Disguised as quirky musical comedy, ‘Crazy Ex-Girlfriend’ is full of insight into the soul and emotions
Category: Television and Streaming
Rebecca Bunch (Rachel Bloom), a Woody Allen-esque Manhattan lawyer, has been on a roller coaster ride since she took a leap of faith by following Josh Chan (Vincent Rodriguez III), her summer camp crush, to his hometown of West Covina, California.
After two seasons of being ’crazy-in-love’ and hence justifiable Rebecca, the third season turned her into its title role of ‘revenge-crazy’ psycho Rebecca. She was abandoned at the altar and went into the jilted bride’s revenge mode. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. After her second suicide attempt and with a new diagnosis of someone who lacks the protective emotional skin to feel comfortable in the world, our A+ student Rebecca struggles to break out of purgatory of her colorful past. Impatient of slow progress in reaching the new normal, she jumped out of the frying pan into the fire yet AGAIN! If only she stayed the course and realized that neither love nor men can save her from her demons. She was on the blink of figuring out her serious Daddy issues, obsessive love, and fear of abandonment before she took the easy way out by accepting Josh’s proposal! That’s why Rebecca still doesn’t know who she is without a man, period.
The fourth and final season promises to deliver ‘enlightened’ Rebecca 2.0; she still makes mistakes all right, but is mindful of the whys and wherefores of her actions. And the second half of Season 4 returns to its roots as a love story. I really can’t imagine what that would look like, but certainly welcome the idea of the ‘reinvented’ Rebecca having many suitors. That sounds like another wish fulfillment this show has been delivering season after season. An extensive choice of men is just what the doctor ordered! After all, the story started with Rebecca’s immediate attachment to and idealization of Josh – The One That Got Away a decade ago. However, I highly recommend being alone and get comfortable in your own skin before you jump into another relationship. When the rug is pulled out from under you and you are in free fall, you would grasp at any man, right? In my experience, men are nothing but distractions from the real issues and obstacles to self-realization; after earth-shuttering losses any woman would be wise to find out who she is without a man.
Just like Alicia Florrick (The Good Wife) transformed into ‘the free woman’ from all the duties and obligations of ‘the good wife,’ I have every confidence that Rebecca will rise like a phoenix from the ashes of her countless cringe-worthy mistakes. I just hope she realizes that we can only obtain sense of accomplishment from doing what we’re passionate about. I doubt if anybody was passionate about getting ‘good wife seal of approval.’ I don’t want to alarm you, but neither my marriage nor relationship gave me the high of professional accomplishments. We’re so programmed to put utmost importance to get married, but isn’t it time for society as a whole to re-evaluate what aspect of women’s lives we put the most value on? Since your mother told you who to be and love told you where to go, you need to first pursue what truly makes you happy, Rebecca Bunch!
The CW’s Crazy Ex-Girlfriend returns for its fourth and final season on Friday, October 12, 2018. Fasten your seatbelts, it’s going to be a bumpy ride!
About the Author
Meg Mimura is a TV critic who actually watches shows zealously in search of thought-provoking and paradigm shifting human drama worth our precious time. She is a member of Television Critics Association.