Crazy Ex-Girlfriend Season 2 Episode 12 Review: Is Josh Free in Two Weeks?
Christine Laskodi
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Rebecca and Josh are getting hitched in just one week – over Trent's dead body!
On Crazy Ex-Girlfriend Season 2 Episode 12, the stress of the #BunchofChans wedding is reaching its boiling point, leaving Rebecca wondering if she's REALLY 'okay,' while Josh realizes that he might be a guest at his own wedding.
Disappointing parents abound, and surprising heroes step up to bat to help make Rebecca's dream wedding a reality.
We should really just start chatting about it, don't you think?
Let's start with Nathaniel's life cleanse.
We know he's disgusted by his attraction to Rebecca – his song was one hilariously crass insult to her wrapped in romantic interludes.
The fact that it's bothering him to the the extent that he needs to green-juice her out of his system, and everything else that's ever entered his body, seems like one extreme case of denial.
This sounds a bit familiar, doesn't it? Someone so disgusted by their choices that they go to the extreme to start fresh? Someone who clearly has no underlying issues to address?
Rebecca: I have a super fast wedding to plan.
Nathaniel: Yeah, funny how that happened. Elevator. Kiss. Boom! Rush to the altar!
Rebecca: You think I moved up my wedding just because we kissed? Don't flatter yourself.
Let's cut to the funny stuff – 'Perfect Plimpton' pooped his pants.
Scott Michael Foster should be awarded some sort of golden statue for those cringe-worthy minutes of farting, agonizing faces as his body makes uncomfortable squeaks, and the ultimate smelly release. That's some Judd Apatow level gross out comedy.
Come to think of it, didn't someone else attempt to cleanse their life earlier this season, and also ended up pooping themselves?
Yeah, the parallels that are being drawn between Nathaniel and Rebecca are unmissable, both in their behavior and in their circumstances.
That shot of him napping under a suit jacket, as Rebecca napped under a wedding dress made me wonder what the writers are trying to tell us about these two mirror images of damaged mental health.
Are they destined to find happiness together, or are they going to antagonize each other into addressing their real issues, without the romance at all?
Quite honestly, the latter might be more interesting.
Rebecca: Thank you. Why would you do this?
Nathaniel: Because I know what it's like to care about your dad and what he thinks, even if you wish you didn't.
Rebecca: Thank you.
Nathaniel comes through with the big wedding win for Rebecca by sending a private plane that allows her father to walk her down the aisle. It's a meaningful grand gesture that I don't think anyone was expecting.
And it didn't seem to come with strings.
Nathaniel was just being a good guy – although it's obvious he's questioning her speeding to the altar, he's still doing what he can to help her. How about that?
Meeting Nathaniel's dad definitely gave us some insight into his psyche, and made him much more sympathetic. Like Rebecca, he's been let down by his dad a lot, and put on a brave face to hold back his feelings.
We all know where that landed Rebecca. Let's see how Nathaniel fares.
Josh: I'm starting to feel like I'm showing up for someone else's wedding.
Sara: Well, Josh, what do you really want?
Josh: You wanna see?
(pulls out cell phone and shows her a photo)
Sara: Josh, that is awesome!
Josh: But she said -
Sara: No, you gotta go for it, otherwise you'll always feel like it wasn't your wedding.
Josh: Yeah. You're right. Thank you. God, you're so chill!
Who is this mystery woman, Sara, appearing out of literally nowhere, buddying up to Josh Chan?
He's confiding in a strange woman about his feelings, things he's not actually saying to Rebecca, and they're getting pretty cozy.
I'm calling it now: Josh Chan is TOTALLY going to cheat on Rebecca.
He kissed his ex-girlfriend-turned-fiance when he felt like she listened to him more than Valencia did. Rebecca was also, “so chill.” This seems like it's going in that same direction.
I don't think Nathaniel, or Trent, is going to be the one to stop this wedding – I think it'll be Josh Chan.
I truly don't miss Josh. Like, at all. Like, ugh! But I had planned this whole future around him - our wedding, our kids, our house, our couples' Halloween costumes. And now I have to plan this whole future for myself, and I don't know what it is.
Valencia
Speaking of Valencia, how amazing was Gabrielle Ruiz during this hour?
“Is Josh Free in Two Weeks?” finally addressed Rebecca and Valencia's bruised friendship, and showed us how much Valencia has grown in the time we've known her.
Of course Rebecca's engagement to Josh would strike a sour chord for Valencia; she may not love him anymore, but she DID plan her future with him in mind.
When Valencia takes over as Rebecca's wedding planner, and gives Rebecca the wedding she had planned for herself, I cried.
Listening to Valencia try and make sense of who she is now while wining out with Heather, I saw how much this character has changed in these two seasons.
She's softer, but she's kept her honesty. She recognizes her own flaws, and tries to be better.
Valencia's humility is perfectly played by Ruiz, and so satisfying to watch.
I just hope that her growth doesn't send her away to Emory.
Let's get into the Rebecca of it all.
Obviously she's driven by guilt, and she needs this wedding to speed ahead so that she can stop thinking about Nathaniel, and re-focus that energy on her DIY wedding.
The trouble is, Rebecca has grown as a friend, and now she doesn't want to burden Paula, Heather, and Valencia with her stuff when she knows they've all got their own things going on.
Which means she's on her own, at a time when she needs help more than ever - because all of those labeled bottles of bubbly water and cake pops aren't going to make themselves.
Enter, Patrick, played by Robot Chicken's Seth Green. He's delivering packages to Rebecca every day, and watching her painful descent into DIY bridezilla madness.
Seriously, Patrick. Was I sick the day in school where they taught you to be a normal person? It just feels like there's something fundamental I'm missing out on. Like, is there an instruction manual? You get what I'm saying, Patrick? It just, it just feels like everyone is in this cabal of normal people, and they're all laughing at me like I'm the jester in my own Truman Show. Patrick, tell me what the secret is. Is there a manual? Do you have a manual? I know you have a manual, Patrick! I know it's in your trunk, Patrick!
Rebecca
He's the only one who's seeing the real picture of what Rebecca is going through – how her mom has basically abandoned her to get her face nipped and tucked, and how her dad seems to be making excuses not to come to her wedding.
Though, he DID get on Nathaniel's plane, so is he REALLY avoiding being there for her? Hmmm...
Rebecca is so busy copying Dustin and Sasha's Pinterest perfect wedding, that she's failed to include Josh in those plans, making him feel like he's attending someone else's nuptials.
He is. Again, this is Dustin and Sasha's wedding.
But here's where Josh kind of sucks, and why I don't feel THAT badly about his part (or lack of) in planning.
When Rebecca DOES go along with his idea to make origami swans, he falls asleep after making ONE.
Come on, dude!
I came up with the hashtag #BunchofChans!
Rebecca's motives may be off, but she's working really hard to put this wedding together. Josh just takes a nap.
I love that Patrick called Paula and told her what Rebecca has been doing. Paula's immediate shouting match with Naomi about abandoning Rebecca is frightening and fierce.
And the dress Naomi sends by Paula's request? Perfection.
I'm actually a little surprised by how neatly Rebecca's story wraps up.
Valencia is handling the wedding planning (and Josh is weirdly okay with it?), Paula's taken the matron of honor reigns, Nathaniel made sure her dad showed up – it's like nothing was left incomplete for this wedding that SHOULD NOT be moving forward.
Unless you count Trent as a loose end, and really, can you?
I have no idea how everything will wrap up next week.
I don't know how Rebecca will finish out her second year in West Covina. I can't even begin to formulate a hypothesis, other than that #BunchofChans wedding can't possibly ACTUALLY happen.
And I think that's a really fun place to be in after a penultimate episode.
I think we're in for some surprises next week, and I'm really excited to see what this talented writing staff has in store for us.
Side Notes:
- "Man Nap" may become my person anthem, despite my not being a man. Also - take note of Nathaniel's adorable head bobbing to the song.
- Maya is quickly moving up the ranks as the funniest person on this show. Her weird breakroom comedy and constant confessions of farting and pooping on behalf of Nathaniel were perfect.
- Paula is 100% correct: who DOESN'T love a Costco sheet cake?
- Sunil's appearance reminded me that he still exists.
- Paula and Nathaniel should get drunk and swap bad dad stories for an entire episode.
Next week is the season finale, TV Fanatics! What do you think will happen at Rebecca's wedding? Will she finally become Mrs. Joshua Felix Chan, or will something stop their nuptials? Are you totally 'shipping Rebecca and Nathaniel? Sound off in those comments!
Remember to watch Crazy Ex-Girlfriend online right here at TV Fanatic and catch up on all of the action before Crazy Ex-Girlfriend Season 2 Episode 13, "Can Josh Take a Leap of Faith?" next week!
