When I first heard about Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, I’m gonna be honest, I wasn’t sold. I didn’t necessarily like the idea of musical numbers in every episode; I thought the title might refer to a sexist concept; and finally, I didn’t have the time to catch up. Well, it’s been a year since that alternate version of me existed and let me tell you about why I changed my mind! Photo courtesy of culturess.com.
Crazy Ex-Girlfriend is about Rebecca, a smart lawyer who works in New York City. She bumps into her crush from high school and takes it as a sign to turn her life upside-down, follow him to California, and quit her job. Thing don’t work out as expected, but she chooses to stay in West Covina, California anyway and see where this new life takes her. She even makes friends, breaks hearts, and spontaneously breaks out in song along the way.
Included below are sixteen reasons that you should be watching Crazy Ex-Girlfriend right now (All thirty-one episodes are available on Netflix so there’s nothing stopping you!).
1. Want cool LGBT representation? You’re in for a treat! Mid-first season, a character comes out as BISEXUAL. That’s right! The B in LGBT doesn’t just stand for Birds. It’s actually bisexuality and it’s this really rad thing where people like more than one gender. Yet, it’s never explicitly said on TV cause it’s scary apparently (@ Piper Chapman, JUST SAY YOU’RE BI ALREADY). Anyway, they never stray from discussing bisexuality and never censor the character for being bi. Plus, he dates this super cute gay man and they’re never stereotyped or given “sad gay” storylines.
2. The title sounds dumb and sexist, I get it. I was nervous too when I first heard it. But it’s actually a really nuanced show about the concept of “crazy ex-girlfriends” and it explores feminist themes surrounding this trope. It aggressively discusses mental health in subtle ways because the protagonist is suffering (relatable) from anxiety and depression, which she is not getting help for.
3. HELLO FEMALE FRIENDSHIPS. The protagonist has so many diverse amazing friends. From Paula, who I’ll discuss further just below, to Valencia, her crush’s girlfriend who later becomes a close friend, to her “hip” collegiate neighbor, Rebecca makes hella girlfriends and they are all the cutest. Every single one of them.
Photo courtesy of Paste Magazine.
4. Paula Proctor gets her own bullet point because she’s an ICON, honestly. This woman is in her forties, dealing with a lousy husband, two sons, and a boring job. She is overweight and not stereotypically “pretty,” but she’s the protagonist’s BEST FRIEND. She’s incredibly well written and deals with her marriage and life problems in healthy adult ways. She’s never given stereotypical storylines, and she’s as prominent and important a character as any of the younger, “prettier” ones.
5. Abortion! I’m honestly surprised I never saw articles about this show when they tackle this topic in early season two. I didn’t expect the character to go through with it if just because, “Hey, this is a big deal so I would’ve heard about this, right?” Nope! This show perfectly embodies how much abortion is NOT a big deal. It’s treated casually and with empathy, and the characters discuss their options before settling on this. If you’re pro-choice, you’ll love season two.
6. The F word is constantly mentioned: yes, feminism. My favorite F word, if you can believe that. Rebecca is a feminist with a capital F. She’s constantly making feminist jokes and calling out people on sexist behavior and singing about feminism, and I could go on but that’s probably enough. Point is: Rebecca loves feminism and brings it up casually non-stop.
7. Oh yeah, did I mention it’s lowkey a musical show? Well, it is. It’s not entirely musical, but there tends to be two or more songs per episode ranging from pop to country to rock to heavy metal to classical etc. etc. etc. It explores so many musical genres that I need to stop and breathe just trying to write out a fraction of them. It parodies so many great themes through song.
8. ROMANCE? LOVE TRIANGLE? WHAT? Yes. Unfortunately, this is a HUGE love triangle show, BUT that’s not the basis of the show. Season one is largely about the love triangle, but that will peter out. Plus, the love triangle characters are much more than just petty rivals. They’re friends and understanding about the relationships of one another, and how they relate to Rebecca. Yes, they have angsty moments (in song), but they deal with the love triangle like adults. Basically come for the hot boys and stay for Rebecca who is the love of my (and hopefully soon, your) life.
Photo courtesy of denofgeek.com.
9. Diversity! Am I just shouting words at this point? I don’t know! I’m too excited! The main love interest is Filipino. His girlfriend is Mexican. Rebecca’s neighbor is black. I could keep listing, but almost every single character in the main cast is either non-white or non-straight, or in Rebecca’s case non-neurotypical. Everyone on the show is diverse and each struggles with a multitude of non-stereotypical problems. No one is put in a box defined by how they look/act.
Photo courtesy of Google.com.
10. Jokes that run across multiple episodes. No, I don’t mean plotlines. I mean one hit jokes. In season two, there’s a man named George whose name no one remembers. There’s no reason for his character to exist except for the protagonists not to know his name. Anytime anyone says “period sex” (which believe you me, they do a surprising amount of times), the character speaking sings it. If you like jokes and puns that never end, you’re in for a treat!
11. In the second season, they sing an entire song in the style of “Trapped in the Closet.” What’s that, you might ask? Why, just R. Kelly’s ingenious YouTube rap opera! Not what you expected? Well none of it is. Google it, please. I’m begging. It’s something you need to experience if you haven’t already. But back to my point, if you’re a fan of “Trapped in the Closet”, you’ll literally drop dead (RIP) when Heather starts singing in this style. If you’ve never seen it though, you’ll still enjoy the song. It’s one of those specific references that you either get or you don’t. But if you get it, oh BOY.
12. The lead-writer is Rachel Bloom. If you don’t know of her, LOOK HER THE HECK UP. She’s a genius. Her writing is funny without ever being offensive. She’s a feminist, but she knows how to be intersectional. She wrote a parody about Trump just before the election. She’s basically the coolest, funniest, female writer right now and she’s still pretty unknown. She’s an undiscovered gem and I’m thankful every day that she writes and acts for Crazy Ex-Girlfriend.
Photo courtesy of Google.com.
13. I already mentioned how important female friendships are in this show, but I’m going to further stress friendship in general! Platonic relationships are never thrown under the rug. They’re just as important (and often, MORE important) than the romantic relationships in the show. Paula and Rebecca’s friendship is the heart of the show. They’re the true loves of one another’s lives. They understand healthy relationships too, and whenever one takes advantage of the other, it branches into a larger storyline that is dealt with instead of used for comedy. Even their boss at the law firm Rebecca and Paula work with is a friend of theirs, and while sometimes he’s used for comedic relief, he’s treated respectfully as a friend and a person.
14. The characters grow and change like real people and become the best possible versions of themselves. In the second season, one character is forced to confront the reason he dislikes a co-worker, and he deals with it well and they move forward and even become friends. Paula has issues with Rebecca sometimes, and they address this and become better people for having dealt with it.
15. It’s self-aware (sometimes) and parodies itself. There’s several songs in the second season that make fun of season one songs. There’s also an entirely meta-song about a new character in season two.
In general, this show is really fun, healthy, and smart. It’s such a pleasure to watch this show from episode to episode. It’ll never let you down. Please consider watching this show! It’s all on Netflix so honestly what’s keeping you from binging it this weekend? Hopefully nothing. Get back to me when you’ve watched it though, I need to rant.