Crazy Ex-Girlfriend Season 1 Episode 14 Review: Josh Is Going to Hawaii!
Christine Laskodi
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If Rebecca is the villain in her own story, then Darryl is most certainly the hero.
While they both faced their share of disappointment in Crazy Ex-Girlfriend Season 1 Episode 14, their reactions show a textbook way to rightly and wrongly handle rejection.
Rebecca is still reeling after her big kiss, and she her wacky two-and-a-half-star-Judy-Greer sidekick, Paula, concoct a plan to send her to Hawaii to follow Josh after he plans to break up with Valencia.
Darryl, meanwhile, concocts a plan to romance White Josh on their first date by taking him to a jacket-wearing fancy restaurant. We’ve all met White Josh. He’s not a fancy kind of guy.
Rebecca thinks that this is going to be her moment; Josh will end things with Valencia and she can swoop right in and capture his heart. She doesn’t bet on the guilt that she will feel after overhearing Valencia telling her mother that she thinks Josh is going to propose, causing her to believe that she’s actually a villain in this entire story.
I’m the villain in my own story. My actions have gone way too far. I told myself that I was Jasmine but I realize now I’m Jafar.
Rebecca
The thing is, in this case, Rebecca hasn’t actually done anything that would warrant her villain status. She’s kind of a victim here, in a way.
Josh kissed her.
She had just learned an important lesson for herself about happiness and who she has become since moving to West Covina. She was upset that she had let not only Josh down, but also the many others that she knew were being taken advantage of.
She didn’t make that move on Josh. She, for once, wasn’t motivated by a scheme. In that courtroom, Rebecca’s motivation was actually pure.
Josh is the one who lit the match and then planned on running away to Hawaii.
Valencia: Do you love her?
Josh: No. God, no.
But this moment changes everything for Rebecca, who yes, was totally stalking Josh when she eavesdropped on his private confession to Valencia.
Josh tells Valencia that despite kissing Rebecca, he doesn't love her. Valencia, in a rare humanizing moment, forgives him. It's like a knife in the gut for Rebecca and for those viewers who've been rooting for Joshbecca to get together.
Josh, unknowingly, broke Rebecca's heart. He hurt Valencia. More importantly, he's hurting himself.
Josh is so unhappy with the choices he's making. He realizes almost immediately that while he's relieved to have earned Valencia's forgiveness, he's still not happy with her and that she's not the girl for him. But he stays, going through the motions and not being honest with himself, Rebecca, or Valencia.
It really should be JOSH who's looking in the mirror and deciding whether or not he may be a villain, not Rebecca, but then we wouldn't have been treated to that hilarious Disney spoof song.
It’s not a phase. I’m not confused. Not indecisive. I don’t have the gotta choose blues. I don’t care if you wear high heels or a tie, you might just catch my eye because I’m definitely bi.
Darryl
Darryl's got some things of his own to work out, but being open about who he is certainly isn't one of them. He's a bi-sexual man and he's thrilled to tell the world about it.
But his new crush, White Josh, is cautious, having years of experience in being gay. He recognizes that Darryl has gone all-in immediately in his new lifestyle, and wants his new suitor to experience other things besides himself.
Once again, the writers of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend are tackling Darryl's sexuality with perfect realism.
They aren't simply going to just put Darryl and White Josh together because they are both attracted to men. There's a deeper story at hand here, as Darryl and White Josh really are two completely different people and while they are certainly an adorable match, they may not actually be compatible.
I just think we should act like two normal people who’ve kissed twice. You know, you can do a little exploring, get on a dating website or something, see what else is out there.
White Josh
White Josh rejects Darryl's offer to be his date at a dinner party, in an attempt to get Darryl to explore being bi for a while. He's not mean about it. He doesn't intentionally hurt Darryl, he's just trying to make sure that Darryl doesn't immediately settle. It's probably the most mature romantic decision that's ever been made on the series by any character.
And here's what separates Darryl's rejection from Rebecca's; Darryl listened to White Josh. As much as it hurt him and stressed him out, he took White Josh's advice to heart and signed himself up for on-line dating, giving his bi-sexual lifestyle a real chance to grow.
Every romance on this show seems to be a one way street. Heather loves Greg. Greg loves Rebecca. Rebecca loves Josh. Josh loves Valencia.
Darryl: I took your advice and it’s been really interesting. I went out with a girl named Charlie and a guy named Dana, just to make things as confusing as possible. I don’t wanna say that I don’t like anyone else as much as you, but -- I think I just said it.
White Josh: Hmm… that’s really…that’s really sweet
Darryl and White Josh, however, are the only mature and honest relationship on the series that's a real two-way street, which must make Darryl very happy. (Get it? Cause two-ways? Eh, it's a bad joke, I know, but I had to go for it.)
On a serious note though, Pete Gardner, who plays Darryl, is striking gold with this storyline. He's doing an incredible job as the face of a love story that isn't typically told and he's nailing every single aspect of it with humor and heart. Where do we sign up to nominate this guy for an Emmy?
Unfortunately for Rebecca, she doesn't quite have the maturity that Darryl and White Josh have.
I’m the villain in my own story, the bad guy in my TV show. I’m the ‘who’ in the ‘whodunnit,’ when I go to hell I’ll run it as Satan’s CFO. He needs someone to do the books. Actually, I shouldn’t do that. I’m terrible with money.
Rebecca
Rebecca has never made the smartest decisions. The entire series is founded on that.
We've watched her frivolously throw away money all season long in her attempts to do things that will get her closer to Josh. It all caught up to her, finally.
She's broke. She's lost everything.
Everything, that is, but her mother's approval, something she's so desperately sought after since she was a child.
With that approval came the famous Garfinkel ring, the one that we learned of on Crazy Ex-Girlfriend Season 1 Episode 8. The ring that's been in Rebecca's family for generations. The ring that she's longed to have passed down to her.
With all the news of Rebecca being a local hero, her mom congratulated her, told her she loved her, and sent that very ring to Rebecca, who very quickly hocked it to buy plane tickets to follow Josh to Hawaii.
This ring will most certainly make its way back into the story, as the real impact of Rebecca pawning it was not dealt with at all. Rebecca threw away something she's wanted more than anything on a quick whim to earn cash. This stupid decision will come back to haunt the crazy ex-girlfriend.
I keep forgetting that you are so smart, and so NOT smart.
Paula
The bigger story with Rebecca is how she handles learning that Josh doesn't love her.
Rebecca has been down this road before.
She's admitted to being a stupid bitch who ruins everything. Imaginary Dr. Phil helped her face her very real depression.
She's made attempts in the past to change her ways, but Josh Chan shenanigans, or "Chananigans" as I will be referring to them from here on out, have always stood in the way of Rebecca making real progress to change her mental state.
Lucky for Rebecca, her therapist, Dr. Akopian, is sitting next to her for the next five hours on a plane, and it seems that she WILL get to the bottom of Rebecca's problems. Or at least, we can hope that she does.
Chris: Didn’t you go all the way to L.A. just to tell her that you dig her?
Greg: Yes I did, Chris. And it did not work out; cause life isn’t a two and half star movie. I made a grand gesture; I made a fool out of myself because that’s what happens when you emulate stupid rom-coms.
And then there's Greg, who definitely IS the guy in the two-and-a-half-star-movie who gets the girl after she realizes that she's been an idiot for the last 90 minutes.
My question is this: did Greg actually make a fool of himself?
Yeah, he went to the courthouse. But Rebecca doesn't KNOW that. Josh doesn't KNOW that. And Paula, who DOES know that, didn't tell anyone. So, how is Greg a fool, other than to himself?
Unless he's talking exclusively about Heather, who is surprisingly hurt by Greg's actions, even though her "Don't Settle for Me" reprise said otherwise. I'm just as confused by Heather's "test" as Greg is, quite honestly. She's way too bad-ass for this.
There's just four episodes left of Crazy-Ex Girlfriend this season. Rebecca is still hitting the Chan-juice pretty hard, so I don't see how this story could possibly have a happy ending for Greg and Rebecca, as much as fans of the show want to see it.
However, the writers are clever, so I'm not counting Greg out yet. They made us all fall in love with Darryl and White Josh is just two episodes. There's still hope that the romance we've all been waiting for is just around the corner.
What do you say TV Fanatics? Are you surprised that Josh doesn't love Rebecca? Should she have sold the Garfinkel ring? On a scale of 10-infinity, how much do you love Darryl and White Josh? Sound off in the comments!
With just a few weeks left, there's still time to watch Crazy Ex-Girlfriend online and catch up on everything you've missed! Rebecca's story isn't over yet. Be in the know before it ends!
Don't forget to join us on Monday, March 21 for Crazy Ex-Girlfriend Season 1 Episode 15, "Josh Has No Idea Where I Am!" where special guests Ricki Lake and Glee's Amber Riley help Rebecca sort out her mental state!
