Thursday, April 4, 2019

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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