I'm always looking for the next show to binge watch on Netflix. This time around, I was looking for something less time-consuming, so I could really focus on my studies without distractions. I thought I'd chose something funny and lighthearted and I chose the CW comedy Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. I did not get exactly that. For the first few episodes it was exactly what I expected, a funny and awkward show, sometimes even awkward enough for me to have to turn it off and do something more productive like--oh, I don't know--homework. But then halfway through the first season, I started getting more invested in Rebecca Bunch's story and all of a sudden I was obsessed!
As the other characters of the show started developing their own plotlines, they also starting stealing my heart. Not to mention that the show is the perfect type of hilarious. It's just awkward and weird enough that it makes you actually laugh out loud. When was the last time a show could consistently make you laugh out loud?! There are ironic and absurdly written lyrics in the musicals that Rebecca creates in her inner monologue and they're surprising every time. Every character also brings a different type of extremist personality and humor. There is not one person on the show everyone couldn't relate to just a little bit.
The humor in this show really is unparalleled. I'm not just speaking for myself, but I truly think that anyone who decided to watch this show would get a laugh out of it at some point in an episode. I even made my 'big and tough' boy toy watch the show, which he coined as stupid at first, and he was laughing within minutes.
The 'crazy' in crazy ex-girlfriend is a joking one at first, the characters and producers don't delve into any deeper underlying issues at all in the first or second seasons. Rebecca is just annoyed when anyone calls her crazy and calmly corrects them when they do. In the second season the show even brings in a therapist, but she's taken as kind of a joke as Rebecca breaks into her house and always leaves her appointments, which ended up being her stipulation of the therapist not calling the police when she broke in, within five minutes of being there all the while only hearing herself talk. It's not until the third season that sh*t gets real about mental health.
We uncover facts from Rebecca's past before any of her friends know it. The third season really hits home about the veil of mental health and how people can conceal how they really feel. Without any spoilers, because I'm hoping you go to Netflix and watch this show immediately, the show stays humorously endearing while also building a real drama and plotline.
After seeing the show, I was upset with the way I had viewed it originally. Other people are probably thinking the same thing I thought when they pass over the name on their streaming app. The show deserves better, but it seems that even the producers didn't know that at first. I've never seen a show grow quite like this one. Crazy Ex-Girlfriend turned into something significant, binge-worthy and hilarious at the same time. You can almost see when the producers, including star Rachel Bloom who plays Rebecca Bunch, decided to change their vision for the show.
The bottom line is that this show is nothing like I expected it to be when I clicked on the title, but I was pleasantly surprised, and surprised is an understatement. So much for my attempt to pick an uninteresting casual show, because I was hooked for the few weeks I was watching. Maybe this was actually the producers' plan all along, and maybe they changed their minds halfway through season one, but either way, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend is definitely the next show you need to watch. West Covina will steal your heart as quickly as Rebecca Bunch moved there.
