Crazy Ex-Girlfriend Review: I’m Almost Over You (Season 4 Episode 11)
Crazy Ex-Girlfriend Season 4 Episode 11, “I’m Almost Over You,” is a torture device thoroughly disguised as an episode-long romcom parody.
I love how it hurts.
It inflicts its pain by letting us believe it’s just this deeply clever showcase of Nathaniel’s ever-developing empathy (he really is the best kind of nice, now) that we always know is a fantasy.
The twisting of the knife is the reveal that Nathaniel and Rebecca have this “crazy” thing in common, they both process and grow by imagining vivid and prolonged musical scenes.
I don’t even consider how this coping mechanism connects the exes until Rebecca reacts to Nathaniel’s description of his journey.
I was already on Team Nathaniel, but now there is evidence that they are meant for each other. And there it is, just plopped at the end of a Scott Michael Foster episode (What did we do to deserve Scott Michael Foster? Nothing worthy, I can tell you that)!
OUCH! My heart can’t take this!
Another cruel tool of hurt is how blase and boring Greg is on the episode. In Nathaniel’s romcom fantasy he is a big jerk, but in reality, he’s just basic.
Basic is far worse.
Rebecca is healing and growing away from her destructive habits, but that doesn’t mean she’s suddenly simple. Her mental health issues didn’t make her a complex genius, she was already that.
Her mental health issues morph how her talents are levied, not that they exist.
So, Rebecca is still witty, driven, strange, sexual, bold, and creative.
Rebecca needs to be with someone who can match that complexity.
On “I’m Almost Over You,” we learn that Nathaniel has the chops to be a match for Rebecca. We also learn that New Greg is sweet and charming, and DULL.
Nathaniel walks away so Rebecca can be happy and it kills me. Shards of glass in my eye.
And there it is, what makes a good romcom a good rom-com is indeed that you become so invested in the romantic pair realizing they are meant to be that it hurts.
Crazy Ex-Girlfriend becomes the best part of what it has always parodied. I adore this show.
I am ready for the spin-offs, please and thank you.
Beyond the torture, the episode hilariously highlights the talents of the non-lead ensemble.
My favorites are a tie between George and Jim.
Danny Jolles as George is always spot-on with his face and line delivery. I center my attention on his reaction and it never fails to make me laugh.
He takes on the trope of the “performative masculinity best friend who gives the lead the bad advice that makes him realize the truth.”
He’s not bright, but he really loves his best friend.
ROM-COM GEORGE: And, I’m unreasonably cocky for such a slight man.
It is a joy because that is what George is to Nathaniel back in reality, sans the sports-obsession and bad advice. It is comforting to recognize the tropes as they’ve come to be Crazy Ex-Girlfriend-ized for our viewing pleasure.
The ensemble characters help us process the meta-rom-com journey, and it works wonderfully.
Jim interjects a narration of how ridiculous the different plot tropes of the rom-com are, while also actually helping the plot move forward.
Like Danny Jolles, Burl Moseley’s face is perfection!
The content of his lines are almost irrelevant; Mosley’s delivery and body language alone tell us what we need to know and crack us up.
I love everyone’s role in the parody from Paula to Tim, and it’s nice to see a focus on the law office staff that’s not peripheral.
Maya as a character has never quite worked for me. This episode doesn’t change that, but always excellent Esther Povitsky plays the parody version of her character with phenomenal precision. Her faces during the shopping make-over are a direct hit.
The show is having fun and taking risks in this final season, while not sacrificing the core characters and conflicts that make it what it is.
I already miss Crazy Ex-Girlfriend with the longing of a thousand She’s All That references.
Crazy Talk
- The Devil Wears Prada parody is a complete delight. The specificity and accuracy is next level. It makes sense given that it is Aline Brosh-McKenna’s film, but Michael Hitchcock, Michael McMillian, and Donna Lynne Champlin deserve a heap of credit too.
- The mutual blanketing by Nathaniel and Maya is egregiously funny.
- They may have done it, they made have covered ALL THE TROPES.
- Nathaniel’s line “I feel so rejected and low status,” is a wonderfully casual call out of why the male leads in rom-coms go after the girl. It often has nothing to do with actually liking them.
- Maya’s “quirky individual” wink is a mood.
What did you think of this episode of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
Reviewer Rating:
User Rating:
Crazy Ex-Girlfriend airs Fridays at 9/8c on The CW.
Follow @telltaletv_https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
Want more from Tell-Tale TV? Subscribe to our newsletter here!
Janelle Ureta
Janelle Ureta is equal parts Veronica Mars, Raven Reyes, and Rebecca Bunch, but she aspires to add some Tammy Taylor to the mix. An attorney turned teacher, Janelle believes in the power of a well-told story. She is currently exploring how to tell short stories, 140 characters or less, on twitter. She loves to talk about TV, and right now she can't shut up about Timeless, Dear White People, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, The 100, or Younger.