Crazy Ex-Girlfriend: When Will Josh See How Cool I Am?
October 29, 2016 3:54 PM - Season 2, Episode 2 - Subscribe

Rebecca goes to great lengths to spend more time with Josh, and Greg decides it's time to rejoin society.

There's exactly zero White Josh/Darryl adorableness this week, but both characters get time to shine individually, especially White Josh as the only sane person in the gang. Greg and Rebecca both have the weird idea to actually talk out their problems and rationally consider how their actions affect themselves and their friends (What show is this?!). And it looks like we're headed back to Love Triangleville next week, as Rebecca starts to realize exactly why Josh and Valencia didn't work out.

Songs:
Maybe This Dream is Paula's Disney-ish princess ballad -- a nice companion to last season's I'm the Villain In My Own Story.
Greg's Drinking Song explores the consequences of Greg's alcoholism. Apparently it used to be much dirtier.
Ping Pong Girl Is a 90s pop/rock homage and also exactly what goes through a guy's head when a woman is good at ping-pong. Completely accurate.
Greg's brief reprise of I Could If I Wanted To only lasts a few seconds, but it has impact.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish (16 comments total) 2 users marked this as a favorite
 
So thrilled they brought back "If I Wanted To"- reprising themes, it's like a real musical!!

Don't forget Hector is also sane- his "Why are all my guy friends in love with this chick?" at the end of the ping pong song slayed me. So funny and SO real. All the side players, really- Heather wondering why Greg wasn't mad, Father Brah hinting that Josh really wanted to confess more for his own benefit than Greg's.

Who was in the band with Josh during Ping Pong Girl? They looked familiar, like I saw them before in Blink-182 or something.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 6:27 PM on October 29, 2016


This was a really strong episode. Fabulous music, and great character development. Hurray for White Josh and Darryl for being the adults in this crazy gang. Paula deserves so much better from Rebecca. I hope she learns the same lesson: that she needs to be with somebody who treats her well, even if it's just a friendship.

I wasn't very happy with last week's episode, but this one feels like they've got the train back on the tracks again.
posted by sardonyx at 6:40 PM on October 29, 2016


reprising themes, it's like a real musical!!

Plus "I'm A Good Person" and "I Have Friends" have made the jump from show-stopping numbers to leitmotifs.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 6:42 PM on October 29, 2016


Oh, Guardrail! Love that guy!

I remain on pins and needles re: our next sighting of Valencia.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 7:04 PM on October 29, 2016


Good points:
* Guardrail
* "Why are all my friends in love with this girl?" INDEED, SIR, INDEED. It's because crazy sex is the best sex.
* Greg's Drinking Song was just fucking marvelous.
* Father Brah is never not awesome.
* I am not into the concept of the "Cool Girl" (god knows I've never been one), but mad points for interspersing that with Ping-Pong.
* "I Could If I Wanted To" was chilling!

My TV was cutting in and out throughout the night and ticking me off, but what I caught of the show looked excellent.
posted by jenfullmoon at 10:08 AM on October 30, 2016 [1 favorite]


Okay, I'm rewatching it. The dump cramps and sewer rat undies....ewwwwwwww. Between that and the drinking song....
posted by jenfullmoon at 10:54 AM on October 30, 2016


"Greg's Drinking Song," in which he pukes on his cat and Bruno did not expect that. I liked how his boss isn't bothered at all, and Heather has the look of "Why am I in this costume?" in the back. And sex with a bush.
posted by jenfullmoon at 11:07 AM on October 30, 2016 [1 favorite]


Who was in the band with Josh during Ping Pong Girl? They looked familiar, like I saw them before in Blink-182 or something.

IMDb lists the band members as Hayden Maringer, Cory Tramontelli, and Cam Tyler. All three appear to basically be session musicians and/or touring musicians, and Maringer has also appeared on TV quite a bit.

Honestly, if you felt like the musicians looked familiar, it might just be that the production design was a spot-on pastiche of late-'90s bro-rock.
posted by Johnny Assay at 9:10 PM on October 30, 2016 [3 favorites]


I love that Heather said what I've been yelling at my TV since the start of the series.

"Stoooooop taaaaaaalking."

The cringe was strong in this episode, but Greg still managed to break my heart. I have a soft spot for difficult misanthropes with secret good hearts though.
posted by angeline at 11:50 AM on October 31, 2016 [2 favorites]


I was mad when I realized the opening bit was apparently going to be the opening bit from now on, because I love "She's so broken insiiide", but it's growing on me.
posted by Etrigan at 11:58 AM on October 31, 2016


So much good in this episode. I like that White Josh is becoming more of a character - for example, by being judgmental. He's not perfect!

Even though Rebecca was late with her letter for Paula, it seemed like she realized she fucked up. This doesn't mean she won't mess up again, but it's a teeny-tiny bit of self-awareness. That and walking away from the ping-pong game were, to me, good signs.

I want a gif of that "stop talking" moment.

I do like how Josh is slowly revealed to be more and more of a mess, while many of the other characters are starting to get their lives together. Rebecca may be a disaster but she was the catalyst for a positive transformation in Darryl, Greg and Paula.

I cannot WAIT to see Valencia.
posted by rednikki at 7:58 PM on November 2, 2016


One question: Why do people keep saying Josh and Greg are best friends? Josh has like 15 better friends than Greg. (Okay, at least three: Father Brah, my fave; white Josh; Hector.) Greg doesn't even seem to like Josh that much.

Is it because their friendship is important in Rebecca's narrative about her relationships with them?

Perhaps we will learn more this week.
posted by purpleclover at 10:52 PM on November 2, 2016 [1 favorite]


Well, they've been friends since they were kids, right? Maybe they don't even realize how the friendship isn't as close as maybe it used to be. Maybe it's just habit now. They're just used to it and Greg hasn't really come to terms with how jealous he is of Josh all around.
posted by angeline at 11:38 AM on November 3, 2016 [3 favorites]


"Maybe This Dream" is my favorite since "The Sexy Getting-Ready Song." Apparently I like my songs a little gross.
posted by Spathe Cadet at 5:09 PM on February 11, 2017


No one on the internet is talking about how Ping Pong Girl is totally a Nerf Herder song and they should be.
posted by Space Coyote at 12:57 AM on February 20, 2017 [1 favorite]


I read the outfits/makeup as Green Day but maybe that's because that's the only genre-relevant 90s band I have a clear visual memory of.
posted by brainwane at 8:42 AM on August 14, 2018


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