crazy ex-girlfriend

I feel like at least once an episode, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend wins me over again.

And maybe it's like, because it feels like it needs to, because of the title and the premise: after running into her junior high summer camp boyfriend (a relationship she's never gotten over), Rebecca impulsively quits her job in New York to move to his small hometown in California in the hopes of reconnecting with him ("it's a lot more nuanced than that," the title song insists), before realizing that a) he's in a serious relationship and b) this is a crazy plan. P.S. like Galavant, this is a musical comedy.

But for instance, in the latest episode, the inciting incident is Rebecca accidentally sending a text ABOUT Josh (the junior high summer camp boyfriend) TO Josh instead of Paula, her new best friend / co-worker at the small law firm in town. We've seen this basic premise a million times, long before text messages, and so the show immediately skips over one of the usual beats -- instead of a lot of dancing around during the important business meeting when this happens, Paula calls a halt to the meeting, tells everyone what happened, and they drop everything to brainstorm the best solution.

"Tell him it's opposite day!"

"We could say you were hacked."

etc.

Naturally they all break into song.

She winds up with a police escort on her way to get to his phone before either he or his girlfriend (who knows Rebecca's into him but can't get Josh to believe her) can see the text.

That's exactly what I mean. A lot of the situations in Crazy Ex-Girlfriend are familiar, but the show and creator-star Rachel Bloom play with that familiarity. Just as Galavant pokes fun at the tropes of its genre, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend pokes at the tropes of romantic comedies and modern dating -- though I'm going to stop comparing the two there.

The second time in this particular episode when I was won over again? Paula's explaining Rebecca's whole deal to her husband, Scott, and their conversation happens to be the lyrics to the show's theme song. It's goofy, but it works, which is kind of the show in a nutshell.

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend isn't exactly about a crazy ex-girlfriend, not least because Rebecca and Josh "dated" at summer camp when they were kids. Furthermore, it's clear that Rebecca's unhappiness in the pilot went deeper than relationship issues. She hasn't worked out why she's been dissatisfied, but despite her professional success, the last time she can remember being happy is when she was at summer camp dating Josh. On some level, the show is more about Rebecca dealing with the fact that she has been living an unhappy life, and dealing with the consequences of the fact that she finally took radical action to improve that life -- action that is hard to explain to anyone else, and hard for anyone to interpret as anything other than stalking Josh.

On the other hand, Rebecca refuses to give up on her infatuation with Josh, spending the first half of the season denying it to anyone who asks and finally confessing to Paula that yes, she really is obsessed with him. Even though Josh's girlfriend is pretty terrible, it's sort of hard to root for Josh and Paula getting together -- not just because Josh has a good friend who briefly dates Rebecca and is a better match for her, but because Rebecca can't speak for more than thirty seconds without saying something that Josh needs explained. Maybe they were on the same level when they were 14, but they're not dealing from the same deck of cards today.

The show does not sum up well, and there are people who will just never get past the title or premise, but it's increasingly remarkable, a show with a real voice. Rachel Bloom is a genuine talent, and I don't know what this show looks like in its third or fourth season, but I hope it gets there.