Dancin' Dan here taking over for Nathaniel a bit on the Crazy Ex-Girlfriend beat. This time out: crazy guest stars, crazy accents, and crazy mothers!
S1:E7 "I'm So Happy That Josh Is So Happy!"
Feeling depressed about Josh moving in with Valencia, Rebecca screws up a pitch to win the firm a new client. But that new client only has eyes for Paula. Meanwhile, Josh gathers his bros to try to do something nice for Valencia while moving in to their new place. Let's rank the crazy after the jump!
Relatably Blissfully Ignorant
Josh purchases a table for his and Valencia's new apartment without asking her about it, which scares his friends, who remind him how very... specific her tastes are and how... unrelenting she can be. It takes them a whole day to build the table, but Valencia only notices how it doesn't match the stuff they already have.
"OOOOOOOOH, girl, no!"
Paula, whose marriage "is like the Walking Dead: We're all just trying to make it out alive," is wooed by her very own Mr. Big, potential new Whitefeather client and recent widower Calvin Young (Cedric Yarbrough). After taking her to a jazz club and ordering her some fancy drinks, Calvin asks her up to his hotel room and she says yes.
Bonker Balls
Unable to get a therapist to prescribe her some anti-depressants, Rebecca takes a pill she finds on the therapist's bathroom floor (against the advice of her psyche-projected vision of Dr. Phil), gets high with Heather, and decides to break into the therapist's house through the doggy door...
...But Self-Aware
...but agrees to regular therapy sessions in order to avoid having charges pressed against her after she gets caught. And then, she bursts into Paula and Calvin's hotel room to stop them from having a full-blown affair, recognizing that band-aids don't work in life because they don't really fix what's broken. And in so doing, she gets Calvin to sign with Whitefeather.
Episode Grade: A- The major storylines are both heartfelt AND hilarious and the ensemble is absolutely stellar throughout (Hector's back-to-front tandem parking story, Karen's asides, Darryl's intrusions into Paula and Calvin's flrting). It also represents a pretty significant turn in Rebecca and Paula's relationship, with Rebecca finally giving back to her friend.
MVP: Donna Lynne Champlin. Paula's embarking on an affair with Calvin is a pretty objectively terrible thing, but Champlin makes it all too easy to feel for Paula, and each scene between her and Yarbrough is funnier than the last (the best being the episode's tag, where Calvin sings "The Sexy Gonna Do It Song"). That storyline wouldn't be nearly as successful as it is without her beautifully modulated performance (WHY, EMMY? WHY?!?!)
Songs: "Sexy French Depression" (Rebecca), "His Status Is... Preferred" (Paula)
Introducing: Rebecca's therapist, Dr. Akopian (Michael Hyatt)
S1:E8 "My Mom, Greg's Mom and Josh's Sweet Dance Moves!"
Rebecca's mother comes to visit for Hanukkah, bringing all of Rebecca's deepest insecurities out with her. Greg brings Heather with him to Christmas at his mother's house. And Josh relives his glory days as a high school dance team member for a brief moment.
Not Crazy, Totally Sane
Paula, recognizing a "Level 5 Mom Pleaser" when she sees one, attempts to calm Rebecca down during her mother's big arrival, constantly telling her that her mother's approval doesn't really matter, and there's no way she could get it anyway.
Endearingly Impulsive
Upon hearing of the incredible spread at Greg's mom's Christmas party, Heather invites herself along. Greg agrees, so that he can have a "witness to the insanity." The next day, when Heather realizes she has to go back to work at the toy kiosk in the mall in the middle of their post-date rundown, Greg is disappointed, because he likes talking to her. So Heather quits her job.
And then they kiss.
I'm Not Crazy They're The Ones... Wait, ARE they?
Greg does not want to go to his bourgeois mom's house for Christmas, because he can't stand their opulent lifestyle and his spoiled step-siblings. But outsider "turncoat" Heather sees everyone for what they really are:
"You know, the whole reason I came here is 'cause I thought that you were cute and that they were going to be terrible. But you're terrible, and they're cute."
And Greg gets it, opening up a dialogue with his mom for the first time since she walked out on him and his Dad.
Undeniably Mental, But We've All Been There, Right?
Unable to withstand her mother's constant denoting of everyone in her life as a "loser" (and desperate to get her hands on the Garfinkel Ring, an old family heirloom), Rebecca convinces Naomi that she doesn't ACTUALLY work at Whitefeather & Associates, that she's just mentoring the "underprivileged lawyers" who work there. Of her REAL job, she assures her mother:
"It's over on East Cameron, which is basically the Park Avenue of West Covina. And I would have taken you there, but... they are closed for Hanukkah. I work for a very observant Jewish firm... and all of them are in Israel right now. And I was invited too, but I wanted to be here for you. Oh, they're mensches. And they're in Mensa!"
And of course, Paula gets roped into it, using her corporate improv class training ("they told us to make bold choices, so don't criticize!") to fool Naomi into thinking she's a British jew ("tea AND matzoh, anyone?") who grew up on Abbey Road ("I was lit'rally born on the crosswalk! My mum couldn't make it to hospital!") and hates California. Donna Lynne Champlin SLAYS this scene.
The Apple Didn't Fall Far From the Tree
Upon seeing Calvin's picture pop on Rebecca's phone when he calls her on an urgent matter, Naomi invites herself out to drinks with the two of them, shamelessly hits on Calvin, and then orders Rebecca to tell him she's "good to go".
...But It All Comes From Love
Thankfully Calvin leaves, and Rebecca tells her mother that she shut it down because it would be inappropraite for her to set up her biggest client with her mother. And later comes clean with her mother about her job, and admits that she is done trying to please her and could care less about the Garfinkel Ring. And because Rebecca was able to talk back to her, Naomi realizes that her daughter has indeed grown up, and that "when the Cossacks come, you can fight back, you can survive," and the two reconcile.
Episode Grade: B+ It's all entertaining, but disjointed. None of the storylines really come together in a satisfying way, and Josh's doesn't work at all. BUT the importance of Greg and Heather's hook-up and Rebecca's relationship with her mother cannot be understated.
MVP: Tovah Feldshuh. Even beyond her big number, which is PERFECTION, she has Naomi's narcissism down pat but never loses sight of the all-consuming love for her daughter that drives her just as much. She is the perfect embodiment of this very specific breed of Westchester Jewish Mother.
Songs: "Where's The Bathroom?" (Naomi), "California Christmastime" (Ensemble)
Introducing: Greg's Mom Shauna (Mel Harris), step-father Stew (Albie Selznick) and step-twin siblings Mason and Lily (Kalama Epstein and Taylor Blackwell); Paula's British Jew alter ego; Rebecca's real, terrible singing voice.