Crazy Ex-Girlfriend: I'm Not The Person I Used To Be

December 7, 2018 7:25 PM - Season 4, Episode 8

Greg returns to West Covina, which forces Rebecca to question things she thought she knew; Valencia and Josh make some shocking discoveries while at their high school reunion.

Allison Shoemaker reviews at the AV Club: Crazy Ex-Girlfriend allows Greg Serrano to reintroduce himself in a remarkably assured hour

She also interviewed Aline Brosh McKenna: How Crazy Ex-Girlfriend re-met Greg

posted by JimBennett (19 comments total)

i really, really enjoyed this episode. starting strong with the meta jokes perfectly led into greg's reintroduction. i'm not totally sold on skyler astin yet, but i really thought he did the material justice in this episode and with some more time i think i can buy him as greg. that said, he certainly doesn't sing as well.
posted by JimBennett at 7:26 PM on December 7, 2018 [1 favorite]

I loved the intro of the “new” Greg.

This episode felt weird and long to me- after 25 minutes I couldn’t believe I still had 30+ minutes to go.

Do we buy the Father Brah/Valencia thing? I was waiting for it to be an act they put together to amuse Heather.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 7:36 PM on December 7, 2018 [1 favorite]

So, this didn't work for me. I don't like the new Greg and all the meta jokes feel forced.
posted by Pendragon at 2:40 PM on December 8, 2018 [1 favorite]

BUT GEORGE FINALLY GOT HIS SONG!
posted by politikitty at 3:15 PM on December 8, 2018 [5 favorites]

I thought George was a surprisingly good dancer to be fair.

Also I am not sure why but Paula's Rabbit (Hare?) kinda looked sinister just sitting there.. no?
posted by Faintdreams at 4:28 PM on December 8, 2018

As a viewer, I had no need or desire to have Greg come back into the picture. I'm certainly not in the camp that believes Greg and Rebecca are meant to be. That said, I didn't mind the new actor. No, he's not quite as strong a song and dance man as the original, but for whatever reason, I had no trouble buying that he was the new and improved Greg. I don't think, however that I'll be thrilled if he ends up with Rebecca at the end. I'm not sure if I want her paired off, but if given the choice, I think my preference would be Nathaniel. I certainly don't want it to be Josh.

I agree that the whole Valencia/Father Bra thing seems a bit forced and out of the blue. I don't know why they needed to go there, unless the writers decided that Valencia needs to make some sort of public declaration about her happiness and the current state of her life, or that after giving such good advice regarding love and relationships throughout the series, the producers felt the viewers needed to see that Father Bra had personal, first-hand experience with being in love and having his heart broken, although again, that's not something I needed as a viewer.
posted by sardonyx at 7:51 PM on December 8, 2018

This episode gave me a lot of feels. I went in completely unspoiled, and wasn't sure at all that I wanted Greg to be back because he and Rebecca had been so terrible for each other, but their song together convinced me. I like the idea of two previously unhappy people finding redemption and understanding. I don't think that Nathaniel or Josh would really be good for her. I felt that Greg's response to the Marco bomb really sold it for me. He's done a lot of growing up, and I feel that both Nathaniel and Josh are very much at the beginning of their journeys of growing up and sorting themselves out. (I get the problematic nature of wanting to see Rebecca 'ending up' with anyone, of course.)
posted by Ziggy500 at 3:55 AM on December 9, 2018 [1 favorite]

I suspect this show is going to eventually declare that Rebecca isn't going to end up with any of them. I dunno if I can say she's meant to be with any one or any of them. I don't have a strong preference about any of the dudes because I like them all even though they are all problematic (but so is she though). That said, if I had to rank the dudes, I'd probably say Greg/Josh/Nathaniel. I think Aline nailed it in that interview by pointing out that each dude has different similarities to her. Greg is most similar to her in general, Josh is a happy little puppy but flaky (I always wondered if his dumb would get to her Harvard-ness, but so far no), and Nathaniel's still working on those evil tendencies but I could see it working out later MAYBE.

But yeah, when you've declared a relationship a "shitshow," I usually don't think that is something one can come back from, so I am kind of surprised they are bringing Greg back for the finale...of the holidays.

It's still weird for this show to do a soap opera replacement, but what else can you do, really. I did enjoy the meta jokes of "until the end of the holidays...Valentine's Day" and even the "I miss the season one theme song!"

I enjoyed the Father Brah twist, it came out of nowhere and they pulled it off. I could see her going for him because he's decent. I'm not sure why they did that plotline but I enjoyed the hell out of it like Heather did.
posted by jenfullmoon at 9:24 AM on December 9, 2018 [2 favorites]

The actor that plays Father Brah is one of the writer-producers on the show, and also wrote this episode. Valencia pointing out that she didn't mislead Heather with her pronoun usage was a great beat in that whole storyline.

They didn't just lampshade the change of actors for Greg, but shone a super-bright spotlight on it, which I think paid off really well. In the interview with Aline Brosh McKenna, she says they told Santino Fontana that they were bring the character back and commenters there think it was a bit of a diss that he wasn't asked to come back, but it sounds to me like they realized that bringing back the character this way would let them tell a more compelling story.
posted by jimw at 1:59 PM on December 9, 2018

I thought Santino voluntarily wanted to leave and they reasonably assumed he wouldn't want to come back again? Also, isn't he in a show now or something?
posted by jenfullmoon at 5:36 AM on December 10, 2018

That's my understanding- that he wanted to leave and they weren't super sorry to see him go (I've heard whisperings).
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 6:47 AM on December 10, 2018

Re: Santino Fontana not coming back...

He could've done it if he wanted to.
posted by under_petticoat_rule at 7:39 AM on December 10, 2018 [9 favorites]

George's song was definitely the best part of this whole episode. I refuse this new greg. We didn't need a Greg!
posted by stillnocturnal at 2:36 PM on December 10, 2018

He could've done it if he wanted to.

Amazing song, let us all enjoy on this Tuesday morning.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 7:07 AM on December 11, 2018

The new Greg really, really didnt work for me. I would 100% prefer they just didnt bring him back, rather than try to shoehorn him in as suddenly back in the picture. I felt the way they treated the end of the relationship was so heartbreaking and real and honest and now to say, just kidding, they're back together and everything is fine! will be a huge disappointment to me.

I mean... hopefully that's not what will happen. Hopefully they'll just work on a friendship and that's it. I want to believe in Rachel Bloom. But.. this whole season has been so hooray everyone is all better and happy and wholesome, so I'm worried.
posted by silverstatue at 9:43 AM on December 11, 2018 [1 favorite]

there's ten episodes left this season. even if the series ends with rebecca and greg back together, it is not gong to be as simple as everything is fine. i would encourage people to be patient and see how things develop over the next few episodes.
posted by JimBennett at 6:47 PM on December 11, 2018

The line has been that all along the show was planned to be four seasons. I've really enjoyed the broad arc the show has taken up to now, except sometimes it's been a little obvious that in the move to a 22-episode CW season they've had to add some filler.

Sticking the landing for a series finale is notoriously hard. It should be easier when it's planned for than when it's a seat-of-the-pants season-by-season (or episode-by-episode) writing style. But even so, when your whole series is about falling apart, switching into picking-up-the-pieces mode can make it feel like a different show.

Truth is, there's a lot more comedy potential in bad behavior and terrible mistakes than there is in slow and steady progress. I admire the fact that they're trying to show characters changing, but they're really fighting against the medium here. This is pretty much exactly the opposite of what a weekly TV show is designed to do. The Good Place is another show that's kind of in the same situation. It's really hard for a great show to have a satisfying ending because we never really want the good shows to end. And because of the way they're produced and distributed, even if you intend to write them novelistically, you always end up with a character you have to write off the show, or a character you have to keep on the show because an actor wants to leave or becomes a breakout star or whatever.
posted by rikschell at 7:27 AM on December 12, 2018 [3 favorites]

this season is going to be 18 episodes, not 22, the same length as season one.
posted by JimBennett at 5:03 PM on December 12, 2018

Listening to the Season 1 soundtrack, I was reminded of an early prediction I had. That Valencia’s first lady crush would be Denise Martinez, that bitch she cannot stand.
posted by politikitty at 8:25 PM on December 18, 2018