I really had fun with this show — but there are certain things in them that really caught my attention. Instead of doing summaries I want to just look at some of the sections that particularly called to me, things that made me smile and made me think.
Season 1, Episode 1: Josh Just Happens to Live Here!
When Rebecca Bunch is told she’s getting the promotion to partner she knows this should be good news but, there is clearly a disconnect. She is deadpan, blank faced, “This is objectively happy….” She tries to convince herself, even that “this is what happy feels like.”
Something suddenly snaps for her. Clearly she’s been plugging along in this law firm, living in New York, doing her job and taking a mess of pills to get by. The news that she’s making partner seems to be the breaking point – a blind panic sets in as she rushes from the building, trying to take some more medicine, in the middle of a breakdown.
It’s then that two things happen – she sees Josh, and she starts to hear a song in the sky.
The basic premise of the show encapsulated in a moment.
Her first song and dance number is a pretty classic number, a somewhat Disney-esque feel to it, We see a changed Rebecca at that point, she’s lighter. It reminds me of the glow of vacation – that moment where you step out of the hamster-wheel of life and all problems just fade away. We all know that they don’t actually go away, they just appear to fade a little bit, but they’ll still be there.
But, that’s not the concern just now. Rebecca is redefining herself, and some of it comes in redefining her definition of success. Stepping away from the life where her entire being is about work to a focus on something else. She wants to actually be happy – not “objectively happy” but really happy.
While the first song of the episode shows a transformation in Rebecca, it’s the next song that really has something to say. Many of the songs in Crazy Ex Girlfriend are saying something and the “Sexy Getting Ready Song,” is the first real introduction to this piece of the show. I was a bit concerned, I mean, the entire premise of this show is, on the surface, about a woman chasing an ex- boyfriend across the country. Throwing away a “successful” life for a guy…. but this song shows is one example of how it digs deeper. Check out the song, seriously do yourself a favor. Brutally honest.
Episode one started to win me over, and it made me reflect on the meanings of “success” and it’s relationship to happiness.
Truly, Josh is an excuse. Rebecca may not realize it, but it seems to that what she is chasing is happiness. Josh is what symbolizes that at this point, but it’s clearly about far more than him.
Comparative Geeks 