Crazy Ex-Girlfriend: “Josh Has No Idea Where I Am!”
Episode 1.15
Looking back, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend has always been a show about the aftershocks of divorce. Way back in episode two, when Valencia taunted Rebecca by singing, “My father didn’t leave me,” I thought it was just a one-off joke. But the next episode next episode touched on Rebecca’s childhood again, addressing the effects of her father’s exit from her life on her relationships with men in the song “A Boy Band Made of Four Joshes.” By episode eight, we got a firsthand look at Rebecca’s chilly relationship with her mother Naomi (Tovah Feldshuh), whose disapproval had loomed large for weeks.
Now, in “Josh Has No Idea Where I Am!” Crazy Ex-Girlfriend finally dives deep into the childhood trauma at the show’s epicenter. That’s heavy subject matter for an episode that sheds off its B-story and largely confines itself to two sets—the airplane from the end of the previous episode and Rebecca’s apartment—but, as usual, Crazy Ex tempers it with a healthy dose of silliness.
In this case, that much-needed levity comes in the form of a Dreamgirls-inspired number called “Dream Ghosts” featuring guest appearances from Amber Riley (Glee) and Ricki Lake. “Dreamghosts” introduces the Christmas Carol-esque conceit of the episode, in which a dream version of Rebecca’s therapist Dr. Akopian (Michael Hyatt) takes her on a journey through past and present to teach her a lesson about love. It’s a delightful musical number that recalls the best episodes of Community in its ability to break the fourth wall while maintaining a certain earnestness.
“You know the trope—in storytelling it’s a norm,” Dr. Akopian sings. “When a person’s in trouble, a manifestation of their subconscious appears in the form of a dream ghost!”
But even though the trope has been called out, the show doubles down on it nonetheless, exploring a young Rebecca’s surprise visit to her father’s house with Dr. Akopian as emotional guide. What present-day Rebecca remembers as proof that her mother interrupted her bonding time with her dad is revealed to be the exact opposite: her dad had actually asked Naomi to come retrieve Rebecca so he could have alone time. It’s an event that explains a lot about the series so far. Rebecca’s impulsive behavior, her resentment for her mother, and her pursuit of Josh all have their roots here. And true, this subtext was almost better left as subtext, but if it had to be depicted, this was the way to do it, with great performances from Feldshuh, Jay Huguely, and Ava Acres, who reprises her role as Young Rebecca.