Recently this year I decided to check out Crazy-Ex Girlfriend, a musical-parody/ romantic dramedy, CW series following main character, Rebecca Bunch's (Rachel Bloom) quest to find happiness and true love in West Covina, California. While I hadn't been interested in the show throughout its four season run on television I wanted to catch up on past episodes before the series' conclusion earlier this month. After streaming several episodes on Netflix and listening to an endless number of earworm songs, I found myself drawn to the show's quirky, flawed protagonist as well as the supporting cast (Heather is the funniest and coolest character, and I am so in love with Dr. Akopian). Speaking as a millennial, I totally understand what makes this show appealing to young people my age. The way it addresses stigmatized mental illnesses (BPD, depression, and anxiety) is compelling. It also rings a lot of universal truths about gender relationships in contemporary culture.
However, the fourth season had a lot of inconsistencies in the writing as well as the character's motives. Every episode building to the end was sort of half-baked. If Rebecca was going to choose herself over any of her romantic love interests all along, the writers certainly could have arrived at this conclusion a lot sooner instead of dragging the story out with filler episodes in-between. Her journey to self-love throughout the season did not have any believable conflict either.
As I watched the finale head towards its heavy-handed conclusion, I found myself cringing watching filler moments such as George showing off his new ponytail to his co-workers, and the part about White Josh's house being destroyed in a fire felt random and harsh.
As soon as Rebecca turned to Nathaniel in the audience to give him her "pity speech" I immediately shouted F**k! Although I was glad to see Nathaniel stand up to his sadistic father and quit working for his law firm to work as an attorney for zoo animals (this was a logical narrative), I still felt incredibly sorry for the guy. While Nathaniel's development from a bad person to someone trying to be better was arguably inconsistent this season (I blame the writers) I was really hoping he and Rebecca could have found a way to get past their issues together and become better people in a healthy relationship. The chemistry between the two is something I really enjoyed. The scene where she is turning him down gently shows how mature he is to let her go. However, Nathaniel also mentions that he had already rented them a pair of horses, bought champagne, and a giant diamond. Did he mean a "diamond" ring? If so, again F**k. He appears visibly despondent while listening to her speech at the end of the episode, indicating that he hasn't completely moved on from her. It doesn't get more tragic than that. Something I found interesting about Nathaniel accepting Rebecca's rejection is how it contrasts with her rejecting Greg. Greg's immediate response is this: "You just got to know that I'm not gonna wait, not anymore." This coming from the guy who told her that "[she'll] always be the love of [his] life" just one episode ago. It's bad writing like this that feels contrived and manipulative!
As soon as Rebecca turned to Nathaniel in the audience to give him her "pity speech" I immediately shouted F**k! Although I was glad to see Nathaniel stand up to his sadistic father and quit working for his law firm to work as an attorney for zoo animals (this was a logical narrative), I still felt incredibly sorry for the guy. While Nathaniel's development from a bad person to someone trying to be better was arguably inconsistent this season (I blame the writers) I was really hoping he and Rebecca could have found a way to get past their issues together and become better people in a healthy relationship. The chemistry between the two is something I really enjoyed. The scene where she is turning him down gently shows how mature he is to let her go. However, Nathaniel also mentions that he had already rented them a pair of horses, bought champagne, and a giant diamond. Did he mean a "diamond" ring? If so, again F**k. He appears visibly despondent while listening to her speech at the end of the episode, indicating that he hasn't completely moved on from her. It doesn't get more tragic than that. Something I found interesting about Nathaniel accepting Rebecca's rejection is how it contrasts with her rejecting Greg. Greg's immediate response is this: "You just got to know that I'm not gonna wait, not anymore." This coming from the guy who told her that "[she'll] always be the love of [his] life" just one episode ago. It's bad writing like this that feels contrived and manipulative!
This pseudo-Feminist ending makes me think of a finale about another quirky female protagonist from the BBC series, Miranda. Not only does the titular character learn to love herself in the end, but she still gets the guy who loves and accepts her for who she is. A finale like that would have given me better closure.
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