Concluding Thoughts on Crazy Ex-Girlfriend

Let me tell it to you straight… I couldn’t finish S4. I was still invested in the story but S4 is messy and way too reminiscent of those early S1 episodes that I didn’t like. I decided to hold out until Greg came back and then I realised it was new Greg. And I thought, “Hey, this might not be a Yellow Wiggle situation” so I watched one episode with the new Greg.

It was a Yellow Wiggle situation.

Okay, so the Wiggles are a bit different. The larger part of the issue I have with the new Yellow Wiggle (by which I actually mean the second Yellow Wiggle) is that I remember the classic Wiggles line up. There’s a whole “not my childhood” vibe that Crazy Ex-Girlfriend doesn’t have. But there was definitely a “it’s just not the same” vibe. And that was enough.

So, I decided to read the Wikipedia summaries from the end of Greg’s return onwards… although I did watch (a) the Las Vegas/Audra Levine and (b) finale episodes. And I have to say… all through the finale I was hoping that it was either Josh (!?) or, as I suspected last time out, no-one. It was no-one.

I’ve been reading some opinions on Reddit (because there’s a sub for everything) and it seems to me that S4 isn’t overly well liked (in their case, relative to the rest of the show). It also seems that people liked old Greg more, but that was mostly because I saw an “unpopular opinion but I preferred new Greg” situation (context: Redditors are really bad at identifying how heterodox they are; interestingly Crazy Ex-Girlfriend has a song about that… ish). And the final impression I remember getting is that it felt rushed and all over the place. Yes! That last one!

Last time out I wondered if this was a Scrubs situation where the network gave the show some love with a final series to wrap things up but a reduced budget. Considering it went back to 18 episodes (making for 18, 13, 13 and 18 episodes in each of the four series respectively), I doubt that was the case. But it does still feel like this kind of “argh! how to deal with our new circumstances?” situation. Which is odd because it was fairly obvious what the logical conclusion of what they’d been doing was:

On the other hand, to the extent that the show is actually about Rebecca (ew, character studies), this seems the more appropriate happy ending

That’s what I wrote last time out, but I think I accidentally pay walled that. Whoops!

Now, over on Reddit there were some people talking about how the show really should’ve shown that Rebecca could’ve had her mental wellbeing and a relationship. I get that, I do. It’s just that I think, in the end, doing that would’ve required a wholly new character. Let’s take stock for a second:

• New Josh… introspective, sure, but he was still not together enough for Rebecca
• New (Actor) Greg… I didn’t really give him enough time to see what he was really like as a person, but old Greg and Rebecca had a bit of a downer/upper contrast, not opposites but also not both “we’re trying to be healthy”
• New Nathaniel… when he was amoral it kind of worked but I’m not really sure he had an identity outside of “the love interest” after they fixed him… I also think part of the appeal was that he was competent and dedicated, whereas Rebecca was competent but distracted (viz their jobs)

(Incidentally, I’m glad they explained why Nathaniel was at Heather and Hector’s wedding.)

During the finale, Rebecca’s dreams of the future didn’t pan out how I expected. That is, I thought the conclusion would be “everyone is a little unhappy sometimes and that’s okay”. That was the kind of value to old Greg. Yes, it’s a bad basis for a relationship but it also meant that Rebecca would have this reminder that her quest for constant happiness was one of the problems she had… an idealised worldview. Greg’s cynical takes were rooted not in actual cynicism but self loathing. So, someone who was introspective like new Josh, concluded the world isn’t perfect as a result like old Greg and who had strange quirks of his own like Nathaniel, that was as together as the post- final timeskip versions of all three? That person. That dude would work for Rebecca, if you ask me.

Hodgepodge Man does seem rather a lot like what is called a Marty Stu. In other words, he’s got no flaws. And I’m not sure what flaws could be added, even assuming they meet after that second timeskip, to have Rebecca not worry if her mental health would be compromised by being with Hodgepodge Man. Not that it really matters. Crazy Ex-Girlfriend ended with a thematically appropriate conclusion, even if it was a bit bumpy in the final descent.

So… would I recommend Crazy Ex-Girlfriend? Later S1, S2 and S3, sure. The show is obviously subversive enough in these points that I think it’d work for most people. But the reality is that I think it’s too subtle/drowned out by “conventional” tropes and too musical in the rest, except for someone who likes romances and, especially, romantic comedies a lot. But, to be fair, I think it was made for those people. Me? I like romantic comedies, honest, but it’s just that I think movie length works better. Although I did watch a lot of Jane the Virgin, too, which is a pretty similar show on balance.