When I came to CRAZY EX-GIRLFRIENDÂ a couple of months ago on Netflix, I fell in love with it. Like properly, butterflies in my stomach, love. I’m a sucker for romance, musicals and silly self-aware comedy. So CEG hits all my buttons.
Naturally, I was a little worried that season two would arrive and I would be a little disappointed. To be honest, the S1 finale left me emotionally confused, feeling like Rebecca was going backwards and it made me wish she wasn’t. That’s not a great view, granted, as TV is about growing and changing, not staying the same.
Thankfully, however, I was wrong and the S2 premiere alleviated all my worries. Not because I was right but because I’ve seen what happens now and I love where they’re going with it.
This is a story of addiction and we’re on stage two, which is why we’ve got a new theme song and titles. Initially, the new intro is jarring as I liked the first one so much but, after a while, you begin to love it too. The writers have such a keen handle on what they’re trying to say that you sort of trust them wholeheartedly.
The episodes two new songs are both good, if not immediately catchy. The first, ‘Love Kernels’, is a wonderful parody of Lady Ga Ga mixed with Beyonce and looks beautiful. As mentioned in the song, “This video ate up our production budget” and it’s noticeable. It’s a good song and you do find yourself singing it after, also a quality of the second song ‘We should definitely not have sex right now’, which sticks in your head, but neither are top tier CEG songs.
Ultimately, the episode sets up the season in small ways. Rebecca and Josh are stuck in the past whilst Paula and Greg, the former choosing to become a lawyer, are moving forward.
Again, every cast member puts their all into every detail of their performance. There’s no sign of Gabrielle Ruiz as Valencia or Vella Lovell as Heather but I hope we get to see them come back in a bigger way soon.
As much as you’re interested in Rebecca and her story, disorders and all, it’s not going to work if you don’t have great side characters to hop back and forth between. For example, we occasionally check in with Darryl and White Josh who appear to be very happy indeed, which only makes Rebecca yearn for her fairy tale even more.
All in all, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend is back and better than ever.
Extra Points
- Greg the Falcon
- Paula and Scott are fantastic
- Greg going to AA meetings
Btw thank you, Netflix for putting up the episodes the day after their American premiere. It makes my Netflix subscription even more worth it more than it is already.
Verdict
