as the winner from the three men. They have the most romantic and healthiest moments. In the series finale, Future-Rebecca from the Rebecca/Greg scenario is the one who tells Real-Rebecca that she won't be happy until she she finds out who she is. Greg is the last one to get broken up with in the finale, and he is the one that receives the most information. (I THINK I saw Rachel Bloom or someone on Twitter say that she would have told all three guys some version of the same thing...but I think the fact we see her telling Greg means something). 

In my opinion, Greg is the the writers choice of who Rebecca ends up with. Greg tells Rebecca that he will not wait for her as she tries to take a break from dating and focus on her passion - which is the healthy thing to do! But then, a year later, it is remarked upon that he is, in fact, single. The writers purposely let us know of this face, because off camera, when Rebecca is finally ready to date, she will end up with Greg.

I believe the writers did the smart thing by not cementing Rebecca/Greg in stone. You can still challenge my interpretation and you would be not wrong. Fans of #3, the Nathaniel-endgame can choose to believe that Rebecca ends up with Nathaniel. It is up to the viewer to choose what will happen in the future with Rebecca's love life - and that's fun! That's an exciting way of viewing the finale! I personally believe Rebecca/Nathaniel won't happen because let's not forget - season four contained an entire episode showing Nathaniel coming to terms with letting Rebecca go and accepting that she is with Greg.

I am sad that my favorite show is over BUT look at how much fanfiction potential there is! Write about Rebecca/Greg endgame, Rebecca/Nathaniel endgame, Rebecca/Josh endgame - or even how famous Rebecca becomes with her song writing career! At the end of the day, Crazy Ex Girlfriend ended with hope and possibility.

Let me know in the common if you agree or disagree!


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I'm in Love: Crazy Ex Girlfriend S4E17 SERIES FINALE Review



My favorite show aired its SERIES FINALE and that's heartbreaking to me. Crazy Ex Girlfriend is a show that was MADE for me. I love theater, I'm depressed, I seek external validation, I'm a feminist, and I love comedy. Sad to see a show that is so uniquely me go. It taught me a lot of good like lessons, and I'm sure I'll re-watch the entire series many times in the future.

The show started with a Dream Ghost sequence! I feel like we haven't seen Rebecca dreaming like this since season one - and that season one Dream Ghost episode is one of the greatest so its nice to see that it received such a major call-back in the finale.

Rebecca is on the toilet again (just like in the season three theme song), and trying to figure out which of her three men to choose. I, the viewer, obviously think she is going to pick Greg. Her Dream Ghost sequence tells her she won't be happy until she knows who she is. This is the first sign that Rebecca isn't going to choose someone during the finale.

Eleven O'Clock: What a beautiful summary song. We not only get to explore what is going on with Rebecca's mind (she is confused because she thinks she should be able to choose a guy by now), we also get to revisit some of the themes and classics from the series. We see Rebecca singing the theme songs of the first three seasons.


As an aside, I wanted to say how much I LOVED the season three theme song. I love it so much I wrote an article about it. I realized it gets a lot of hate from the fandom which I think is very undeserved. The theme song is funny in how Rebecca can't choose if she should or should not be crazy. Plus, it plays on some prevalent pop culture themes! (Maybe the hate is based on how it follows the Season Two Theme Song which is just so good! It's a hard act to follow!).

The three theme songs she sings remind us about all the themes and identities that she has explored. We see her sing, "I'm a good person, yes it's true. I'm a good person, but better than who?" which is an interesting question. Who is Rebecca Bunch trying to be better than? Everyone is flawed. We also see Rebecca say, "Like doesn't make narrative sense" which was a hallmark theme from, "End of the Movie." Also, as an aside, "End of The Movie," is my number one favorite song from the series!

Lastly, we get a final reprise of the fan favorite, "You Stupid Bitch." This song is important because it gets to the core of Rebecca Bunch's self-hatred. She is finally able to get rid of that self-hatred by the end of the series.

It is at this moment when we get the hilarious scene of Paula wondering why Rebecca is just starting off into space for a moment. When Rebecca finally confesses that she thinks of musical numbers in her head, Paula finally gives her the idea that she should start writing these musical numbers in her head! It is a gorgeous end to the show. Rebecca finally figures out her passion.

We see Rebecca take piano lessons. We see Rebecca get some vocal training. We see her put in the effort to work on her craft which is awesome!

One critique I have on the show is: The CW gave Crazy Ex Girlfriend 18 episodes for its finale season. Instead of having the one year time jump during the finale, they could have shown Rebecca getting this song-writing revelation earlier and seeing her improve and get better in her craft through out the season. I understand why they didn't do this - maybe it just wouldn't have been fun. Maybe they couldn't come up with any good stories revolving around that. I really do love the I'm Finding My Bliss episode, where Rebecca tries out theater so we do get a glimpse of it!


West Covina (Final Reprise): Rebecca and Paula hold hands and sing the final song of the series. It was a great call back to the first episode which also ended with a reprise of West Covina. This time, however, the song is about something healthy - Rebecca finding her true passion.

It was nice to see how everyone in our cast of characters ends up. Josh gets a new girlfriend! Nathaniel works at the zoo! Greg has a successful restaurant! Paula help women in need! Valencia and Beth get married (with Valencia doing the proposing!)! Heather and Hector get a hot tub? Darryl gets married AND has another kid on the way! That's a lot of kids!! White Josh has the worst ending. His childhood and current home burned down? That's horrible. I feel bad for him.

There is a hilarious moment when Rebecca says something alone the lines of, "Who knows? Maybe the person I end up with is in this room," and it pans to a bunch of people and lands on Father Brah and AJ! They looked so worried that it landed on them! It was a funny film gag. Of course, Rebecca won't end up with them.

I believe that throughout the season, the writers have been hinting that Rebecca/Greg are endgame. My personal head-cannon is that they will get together, but the beauty of this finale is that anything it possible! I wrote more about this in my next post, Crazy Ex Girlfriend Series Finale Makes (almost) Everyone Happy.

The final words of our favorite show, Crazy Ex Girlfriend, is "This is a song I wrote." Rebecca says this a little nervous -but excited. And awww...that's beautiful. We don't get to hear the song but that is okay! It allows Crazy Ex Girlfriend to exist outside of our eyes. We can imagine how it goes. We can imagine who Rebecca ends up falling in love with. We can imagine how Rebecca's new career goes. It's a series finale of possibilities.

EDIT: I really loved the concert episode as well! It was fun! It made me forget the sadness of my favorite show ending.

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Friday, April 5, 2019

I Have a Date Tonight: Crazy Ex Girlfriend S4E16 Episode Review

Ahhhhh! Can you believe the penultimate episode of Crazy Ex Girlfriend has arrived. I am writing this on the day of the finale and it's just hitting me that my favorite show is almost over! I have had such a nice time blogging about this series over the last 2 years.

This episode was beautiful!! The three dates were gorgeous. I felt like the Crazy Ex Girlfriend writers were trying to write a love letter to all three of our leading men. They aren't trying to vilify any man. In less evolved shows, there is the jerk and the guy our lead ends up with. Here, we have seen all three men grow. We have fallen in love with all three, and now we get to see each one shine one last time.


Josh/Rebecca: I almost cried during their date. This show - the show that I love, Crazy Ex Girlfriend, started because of this ship. Josh recreated them being at summer camp. Throughout season one, summer camp was Rebecca's symbol of bliss. It's nice to see her live it one last time.

Nathaniel/Rebecca: I had high expectations for this date because I did become a Nathaniel/Rebecca shipper during season three. Nathaniel did meet those expectations because the scenery of the picnic was beautiful. The fact that he found a concert that she would love AND find a place where she could hear it for free showed that he did a lot of research. Also, their dancing was so cute! It was a freeing kind of dance. Nathaniel was very tightly wound in season 2, and Rebecca also takes her love like very seriously. Those two dancing felt airy, nice, and free.

Greg/Rebecca: When Greg bought the air balloon ride, I was fuming because I didn't want to see Greg do something so against his character. Both Josh and Nathaniel kept pieces of who they were during their dates. I wanted Greg to do the same. I'm glad Greg's car died before he could get to the hot air balloon ride. This gave Greg and Rebecca a chance to be real with each other. There was no gimmicky date between them. It was just two people talking and laughing and eating and doing errands together. It was so cute!!


We ended this episode widening out from a shot of Rebecca and Greg laughing and talking to each other. Then Greg says, abruptly, "You are the love of my life." Amazing. That really got me. One thing to keep in mind is that Nathaniel and Josh said some version of, "We belong together," or "We are meant to be." Nathaniel and Josh are still forcing their feelings on Rebecca. They are still relying on fantasy and fate. Greg, on the other had, is just stating his feelings. He doesn't need Rebecca or the universe to be on board. He know that he loves her. This is why Greg is end game.

Love's Not A Game: White Josh gets to embody one of the most beloved theater characters of our time - Enjolras from Les Miserables! I don't know THAT much about musicals so Enjolras is the first thing that came to mind when I saw this song. "How dare you play with love? Have you no decency?" The dramatics of this monologue reminded me of "Red and Black" from Les Miserables.

"Love's Not A Game" is a hilarious, group number. I loved it when White Josh calls Paula, "lady sir," and she responds with, "I think the work is 'ma'am'." There was a call-back to "Pre-school? No, Priest school," which I loved!

Listen to Valencia folks! It's Greg
I thought Valencia looking into the camera and saying, "It's Greg," was a little too on the nose. LMAO. It was subtle, but I caught it.

Love's Not A Game (Reprise): A touching and reflective moment.

Other Favorite Details:

Rebecca: "I retired from stalking, but you never loose the skills." The opening of this episode was hilarious. You see Dr. Akopian order coffee and all of a sudden, Rebecca's head pops out! HILARIOUS!

The Other Rebecca moment was one of my favorites this time!! Rebecca popping in to say, "Perfection is an illusion!"

The show ends on Valentine's Day. "It's apt. Very apt." LOVE THIS SHOW.

Valencia: "Greg's a different actor now and by actor, I mean in the political legal sense."

Greg's Advantage: Little remarks and comments.

A wonderful show! I am sad to see it go. Can't wait for the season finale which I get to watch in 1.5 hours from now!


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Thursday, April 4, 2019

I Need to Find My Frenemy: Crazy Ex Girlfriend S4E15 Episode Review

The beautiful, touching #GirlGroup4eva episode that these final episodes needed!

Darryl's method of "Columns," is not unique but it is simple. The episode starts off with Rebecca making a hilarious list of the positive attributes of her three choices. Hilariously all three got, "Amazing in the sack."


The Math of Love Quadrangles: Another reprise of a great song! Greg, Josh, and Nathaniel looked so handsome in their nerdy glasses and suits! I like how it is quadrangles because there are four people this time!


Rebecca can't make a decision between her three guys so when Audra Levine's husband calls her and tells her that Audra has abandoned her family, Rebecca welcomes the distraction. Rachel Bloom's acting is hilarious here! Rebecca smiles so devilishly. Rebecca's joy at seeing her arch nemesis's downfall is so great! She doesn't even hide it. "I can see you smiling," says Audra's husband.

Our ladies all decide to take a trip to Las Vegas because they are running away from their problems. Valencia wants to avoid her pain at Beth not proposing to her. Heather wants to avoid her childish husband. Paula realizes that the Fett Regoso suits for her new office are ridiculously expensive. Rebecca, of course, doesn't want to think about choosing between her three men.

Slow Motion: I thought our four ladies looked so cool and sexy during this number! Perfect for a girls trip! I liked how the show explored the cinematography of slow motion and showed the funny aspects to it.


There were a lot of call-backs during this episode - especially to the season one song, "Women Gotta Stick Together." Some examples: "Females helping females," and "Denise Martinez - that bitch I cannot stand." Denise helps Valencia learns that it's a bad look to bully your lover into proposing. One interesting call back was to The CW. "We're heroes - Dare to Defy!" That's one of The CW's slogans! Audra Levine says, "You can't call me crazy, because when you call me "crazy," you're just calling me in love!" That's a call back to the Season 2 theme song!

Audra's boyfriend is VERY gross. It's amazing how everyone can see it and calls him out.

Paula is so confident and fierce in this episode! She saves Audra's boyfriend from a beating and wins herself A LOT of money through the poker game! I love how much she is flexing on everyone by being that good at poker. During the, "Slow Motion," poker game song, the lyrics, "I don't understand poker," really got to me. I also do not understand even a little bit of poker!


JAP Battle (Reprise): JAP Battle, the original, is in my top five favorite Crazy Ex Girlfriend songs!! This nice reprise had a lot of witty lyricism as well. I loved the love both women had for each other. I thought the ending where Audra says, "Wanna make out?" was also hilarious! 

"I care about you in my own way. You're like an annoying family member," says Rebecca to Audra showing them mending their relationship. It was a really sweet episode!

I liked how Paula stood up for herself and said she isn't going to wear those expensive suits all the time. I was relieved when her employer agreed with her. It was great when Valencia said, "wait, I can propose?" in surprise! She now has power to make her marriage dreams happen! Maybe she will propose to Beth in the series finale? Heather goes back to Hector and said, "You are not my daddy, and I am not your mommy, I learned that in Vegas," which was a funny and unexpected call-back to Audra's gross boyfriend.

RIP Darryl/White Josh: Wild. Absolutely wild. THE GROUP MIND HAS DECIDED THAT YOU ARE IN LOVE. This episode completely destroyed the Darryl/White Josh ship! I guess I should have known the second Darryl had his baby that they were lost forever. White Josh doesn't want a child so it is truly over for them. It's cool that Darryl is ending up with a woman, because it gives good representation to bisexuality!


STAND DOWN: Josh telling everyone to "stand down," was a highlight! It is very Rebecca of him to pretend he is in an old-timey movie telling his competitors to "stand down!" He also used a lot of funny, formal language like, "shant."

At the end of the day, all three men are a little hurt by the whiteboard. However, they all agree to offer Rebecca, "three dates with three guys." "So nine dates?" says Rebecca. I loved that little bit.

I was really excited by the end of this episode! I was so excited to see the three dates in action! It is just like The Bachelor (which is where White Josh got the idea....). Excited to see the creative and romantic dates Rebecca goes on in the next episode!


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I'm Finding My Bliss: Crazy Ex Girlfriend S4E14 Episode Review

I have been behind on my Crazy Ex Girlfriend episodes and yesterday I watched episodes 14, 15, 16 right after each other and let me just say - what a beautiful group of episodes. They all put a huge smile on my face and increased my serotonin levels teen-fold.

But I digress. Let's talk about "I'm Finding My Bliss."



I loved how this episode began with a recap that showed all the times Rebecca's passion was hinted throughout the series. I have actually forgotten how many hints there were that alluded to Rebecca starting a career in theater. There is a great call back to season one when Dr. Akopian helps Rebecca realize theater was her passion during the "Dream Ghost" episode. THIS WAS IN SEASON ONE! We always knew that Rebecca would have to come back to theater! 

I love musical theater just like Rebecca so this episode was so fun for me! We had a Pitch Perfect style of audition where everyone sang, "Let Me Be In Your Show," at the same time with different, and sometimes bad, voices. I loved how Rachel Bloom and Gabrielle Ruiz both succeeded in making their gorgeous voices sound much worse than they are. "Singing: Zero. Commitment: A Million," is correct! Cheri Oteri was amazing in her role! I loved how dramatic and enthusiastic she was! (until...of course...she yelled at Rebecca).

Josh joins the production as a tech crew member so that he can get close to her. Nathaniel gets cast as the prince solely on his looks which was hilarious. Can you believe Nathaniel has been in musicals before? (mostly...because of his looks). That's another point for Rebecca/Nathaniel shippers! They have something huge in common!


Valencia Wants A Proposal: Valencia joins the theater company because she wants to avoid her feelings about not getting a proposal from Beth. WHICH REMINDS ME!! They made a shutout to Jersey City!!! Ahhh, I live near there and I love that my West Covina friends mentioned Jersey City!!! Anyway, Valencia acts like true season one Valencia in this episode which is nice!! I like seeing the un-evolved Valencia make a small appearance before she learns from her mistakes. By the end of the episode, Valencia makes an ultimatum to Beth. She won't return to New York unless Beth proposes. Ultimatums are pretty manipulative and Valencia does have some growing to do!

Greg Opens Up A Restaurant: It's nice to see Greg follow his passion for business and open up a restaurant! We get to see Chris one more time before the series ends! Weird choice to have Heather and Greg bonding during this episode, but I'll allow it. The, "What'll It Be?" (reprise) was a great call-back. Greg is accepting West Covina and has found his path in life. It was also cool seeing SkylarAstin!Greg reprising this song because it gives it a nice, new flavor. Greg says, "I see that the problem was me." It wasn't West Covina holding him back - it was himself.

Darryl and Paula & Job Offers: You can tell from the very beginning of this sub-plot that Paula knows she is worth way more than what Darryl could possibly pay her. The Darryl-Paula moment at the end of the episode where "You're My Best Friend (And I Know I'm Not Yours)," played in the background was touching. I wish there was a sweet reprise of this song sung by Paula!

Etta Mae's Lament: Hilarious song!! "Can you lasso me a husband?" is just such a funny lyric. Rachel Bloom's acting is perfect as she cringes to some of the more harmful lines in the song.  This song is pretty incredible in it's sexism. It manages to drop different forms of sexism with every line. It even manages to subtly imply that women belong in the kitchen!



I'm the Bride of the Pirate King: Wow this song was more offensive than, "Etta Mae's Lament," in my humble opinion. Maybe because Valencia sang it straight. The pirate is abusive and there was a lot of...I want to say scary...language used in the song. This song isn't just about harmful stereotypes/opinions of women like Etta Mae's Lament. This song is about a woman in an abusive relationship which hits harder.

The Tick Tock Clock and Apple Man: Whoever this fictional Elliot Ellison is - he is not a good song writer! I loved all of Paula's negative reactions to "Apple Man," because we know she does not like theater and she can TELL that this song is the worst of the worst.

The episode ends with Nathaniel doing such a sweet thing for Rebecca! He sings her words. Because Nathaniel is a man, and those harmful stereotypes are not associated with men, his rendition is much less problematic.

“I’m not a writer-performer! I’m not Ike Barinholtz!” says Rebecca. This is funny because this is such niche reference. Only few people would get it and I'm one of those people! I've followed Ike on Twitter since my Mindy Project days. Hilarious for him to get such a random shout out! (Someone on the writing staff MUST be a Mindy Project stan. It was referenced earlier in the season when Hector said he stans Mindy Kaling!).


In last episode's review, I mentioned my worries of Rebecca getting into theater when she is unable to sing well. This episode took care of those worries for me! I think Rebecca's passion is going to be a song-writer or composer for musicals! I can't believe I didn't think of this before. Rebecca makes up beautiful musical numbers in her head all the time!

And of course, this episode ends with Nathaniel and Rebecca kissing. I believe Nathaniel is in second place with this scene. I think the writers know that the viewers got attached to Nathaniel when Greg left. They know that people still ship them so they gave us this sweet moment. However, Greg is still end game.

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Saturday, March 16, 2019

I Have to Get Out: Crazy Ex Girlfriend S4E13 Episode Review

I loved this episode because it wasn't about boys, it was about her dreams!


Anti-Depressants Are So Not A Big Deal: This was a fun musical number inspired by La La Land. I loved the wardrobe colors. Dr. Akopian tries to make Rebecca feel better about her meds by telling her that everyone is taking them. She shouldn't feel like she didn't succeed on her own. I like this idea but the title of this song is misleading. Side effects of Anti-Depressants ARE a big deal. They mention side-effects during the song and it sounds like a pain. That one man mentions his libido went down on his first meds, so he switched to new ones and now he is gaining weight. It sounds exhausting and takes a LOT OF TIME. Also, even in this very episode, Rebecca gets into a compromising situation because her meds caused sleepiness. Rebecca wakes up in a morgue!!!

Real Life Fighting Is Awkward: What a funny, comedy song! I loved all of it. Greg and Josh did a great job at making their fight look awkward. Those scenes juxtaposed with snippets of how it would look in a movie or TV show were hilarious. I died of laughing when they showed theater fighting and Josh and Greg were doing ballet!! ðŸ˜‚😂😂 "A weapon makes things too real," also a personal favorite.

End of the Movie Reprise: If you remember from my ___, the original song was so moving and powerful. The reprise pales in comparison. But I understand what it was trying to say, Rebecca needs to make a change and follow her dreams before death catches up to her.

Josh and Greg and Nathaniel: It was interesting to see our three leading men interact with each other. In the beginning of the episode, Josh is fixing Rebecca's sink!! This is a call back from Season 1 when Rebecca broke her sink just to spend time with Josh. Nathaniel acts as a mediator during Josh and Greg's fight, so this is mostly a Josh and Greg learning moment. They are learning how to be cool with each other.

Darryl and April: It was so cute seeing these two vibe. Their children were cute too and I love how they put aside their differences just so their parents would be happy. I wonder what this means for White Josh!! They are the original ship! It would be a shame, although realistic, if they didn't end up together. I'm not sure which direction Crazy Ex Girlfriend will take for its final episodes.

The episode ends with Rebecca telling Greg she hit on Nathaniel and Josh after their argument. He takes the news surprisingly well. Rebecca does deliver the news with grace, but I feel like in real life the person receiving the news would get emotional and angry. They both decide to take a break and be friends. Both Josh and Nathaniel hear this news and are excited that they have a chance. Rebecca has 3 guys chasing after her - the dream!!

Most importantly, this episode ends with Rebecca being brave enough to pursue theater. She is chasing her dreams! It will be interesting to see how they will approach this - previous episodes have hinted that Rebecca is not good at singing. What do you do when you are not good at the craft you love? I'm excited to find out how this show will tackle that.



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Friday, March 15, 2019

I Need a Break: Crazy Ex Girlfriend S4E12 Episode Review

REBECCA FINALLY GOES TO RAGING WATERS!! That's her Paris!!

Kudos to the actual Raging Waters in SoCal for letting Crazy Ex Girlfriend film on their premises.

Overall, it was a great episode. We see Rebecca slip on her mental health treatment which is understandable. If she didn't slip, it wouldn't be realistic. The joy of a new relationship makes her think she doesn't need to continue working on herself. When an argument with Greg bursts her love bubble, she goes back to sabotaging herself.

During Rebecca's trip to Raging Waters, you can see her putting her own fantasy onto Greg. Greg tells her multiple times that he doesn't like theme parks or fun, but Rebecca just wants to pretend that he does. There was this scene when she wanted to take a picture with her arms up. Greg makes his own pose, and Rebecca forces him to change it to the pose that she had pictured for them. She is a little annoyed that Greg isn't playing the role in her fantasy well.

Greg and Rebecca are different people. To be honest, if I had a buzzkill boyfriend like Greg, I would be annoyed too. Who doesn't like fun? But that's Greg for ya. And Rebecca has to accept him for who he is.

When Rebecca realizes that Greg isn't acting the way she wanted him to, she assumes it is because he hates her. This is her borderline personality disorder affecting her. She then drinks THREE drinks, and tries to party her sadness away. She hits on both Nathaniel and Josh. It was nice that they both saw Rebecca was in a bad place and refused. Maybe it is because they both have grown or because they know about Rebecca's diagnosis and they don't want to hurt her. It was funny when Rebecca said, "Strip away my conscience," in slurred speech which was a good call-back.




I Hate Everything But You: AHHHHHH, as New Jerseyian - I LOVE BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN. I recognized who they were parodying right away! I think it's the perfect style of music to use for this song. This song sounds sad and somber but the lyrics are actually funny. Greg names the most random-est things that he hates and they were all amusing.

Also, this is the first solo performance from Skylar Astin and he does an impressive job.
I hate the phrase "Love conquers all," and I hate that it's true
'Cause I want to not hate things when I'm with you
You love so many things and you have so much fun
It makes me wish my hating days were done
These lyrics are so sweet and touching. Greg gives Rebecca a beautiful compliment that explains what makes her shine. She loves things and has fun. Greg wishes he could be like that. Rebecca is a ray of sunshine to him and us, the audience.


I'm Not Sad You're Sad: My guess is this is a parody of M.I.A's song, "Bad Girls" because Rebecca talks in a slight British accent. It's clear throughout the song that Rebecca is, indeed, the sad one. Something that's never discussed on the show, but I saw, was that Rebecca shoplifted!! I guess it's another way she sabotages herself. However, it was so cute when she talks to the girl at the taco stand! "Were you sad about 9/11? I was sad too but Lilo and Stitch got me through it." Excellent comedy writing.

The Darkness: Rebecca's darkness is named Tyler! That actually remind me of Tyler Joseph from Twenty One Pilots who also deals with darkness a lot. Rebecca personifies her darkness because she needs to breakup with him and live a healthy life.

Paula Has A Heart Attack: This was such a shocking reveal to me the first time I watched it! Paula doesn't have menopause - she has a heart attack! I actually re-watched this episode to write this blog post. AND WOW, knowing she was having a heart attack the entire time and watching her sweat and trudge on made me so scared for her well-being.

The Paula Heart Attack sub-plot does 2 things. 1) It gives awareness to women's cardiovascular health. You always see men dying of heart attacks on TV. Sadly, heart disease is the number one killer for women as well. 2) It shows that so many women sacrifice their health to do it all. Women are strong and they should be respected. They should also be allowed to breathe and relax.

A Rebecca/Nathaniel moment happened when both characters said "Bad case of the Mondays!" Rebecca says this to Greg and Nathaniel says this to Paula. Maybe they aren't so different after-all!(Or Rebecca had a huge affect on Nathaniel).


Nathaniel asks Paula if she wants to take a "woman nap." At first, I was wondering if this was a joke on how companies like to market products to women by making them pink and female. Instead, it was a call back to Nathaniel's "man nap," which he did need when he was sick! Nathaniel also needed to take a break like Paula. Looks like they have something in common too.

This episode ends with Rebecca deciding to take anti-depressants. Since I have watched the episode after this already - I will tell you my thoughts about this in my next post.



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Saturday, February 23, 2019

I'm Almost Over You: Crazy Ex Girlfriend S4E11 Episode Review

fierce

This episode was a real treat. It was an experimental, fun, exploration of romantic comedies. It was also unlike any episode before it because the main character was not Rebecca - it was Nathaniel! It was interesting to see how the show could look if Nathaniel was the main character going through his love woes. Scott Michael Foster did some excellent acting here - especially how he was tearing up during his revelation that he needed to let Rebecca go.

As I was watching this episode, I was always a little confused. The main romantic comedy trope in Nathaniel's movie was, "Fake Dating," to make someone jealous. "To All The Boys I Love Before," is the most popular movie right now with this trope (and one that I have watched THREE times). I was confused because the trope always ends the same way - with the two fake dating characters falling in love. When Nathaniel left to go see Maya during Greg's proposal to Rebecca - I was worried! Are Nathaniel and Maya going to be a thing now!? But no, this show turned it around. That moment when Nathaniel was talking to Maya and she suddenly turned into Rebecca was surprising and bittersweet. Rebecca is both the girl Nathaniel wanted to make jealous AND the girl he "fake dated," and fell in love with. Nathaniel wanted Rebecca so bad, he imagined her as two characters.

Lots of tropes were made fun of in this episode. For example, the bro-y best friend obsessed with their friend's love life (reminded me of Pete Davidson in Netflix's Set It Up), the mean boss, and the fumbling assistant. There was also a funny, meta moment when they showed stock video of the location just like they do in movies.


In one scene, Maya says, "my dead mom who told my single dad," which is also a trope in romantic comedies. A lot of our leading ladies have dead parents. In "To All The Boys I Love Before," Lara Jean's mom is dead and her single dad is raising her. In, "Edge of Seventeen," which just arrived on Netflix, the main character's dad's death really affected her and her mom.

This episode included many scenes that were just making fun of a specific trope. For example, there was the make-over scene where the characters got hot, the working-together-montage scene, the glossing over presentation scene, and, of course, the gratuitous karaoke moment. By the way, how hard was it to make Nathaniel look ugly? They just made him wear glasses and khaki pants. As a glasses wearer, I am offended!! (just kidding). In the beginning of Maya's presentation, she seemed really bad at speaking about real-estate law so it was hilarious that once they started skipping over her presentation, everyone thought she did such a good job.

Gratuitous Karaoke Moment: Entertaining song! I am worried it was a parody of one of my FAVORITE songs from one of my FAVORITE movies. You can guess what it is...it's, "The Start Of Something New," from High School Musical!



I loved seeing Nathaniel come to terms with his heartbreak. He explained his relationship with Rebecca really well. "We're that mismatched couple from different worlds. You're short, I'm tall. You're quirky. I'm really not." As a viewer, I shipped Rebecca and Nathaniel. They made a good couple. Within the rules of romantic comedies, they should be together because Rebecca was always supposed to be with Greg, but since he got cut from the show, Nathaniel was supposed to be his replacement, but now Greg is back so it's like Nathaniel was just a red herring to the audience.

Nathaniel crying to the pizza man also tugged at my heart strings. It called-back to Rebecca crying to Patrick, the delivery guy in Season 2. 

Another meta moment was when Nathaniel says, "I was trying out a persona to figure out something in my life. I saw myself in a recognizable pop culture genre." Those sentences basically summarize this beautiful show. Crazy Ex Girlfriend is all about Rebecca using music and movies and pop culture to understand herself.

I think Rebecca and Greg are endgame. So not only was Nathaniel feeling some heartbreak over the loss of his relationship with Rebecca, so was I.

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Sunday, February 17, 2019

I Can Work With You: Crazy Ex Girlfriend S4E10 Episode Review


This episode accomplishes two important things. First, it allows the viewer to see Rebecca interacting with her genetic daughter for the first time since the baby was born. Second, we see Rebecca and Greg as a healthy, mature couple.

We also now understand why Rebecca has been so cold to Hebecca. Rebecca thinks she made a rash decision in donating her egg to Darryl. She didn't think it through that she would be bringing a person into the world with her "garbage genes." In addition, Rebecca is also scared that another family member of hers wouldn't love her. Her dad didn't love her, and her mom never acted like she did. When Hebecca started crying around Rebecca, when she never cries around anyone else, Rebecca's worst fears are confirmed.

I loved the reprise of, "Hello, Nice To Meet You," that Rebecca sang to Hebecca. "All I can say is have fun in the grey," almost made me tear up. Rebecca even sniffs the top of Hebecca's head just like Darryl suggested in the beginning of the episode. By the end of the episode, Rebecca starts to accept her daughter.


The second important thing this episode accomplishes is that it starts a new relationship with Greg and Rebecca. There is a reason why Greg came over when Hebecca started crying - and that reason is that the writers wanted us to see Rebecca and Greg as a domestic couple. It was so cute seeing Greg comforting Hebecca and getting her to stop crying. "You know I'm the first person to impulsively throw myself into any really romantic moment," says Rebecca. When Rebecca takes a second to examine her feelings after the shame-spiral - we were seeing a healthy Rebecca making good choices. If Greg and Rebecca work hard to keep their relationship healthy - it could really work!

I know lots of fans still say Rebecca should end up alone because she needs to work on herself. Other fans don't like the cliche that the main female character HAS to end up with someone. I disagree. It would be nice for Rebecca to be in a good place and continuously working hard to keep herself healthy in a good romantic relationship by the end of the series.

Sports Analogies: One of the best songs of this season. It was funny and fun to listen to! Highlights included, "shuttlecock," and, "We're American men, we like all sports except for soccer/cuz soccer's just a bunch of foreigners running around." I laughed so hard at that ending line. It was also cool to see Nathaniel and Josh's dads playing instruments together. "We're sad about our dads, we couldn't talk to our dads." They both have daddy issues! I also loved how during the ending of the song, they both turned to their dads and the dads were reluctant to clap. But then the dads did decide to slow clap just to give their sons the validation they desperately craved.


Hello, Nice To Meet You: As I stated earlier, I loved both reprises - the one sang to Hebecca and the one with Greg and Rebecca. This is a very cute and hopeful song.

Paula's Law School Graduation Party: It was an interesting dynamic to see the main characters gathered without Rebecca. Paula really needs to learn how to celebrate herself.

"What happened to Marvin Gaye?" says Josh Chan. I said the same thing as the show was airing. Later on, I looked up the tragic story.

It was super sweet and funny when everyone helped Josh take the photo for Fett Regoso! It was heart-warming team work!

Valencia and Hector Beef: I thought the reason for the beef was lame. Valencia was jealous that Hector was more popular because he was nice and easy-going. That could be said for anyone - even Josh! Also, it just seems like such a child-ish reason to be mean to someone. Valencia should know better.


Favorite Jokes:
"Water cooler has been empty for weeks." - Paula about inviting Josh.

Josh: "You're mean."
Nathaniel: "NOT ANYMORE."

All the weird sportsy ways Nathaniel described those court cases to Josh. I didn't understand most of them. Also, Hector passing the entire time he was playing the game because 1) he didn't know the court cases and 2) because he was scared of Valencia.


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Saturday, February 16, 2019

Every Song Off Kacey Musgraves's Album Golden Hour RANKED [Track-by-Track Review]

Kacey Musgraves's Golden Hour Review

Hey ya'll, Kacey Musgraves won album of the year this year at the Grammys! I love Kacey's music and I am proud of her for winning. In honor of this, let's talk about her album Golden Hour. This album is so good that I don't want to rank her songs because they ARE ALL GOOD BUT IN DIFFERENT WAYS. Like, I feel like I can't compare and contrast. The album as a whole is so cohesive. I feel like all the songs are all in the right order. They come together to make the finished product. This is some fine art.


13) Golden Hour

Golden Hour is my least favorite song because it's the least memorable which is interesting because the album is named after it!  I think it is so low on my list because it is about love and ya'll know I don't have any experience with that. I do like the imagery of the sun between the clouds and the sky. The song also has a peaceful feel.

My Favorite Lyric: "I used to get sad/And lonely when the sun went down." (I still get lonely and sad cuz I don't have a significant other LOL).



12) High Horse

Everyone is shocked that this song is so low on my list. The critics really love this song. I don't think it is the best lyrically. I do think the over-arching metaphor is cleaver. This is a country song so we are going to talk about horses but let's talk about an idiom instead! I like the puns of this song. It's a good, danceable song. It really does remind me of disco which makes it unique! There aren't many songs I've heard recently that remind me of disco.

*NOTE: After High Horse, these songs are all really good and I love all of them 100%

11) Happy & Sad

"And I'm the kind of person who starts getting kinda nervous/When I'm having the time of my life." The thesis statement of this song is so relatable. You are so happy, that you are actually sad because you know it can't last forever.

10) Wonder Woman

This song is about how no one and nothing is perfect. "I can show you strong, I can fight for you I can try to move mountains if you want me to," is a beautiful lyric. It's very feminist because a lot of times the patriarchy says only men can do those things. It says only men can protect their loved ones. Kacey is saying that in her relationship, she will protect him and love him the best that she can. However, she is still human and can be weak at times or make mistakes. She expects the same from her partner. "All I need's a place to land I don't need a Superman to win my lovin'." She just wants someone to love. She doesn't expect him to be a Superman. She knows he will still try to protect and love her, but he will also be vulnerable and weak at times.

9) Mother


The perfect Mother's Day song. It's a very short song, but with the piano melody it is beautiful and touching.

8) Slow Burn


I was watching an interview and Kacey was talking about this song and she just blurts out. "I was on Acid." LOL. She sings "We should take a walk and look at all the flowers," in such a childish wonder voice. The song does sound like someone wrote it at their clearest moment while on drugs. A moment where everything makes sense. In this song, Kacey is telling everyone to slow down. To actually be present in the world. It's beautiful. 



7) Lonely Weekend


I like this song because I can relate as I also do not have a lot of friends LOL. At least Kacey has a boyfriend - but unfortunately he is out of town. This song sounds happy. It doesn't seem like Kacey is too upset she doesn't have anything to do on the weekend. It makes sense that this song comes after Slow Burn. Being by yourself also slows you down. It also makes you think deeper. While you are feeling sad that no one is around you or that there is nothing to do, you can look at the flowers and say at least I have that. At least I have this world I am alive in. It's another opportunity to be present.


6) Oh, What a World


I love how she named her tour after this song, because I am sure every place she visits has something unique to cherish. "Oh, what a world," is a phrase that comments on the beauty and vastness of the world. This song is very zen. It's makes you focus on the present and savour the world around you. We sometimes get so lost in our routines that we forget how complex this universe is. If you really think about it, the world is amazing and interesting. We just forget because of our day to day tasks.

5) Butterflies


Butterflies is the ultimate crush song. "You give me butterflies" is such a cliche. But Kacey does something special here. She's a country artist and I like how she brings up nature throughout this album. Apparently, Kacey wrote this song after THREE weeks of meeting her now husband. Wow, she is a really good judge of character. My favorite part is, "Now, you're lifting me up 'stead of holding me down/You're taking my hand 'stead of taking my crown." That's important for feminist, ambitious women like me and Kacey. A lot of men do want to drag us down so when someone respects our success, it's great!

4) Love Is a Wild Thing

This song reminds me of "Oh, what a world," because of how it also names awe-inspiring natural phenomenon. The imagery of flowers growing in concrete is such a poignant way of describing love. I agree! Love is a wild thing because it is natural. Mothers have been loving their children since the beginning of mankind. If they didn't, we would all die out. Another thing Kacey points out is that you can't stop love. No matter what you do there will always be humans who care for each other.

3) Velvet Elvis

I saw Kacey Musgraves at The Beacon Theatre in NYC, and everyone jumped up at this song and started dancing! I was shocked that everyone else loved this song just as much as me because it hasn't been a single. I love this song because it is catchy and fun! It just has sweet vibes to it - and is also a little funny! "Soft to the touch, feels like love, knew it as soon as I felt it." This sentence could describe both the person she is in love with and the painting.

2) Space Cowboy

I LOVE THIS SONG. "You look out the window, while I look at you." I love that imagery, that parallelism of what each character in this song values. One values freedom and the other values the love. It's so heartbreaking. The song is sung with sad resignation. "Well, I guess that's the purpose of roads and boots so I can't get mad," is something the narrator is thinking. I also like the title of the song - even though it is misleading. I was hoping this song was about cowboys in space!!!

"Space Cowboy" has so many lyrical gems!!

"I know my place and it ain't with you."
"Sunsets fade and love does too. We had our day in the sun."



1) Rainbow

I have cried to this song so many times! I LOVE IT WITH ALL MY HEART. It's so simple, yet so beautiful. I feel like she is talking to me during this song, you know? "If you could see what I see/You'd be blinded by the colors/Yellow, red, and orange, and green/And at least a million others." These lyrics are some of the most compassionate, loving things you can say to someone. She is acknowledging their worth, their value, their uniqueness. She is showing real love here. It's my personal opinion that she is talking to someone with depression because of the lyrics: "It's hard to breathe when all you know is/The struggle of stayin' above the risin' water line." Trying to defeat depression can feel like that because you are always trying to survive.

ugh, it's such a perfect song. I am listening to it now and I just started crying!!

"There's always been a rainbow hanging over your head."

As a whole, this album is beautiful and deserves all the awards it won. It's an album about slowing down, enjoying the present moment, and looking at the world with loving eyes.

Let me know what you think in the comments: Do you agree or disagree? I think a lot of people will disagree with my comments on High Horse!!

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Tuesday, February 12, 2019

I Need Some Balance: Crazy Ex Girlfriend S4E9 Episode Review


I really enjoyed this episode! It's interesting - I also love musical theater but I have no knowledge of Cats whatsoever. I know in the 90s it was a huge phenomenon. I've heard people say it was the longest running Broadway show a while ago (which I'm sure is no longer the case). I haven't heard a single song from the musical. But if the musical has bangers like "Hungry Cat," - I would love it!

It's hilarious how Rebecca doesn't like Cats. I love her commentary on it even though I don't understand it. For example, when she said she would like Cats if it was just a dancing revue without a plot. Maybe I will finally learn what I need to learn about Cats when the movie comes out (which features Taylor Swift!). I also wonder if Rachel Bloom shares Rebecca's sentiments about Cats.


I loved how this episode gave Jason a chance to shine. I like him! Rebecca/Jason is now a ship I endorse. They have so much in common because they don't mind revealing embarrassing stuff like pooping in public trashcans (Jason) or yeast infections (Rebecca). Also, wasn't it refreshing when Rebecca told Jason the truth towards the ending of the episode? So many television plots are based on conflicts that could be solved if you just told the truth. I loved how they played the instrumental of "Sex With A Stranger," when Rebecca and Jason were about to sleep together - because it's a nice throwback to Season 1!!

When the "Hungry Cat," song (performed by Riki Lindhome) came on - I had no idea what it was implying AT ALL. Rebecca literally had to spell it out for me when she said, "I have to get laid." Crazy Ex Girlfriend is a comedy musical so I think their idea to use Cats for this metaphor was great! Riki Lindhome really did shine with her vocals in this song. Lots of cool guest stars in this episode: Fred Armisen as Itchy Cat, Todrick Hall as Funky Cat, Rebekka Johnson as Elated Cat, and Megan Amram as Nostalgia Cat.

I LOVED the subplot of Greg and Nathaniel. It was hilarious how worried White Josh was about the train wreck he kept on seeing right in front of his eyes. I know this is a TV show but: out of all the people at the gym - did Nathaniel and Greg have to meet each other? Obviously they did - for plot development.

White Josh looks so scared!


Favorite Jokes:

 BEST JOKE: Maya bringing up the Twitter drama that many of us Crazy Ex Girlfriend fans saw first hand during the Tonys when Neil Patrick Harris shaded Rachel Bloom. In the episode, Maya says she agrees with NPH - "who was that weird lady at the tony's with the tiny top hat?" Neil Patrick Harris said this on Twitter. but apparently he had met Rachel before! Awkward!!

"I need you to say that you won't sleep with my dad." - Valencia, and a hilarious, sick burn.

"Wine with Whine Dinner" - creative name! Love the pun.

Darryl gave Bert dirt for a gift (which rhymes!!).

"Mayo is just chicken embryo mucus mixed with oil" - Jim. This was poignant for me because I've been playing Stardew Valley where I can quickly turn eggs into Mayonnaise and I never thought about how much egg plays into Mayo.

"What are you doing later and do you like oatmeal draft lattes? - Because I do." - Maya. I love how she hits on people!



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