After CEG jettisoned its love triangle story last week with a fond farewell to Greg, it was always going to take a little getting used to when the show graduated to something new. The last episode did some great work in setting up future storylines and this week, we move a little further forward despite it not being completely clear where we’re heading.
The clearest indication of the future is the strained friendship between Rebecca and Paula which, this week, ends with the two of them spending time with their new friend groups apart. It’s an interesting development that posits that the show’s biggest love story may be between these two best friends instead of Greg or Josh.
However, whilst this episode was in no way bad, it did feel the pinch of stage setting with only a small amount of originality. Rebecca trying to befriend Valencia is something we’ve seen before, as is Josh struggling with an internal conflict and though it does work here, it feels very much inconsequential.
A good deal of time is spent with Rebecca trying to convince Valencia that they should be angry at Josh instead of each other and whilst the feminist notion is a wonderful step for a remarkable show, it did seem to occur quite suddenly.
Josh 100% deserves some scorn for the things he’s done, but I’m not convinced that Rebecca should be so easily forgiven either, by herself and especially by Valencia. As much as I like that Rebecca, Heather and Valencia are now a team, giving the latter two a bigger role this season, It does feel a little quick to return them to former, better selves.
Josh merely felt like a catalyst this week, an opportunity for Rebecca and Valencia to bond over hate, rather than actually have a substantial storyline. Maybe it’s because I still enjoy him as a character and don’t think he deserves as much of an amount of hate, I don’t think introducing a new love interest for him in the shape of Brittany Snow is a good idea.
I can’t see the character lasting long at all if the show just wants us to dislike him. Give him some redemption, sure but I’m worried a new love interest may just ruin those chances. We’ll see, though. I like all the characters and it’s nice to see the show go in a different direction, as long as it doesn’t get stuck in familiar grooves.
Elsewhere, Paula’s new friend Sunil is great and it was good to see a new dynamic, as well as some scheming, however little we actually got.
White Josh and Daryl also got to say “I Love You” after Daryl frets over what Josh’s type is and they got the episodes sweetest moment when they had a mini reunion. I said it last week, I’m glad that the relationship between two men is the shows healthiest but if there’s no story for them it will become a little tokenistic. So I’m glad that they got a story this week to develop them as a couple.
Also, the songs were less extraordinary this week. Thought Bubbles was decent and the Triceratops Ballet didn’t feel like top tier Crazy Ex despite featuring some funny imagery.
Overall, it was an ok episode but definitely not the shows best. It had some great messages of women working together but lost its way when it had little new to say.
Verdict
