Tuesday, February 7, 2017

What I’m Watching: Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (Season Finale)

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend: Season 2, Episode 13 “Can Josh Take a Leap of Faith?” (B)

I always lament a change of direction on a show where things were going so well, which isn’t to suggest that all the characters were necessarily happy but rather that there was more than enough material and it was all framed in a compelling manner. I guess it’s important to remember that this show is built around a character who gave up everything in her life to move across the country for the chance to be with someone she dated a decade earlier. This season, we’ve seen Rebecca get it all, lose it all, and then gain it back because Josh realized he really did want to be with her. And now, after Rebecca got him thinking when she called him Robert, Josh opted not to open the envelope of dirt Trent gave him to stop the wedding but instead to follow a completely different calling. As a result, we got to see that Rebecca’s behavior shouldn’t surprise anyone since she had been previously committed to a mental institution after a bad breakup that she interpreted as much more than it was. It was draining to learn that the lyrics of the opening credits for this season are mostly taken from lines in her court case used against her. I’m not sure whether her mom was right or wrong to encourage Josh to propose since it did seem like she had finally found happiness, but now, unaware of her past, Paula is ready to stand by her side and destroy Josh, which gives the impending third season a whole new dramatic weight. I want this show to go great places, and I wasn’t as fond of this second season as I was of the first, so I’m hopeful that this new revelation can help reset things a bit and start off fresh for a different kind of third season that will prove just as engaging and innovative as season one.

Season grade: B
Season MVP: Rachel Bloom

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