Crazy Ex-Girlfriend - Getting Over Jeff/Nathaniel Needs My Help! - Double Review

With Highs, there usually come lows, so it was inevitable that with such highs that Crazy Ex-Girlfriend has been on, there would be a moment where the shows highs would turn into mediums/lows. The last two episodes of the show have formed sort of a midseason slump for me, something I wasn’t quite expecting due to how well things have been going. There were things to like about these episodes that felt long overdue, or were just generally entertaining, but there was also things that just felt uneven and messy. Paula may have ended up getting over Jeff, and Darryl may be ready to move on from WiJo, but I’m not ready to get past my grievances with this show as easily as them.

Getting Over Jeff
Look, I love a good Paula arc, and I love Donna Lynne and her amazing voice. In fact, I would say that I think Paula may possibly be the best thing about Crazy Ex, aside from Heather, and that anytime she is on my screen, I’m happy. I think Paula’s plot in Getting Over Jeff was actually a good one, it was the Rebecca one that seemed so off-putting to me. This episode really kind of stated the obvious of what we all know, the parallels between Rebecca and Paula. These two really are one in the same when you think about it, we find out Paula can become just as obsessive into things as Rebecca can be entirely oblivious to what she has in front of her. Both Paula and Rebecca don’t have the best relationships with their dads, and both of them have a “Josh Chan” Paula runs into her Josh (named Jeff) while in Buffalo to take care of her dad (who rags on Paula from the moment she walks in and she seems all too familiar with his behavior) in the grocery store and we are treated to the amazing “The Very Penis I saw” featuring some amazing Rebecca parallels.

I could on all day about that number, but if you don’t know how great it is, then you have failed this show and the fandom. What is important about Jeff this time around, is how Paula does what Rebecca could not, she realizes what this Jeff infatuation was all about pretty soon. His rejection hurt her, and she has this time now with him as the chance to take her power back. She does end up rejecting him, but she also takes her dad’s defense of her as a good sign as well. She, unlike Rebecca, doesn’t try and win her dad back, she just accepts who he is and moves on. More importantly, she and Rebecca are able to talk about Paula treating her more as a friend, and Paula is also able to come home to Scott and tell him that she would most certainly always choose him. (after Brad Pitt rejects her) The beauty of this whole plot is that it shows that while Paula and Rebecca may be cut form the same cloth, Paula’s piece is a bit more weathered and has a better understanding of how to emotionally deal with things, She can realize the whys and hows, acknowledge them and then move on.

Then there was the very weird Rebecca part of this episode. Rebecca’s treating her illness like she would a homework assignment and is reaching for an A, but her Doctor is advising that she strive for a C+. His conversation with her seemed so…not helpful. He encourages her to let loose and go on an adventure and can’t give her straight answers on alcohol and sex. She tags along with Paula because of this advice and then spends time bonding with Paula’s dad, who is really just shrewd and awful. Wouldn’t her Doctor want to steer her clear of transference of her own issues with her dad and his acceptance of her? It’s all strange, but it’s not the strangest part. Nathaniel and Rebecca continue to be a sort of thing, and for the life I can’t figure out why that are even into each other. When did Rebecca quit work? Why is Nathaniel so wishy–washy about his feelings for her? Why does he seem like his only character traits are that he’s wealthy, emotionally unavailable, rude and has hots for Rebecca? I did enjoy Rebecca’s Sequoia comment about him, and his walking away sex bit. As for the end, with the two of them uniting….I’m not a fan. I’m starting to wonder if the show is going to pull the rug out from beneath us and show us that this all been a coma dream of Rebecca’s due to her suicide attempt for the past few episodes. I could deal with that… I did like Rebecca’s realization that being messy, was very human and she enjoyed it, and that was probably the only redeeming moment of her plot this week.

And of course there was the plot we all knew was coming, wished that it wasn’t and are infuriated it happened. Darryl and White Josh broke up, because Darryl really wants a baby and can’t get past it. Madison actually forced Darryl to acknowledge his feelings about all of WhiJo is taken by surprise and it seems the ship has now sailed. This may play into ranking of this ep, but I just found so much of this episode to feel thrown together that I can’t quite enjoy it. C

*I literally forgot about the Josh-Bartender- Pimple thing and had to go back and add this sentence to acknowledge it and it’s WTF randomness and grossness as I was writing about the next episode.

Grading the Songs
First Penis I Saw – A – Showstoppingly Amazing, hilarious, empowering, genius
My Friend’s Dad – D- I don’t even remember this song. I tuned it out.

Nathaniel Needs My Help
At least Getting Over Jeff had a great Paula plot going for it. Nathaniel Needs My Help felt like torture for me to get through. I stopped taking notes, and had to force myself to stay off of Twitter. This episode featured Josh Chan realizing how much he’s lost since Rebecca came into his world and shook things up. He literally has his mom kick him out via song, tell him his problems are inconsequential and then goes and thanks Rebecca for adding some perspective to his life. Josh is so lost right now, he has no idea who is or what he is doing because everything he had, everything he pictured, Rebecca shattered. Yet, it’s eerie how he credits her for believing in him and inspiring him to do more. It’s like some weird Stockholm syndrome that he has developed and while I do feel sorry for him, it’s almost an about face of where he was with her just a few episode ago and so it feels like a sloppy reveal. I’m glad Amy Hill got to sing, and I like that the character of Josh is being forced to reevaluate and grow up, but I’m not comfortable with the thanking of his stalker in the process.

Rebecca and Nathaniel are a thing for real this episode and her Doctor doesn’t really deter her form jumping into this whole thing. She starts to go full obsessive on Nathaniel and wants to know about him, thinking that she can get his father to open up to him and give him the approval she thinks he wants. But then when she teams up with George, they end up finding a sister, who isn’t really a sister because Nathaniel’s dad isn’t having an affair, but instead of dismissing her for her meddling, Nathaniel tells her that he likes their differences. I’m still trying to make sense of this whole thing, but I liked having George around! Rebecca then realizes that she is making the same mistakes she made with josh, with Nathaniel, so she heads over to his apartment to seemingly cut ties with him for the sake of her health, which is something I can totally get behind, and not just because I don’t get them, but because it just makes sense for her health.

The best thing about this episode is Darryl’s sperm and his earnestness to creating an offspring. Paula’s obsession with meddling is true to the character and is not surprising, but her blackmail at the hands of the “perfect” donor was just so left field. I will say that as much as I hate the demise of Darryl and White Josh for this, I did want Darryl to succeed at having the 2nd child, I was so sad when it didn’t happen, because I just knew it would, and when he said he’d try again next year, I just wanted to hug Darryl. But Darryl is resilient just like his sperm and actually sold all of his weird Nicnacks to pay for another shot at baby making and Paula admitted that she needs to take a step back from intervening in lives. It’s a sad day for me when this was the most complete plot of the episode. D.

Grading the Songs
My Sperm is Healthy – A – I mean, this was ballsy…. and it paid off. I can’t believe that we’ve come… to a time where a show can have a song about sperm in it and it build to such a beautiful climax…. of ending and just be perfect.
Get Your Ass Out Of My House – C – it was fun.

What did you think of the episodes? Sound off below.

The next episode of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, Nathaniel Gets the Message! Airs Jan 12th on the CW!