Man Seeking Woman Fulfills It's Premise In Futon

It's a new year which means I'm tinkering around with my formats in hopes of increasing my writing output. What this means for regular readers is I'm making my "I Got Thoughts" point-form format the standard on all my recaps because that's the direction things were heading in anyways so why not embrace that? I'm hoping that shift will allow me to get in more recaps of more shows (though regular coverage of more than the five or so shows I currently cover regularly seems unlikely) and also allow focus on more non-recap blogs. For non-regular readers, this is probably all nonsense so let's get down to business.

-Throughout it's first two seasons, Man Seeking Woman was largely confined to the perspective of it's main protagonist, Jay Baruchel's Josh Greenberg. Sure a couple times of year we might focus on Josh's sister Liz (Britt Lower) or best friend Mike (Eric Andre), but as the titular Man, Josh had our focus most of the time as he navigated his way through the nebulous world of dating in your late-20's. This meant that the majority of the women Josh dated throughout the show were more one-dimensional plot device for whatever aspect of dating Baruchel and company wanted to ridiculously exaggerate that week than actual character with a perspective of their own (The two major exceptions being Josh's ex Maggie in season 1 and love interest Rosa in season 2). This was mostly fine when Josh was jumping from relationship to relationship, but with season 3 changing focus to Josh being in a long-term relationship, keeping things to his perspective would've gotten very problematic very fast. Thankfully the writers recognized this and give the majority of the episode to newcomer Lucy (Katie Findlay), immediately establishing her as Josh's equal in this crazy world and someone worth rooting for.

-My primary experience with Findlay so far was from How To Get Away With Murder in which I spent the majority her time on the show annoyed with her character so I was a little apprehensive when I heard she was joining the cast of Man Seeking Woman as essentially the co-lead. My doubts were immediately squashed in the first sequence though as we follow Lucy through a horrible day that becomes a pretty good one after her first date with Josh. Findlay is instantly endearing, playing Lucy as the same kind of down-to-earth neurotic goofball Josh is. By the time she's silently threatening the friend she tried to kill to keep quiet (which sounds less endearing and goofy than it was) I was thrilled that she'd be around for the entirety of the season.

-Findlay and Baruchel also have terrific chemistry, which is a must if they're going to focus the season around them. We don't hear anything that happens on her first date with Josh, but what we see is instantly appealing and you can see how this date would make a day that included being set on fire and attacked by a puma a good one.

-The idea of a boyfriend who overstays his welcome in a shared apartment as a metaphor for illegal immigration is a clever one, but it's also an analogy that falls apart once you actually start thinking about how ridiculous the comparison is so the "Apartment Illegals" sequence fell kind of flat by the time border security has been erected around Lucy's apartment. It's a good stab at being topical certainly but there isn't really a strong point to ground the sequence in so it feels empty. The bit about Josh not speaking the language (of The Bachelor) was pretty great though, and the great chemistry and natural bond between Josh and Lucy really sold the moment when she decides to move in with him despite her roommates protests (It's dangerous, there's drugs there and they really haven't been dating that long, the other great joke of the sequence).

-The rest of the episode which shows how Josh's apartment becomes Lucy's apartment before finally becoming Josh and Lucy's apartment fares much better. The sequence of Lucy turning into Walter White and dropping all of Josh's belongings into Sulfuric Acid is a good bit that grows funnier and more absurd as it escalates. Like all the great Man Seeking Woman sequences it takes a relatable emotional truth (Lucy wants to her impress her judgmental former roommates but she also wants to feel more at home in the apartment she moved to on a whim at the expense of Josh's identity) and amplifies it to ridiculous extremes until Lucy is trying to actively kill her sweet former roommate who accidentally walked in while they were dismembering Josh's old futon. Findlay's casual callous delivery of "If the currents don't get her, the sharks will" as Robin jumps into the river to avoid being shot (again) is a thing of beauty.

-One of the advantages of having two leads this season is we understand both sides of the Josh and Lucy conflict. If Lucy was a one-off character, we'd be on Josh's side as his home is invaded and changed beyond recognition and less importantly, he becomes an unwitting accomplice to attempted murder. Because we see these events from Lucy's point of view though, the situation becomes a much more emotionally scenario about the difficulty of co-habitation and the episode becomes richer as a result.

-How did it take them until season 3 to make Mike a cult leader? The moment Liz started warning Lucy about how dangerous and charismatic Mike can be, I realized how obvious and brilliant that move was. Also, whoever decided that Mike's cult compound should be in Guy-ana deserves a massive raise.

-After being in a relationship of his own last season and having that not work out so well, Mike is back to his old "Bros before Hos" ways. There are really only so many variations that Man Seeking Woman can do on the "Mike gets in the way of Josh's relationship" story but they still can pack a punch. The key is that Mike always really wants what he thinks is the best thing for Josh, but what he thinks is the best thing tends to be the opposite even if it is very alluring.

-There aren't a ton of huge laughs in the cult section of the episode but Eric Andre throws himself into Mike-as-cult-leader with a furor that single-handedly make the segment succeed. The "drink the vodka-spiked Kool-aid shots" bit at the end once the compound is "infiltrated" by Lucy is also terrific, as is Mike showing up later back to normal and gravely admitting that things went bad at Guyana with no details or explanation.

-Man Seeking Woman doesn't go for heart-warming very often but the ending shot (minus the tag) of the two vanity plates with Josh and Lucy's name marking their apartment as we hear the two happily showing off their new futon was a well-earned moment. Dating is hard but being in a relationship is much harder. The two are probably going to have bigger obstacles to face than a messy apartment, but as long as they can keep finding ways to compromise and come together, the end result will be worth it.

-Also Mike not believing something like a futon could exist was my favourite small joke of the episode.

-I doubt I'll write about Man Seeking Woman every week but my TV schedule is still pretty light so I'm happy I was able to do it here. This is a great show and while this episode wasn't perfect, it made me very excited for the season ahead.

I Got Thoughts on Crazy Ex-Girlfriend: Who's The Cool Girl Josh Is Dating?

-So after last week sidelined the story of Rebecca trying to get over Josh to focus on her collapsing relationship with Paula, "Who's The Cool Girl Josh Is Dating?" brought it back full force when both Rebecca and Valencia found out about Josh's new relationship with Anna and decided to investigate her.

-Rebecca doing crazy things for Josh-related reasons is nothing new for Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (It's actually the premise of the show), but bringing Valencia in as her partner and enabler helps freshen up the formula to a fair degree and deepens the story by making it about Valencia's complicated feelings about Josh moving on as well as Rebecca's. Josh was a significant force in both of their lives and even though they now feel free to talk about what they didn't like about him and claim they're better off without him, moving on is never that simple. It's also fun continuing to explore Rebecca and Valencia's new friendship dynamic and I'm glad the story never turns them against each other, even if Valencia is put off by the whole "Rebecca thought she was pregnant" incident.

-Between her stalking of Josh on Instagram, her willingness to go along to Silver Lake to scope Anna out and the way she secretly steals Anna's keys and expertly breaks into the eyebrow salon, it turns out Valencia is a lot more like Rebecca than it initially seemed.

-Moving on also can come at different times for different people as the end of the episode shows Valencia finally ready to move on (or at least get laid), while Rebecca isn't quite there yet, which seems right. Valencia has been broken up with Josh longer after all.

-As a huge cat lover, I'm glad that curiosity only managed to injure the cat instead of kill it.

-Anna didn't have a lot to do in her first appearance but we learn a lot about her here as she turns out to be Valencia's Valencia, impossibly cool, stylish and kind. She's also a Celebrity Eyebrow Stylist, a job that's absurd enough to provide a lot of comic mileage throughout the episode and also a job that I totally believe is a real thing.

-Even before Rebecca and Valencia see Josh on security footage going on and on about how much he likes Anna, his one big scene in the episode makes it obvious that he really likes her. I am curious about how much she likes him though. The episode establishes that she likes how simple and uncomplicated he is in comparison to the L.A. hipster crowd, but is she going to be satisfied with that simplicity forever? It feels like the show is making Anna be to Josh what Josh was to Rebecca and Valencia, where he is going to be much more serious about her than she is about him until she ends it and he becomes a crazy ex. Hmm, I guess we'll have to see how that plays out.

-I'm surprised the show let Rebecca and Valencia get away with both running over Anna's cat AND erasing the security camera footage of said incident before spending the night combing over footage. I assume the other shoe is going to drop with this eventually unless the show keeps Josh and Anna off in their own world for the rest of the season, but for now it was a bit of a relief. I'm not sure I could've handled it if the comeuppance came that fast (I was freaking out when the plot cut back to them STILL in that damn store the next morning.).

-Paula and Scott's marriage has been on much steadier ground this season, but it gets faced with some turmoil when Paula gets lost in her law studies and misses Scott's barbershop quartet playing in front of Scott's co-workers for the first time.

-The interesting thing about Paula's conflict with Scott is how it subtly mirrors her conflict with Rebecca. Paula has been throwing herself into law school and becoming obsessed the way Rebecca threw herself into her quest for Josh. Scott has been providing love and support the way Paula did, but also feels like his wants and needs are being neglected and is getting frustrated by that. Ultimately Paula fails to come through for Scott just like the many times Rebecca didn't come through for her and it hurts Scott in a way that can't be easily smoothed over. Importantly neither Scott or Paula is portrayed as the bad guy in this situation. Paula's allowed to be excited about her law school journey and Scott's allowed to be upset that his wife didn't come through for him on a night that was important to him. It's a complex situation and it's nice that the show doesn't try to flatten it.

-I have been waiting to see the "West Brovinas" perform since the first time Paula mentioned it last year so it was nice to see it finally happen, even if we only got a small taste of their performance.

-Scott works in a shipping warehouse apparently. That makes sense.

-I became a bit concerned that the episode was going to end with Rebecca and Paula making nice and becoming friends again so I'm glad their fight will be carrying on as we go into winter break. I'm not saying I want them to be fighting for the rest of the season, but after the ugliness of their big confrontation last week and the episodes of build-up to that confrontation, it would feel cheap if their falling out got resolved so quickly. It's clear that they both miss and need each other though, even if they're not ready to make nice yet.

-Brittany Snow got to sing a tiny bit in her last appearance, but this time out she gets a full-fledged number with the seductive "Research Me Obsessively", a song about the joy of internet stalking that I relate to more than I feel comfortable admitting. I mean I've never done it anywhere close to the level that the song suggests but trying to find public information about a person online definitely has an allure to it and can be a serious time suck (I have no idea if Rebecca and Valencia were literally at it for 3 days but I'd believe it if it were the case). Anyways it's a cute song and a good showcase for Snow's vocal chops.

-The best song tonight though was definitely "You Go First", a rocking 80's power ballad (complete with Rebecca and Paula both sporting mullets at one point that grew in glorious length) that gets to the heart of the problem between Rebecca and Paula. They both see the other persons point and are willing to accept fault in order to be part of each other's lives again but neither of them wants to be the first person to admit fault. Their whole fight has become about their pride and they would rather be alone in their sadness than be the person who makes the first move. The song is also notable for being the first Rebecca/Paula duet since their reprise of West Covina when they first became friends/soulmates in the pilot.

-If short samples of Period Sex becomes this season's version of the recurring "I left my wife for a prostitute" joke from season 1, I'm totally on board with that.

-Do people frequently visit Instagram with laptops instead of just using the mobile app? I know that is a thing and I assume the show used laptops for display reasons or something like that but it seemed odd.

-How popular is Anna's eyebrow salon? "I heard Mary-Kate Olsen had to pretend to be Elizabeth Olsen to get in".

-Sunil and Valencia have never seen The Wire, which is crazy. Also Rebecca as Avon and Paula as Stringer makes total sense.

-Rebecca knowing how to read lips because she once took a deaf lover also makes total sense.

-I thought the stinger was going to reveal that there was something sinister about Anna after all, but it wound up being a joke about how ludicrous and expensive her eyebrow grooming business really is.

-Crazy Ex-Girlfriend returns with two episodes on January 6th. It looks like we'll be following up on Heather being the face of Miss Douche AND Rebecca's babysitting Paula's younger son. That should end well.

I Got Thoughts on Timeless: The Last Ride of Bonnie and Clyde

-I didn't have the time to review last week's Timeless but honestly, it was a weaker entry. There was some interesting stuff in further fleshing out Flynn and the relationship between Rufus and Anthony, but the mission stuff wasn't that thrilling or dramatic and the changes to history (People thinking the Russians were behind the near-failure of the Moon mission, Flynn saving his brother) not really affecting the timeline in anyway was hard to believe given the magnitude of them. This episode was much better as Timeless threw itself into the story of Bonnie and Clyde.

-As far as plot devices go, the Rittenhouse Key is a pretty solid one. It gives the characters a clear objective and a strong reason to get tangled up in the last day of Bonnie and Clyde and helps tie the episode into the ongoing mythology stuff, without the mythology overwhelming the historical story like it did in the Watergate episode a few weeks back. The key's important but it doesn't get in the way of some quality time with Bonnie and Clyde.

-A big reason for the success of the episode is Jacqueline Byer's performance as Bonnie Parker. She brings a giddy, flirty life to Bonnie here and a genuine love for the life she leads and the man she leads that life with. When she makes her final stand at the end of the episode, you really feel the tragedy of it all. Sam Strike is also good as Clyde, but he's mostly there to glower and shoot his gun around. Bonnie is the real star here.

-This episode seems designed to get the Lucy and Wyatt shippers excited as the two of them pretend to be another couple of bank robbing love birds. They even kiss at one point. I'm not sure how I feel yet about a Lucy/Wyatt romance but Abigail Spencer and Matt Lanter have a lot of chemistry and it's fun to see it get put to use here.

-When Bonnie starts pressing for details about how Lucy and Wyatt got engaged, it was obvious Wyatt was going to use the story of his real engagement to Jessica. It was a sweet story though and Lanter's telling of it was one of his best moments yet on the show. Stories like this help make Wyatt's love and grief for Jessica feel like a real thing and make it easier to be invested in than just the vague concept of a dead wife.

-Rufus doesn't get a lot to do this week as he gets suddenly abandoned by Lucy and Wyatt and is forced to contend with racist police officers (again) and Flynn trying to keep him in the clutches of the racist police officers. Luckily, real-life Texas Ranger Frank Hamer has no interest in keeping Rufus in custody once he becomes convinced Rufus has nothing to do with his investigation.

-This week in pop culture aliases: Rufus' drivers license is registered to one Wesley Snipes.

-Lucy being a low-key (sort of) Bonnie and Clyde fangirl was very endearing.

-There's a bit of ambiguity around how Henry Methvin's actual involvement in killing Bonnie and Clyde (His father was used in the actual ambush, but whether he partook willingly or was beaten and tied up by law enforcement is a point of dispute), but having him as a clear villain worked well enough for what the episode wanted to achieve.

-So the Rittenhouse Key with the ominous Latin description about it being the key to the beginning and end of time opens.. an old clock contraption of some kind! The old clock contraption contains... a mysterious piece of paper! Whoa! In all seriousness, they better show us what was on that piece of paper sooner rather than later.

-Agent Christopher has a daughter! Now we actually know something about her. That's a start! I still suspect that she's going to get killed in the mid-season finale now that she knows about Rittenhouse, particularly since Rittenhouse Guy/Lucy's Dad literally told Mason that's what was going to happen but hopefully the show will surprise us.

-I also keep forgetting that she doesn't know anything about Rittenhouse so it's nice that Rufus is finally bringing her up to speed, especially because that scene between them initially made it seem like they'd be keeping her in the dark a bit longer. I also appreciate the fact that she had already pieced a lot of stuff together. She is supposed to be a government agent after all.

-Jiya gets 15 seconds of screentime this week so she can kiss Rufus before the mission and yeah, it's adorable but it'd be nice if the show could find more for Jiya to do. Maybe she's going to get killed off. That'd be frustrating.

-Timeless remembered that Lucy was still engaged to some guy who's apparently named Noah. He only popped up to remind us that that was still a storyline and to give Lucy a reason to be wearing her ring for when she and Wyatt ran into Bonnie and Clyde but at least they remembered him. I was expecting a scene at the end where Lucy was inspired by Bonnie and Clyde to break up with him but it never happened so I guess he still has a role to play in the narrative. Maybe he's with Rittenhouse? Hmm.

-So Henry Ford was part of Rittenhouse? That's an enticing bit of information. This better be setting up for a future episode where we go meet Henry Ford, agent of Rittenhouse.

-Solid episode overall, injecting some much needed life into Timeless after the letdown of Space Race. Next week: The Mid-Season Finale takes on George Washington and Benedict Arnold. Fun, fun!

I Got Thoughts on Crazy Ex-Girlfriend: Who Needs Josh When You Have A Girl Group?

-First they blew up Rebecca and Josh's relationship. Then Rebecca and Greg's. Now Crazy Ex-Girlfriend has destroyed the most important relationship on the show: Rebecca and Paula's. And while they've flirted with doing this before, the friendship-ending fight they had tonight seems like it won't be smoothed over so easily.

-The Paula and Rebecca rift is something that's been developing since the moment Paula changed the terms of their friendship at the beginning of the season and it feels organic and earned for it to finally blow up now. The nice thing about this fight is neither of them are totally in the right. Paula is completely right about the one-sidedness of their relationship, Rebecca being a taker and about her whole scheme to integrate Paula into the #gurlgroup4ever being done not to include Paula but because Rebecca wanted to feel better about herself outgrowing her friendship with Paula. At the same time, even if her reasons were selfish, Rebecca was trying to make Paula feel included and Paula put zero effort into even trying to enjoy the evening, nor did she give Rebecca a chance to be there for her about the stuff in her life (mainly the abortion). Paula has judged Rebecca to be selfish, which is accurate but she never even tried to talk to Rebecca about it and give her the chance to examine her behavior. It's a complex situation and episode writer Jack Dolgen doesn't try to simplify it or vilify one of the two.

-This is the second episode in a row to end with Rebecca and Paula sadly looking at each other and tonight's ending was even more devastating than the last time.

-As hard as it was to watch the explosive dissolution of Paula and Rebecca's friendship, I'm all onboard with the Girltopia of Rebecca, Heather, and Valencia. The scenes of the three of them just hanging out and being friends were super fun and Heather's continual detachment from everything combined with Valencia's cluelessness of how girl friendships work made it all super endearing.

-The theme tonight in case you missed it was "You can't force a friendship". Crazy Ex-Girlfriend doesn't typically harp on it's theme over and over and over but it worked here with Rebecca, Trent, and Daryl all insisting that wasn't what they were doing before proceeding to do exactly that. There was also an unexpected "You can force construction" pay-off to the constant utterings of the mantra that was delightful.

-The way Rebecca and Paula's fight while Paula was stuck in the bathroom kept being interrupted by comedic distractions like bad actor Sunil (who continues to be a fantastic addition to the show, even if he won't shut up about his theatre major), forthright Trent, and Daryl and Mia was masterful.

-I was so excited to see Paul Welsh return as Trent tonight (and judging by the ending of his plot tonight, he's going to be sticking around indefinitely which is terrific). In season 1, he was a terrific funhouse mirror version of Season 1 Rebecca, someone she barely knew years ago who was obsessed with her, would resort to great lengths to be with her and was even more desperate and creepy than she was (At least she had a bit of a relationship with Josh Chan. He was just a random person she knew at Harvard that fit the criteria for "fake boyfriend"). The parallels between him and season 1 Rebecca get turned up even more tonight as he tries to ingratiate himself in her "guy friend group", finds his own Paula in the surf shop girl who finds his efforts for love romantic and even gets his own version of The Sexy Getting Ready Song (Though his gets cut short when he cuts his back). He serves as a reminder that as bad as Rebecca can be, she's come along quite a bit since season 1 and even then could have been a lot worse.

-It is interesting that the Surf Shop Girl goes from being creeped out by Trent's plan to being totally on board when she finds out he's doing it for love. A nice way to demonstrate how society can overlook bad behavior if it's for a reason we deem noble and sweet.

-Trent trying to hard to be bros with Josh and friends never stopped being funny. From his constant awkward use of California Surfer Slang to his super awkward and creepy covers for why he knew Hector's name  (He's a racist) and why his clients never showed up (They're all dead... to him). Trent's terrible at friendship, but he's apparently great at other things like getting people out of the bathroom and sex (He was a virgin apparently until tonight).

-The glaring plot hole in Trent's plan? If he knew that Rebecca was broken up with Josh, how would he think getting in with Josh and his friends could get him closer to Rebecca? It feels like a weird oversight but the story is funny enough that it's not that big a deal.

-Oh Rebecca. Sleeping with Trent to cheer yourself up a bit was a horrible decision. It'll be fun for the story because there's no way he's going to leave you alone now but it was a horrible decision.

-This was a good night for recurring minor characters on this show as Karen, ahem, I mean Angelique got her most exposure yet to horrifying effect as she hosted the most uncomfortable "Naughty Toys" party ever and Mia became the driving force in Daryl's subplot as the two tried to scheme their way into Rebecca's girl group.

-The co-worker who gets mocked for no good reason is a tried-and-true sitcom trope and Daryl's constant anger at Mia has been played for laughs since her introduction but it gets deconstructed hard tonight when Mia calls him on it, revealing the harmful effect his constant put-downs have had on her work output and health and rightfully pointing out that he's a bad boss creating a hostile work environment. It's an eye-opening moment that does a lot to flesh out someone who's been very one-note up to this point.

-Confession: Almost every person I've ever disliked, I've disliked because I see something I don't like about myself magnified in them. So I related hard to Daryl admitting that he sees himself in overeager trying-to-be-included Mia and that's why he dislikes her. Daryl's neediness has also been played as a joke for the duration of the show so it's nice to see him come to terms with it and build a new friendship (and a hot new dance craze that's apparently catching on) with Mia.

-Seriously though, after the incredible ugliness of that Rebecca/Paula fight, Daryl and Mia bursting in to debut their new dance (later called "The Mia") and then attempt to teach it to everyone was probably the best possible way to relieve the tension.

-OK, let's talk about the songs. "Girltopia" felt like a semi-sequel to Season 1's "Feeling Kinda Naughty" in how it took a typical pop song conceit (Here, a perfect Spice Girls-esque ode to girl friendship ruling the world) and brought it to incredibly creepy and psychotic extremes (Their talk of ruling the world is very literal and anyone who doesn't appreciate Hocus Pocus will be killed). It's delightful and it gives Gabrielle Ruiz and Vella Lowell a rare chance to show off their pipes.

-Of course Vella Lowell gets an even bigger musical spotlight tonight in "Stuck In The Bathroom", which takes Heather's habit of plainly laying out the situation as it unfolds and turns it into a spoof of "Trapped In The Closet". It isn't necessary to the story in any way but it does enhance what could have been a boring scene and moves the story along to the juicy part of Rebecca discovering Paula's "help me" text to Sunil.

-The weird thing about Stuck In The Bathroom is that Crazy Ex-Girlfriend is only the second television show to do a song about being stuck in the bathroom this year. "Bad Stuff Happens In The Bathroom" is completely different of course but it is interesting. Also I really should start writing about Bob's Burgers again. That show is delightful.

-"You talk about pooping a lot". Valencia is finally getting to know Rebecca. Aww.

-Sunil's wife put her suicide note on Facebook before they added the new like options making it hard for people to know what to do. It's an incredibly dark joke and it made me laugh very hard.

-Rebecca and Heather's new house is poorly renovated and was a drug dealer murder house. Sounds about right. I'm hoping for new sordid details to be accidentally blurted out by people visiting it each week.

-Terrific little detail: After Trent cuts his back shaving in the "Trent Is Getting Ready Song", you can see a small blood stain on his sweatshirt in the same spot.

-Did Rebecca even says Josh's name once tonight? I don't think she did. That's a first. I appreciate the show actually taking the time to explore Rebecca building a life and friendships outside of her obsession with Josh Chan. Judging by next week's promo it won't last but it's nice.

-Next week: The mid-season finale and return of Brittany Snow!

I Got Thoughts on Jane the Virgin: Chapter Fifty-One

-This week in titles: Jane The Guilty Catholic after Alba brings up her lapsed church-going and how she's responsible for Mateo's spiritual upbringing

-For the winter finale, "Jane" pays tribute to master of suspense Alfred Hitchcock as an assignment for Jane's writers group allows them to explore and play with his rules for "bomb under the table" suspense. This helps reinvigorate the crime plot this week as Rafael and Michael's investigation into Elena's secret bank account connected to an Italian convent benefits greatly from some Hitchcockian flair. The camerawork becomes more dynamic, the music more exciting, the lighting darker (particularly during the climatic trip to the convent and Rafael's final conversation with Jane) and the narration more intense. The writers also work in several delightful visual references to classic Hitchcock films like Vertigo and To Catch A Thief throughout the episode, which enhance the story without distracting from it. It makes for a very exciting winter finale that makes the wait for next year that much more difficult.

-The crime stuff is more engaging than usual this week but again it's the smaller, more personal stories that resonant most so we'll talk about that first. Jane's faith is brought to the forefront this week as she resolves to start attending church more (with Mateo in tow) when she realizes she hasn't been since before she got married. Rafael is less onboard with Mateo going to church so young however and in keeping with the new Jane/Rafael dynamic, puts up a fight about it. Faith is one of those big differences between Jane and Rafael that doesn't get touched on a lot so it's nice to see it brought up here even if it ultimately isn't explored that much.

-As someone who has a fair amount of church friends with children about Mateo's age, I can confirm that scene of him fidgeting and acting up in church is accurate with what often happens with my friend's kids. I find it cute though (mainly because I don't have to do anything but revel in the cuteness).

-Of course Jane suddenly becoming concerned about Mateo going to church is a cover for her real concern: why SHE hasn't been going to church lately. When talking to the nun she thinks is Mother Superior though she realizes that she's been angry with God ever since Michael was shot. Jane's faith is important to her and important to the character so watching her be so open about the doubt she's experienced is quite affecting. it's also good to see that the aftereffects of Michael's shooting are still being felt weeks after it happened. Something that big doesn't just go away and "Jane"'s commitment to exploring the aftermath thoroughly and honestly is refreshing. Jane deciding to work on her own relationship with God before working on Mateo's relationship with God is an easy way to curb the Jane/Rafael conflict about church for now but it also feels like the honest, mature thing for Jane to do.

-Michael's recovery also gets an interesting wrinkle as we learn that he failed his physical and can't go back into the field. Suddenly Michael being able to officially resume his detective work isn't as much of a given as it seemed even last episode. It's something that again keeps Rose shooting him from being something that's easily brushed off and promises to send Michael's arc in a new direction when the show returns from hiatus.

-Catalina is still around and Jane is getting tired of her. Suddenly the stories of her many exploits go from feeling exciting and glamorous to annoying and tiresome. It's impressive how "Jane" changes the context of how we see Catalina's behavior without changing Catalina herself.

-Jane gets suspicious of Catalina (Who goes from crashing at Jane's to crashing at the Marbella once Jane politely asks her to leave) from doing a little digging into one of the organizations she's supposedly involved with and noticing a lot of cash and jewels. Catalina has innocent explanations for all of this but it all turns out to be lies when we learn that she has a secret French lover who she stole the jewels from. I wasn't that interested in Catalina being shady last week but now I'm intrigued.

-Rogelio's quest to start a family and have a baby leads him to Darci Factor, The High-Roller Love Dealer (TM). This story mainly seems there to bring in the likes of Denise Richards, Carmen Electra, and Brooke Burke for cameos but takes an interesting turn when Darci and Rogelio decide to have a baby together.

-Darci is played by Justina Machado, AKA Vanessa Diaz from Six Feet Under (Which on an unrelated note, I watched for the first time earlier this year. Highly recommended.). She brings a lot of life and charm to Darci and is able to match the energy and ridiculousness of Jaime Camil perfectly (with a lot of chemistry there to boot) so I'm glad that she seems to be sticking around for a bit. Pairing Rogelio up with someone who's almost as bombastic and narcissistic as he is is also a good idea that I'm surprised hasn't been tried earlier.

-On a minor Rogelio note the show is going all in on it's product integration of Honey Bunches of Oats while also making fun of it and it's beautiful.

-Xo and Alba are mostly on the sidelines this week but Jane does learn from Rogelio about Xo's rekindled romance with Bruce that leads to the revelation that Xo did know he was married the first time she got involved with him. With that reveal adding to Jane's already present dislike of the guy, it's safe to say there's going to be a fair amount of Jane/Xo tension in the next couple episodes.

-I actually didn't think we'd be hearing about the cash discrepancies Rafael covered up for his late father again so I was pleasantly surprised when it came back tonight as we learned the reason for them: it turns out the late Mr. Solano trafficked in stolen paintings and had bribed the Italian convent Elena was connected to to steal some for him.

-While Rafael revealing the truth about what he's done but asking Michael not to say anything looked like it could create new tension between them, his decision to turn himself in at the end to hopefully break the cycle of the Solano's criminal activities for Mateo quickly solved that tension. It was good to see that Jane calling him out on his lack of morals combined with that other revelation (Which I'll talk about in a minute) had sunk in for him.

-I mentioned it briefly above but the whole scene with Jane and Rafael trying to find information at the convent was masterful and a great demonstration of Hitchcock's rules for creating suspense in action as it managed to build suspense, even as it took us step by step through what it was doing. The kicker of waiting until after the commercial to actually complete the "resolve the tension" step was also clever.

-In keeping with the "bomb under the table" method of suspense of letting the audience know things the characters don't, The Narrator shows us an envelope that he promises will change everything near the beginning of the episode. That turns out to be no exaggeration as the envelope contains Rafael's birth certificate which reveals that he isn't a Solano. His mother lost a baby around the time he was born in Italy and bribed the nuns to bring him over as a replacement.

-The reveal of Rafael not actually being a Solano is a great twist for a few reasons. It's a reveal that fits into the heightened Telenovella world of "Jane" perfectly and doesn't feel like a huge retcon. It also turns what could've been another dull crime story into a big personal character story for Rafael, which is very welcome. We've seen how Rafael's negative relationships with his parents and his struggling with their dark legacies has impacted and twisted him throughout the series so this twist is a smart way to bring that all back to the forefront in a way that the death of the mother he didn't really know wouldn't. It also parallels nicely with Jane exploring her family roots this season as Rafael now has the chance to find his real family. This opens up a lot of new avenues of story possibilities and I'm excited to see where this all goes.

-A few choice hashtags this week but my favourite was #nunsontherun , which later got followed with #nunsontherun-back

-Jane returns January 23rd. Ugh, that's such a long ways away.

I Got Thoughts On Jane The Virgin: Chapter Fifty

-This week in titles, "The Virgin" part of "Jane"'s title gets a bomb dropped on it, cleverly setting up a "bombing and bomb dropping" motif for the episode.

-After a brief video chat followed by unexpectedly showing up on Jane's doorstep last week, Jane's cousin Catalina gets a lot of focus this week. Sofia Pernas is a great fit into the world of the show and she makes Catalina feel as cool, sexy, and interesting as the show tells us she is, while making the reveal that she's probably up to no good (Which we all saw coming, but whatever) feel believable.

-The opening flashback does a pretty good job explaining why Jane isn't more wary about her cousin showing up unannounced by explaining how she always wanted a sister. It still seems like something she should be somewhat concerned about though. At least Michael is a bit wary.

-OK, so it's a bit of a stretch that Jane who was artificially inseminated and been caught up in a whirlwind of telenovella-style drama ever since would worry that her life is boring. I can see how the incredibly organized, incredibly romantic Jane would be jealous of Catalina's more care-free and spontaneous approach to life though and get caught up in that.

-Michael being concerned that Jane thinking her life was boring would lead to hear thinking he was boring was a lot more believable conflict. The resolution of him singing "Locked Out of Heaven" at the bar they were at and getting Jane to join in seemed a little weird though since he had just stormed off in a huff the previous scene. The number was cute though.

-Jane's efforts to be a bit more spontaneous lead her to go for an interview for a publisher's assistant job that her adviser recommended her for only to immediately almost blow her chance by deleting her potential boss' file after pretending she had knowledge of a computer program she didn't know. Catalina helps her figure out how to recover from that though by getting in with the other assistants, so that should help Jane's chances a good deal.

-Rafael and Catalina hooking up is definitely an interesting development. Also interesting is the choice to have Jane initially refuse to give Rafael permission to date Catalina. Even though that will probably turn out to have been the right choice in the end, Jane's doing it for the wrong reasons here and it's nice to see her flawed, human side come out more.

-Catalina even charms Alba before revealing that the whole family believes Alba stole Mateo from Cecilia (The truth was Alba never knew her sister's feelings). It was good to see the Jane/Alba tension hadn't completed evaporated from last episode and though they reconciled more fully this week, it felt earned here in a way that it wouldn't have last week.

-Is Catalina evil? I have my doubts. "Jane" doesn't have a lot of complete villains and I want to believe that Alba's family is more complex than how Alba paints them. I guess time will tell.

-Xo's plans to open a dance studio are sure moving along quickly with Rogelio stepping in to help speed things up. Also, after having him mentioned a couple times in the beginning of the series, it was nice to finally meet Bruce, Xo's no-good ex who she just can't resist. It was no surprise that she winds up involved with him again, especially now that he's apparently divorced but her keeping it from everyone is a nice wrinkle.

-The flashback to Xo and Ro's high school days as we see teenage Rogelio try and fail to convince teenage Xo that he joined her dance troupe for reasons beyond meeting girls was wonderful. Their efforts to recreate it in the present was equally wonderful and the reveal that Rogelio had actually joined the dance troupe to meet Xo was a nice one.

-I like when shows do product placement while poking fun at how they're doing product placement so I thought Rogelio's storyline where he has to integrate HBO (Honey Bunches of Oats) into his show so he can go full frontal in his movie was just terrific. Especially with the attempts to turn a key episode about the Cuban Missle Crisis into an episode set at HBO Creator Vernon J. Herzing's house.

-Of course Rogelio's storyline is really about him coming to realize he still loves Xo only to walk away when he sees her kissing Bruce (A move he criticizes when the writers on his Telenovella intend to have his character do it earlier) because he realizes how guilty he feels for not being part of Jane's life sooner and how much he does want those kids that Xo doesn't want. It seems like Rogelio is really going to be focused on trying to find someone to have kids with now, which should be promising.

-It's a bit disappointing to see the status quo of Rafael and Petra as equal partners in the hotel back again after Petra's major power play last week but the reveal that Scott's sexual harassment lawsuit was a set-up by Rafael was clever (To me anyways. I should have seen it coming but I somehow didn't.) and hopefully is setting up for more of a back and forth power struggle between the two before the inevitable reconciliation.

-I have to say I've never been a huge fan of Scott, but he's really come into his own this season. I like the idea that he's an oily schemer who collects favours and knows everyone's secrets. It makes him an interesting wildcard to shake up stories. Having him learn the truth about his relationship with "Petra" was a smart decision too.

-What did Scott whisper into Petra's ear anyways? The thing that makes the most sense is that he simply told her he knew Anezka had been impersonating her but wouldn't that give away that Rafael had given him that information? Maybe Petra has another secret waiting to be revealed, but I can't imagine what would be so bad as to get her to give in to Rafael like she did.

-Also what happened to Magda and Dot-Marie Jones' enforcer character? That feels like something that should be addressed at some point in the near-future.

-Faith M. Whiskers III! Finally! I've been waiting weeks for that cat!

-Petra telling Scott they are never, ever getting back together was a cute joke made better by the reveal that that was apparently Scott and Anezka Petra's song.

-A solid if unremarkable episode of "Jane" this week. Next week is the mid-season finale though so I'm hoping things will be taken up a notch.

I Got Thoughts On Timeless: Stranded

-Stranded doesn't waste any time getting to the action this week starting off in 1754, establishing the setting (The French/Indian War) and how miserable the team has been on this mission while they search for Flynn before one of Flynn's men damages the Life Boat and strands them there. It's a smart move that throws the audience offguard and helps get us to the meat of the episode quicker.

-The terrible conditions of 1754 combined with the fallout from the revelations from last week (And Wyatt's offscreen discovery of Lucy's deal to save her sister when she won't let him save his wife) lead to a lot of sniping and infighting from our team for the first 15 minutes or so, which isn't the most fun thing to watch but feels realistic. Also it helps that they explain why Wyatt is taking this so hard by emphasizing the team aspect of his Delta Force background as why it's important for him to trust who he works with.

-Hey, Wyatt killing people actually has tangible consequences this time out as his killing of a French soldier who's an officer's son makes their efforts to get the supplies they need from Fort Duquesne significantly more difficult. It's a clever way to take what other shows might treat as a throwaway kill and give it narrative weight.

-While I never came close to thinking that the show was going to kill off the team or strand them in 1754 for the remainder of the show, the scene after they're captured and tied up by Shawnee Natives where they face the idea of never going back home and their various regrets was an effective one and by the end of it, their reconciliation felt completely believable. Also Rufus' first desire when confronted with the idea of never going home again is to eat a Chocodile which felt very believable and very Rufus. Plus Lucy and Wyatt gifting him with a box of Chocodiles at the end was very sweet.

-I'm not familiar with Nonhelema but this episode made me want to learn more about her because she made a strong impression in her big scene. You could see why Lucy was so starstruck when she realized who she was.

-There was a lot of cloying speeches this episode meant to pull at the heartstrings a bit, but Rufus refusing to take the freedom Nonhelema offered if it meant his friends would die and pleading for their lives was the most effective one.

-Oh, Right It's 1754 Part 1: Everyone not on the team assumes Rufus is a slave and that earns him his freedom when the Shawnee mark Lucy and Wyatt for death. That assumption helps Nonhelema respect Rufus more when she sees him putting himself on the line for them.

-Oh Right, It's 1754 Part 2: Lucy getting around Wyatt's lack of French speaking by pretending he's injured and can't speak hitting a major snag when a doctor doesn't trust her treatment of him because she's a woman and then decides mercury and bloodletting is the best course of treatment for what ails Wyatt (Too much blood).

-Wyatt hoping the capacitor Rufus needed was a flux capacitor was cute.

-We actually get to spend time with Mason, Agent Christopher and Jiya this week as they try to figure out what happened to the team back in the present and complete protocol, which involves them digging up a note in a polypropylene bottle that Rufus buries three feet in front of the life boat. This was much-needed as those three have been barely developed or given much to do at all despite series regular status. Also I'm hoping this means the show is going to start doing more subplots with these characters while our heroes are busy tromping around the past.

-Agent Christopher remains fairly underdeveloped beyond establishing that she does like the team and wants to get them back too but now that she's suspicious of Mason, it's safe to bet that she's going to become a bigger part of the story in the weeks to come. Or learn too much and get killed by Rittenhouse to show us how serious a threat they are. Ugh, that better not be where this is going.

-Rufus' interest in Jiya was a small part of the pilot before basically getting waved off in the second episode but it returned here in a way that felt natural as both Rufus and Jiya got to express how they feel about the other and their frustrations with how things have been going since their date. Their relationship was built up well enough that when they kissed at the end of the episode, I felt invested in where this was going.

-Jiya got more to do than just worry about Rufus though. When a crack in the tube leaves the 262-year-old note destroyed beyond the words death and Millennium, it's Jiya who figures out that Rufus was making a Star Wars analogy (Of course he did) to explain to them what they were going to have to do to get the Lifeboat back home once it took off, as the navigation system was busted.

-Mason's relationship with Rufus got some much-needed context as well as he told Jiya about the first time they met and how he sees Rufus as a "genius with a sense of responsibility". This is also the first time in 7 episodes that I actually believe that Mason cares about Rufus.

-Rittenhouse Guy/Lucy's Father Benjamin Cahill briefly pops up to threaten Mason, remind us he exist and establish that Mason has noticed his interest in Lucy. It also turns out that putting Lucy on the team, despite others being more qualified was her dad's idea, which answers a question I never thought about but am glad to have answered because it shows the creative team has put thought into the story they're telling.

-It was nice seeing our heroes actually out grabbing a drink at the end of their ordeal. They definitely earned it. Having Lucy come clean that she is worried about writing that journal today and working with Flynn was a good character moment and Wyatt's rousing speech about free will and history being a series of choices was a nice note to end on instead of some tease about the larger Myth arc.

-Does Lucy's fiance still exist? Are we going to get back to him at some point?

-I actually really enjoyed this episode a lot. Timeless is on a nice little roll right now.

-Next Week: Moon Landing!

I Got Thoughts on Crazy Ex-Girlfriend: Why Is Josh's Ex-Girlfriend Eating Carbs

-After an emotionally fraught couple of episodes, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend goes a bit lighter this week as it sets up the next phase of the season.

-If there's a benefit to Santino Fontana leaving the show beyond not having to worry about Rebecca driving Greg to relapse, it's that the show can increase it's focus on other members of the ensemble who are typically pushed off to the side. Case in point: after sitting out the first three episodes of the season and almost all of the fourth one, Valencia made her triumphant return this week as Gabrielle Ruiz finally got to make use of the Series Regular status given to her before the start of this season.

-Valencia was a tricky character in season 1. Although she was granted some depth and nuance from time to time, especially in the later parts of the season, her (justified) hostility towards Rebecca and her abrasive, superior, and controlling personality made her come off as a one-dimensional shrew a lot of the time. She became one of those significant others who you couldn't understand why the love interest was dating them. Now that she and Rebecca are both broken up with Josh however, we have a chance to actually get to know Valencia as a person and finally get the Rebecca/Valencia friendship the show feinted towards doing towards the end of last season, which if the end of this episode is any indication will bring some fresh energy into the show.

-Of course Valencia started off the episode basically the same as she was in season 1 though it became quickly apparent that she was just putting up a front to avoid confronting her feelings about Josh even before the drug-induced dream ballet brought that to the forefront. So Rebecca kidnapping Valencia and bringing her to Electric Mesa (San Gabriel Valley's version of Burning Man) was the only logical way to get both of them to that location.

-The Triceratops-fueled Dream Ballet sequence was definitely the musical highlight of the episode this week (Though Thought Bubbles was a strong number). From the spot on musical choices for the two performances (I'm The Villain In My Own Story and One Indescribable Instant for Valencia, and I'm Just A Girl In Love and I'm A Good Person for Rebecca) to the clear differences in Rebecca and Valencia's Ballet abilities (Valencia is characteristically graceful. Rebecca not so much) and how both told the emotional journeys of the two and their relationships with Josh in clear fashion even before they explained what those journeys were afterwards.

-The joke about Rebecca's keys being kept in her underwear was all right but the strong implication that they were actually in, um, a slightly different place was hysterical.

-It was incredibly satisfying and cathartic to see Rebecca finally pissed at Josh for all the ways he's taken advantage of her this season.

-Also satisfying and cathartic? Rebecca and Valencia standing up for each other when confronting Josh and having that turning into the two finally bonding and building each other up. Was it totally earned? Probably not, but it was so satisfying I don't mind. Rebecca and Valencia becoming friends is much more interesting than them being at each others throats, even if it probably isn't going to last forever (Josh will probably get between the two eventually),

-Also satisfying and cathartic but in a weird way? Rebecca and Valencia peeing all over Josh's sound equipment. Honestly did not see that one coming.

-Having Valencia start off ever-so-slightly heavier in this episode and slowly get back to where she was as she got over Josh and regained her confidence was such a subtle neat visual touch that I almost wish the show hadn't kept commenting on it, but then we wouldn't have had Valencia being so confident that she stopped fixating on her appearance and that was the best part of that small story thread.

-Valencia and Heather make for a great combination. Having them both around to play off of Rebecca should be fun.

-Paula makes a new friend too this week! Parvesh Cheena makes a strong first impression as Sunil, a fellow older student at law school who quickly bonds with Paula in a way that feels natural and believable. When he responds to Paula accidentally blurting out that she had an abortion by casually admitting that his wife recently killed herself, it instantly endears you to the guy.

-What Sunil's introduction does is really highlight the imbalance of Paula and Rebecca's friendship (He sees Rebecca's selfcenteredness ever so briefly and assumes she's Paula's daughter because his much younger daughters are the same way). Watching the two interact and team up to steal a jerk student's note-taking app, it really feels like a friendship of equals where the pair is helping and enabling each other. That's something that Paula and Rebecca's friendship has barely ever felt like, even in the best of times, which the show kindly doesn't spell out for us.

-The divide between Rebecca and Paula is widening and you don't even realize it until the end where they're both at the same place with different people and worlds apart. Their friendship is still formally going but from the way they both interact and look at each other afterwards, it seems like it's ended and it's devastating.

-We get some insight into Josh this week as we learn something that explains a lot about him: he can't bare to be alone. Thought Bubbles, our only real song this week, captures this perfectly. Josh is someone who doesn't want to have to confront anything real or unpleasant so he runs from it by throwing himself into relationships or things to keep busy. When he's alone though he can't keep those dark thoughts out of his head but rather than deal with them like an adult, he keeps pushing them away. Until Josh can finally handle being alone, he's never going to be able to grow up and be the mature, responsible adult he wants to be.

-Josh's manager Alex was a delight this week. As I've said a couple times before, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend is really good at making the smallest characters have something vital to contribute to the scene. Sherpa Alan also qualifies.

-The good thing about Josh being unable to be alone? Guest star Brittany Snow as Josh's new love interest! Brittany Snow is terrific and needs to be in more things so I hope she's around for a while.

-Daryl got his first significant storyline of the season as he goes with White Josh to Electric Mesa and realizes that White Josh has a certain type: older men. This allows for an excellent exploration of Daryl and White Josh's relationship as Daryl starts to feel insecure and replaceable. It turns out White Josh has similar insecurities though and when they're finally open with each other, they exchange "I Love Yous" for the first time.

-Rebecca actually gave Daryl good relationship advice! Rebecca isn't always the best friend to the people in her life but she definitely has her moments.

-The real sweet thing about the story though is how Daryl finally introduces Josh to his daughter Madison and the three wind up all holding hands as they leave to get Madison a stuffed Pegasus in addition to her new stuffed snail. I definitely choked up there. Daryl and White Josh forever!

-Season 1 would often segue to the theme song by having someone wonder why Rebecca was there which made the expositional theme song sort of a stealth punchline. Season 2's theme is different and can't be cued up as easily so when it got set up tonight with Rebecca remarking she must be crazy, I cheered a little.

-Rebecca apparently has a fetish about being choked by red liquorice. I expect this to pay off at some point.

-I'm hoping Rebecca having to give Heather and Valencia five dollars every time she mentions Josh becomes a recurring joke throughout the season.

-Solid episode this week. Next week: Girl power and more Rebecca/Paul drama! My heart is aching already.

I Got Thoughts On Timeless: The Watergate Tapes

I Got Thoughts is a point-form collection of my thoughts on episodes of television for shows where a proper recap is insufficient for expressing all the things I want to express.

-After an ugly and emotionally fraught 2016 Presidential Election cycle, I was actually looking forward for a trip back to the simpler days of the Watergate Scandal. The Watergate Tapes was less about Richard Nixon's America however (Though we did meet Deepthroat and the BLA) and more about finally fleshing out Garcia Flynn and Rittenhouse, while revealing Rufus and Lucy's own deceptions. We were definitely due for a mythology episode of Timeless and I'm mostly glad with all the developments in this one but it does feel like a bit of a waste of such an interesting backdrop. Oh well.

-I'm always a fan of when TV uses real history as part of it's mythology so the idea that the missing 18 and a half minutes of the Nixon Tapes are Nixon freaking out about Rittenhouse and how dangerous Rittenhouse is is delightful for me. It also helps make me much more interested in Rittenhouse than I've been up to this point.

-So Rittenhouse is some kind of secret organization that dates back to 1778 and its history and development is intertwined with that of America. That's something. We still don't know a lot about what it is exactly that they do or why they do it, which keeps the threat of Rittenhouse vague and ill-defined, but it's definitely more defined than it was previously so it's progress. We also learn that they keep no records, that people are born into the organization rather than join it, that they'll go to incredible lengths to keep their secrets and that Lucy is much more tied to the organization than we realized. That last one is crucial because huge mysterious threats on shows like these always work better if the characters have a personal connection to it.

-I actually forgot that Lucy and Wyatt weren't aware of the existence of Rittenhouse as anything more than the crazy ramblings of Flynn. I also forgot that Lucy had never told Wyatt or Rufus about the journals Flynn has that allegedly come from Future Lucy. By the end of the episode everyone's on the same page as we are though so that's positive. I appreciate Timeless not dragging out the characters secrets for longer than a few episodes. It keeps the story moving that much quicker.

-Flynn and Wyatt were the two weakest links of Timeless back when it started. Since then, Wyatt has really come into his own and become a much more compelling character while Flynn has remained more or less the same. Claims of doing all this in favor of a greater good do not make a character compelling. That changes this week though when Wyatt becomes Flynn's captive and we learn the truth about why he's doing what he's doing. Now Flynn is much more fleshed out and actually feels like a complicated antagonist, which is much better than us just being told he's a complicated antagonist.

-So what's the deal with Flynn? Turns out he took on some routine surveillance for the NSA a couple years ago, discovered large amounts of money being funnelled to Connor Mason as he worked on his time travel project and connected it to Rittenhouse. When he flagged it to his contact at the NSA, a few nights later Rittenhouse killed his wife and child and when they failed to kill him, framed him for the murders. So now he's trying to destroy Rittenhouse in an attempt to save his family and if that means taking out America in the process than so be it. It's a strong backstory for the character that also makes him an intriguing mirror of Wyatt, who is also hoping to save someone he lost through their adventures. Garcia Flynn is still a villain but now he's a more tragic one and that's going to be important for the future sustainability of the show.

-Lucy hiding the existence of the future journal and her occasional chats with Flynn seems like a small thing as far as secrets go, but the journal is used for much greater effect when it turns out to contain details about the death of Wyatt's wife and Future Lucy's opinion that Wyatt needs to "get over it", which is a much better justification for driving a wedge between Wyatt and Lucy.

-OK so the "dead wife" as motivator for Wyatt (And now Flynn) is still an annoying cliche and I'm not a fan of it. That being said the scene where Flynn reads Wyatt the stuff in the journal about his wife, revealing to us how it happened was very effective. Her turning up dead after a drunken Wyatt left her on the side of the road following a big fight gives us valuable context into why Wyatt wants to go back and save her so bad. It's good character development even if it's relying on a dumb cliche.

-So how long until we learn that Rittenhouse was behind the death of Wyatt's wife? I'm thinking episode 13 (Which would've been the finale if not for a full-season order) tops. You don't establish a conspiracy board without it paying off at some point.

-Seriously Wyatt is such a better character now. When he talks at the end about not being able to trust Lucy or Rufus, my heart actually broke just a little.

-Now that all three of our heroes and Flynn are interesting, fleshed-out characters, can we start fleshing out Connor Mason, the NSA agent and that other girl at the lab please? They're regulars but they never seem to get much to do, particularly the ones whose names I can't even remember.

-The Doc being a person and not a document was a good twist. It also reinforces how ruthless Rittenhouse is as they were actively trying to destroy her for sending her family away and trying to escape. I'm curious to see if she'll show up in the present day timeline at some point. I hope so. She made quite an impression with her brief screentime.

-Lucy and Wyatt finding out that Rufus has been spying on them for Rittenhouse was a surprise. I figured we were a few more episodes away from that reveal but it's all out in the open now. Whatever trust was between the three of them has definitely been severed. Hopefully we'll get to see the fallout from that get explored in the next couple weeks. It would ring false if they were all back to being friends again in a week's time.

-It was good to actually meet Rufus' mom this week and learn some details about his family. It helps enforce why we should care about Rittenhouse threatening them.

-The juiciest revelation we got is that John Getz's threatening Rittenhouse guy is named Benjamin Cahill. Also, he's Lucy's real father. Again as I said above, that makes Rittenhouse more intriguing by giving Lucy a personal connection to it even if she isn't aware the connection exists right now. My main question is does Cahill know the historian he's spying on is his daughter? His phone call at the end leaves that ambiguous.

-It seemed weird that Rufus didn't seem to know much about Watergate or Deep Throat, but his ignorance on the situation did lead for some funny moments, particularly his joke about knowing the porn version of Deep Throat.

-Solid episode this week, even though I would've preferred more Watergate stuff. Next week has them in the 1750's and tackling the "stranded in time" trope, which could be very cool.

I Got Thoughts On Jane The Virgin: Chapter 49

I Got Thoughts is a point-form collection of thoughts on episodes of television for shows where a proper recap is insufficient for expressing all the things I want to express.

-So it looks like "Jane" is going to be replacing "The Virgin" part of the title card with something new every week to reflect her situation. Fun fun! This week we get Jane The Happy Mom due to her joy about Michael and Rafael going on a "man date".

-The recaps on Jane The Virgin can get fairly long so the part towards the end where the narrator tries to remember what else is going on before landing on Jane and Michael moving which means there might be boxes in scenes was a good meta-joke about their need to explain everything.

-I always knew Yael Grobglas was extremely talented, but I'm not sure I realized how talented she was until real Petra returned tonight incredibly distinct from Anezka pretending to be Petra. There's a certain power to Petra that Anezka doesn't have but it wasn't obvious until Petra got back in action.

-I wasn't expecting Petra to become unfrozen halfway in the episode and I certainly wasn't expecting her to cover for her sister and go through with the plan to sell the hotel shares (Until a speech from Scott convinced her to go against her mother's plan and try to get Rafael completely out of the hotel with her having total ownership instead). I'm a bit torn on the return of Petra as an antagonistic force because I enjoyed her slowly becoming a decent person last season but it does make a lot of sense. After Petra's struggles with postpartum depression, bonding with her children and worrying she was a bad mother last season, I can see how her hearing Rafael's comment to Anezka Petra about worrying for a minute that she didn't have the "mom gene" would set her off. Couple that with her being trapped for three months as everyone around her failed to notice what had happened and I can see why she regressed. I'm not totally on board with the regression yet but I'm willing to give it a chance and see how this plays out. Scheming Petra is a lot of fun to watch, I must admit.

-Also not sure how I feel about Petra branding Anezka. She definitely deserves punishment for what she did, especially if Petra isn't turning her in to the police but branding seems extreme.

-I do know how I feel about Xo's "Beauty School Dropout" fantasy that convinces her to open her own dance studio though. It was delightful! "Jane" does a lot of musical performances but full-blown musical production numbers are rare. So this was a treat, especially with how it utilized Gina Rodriguez, Jaime Camil, and Ivonne Coll's wonderful voices.

-It's also nice that the show remembered Xo teaches dance lessons, because opening a dance studio seems like the perfect career option for her. That should be a fun story to watch play out.

-49 episodes in and Jane finally has her first significant conflict with Alba. They've had conflict before but Alba's anger with Jane after the most indirect conflict with her family leads to an out of the blue phone call from her long-estranged sister was genuinely shocking. After two seasons of Xo/Jane or Xo/Alba conflict though, it was a bit refreshing to have an Alba/Jane conflict with Xo being the peacemaker for once.

-Also the show did a really good job of setting the conflict between Jane and Alba so that you could see both sides of the argument. Jane grew up with a loving family, but a very small one and the letters from Cecilia reveal a huge tapestry of uncles, aunts, and cousins that Jane never imagined was there. One of the first things we learn about Jane is how passionate she is about family and that's been consistent throughout the show. How can she resist reaching out? On the other hand, Alba's mother died not talking to her because of what Cecilia did. Her entire family turned on her and to expect Alba to suddenly let them back into her life after all the pain they've caused her isn't fair. Jane crossed a line she promised not to cross and Alba is absolutely right to be angry about it, which the show acknowledges.

-The flashback to young Jane convincing Alba to let her go to Disney World for a day was good at how it reflected the Jane/Alba relationship up until now. Jane has always wanted her grandmother's approval and Alba has always been willing to concede to Jane. The thing is now that Jane is an adult, that kind of relationship isn't sustainable anymore. Jane has to be able to make her own decisions whether or not Alba approves and Alba has to accept that. So Jane is going to continue trying to connect with Alba's family, which is exciting. It's a bit similar to how the whole Xo/Alba abortion conflict played out a couple weeks ago but it feels fresh because it's an entirely different relationship under strain this time and it's about something that's not easily brushed away.

-Of course right after Jane decides to let some of Alba's family into her life her cousin Catalina unexpectedly shows up on her doorstep. That should be fun.

-Also Jane's Facebook chat with Catalina made me remember how much I like the way social media is naturally incorporated into the world of the show.

-The "man date" between Michael and Rafael at the gym was awkward in all the best ways. Rafael and Michael are two very different guys with a very complicated history and though I'm as excited as Jane is at the prospect of the two becoming friends, it's not something that will come easily to them or happen overnight and the "Jane" writers know that.

-They did make some big steps tonight as Michael's freakout after thinking Rafael was sleeping with a married woman brought up one of the plot points from the start of the show that doesn't get acknowledged much anymore: Jane was Michael's fiancee and Rafael pursued her despite knowing that. Nothing actually happened between Jane and Rafael until her and Michael broke up but he still came between them and that's not something Michael can just drop without an honest apology (which he does get).

-Another early plot point that got revisited tonight: Rafael having cancer, which was used to explain why he tries to hard to be in control of his body now. Was this whole storyline an excuse to have Justin Baldoni show off his admittedly terrific physique? Probably but I don't care. Rafael and Michael are on the road to becoming friends now. Yay!

-Rogelio tricking Michael and Rafael into getting into his car for a "Man to Man to Man to Man" (Mateo was there too) talk was hilarious. Also I'm on board with Rogelio constantly pointing out how handsome Rafael is as a running joke.

-Rogelio was kind of an afterthought this week but the idea that he has to do his network a favor now in order for them to allow him to do a full-frontal scene in an American movie could be interesting.

-Apparently Mudder's "Angels Guard The Son" message was code for a bank account number (Which rich guys Rogelio and Rafael immediately picked up on). Which is anticlimatic if that's all it is but this is Jane The Virgin. There's always more to it.

-Jane stealing the narrator's "It feels like straight out of a telenovella" catchphrase was cute.

-Scott actually got a fair bit of depth this week, which was surprising. Also the show's definitely setting up for a Scott/Anezka/Petra love triangle in the near future, right?

-Strong episode this week. What else is new?

I Got Thoughts On Crazy Ex-Girlfriend: When Will Josh and His Friend Leave Me Alone?

I Got Thoughts is a point-form collection of my thoughts on episodes of television, when a normal recap just won't do.

-Just when you think Rebecca can't sink any lower than she has, she sets her house on fire and a 911 call of her freaking out about Greg and Josh while pooping in her backyard gets put online, quickly going viral. Ouch.

-So apparently Santino Fontana is leaving Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, though they're not ruling out a possible return guest appearance some day. That's a bit disappointing as he was always terrific on the show, bringing all kinds of depth to what could have been a one-note character. It's also the right decision. The end of Greg's arc was always him finally getting out of West Covina and pursuing his own happiness. It was also clear that prolonged exposure to Rebecca would be detrimental to his recovery. Keeping him around, especially after last week's episode would've felt disingenuous. So it's sad to see him go, but it feels right. Greg was never meant to be a big part of Rebecca's story, even if she wound up being a big part of his.

-If this is the last we ever see of Greg, at least he got to go out on a (figurative) high note with the Frank Sinatra-esque "It Was A Shitshow" (or BLEEPshow if you're trying to be network friendly.). It's a brutal but perfect summation of Rebecca and Greg's relationship. As much as Greg loves Rebecca and he does love her, this thing between them was never healthy for either of them and pursuing it was never going to end well. He doesn't regret it and he would never change that it happened but that doesn't mean he should stay in West Covina. It's a beautiful, tragic number and one of the best the show's ever done.

-The other striking thing about "Shitshow" is that it's one of the few musical numbers on this show that isn't presented as heightened or in a fantasy. There's no dancing or elaborate change of scenery, just Greg and Rebecca in the airport as they share one last moment before Greg ascends to the next part of his life. It's incredibly effective.

-Real Greg makes his exit early but a "memory spirit" ( Definitely not to be confused with a dream ghost.) of him pops up a couple times to remind Becca of Greg and what she's lost before she's finally able to say goodbye to Greg at the episode's end and move on. A memory spirit of Josh also appears so the two can do a merry, hilarious tap number called "We Tapped That Ass" about all the times they had sex with Rebecca all over her house. It's a strong number about how hard it can be to get over a break-up when you have constant reminders of what you had in your face all the time. It also provides a good impetus for Rebecca accidentally setting her house on fire when she decides to burn all the reminders of Greg and Josh that she has.

-Sometimes being brought to your lowest low is what it takes to make you snap out of denial, take a good hard look at yourself, who you are, and to figure out the first step to being OK again. Other times, it sends you spinning even deeper into denial and causes you to do something drastic to try and project the idea that you're doing OK. Guess which one of those things Rebecca does?

-Yael Grobglas popped over from Jane The Virgin tonight as Trina, the CEO of Miss Douche, a feminine hygiene product company that's trying to take back the word "douche" as an empowering thing and reinvent themselves. Trina also clearly has some issues that need working out which Grobglas plays subtly and beautifully. It's a good parallel for what Rebecca's going through and the contest serves as a catalyst for her big makeover.

-The thing is there's a huge difference between reinventing your image as a company and reinventing your image as a person. Rebecca's post make-over blonde hair and extensions is horrifying and hilarious, but it also takes one run-in with Josh to expose it how desperate and fake the whole thing really is. Even Rebecca's making it to the finals of the contest is only because she spent $5000 on bots to buy the likes she needed. You can put a fresh coat of paint on a house with a rotten foundation, but it doesn't fix the fact that the foundation is rotten. Rebecca spends the whole episode trying to convince people that she's OK, but the one person she can't convince is herself and when she's finally confronted with the question of "Who Are You?" at the contest after an episode of running away from it, she has the breakthrough she needs to get past her denial.

-Trying to figure out who you are outside of other people is tough and scary but it looks like Rebecca will have some great help with that. After being in the far corners of Rebecca's world for much of the show's run, it looks like Heather is being brought right into it's centre. That's great news because Vella Lowell has always been great on the show and her detached cynicism and common sense is a much needed counterbalance to Rebecca's desperate optimism. The show also makes fun of how little we actually know about Heather after all this time by revealing that she still lives with her parents and that her last name is Davis, but Rebecca has apparently never noticed, despite having met her parents plenty of times before.

-Mr. and Mrs. Heather (As Rebecca calls them) are a delight and it's fun watching them be hyper-supportive of Rebecca as she spirals. The episode is also smart to point out why this hyper-supportiveness isn't actually good for Rebecca or Heather (Who just might be the support system Rebecca actually needs). Mr. and Mrs. Heather provide unconditional support but they don't push back or encourage follow-through or improvement. They enable Rebecca on her quest to become Miss Douche, but when she wants to give up, they accept it. They've let Heather quit everything she's ever tried which is why she still lives at home. They're good, loving people, but Heather and Rebecca need more than that in their lives if they're ever going to succeed.

-That being said, I do want to see more of Heather's parents. Hopefully they'll be popping over to Rebecca and Heather's new place often.

-Rebecca never found out about Paula's pregnancy, but she wound up playing a big part in Paula's ultimate decision by forcing Paula to essentially handled a whole case by herself, revealing that it will be impossible for her to both have a baby and do law school by showing how much her and Scott struggle with what they already have, but also by showing how good at legal work Paula is.

-Smart decision: We don't actually see Paula change her mind about going through with the pregnancy. We simply see her recovering from the procedure, before her blunt son explicitly states what's happening (Also the first time someone actually says the word "abortion"), which feels like a network note from someone worried viewers wouldn't piece it together but was funny enough to work.

-I thought the show was signalling trouble for Paula's marriage when she turned out to be pregnant, but Scott turned out to be loving and supportive of her dreams and the first one to bring up that Paula had "options". It was a very welcome turn of events. Far too many shows would make this about how Paula getting an abortion would affect Scott, but this isn't about Scott and he knows it. He just wants Paula to be happy.

-What does look to be in trouble though is Rebecca and Paula's friendship. That Paula couldn't bring herself to tell Rebecca about what she was going through, even after Rebecca was ready to open and pushing her to open up exposes how one-sided this friendship is in places. Becca can trust Paula with everything in her life, but Paula can't do the same because she doesn't trust Becca to be able to handle it. The show has collapsed Rebecca's relationships with Josh and Greg. How long until it collapses her relationship with Paula as well?

-Mrs. Heather trying her own version of a makeover song before "Makey Make-Over" was adorable though. And as for the actual song, I'm going to have "It's a Make-Over. Makey make-over" in my head for days so thanks show.

-This show is on such a roll right now and moving so much faster than I thought it would.

-Next week: Valencia is back after being kept offstage for the first few episodes. And she's eating doughnuts. That should be fun.

I Got Thoughts On Jane The Virgin: Chapter 48

I Got Thoughts is a point-form collection of my thoughts on an episode of television for when a normal recap just isn't enough to express everything I want to express.

-Well it's official. Good-bye Jane The Virgin, hello Jane The Virgin. I'll keep using Jane The Virgin in the title of these posts though for convenience sake and "Jane" in the posts for when I'm talking about the show and not the character.

-Chapter 48 was a bit of a comedown episode for "Jane" after the big emotional highs of last week, serving more as set-up for future episodes than anything else. That's to be expected though. Jane can't lose her virginity every week. And "Jane" is still very good at making set-up episodes entertaining in their own right.

-Now that Jane's finally had sex, she really likes having it whenever she can. That sounds like her.

-With all that went down at the end of last season and the beginning of this one, I totally forgot Petra secretly leasing Jane's house and paying half the rent was a plot point until it suddenly resurfaced tonight.

-Watching Jane and Michael get into a fight over budgeting was hard, but it felt true to life and exactly like the kind of fight those two would have. Television marriages can be tricky because plenty of shows don't seem to know how to have a strong, happy marriage still be dramatic and interesting. "Jane" seems to get that Jane and Michael can be married and happy but still have fights sometimes and deal with challenges though and that's cool.

-If this whole storyline turns out to be a ploy to get Jane and Michael back in the Villaneuva household for a bit longer while they look for a smaller house, I'll be slightly annoyed but only slightly. I already miss Jane not being in that house.

-Alba imagining a young Jane as a guide to help her navigate her dealings with Xo this episode was a nice device. The opening flashbacks of all the times Jane almost left the Villaneuva show also highlighted the not always easy relationship between the two and it's good to see the two trying not to go back to that now that Jane is gone.

-A thing I like about Xo trying to find a career for herself outside of singer is that it gives Xo a substantial storyline that revolves around her for once and not her relationship with Rogelio or Jane or Alba (Though of course they're involved because why wouldn't they be).

-I figured Alba would find out about Xo quitting her bank job before the episode was over but didn't think it would happen as quickly as it did. That was welcome.

-Rogelio's storyline with Rafael seemed like goofy filler at first until it turned into Rogelio "babysitting" Luisa and took a turn for the poignant as Rogelio used acting techniques to get to the bottom of Luisa's desire to drink. Luisa is often treated as a walking trainwreck and a joke by this show so it's heartening to see her plight be taken seriously. Hopefully her decision to go to rehab signals a positive turn for the character.

-That being said, already calling that Rose is going to be working at the rehab facility. Also I'm still not convinced that Luisa really ended things with her.

-Also I very much want to see more of Rogelio's old telenovella Addicted to Love, which was mainly used to telegraph the Jane/Anezka catfight. And him using his telenovella experience to try to relate to Luisa's real experiences is such a Rogelio move.

-Also I'm on board with Rafael and Rogelio finally bonding and becoming friends now that Rafael's no longer in love with Jane. And if this leads to a new bromantic triangle between Rogelio, Michael, and Rafael, all the better!

-The Anezka as Petra storyline is starting to run out of steam, and Jane's constant declarations of being done with Petra are starting to get tired. To the show's credit though, it seems to recognize this and is pushing it along to it's conclusion which is welcome.

-The dinner scene with Anezka and Scott at Jane and Michael's was as delightfully uncomfortable as the show wanted it to be. Also the pay-off of Anezka immediately knowing what Jane met by "Milos situation" after having to fake knowing what Jane was talking about for much of the episode was good. The way Anezka's earlier slip-ups come back again in the end when Jane starts piecing things together was even better.

-Scott is much more interesting as a #dicktator than the early days when he was just another hotel employee for Jane to bounce off of.

-The possible hotel walkout storyline only seemed to exist to create a slight conflict between Jane (Who refused Scott's bribe) and Lina (Who took it) that was immediately squashed, but I did like how it came around to inform the Jane/Michael budgeting story as Jane realizes she does want her and Michael to make it on their own without stressing about living beyond their means.

-The double subversion with whether or not the catfight was actually happening or not was clever.

-Hey Dot-Marie Jones! I haven't seen her since she was elevating Glee through sheer force of will. She doesn't get a lot to do as the enforcer Magda sends to keep an eye on Anezka beyond be imposing, but she does it well. Hopefully there's more in store for her.

-Also Jane Seymour was back! Her character hasn't been around since late season 1 (As demonstrated when she identified Rafael as Jane's boyfriend, which he hasn't been since around the last time she was on the show). She wound up being there to mostly be a plot device on the way to Rogelio and Rafael bonding, but watching her throw herself at Rafael was amusing.

-So we finally find out what Alba does for a living just so she can quit for a different job two episodes later? Typical. I wish we had gotten to see a bit more of her working situation beyond "mean boss" so we had more of a sense of what it means for her to suddenly quit her job after all this time. Sure when she tells Xo she didn't want her to be miserable at a job she hates, we can infer she was projecting but it feels a bit empty. That being said, her working at the hotel gift shop gives her the chance to be involved more with the Marbella stuff, which could be promising. I'm hopeful about her new love interest at the gift shop as well.

-Mutter's last message hidden in the bible she was holding when she was found was "Angels guard the son" (Or is it sun?). The crime stuff is still the weakest part of the show, but that's cryptic enough to be possibly promising.

-So Rafael's big secret that Scott gives to Anezka is that he covered up illegal doings by his father after his death. Not the most exciting revelation, but a fairly logical one that tracks with what we know about Rafael so it works.

-Jane's onto Anezka now so hopefully that means we get Petra back next week. To borrow a phrase from the Narrator, "it's about damn time".

I Got Thoughts On Crazy Ex-Girlfriend: All Signs Point To Josh... Or Is It Josh's Friend?

I Got Thoughts is a point-form collection of my thoughts on episodes of television. When a normal recap just won't properly allow me to express what I want to say or when I just don't want to organize my thoughts in a cohesive format, that's when I Got Thoughts comes in.

-Wow, it did not take long into the season for everything to blow up now, did it?

-Towards the end of All Signs Point To Josh... Or Is It Josh's Friend?, Rebecca lays down a summary of what the romantic comedy version of her and Greg's story would be to Dr. Akopian (A wonderful Michael Hyatt). "So I move to West Covina in love with someone else, and he's the sarcastic messed-up bartender who calls me out on my stuff, and I ignore him but we have undeniable chemistry, and now Josh and I break up, and it's about me and Greg". In the lesser romantic comedy version of this show, this would be more or less accurate. In fact, it's what it seemed like the show was going to inevitably set up in the early going, but Crazy Ex-Girlfriend has turned out to be more ambitious with more to say than that version of the show.

-The ideal end point for Rebecca's journey isn't that she winds up with Josh or Greg, it's that she winds up alone and OK with herself. The right guy can come after that. The problem with Rebecca is she refuses to accepts this and would rather interpret coincidence as signs from the universe. She keeps trying to work events that happen in her life as part of some grand narrative, but narrative isn't real and trying to turn life and random events into narrative the way Rebecca does is only going to lead to havoc for her and for the people in her life.

-"All Signs" not only deconstructs the idea of love triangles and looking for signs from the universe, it completely blows up the triangle Rebecca believes herself to be in because she was looking for signs. She may have been able to explain away her "I moved her for you" confession to Josh, but telling him she's pregnant, immediately getting her period right after, and then trying to sweep it all under the rug with a rousing song about period sex? It's going to be hard to come back from that one. And Greg sees the only sign that matters, the danger sign next to the incredibly romantic bridge Rebecca is waiting for him on and decides to do the healthy thing and get out of West Covina.

-Is Greg actually moving to Atlanta? Don't get me wrong. He really should get the hell out of West Covina, but as much as it loves to deconstructs tropes and challenge narrative conventions, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend is still a TV show and Santino Fontana is a regular. He could still leave but it seems early in the season for the show to be done with Greg as a character. Still though, I doubt whatever Rebecca is going to tell him at the airport is going to change his mind. Hmm.

-Also the "run to the airport" is another classic romcom convention that the show plays with tonight. It's a beautiful gesture in the movies (and in the last episode of Friends). In real life? Very over dramatic and creepy. We'll see how this plays out next week.

-We only got 20 seconds of "Period Sex", but that's about all we'll ever need. The brevity is what keeps it funny. Josh suddenly stopping her also sets up that the people in her life aren't going to just go with the narrative she's trying to create anymore.

-The Math of Love Triangles was the only real song in the episode tonight, but it was a great one. A pitch-perfect parody of Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend that shows Rebecca getting carried away with the idea that she's at the centre of some great love triangle (The song also reminds us that a proper triangle has multiple centres). The chorus of men actually being there to teach Rebecca's baby-voiced Marilyn Monroe impression about literal triangles was terrific. As was this exchange: "Is this a triangle?" "No, that's a shoe". "Is this a triangle?" "No, that's you." "So I'm a triangle?" "What?! No." "One two three six eight three, go!"

-There are a lot of scenes in Crazy Ex-Girlfriend that are hard to watch but Rebecca convincing herself that she's pregnant and then telling Josh she's pregnant was the hardest one yet. I couldn't stop wincing. Vincent Rodriguez III was great in that scene though, playing Josh's fugue state, followed by him breaking up with Rebecca perfectly.

-Also great was the farewell between Josh and Greg at the airport when Josh admitted that he hasn't been a great friend to Greg the last few months. It'll be interesting to see if this marks the start of a more self-aware Josh Chan.

-Chris' goodbye scene to Greg was sweet and set up the joke of Hector also having his mom waiting for him in the red zone well.

-While looking for signs on who she should be with, Rebecca stumbles upon an ad for Signs 4 and wonders how she missed the last two Signs. It's a dumb, silly joke and I loved it so much.

-Rebecca and Greg totally ship White Josh and Daryl. As we all should.

-More Guardrail tonight. Yay! If Greg actually goes to Atlanta and we follow him there, I hope we get to meet Barry (Who is an actuary, not a biker. Way to stereotype, Greg).

-A lot of the score in the show is instrumental reworkings of the various songs that have been in the show. It's a neat trick for underlining or establishing the inner thoughts of the characters during scenes  and it was especially effective at a couple key moments tonight. First was when "You Stupid Bitch" started playing after Josh breaks up with Rebecca, underscoring how much she hates herself in this moment. Second was when "Settle For Me" started playing as Greg considers meeting Rebecca at the bridge, underscoring the mistake he'd be making by settling now instead of going to Atlanta.

-The show acknowledging the fact that Rebecca and Paula will often leave work for no reason and Rebecca should probably be fired at this point was appreciated.

-Oh Daryl. One day Paula will realize that you're the best friend she deserves, even if your grand gesture this episode only exacerbated her crisis this episode.

-Rebecca's fake pregnancy scare leading to Paula actually being pregnant was very well done and devastating. The scene where Daryl surprises her with the early admission to law school he's arranged for her is bittersweet and devastating, and Donna Lynne Champlin does some of her finest work on the show yet as Paula realizes the impossible position she may be in and that she can't put off not knowing any longer.

-Now I realize that those previous scenes of how well Paula's marriage is doing was quietly setting up what could be an incredibly rocky period if not it's ultimate destruction if this leads to Paula choosing to get an abortion.

-If Paula gets an abortion, she'll be the 3rd character on a show I watch to get one in a month. Abortion's a real hot topic right now apparently. That's good though. It's a part of life and it deserves to be explored honestly.

-It's telling that the show chose to end on the Paula pregnancy cliffhanger and the serious drama in her life instead of the false drama of Rebecca confronting Greg at the airport.

-Frick, this was a good episode of television. Next week is going to apparently take on the classic romcom trope of "the makeover" so that should be fun.

-Rachel Bloom also did this today. You should watch it. It's funny AND important.