Cons:
Sometimes I honestly feel a bit trapped by this show,
because I know the point isn’t who Rebecca ends up with as a romantic interest.
I know it’s “a lot more complex than that.” But I also feel compelled by these
characters in a way that I can’t help but ship certain pairings, root for
certain romances to succeed, and so on. And in this episode, I honestly don’t
know if I’m supposed to be thrilled about Rebecca and Greg (which I sort of am)
or crushed about Nathaniel (which I definitely am) or worried about Rebecca (which
I’m not, right now… she seems to be doing pretty well). This is probably good
storytelling, but I just wanted to point out that I’m feeling conflicted, and
not in the good way that I like to be conflicted.
On a more granular note, I’m actually a little disappointed
that Greg was able to forgive Rebecca for sleeping with his dad. When that
happened back in Season Three, that was the lowest of low moments. Rebecca
almost died by suicide shortly after that. The consequences seemed pretty clear
in the moment. Among many other concerns, it seemed crystal clear that she’d
lost any potential future with Greg by doing that. And now… apparently not. I
guess I wish we could have had even more time with Greg, so we could understand
where he’s coming from and why he was able to forgive her and move forward from
it. I don’t think most people would have been able to do that.
Pros:
Paula has graduated from Law School! I’m so proud of her!
This part of the episode was my favorite, even above the Greg/Rebecca stuff.
There was just so much going on in terms of the characters that I found really
sweet and compelling.
Paula is such a familiar character to me. She reminds me of
myself, of my mom, of so many women I’ve known in my life who are smart and
capable, but don’t want to celebrate themselves for their accomplishments. I
love that Scott wants to support her desire for no attention, as he doesn’t
want her to be uncomfortable, but after a certain point he feels he needs to
step in and tell her she’s wrong – she deserves a bit of attention, and a
little bit of discomfort might just be part of that. I love how supportive her
friends all are of her! It warms my heart! (Side-note, though: originally,
Paula wanted Rebecca to come, and not Josh, meaning the room would have been
entirely couples – Valencia and Beth, Hector and Heather, Paula and Scott… and
also Nathaniel and Rebecca. That would have made for a very different and very
awkward night!)
Instead, we get the excellent little subplot of Nathaniel
and Josh learning to be friends. We’ve seen Nathaniel have these subplots with
other characters in the past, like Heather and Greg, and now it’s Josh’s turn.
The two of them have nothing in common, and totally fail at Paula’s law-themed
party game, until they realize that they can connect through sports. They then
sing the excellent song about Sports Analogies and how it’s the only way to
connect them. They come back in, and actually succeed quite well at the game!
It’s super cute! Also, those two dudes can really sing! I loved the song, and they both looked very dashing.
The final little subplot of the party scenes is between
Valencia and Hector. Hector is afraid of Valencia because she’s always so mean
to him. We find out that Valencia is jealous that Hector is so easy-going, and
everyone has always liked him more. Hector says there’s one person who he
always liked who never seemed to like him back: Valencia. She’s flattered, and
the two decide to be friends. This could be tossed aside as something of a meaningless
little subplot, but I actually liked it a lot, because it continues to enforce
how much of Valencia’s behavior over the years has been due to her own insecurities.
It doesn’t excuse her actions, but it explains them, and deepens her character
development considerably.
Other things I loved about the party: Heather and Beth
gossiping about their partners’ feud was great. Paula and Scott being amazing
at the law game. That reminded me of my parents. They’re freakishly good at
guessing games like that. The moment when Paula talks about her dad humiliating
her at a birthday party when she’s a kid, and Josh and Nathaniel sharing a
knowing look about dads. Seems that maybe they bonded over something more than
just sports! And of course, Rebecca and Darryl showing up at the end with a
cake that someone else’s friends forgot to pick up, and singing a congratulations
song for the person on the cake. That was just the cutest. Exactly the kind of
goofy thing that a group of friends would totally do in real life.
Rebecca gets roped in to babysitting for little Hebecca while
Darryl goes out on a date. She can’t seem to bond with the baby, and things get
even more complicated when Greg shows up and seems to be able to calm the
crying child down, no problem. Rebecca begins a shame spiral, and Greg breaks
in by confessing that he came over there to tell Rebecca that he can’t stop
thinking about her and still has feelings. The two kiss, and eventually have
sex, rekindling their romance.
There are a lot of things to praise about this, despite my
note above. The main thing is the moment when Greg comes back into the room
after putting the baby asleep, ready to resume their interrupted smooching, and
Rebecca stops him for a second. She explains about her shame spiral, and how
she needs to be sure that she’s not using Greg to validate her own self-worth.
I loved this moment. Greg is totally understanding, and the two of them seem to
be on the same page before they resume their kissing. Rebecca seems really
happy and really comfortable with what happened, and I like that we get the
evidence that she’s checking in with herself before jumping in and doing
anything rash.
Also, Rebecca and Hebby bonding is just the cutest thing
ever. We find out that Rebecca has been avoiding getting to know little Hebby
in part because the baby reminds her of a confusing time in her life where a
lot of things were spiraling, and she helped bring new life into the world
without really considering it. But by the end of the episode, she sings a
lovely reprise of “Nice to Meet You” and it looks like things are turning around
for them. This show continues to amaze me. It can take what started as a small
recurring joke about Rebecca continually forgetting about Hebby’s existence,
and turn it in to something poignant about Rebecca’s past, and future, and her
feelings of doubt and self-worth.
Poor Nathaniel is pining so hard. At the end of the episode,
he overhears Rebecca telling Paula about her night with Greg, and he’s just so
dejected. I want to give him a hug. In almost every show I’ve ever watched, I
am such a sucker for a guy pining for a girl. It can be a problematic trope
where the “nice guy” waits around for the girl to notice that he’s been there
all along, and that’s obviously annoying, but by and large I find pining to be
romantic as hell, and here it’s done really well. Nathaniel isn’t the nice guy
waiting to win his prize in the end. Greg isn’t either. They’re both complex
human beings, and so is Rebecca, and it’s not a love triangle in the traditional
sense at all. At this point, I would be satisfied with the show if Rebecca
ended up with Nathaniel, with Greg, with neither, with some random person we haven’t
met yet. That’s good television!
That’s where I’ll stop! I’m feeling more conflicted about poor
Nathaniel than I would have expected, and it’s making some of Greg and Rebecca’s
scenes tough to watch. But I’m still happy for both of them too, and I can’t
wait to find out more!
9/10
No comments:
Post a Comment
I'd really appreciate hearing what you think!