Nathaniel stars (and Scott Michael Foster triumphs) in his own romantic comic Crazy Ex-Girlfriend

Attempt to describe Crazy ex-girlfriendThe operating mode of the last four seasons and it is very likely that you will get a result like:Crazy ex-girlfriend uses the tropes of romantic comedy, musical theater and other genres, both narrative and musical, to explore Rebecca Bunch's relationship with the world, with those whom they love and with themselves. t a movie, but movies can sometimes help. They can also hurt sometimes.

So we come to "I'm almost over you," an hour-long deconstruction and a parody of romantic comedies that allow one of the most transformed characters in the series to reach a new heart-rending place of growth personal. To get there, he must try a genre in an immersive way. He has to go through a shit. And what he wants to learn and what he actually learns are two very different things.

Sounds familiar?

The episode mentioned in the tweet above Aline Brosh McKenna is this: "Josh's ex-girlfriend is crazy," sometimes simply called "SwimChan". This is Rebecca's sexy-scary movie. Like this one, it fully adopts the language of another genre, not for a song, but from end to end; like this one, it comes to the perfect end for Crazy ex-girlfriendHonest take of this kind. Rebecca's horror story does not threaten Lourdes and stands near a pit; she wakes up with Greg's father and goes alone to his shitty inn through the streets. Nathaniel's romantic comedy is not a disappointing karaoke issue, but a woman he loves and realizes his two choices are far away and lets her try to be happy, or keep pushing and take away the only thing you should always want for the people you love. Honest horror. Honest romance. Deconstructions are also excellent examples. Remember that life is not fictitious, says fictitiously.

These episodes have another thing in common: they serve as showcases for the remarkable talents they focus on. The first time, it was Rachel Bloom and Vincent Rodriguez, who found the way to have fun while playing the nightmare with a great sincerity (each representation of this episode is excellent, but it is in the center of the stage). This time it is Scott Michael Foster and Esther Povitsky, the latter responsible for managing most parodies (with the help of the team Mountaintop and Donna Lynne Champlin in particular). Povitsky is awesome, maybe the MVP of the episode in terms of percentage of punchlines has landed, but it's time for Scott Michael Foster, and he's definitely going there.

Think about what he was asked to do here. The many rom-com references to the episode begin with a real Large-ing, also known as 13 continues 30-ed; he does not need a bop on his head, he does it alone. This means that his first task is to show us that Nathaniel lives and looks from the outside. He knows there is a script, but he does not know what will happen. He has a whole bunch of ill-defined characters, most of them at least a little aware of their disability (again, the terrified void of Donna Lynne Champlin is something majestic to behold), a new distorted look, an unimportant task that does not make sense and that is entrusted to a maniac boss. (one of the many nods to The devil dresses in Prada, which of course has been adapted by McKenna), and a goal: to recover Rebecca (here the ex-not deserving, a standard rom-com), at any price.

He has another thing: a treasure of knowledge has been illuminated by only looking at the first half of a group of rom-coms. That's why Nathaniel does not know he's doing a huge mistake by going down the path "let our exs be jealous of our false relationship". It's a well-written writing (attributed to Michael Hitchcock, who plays a double role here, also replacing Miranda Priestly). Anyone who has a passing acquaintance with roms – com will know without it being told (though he tells us eventually) that Nathaniel has not finished the movies because he knew it, he would know that the person with whom you maintain a false relationship is almost always the real final phase. And that's (almost) exactly what's going on. They are plotting. They are getting a new look. They have a karaoke party. They work late and cover each other with blankets. Then, Nathaniel undertakes to make his dramatic gesture and realizes what would happen to all those who have already finished a romantic comedy: he pursues the wrong girl.

But it's not How to lose a guy in 10 days. His Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. So we do not have the expected end, because real life is not a movie. Life is a gradual series of revelations that occur over a period of time. It's not a carefully prepared story, it's a mess and we're all going to die.

This time belongs to Scott Michael Foster. It brings the precision that the script requires, while creating an hour-long audition for rom-coms in which it will inevitably be thrown. However, what is different is all about Povitsky. She's so funny all the time, but the frank and tender farewell she said Rebecca– is considerably heavier. Then director Erin Ehrlich returns to Maya and Maya is no longer there. It's just Rebecca, not the ex-waitress version, the real one. And at that moment, she tells him – which really means, Nathaniel tells himself – that it's time to let the person whom he loves be happy. It's time to be a good person, an honest and loving person and to leave.

The odds of "I'm almost over you" are the last we see from Nathaniel Plimpton III are practically nil, but if it were his end, that would be perfect. The guy who fired George for kicking now confides in him and presents him as his best friend in his own fantasies. The guy "Let's have sex" sobs on the shoulder of a pizza delivery man after using his own emotional intelligence to understand his shit ("Tell me I'm fine, Pizza Guy …"). It's an arc of a circle and a performance.

This episode will not make everyone vibrate. Nobody is himself, and so everyone but Nathaniel is put on hold. But handing over this time to Hitchcock, Ehrlish, Povitsky, and Foster, Crazy ex-girlfriend creates something singular. Besides, he's doing something I really do not want to be: he's moving slowly, but with confidence, at the beginning of his end.

Observations lost

• Nice contact: Greg is recovering, even in Nathaniel's rom-com fantasy.
• Fun fact, I learned while writing this review: If you search for Miranda Priestly, Google displays Anna Wintour's Wikipedia page.
• GGG Award: Well done, the pizza guy! I arrived there.