Crazy Ex-Girlfriend Review: Getting Over Jeff (Season 3 Episode 7)

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend Season 3 Episode 7, “Getting Over Jeff,” has me shaking my head and thinking, “What a mess.” It delivers a whirlwind of plot that results in as many confused faces as laughing ones.

First things first: Darryl and WhiJo love each other and belong together. Rebecca can throw (and has thrown) all the wrenches she wants at this ship. But if there is anything right in the world and on this show, they will end up together, happy, and growing old together. No one can convince me WhiJo and Darryl are not meant for OTP, long-term love.

Moving on…

It is as if the lines from Josh Groban’s ballad on Crazy Ex-Girlfriend Season 3 Episode 4, “Josh’s Ex-Girlfriend is Crazy,” are being proven with “Getting Over Jeff.” Groban sang “Life is a gradual series of revelations / That occur over a period of time / It’s not some carefully crafted story / It’s a mess and we’re all gonna die.”

There is little about Season 3 that is lending itself to be wrapped up in a nice bow. The impact is unnerving, but also deeply entertaining. I think to love this show, I need to trust Rachel Bloom and embrace the mess, because we’re all gonna die, after all.

Paula takes the lead on “Getting Over Jeff,” as we travel to her hometown of Buffalo and meet her father, Bob. Bob is a an alcoholic who voices bigoted and misogynistic views. He is attached to his La-Z-Boy as if it were an appendage.

Paula seems resigned to his personality and works around it. Rebecca, who tags along with Paula for her homecoming, immediately bonds with Bob as she attempts to live a “C+” life, rather than being hyper-productive and by-the-book all the time.

The East Coast adventure illuminates how Paula’s been impacted by past rejections and how she manages her loyalties.

Bob rejects Paula from the second she walks in the door, denying the need for her to be there and insisting that he would prefer if she were a boy. Paula seems unfazed — her father’s rejection has become so natural to her that she doesn’t react. Thus, we learn that at some point, Paula has set boundaries well enough that Bob’s barbs and digs can’t penetrate her defenses.

Paula’s defenses are, however, penetrated when she runs into “her Josh Chan”, Jeff, at the grocery store. A very supportive grocery store clerk prompts Paula to share the story of Jeff: “The Very First Penis I Saw.”

“The Very First Penis I Saw” is a visual and auditory delight. Donna Lynne Champlin as Paula exquisitely prances and bounces around the aisles, with Jeff products and signage adding layers of humor to the performance.

It is important that Crazy Ex-Girlfriend is giving us the representation of a middle-aged, non-skinny woman who sings about penises while clutching an eggplant. Paula is sexy and struggling with her identity, and her character is refreshing.

Ultimately, Paula needs to take some power back from Jeff by being in a position to reject him. This is a chance she would never get with Bob — you can’t really reject a father. Jeff gives her this chance, and as a result, we see that Paula struggles too.

Paula does not struggle with her dad, though. She accepts his defensiveness of her as a compliment and thanks him simply. She then moves on and returns home to Scott.

Paula’s ability to guard herself against her father’s opinions of her, good or bad, is evidence that Paula is far more emotionally advanced than Rebecca. Even though Paula doesn’t always make good choices and does “crazy” things, she can be a good friend to Rebecca by sharing that progress.

They are two, equally sized, equally special, spoons, fitting perfectly together. Paula and Scott are also spooning equals.

Paula and Scott’s marriage does not get enough credit. They have significant ups and downs. But at the end of the day, they can joke about preferring Brad Pitt, while eating pie and confessing their enduring love for each other.

A Paula-centric episode is long overdue. Paula’s arc hits the right notes — whereas Rebecca’s arc on “Getting Over Jeff” is confounding.

One aspect of “Getting Over Jeff” that makes me furrow my brow in confusion is her relationship with ” Dr. Dayyuumn.” After Rebecca marches into his office with her self-assigned homework, all completed before a non-existent deadline, her doctor suggests she take it down a notch.

His casual approach, though, is strange. The two don’t discuss medications, her participation in group therapy, or other concerns. Rebecca is unclear about how sexual relationships and alcohol will mix with her treatment.

Adding to the confusion is the fact that the audience doesn’t know if we can trust Rebecca’s perspective. The last sequence of the episode features Dr. Dayyuumn giving Rebecca a grape-scented sticker.

This is not normal.

Is the doctor really even there? If so, is the doctor just a bad doctor that we’re supposed to think is a bad doctor? Is the audience supposed to be on board with the doctor’s treatment and just enjoy the joke?

I have so many questions.

Another confusion-creating relationship is that between Rebecca and Nathaniel.

Don’t get me wrong, I could watch those two hug all day. All day! Rebecca comparing Nathaniel to a sequoia because he’s tall, hard, and native to California is absolutely hilarious.

But I don’t understand several things about their romance. First, I do not recall Rebecca quitting. I know she left for New York, and she is in treatment for her suicide attempt, but when did she actually quit? She calls Nathaniel her ex-boss, but it could be that she is trying to minimize the poor choices she is making to her doctor by calling him her ex-boss.

It is also very confusing and unclear what Nathaniel is thinking and why he is smitten with Rebecca. Her behavior towards him has been (and continues in this episode to be) erratic at best and abusive at worst. Nathaniel is not a very interesting character if his only current quality is “likes Rebecca.”

Rebecca’s character development on “Getting Over Jeff” is a zig-zag and foggy road. I hope that after the winter hiatus some of the confusing pathways are cleared so we as the audience can walk with Rebecca through her recovery.

A final point of confusion and contention: are Darryl and White Josh really breaking up? This is unacceptable. Especially because Rebecca is really the one who placed the fat seed of doubt into Darryl’s mind that it would never work between him and White Josh, I can’t accept this ship’s demise.

Fingers crossed that the Darryl and White Josh ship survives to sail another day.

The episode is enjoyable, fascinating, and confounding. And it still doesn’t address the domestic and sexual violence Rebecca has committed upon other main characters.

Until the distraction of unresolved issues is covered explicitly and with justice on Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, all the episodes will be, at best, quite good.

What did you think of this episode of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!

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Crazy Ex-Girlfriend airs Fridays at 8/7c on the CW.

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