blueteainfusion

Actually Greg's mom was mentioned before a few times. He did say in the pilot that his parents were divorced and he had to quit business school to take care of his dad, who he considers to be the only person to be there for him; his father also said: "run while you still can, like your mother did." So for me, the set-up worked well. As I said earlier, it could have used more time to flesh out the story, but the idea was solid and it honestly explains so much about Greg's issues.

Could they have taken it further? Oh yes. But I'm actually glad they didn't - sometimes the cringe comedy on this show is too much for me. I'm not sure I could have stood more humiliation for Becs. My problem with this episode boils down to a fact that they tried to fit in too much plot and character development. If in case of Rebecca and her mom it worked out nicely (if you can call this tenuous truce "nice" - Mrs. Bunch, even if she indeed does love her daughter, is/was still a bad parent who messed up her child's mental health), Greg's subplot was simply too rushed. I surprisingly loved Heather's involvement, thought she contributed greatly and don't mind the kiss (more on that below). Unfortunately, Greg vs. his mother needed more time to be fleshed out. I'd appreciate if the show acknowledged that while he apologized for being a dick as he absolutely should have, his issues are not actually resolved. After all, with both his dad and his mom being such nice, warm people, and Greg growing up to be a bitter grump - this will take more than one semi-successful Christmas Eve-Eve dinner for him to work through that. I like Josh, but his storyline this week was silly and not particularly meaningful. It doesn't help that it's pretty much a retreat from Aloha Tech Center, only thinner and less funny. I prefer watching him fretting over his romantic life, as I think it has more potential for juicy drama. Of course the writers want to develop him as a character first, but... there's no need! We already get him, he's a sunny, uncomplicated sweetheart mentally stuck in high-school. For Josh/Rebecca to work (for now), that's enough. Once the real trouble with his own love triangle starts (this is only a foretaste), he'll be forced to grow up anyway. Speaking of love polygons... I find it really interesting how they're pairing up and contrasting various characters. As it stands now, Josh and Rebecca are super cute together and have great chemistry. Josh brings out her sweet, charming side and they obviously find great comfort in each other's presence: mutual adoration and validation. Unfortunately, he hasn't been exposed to most of her crazy recently and seems to forgotten how "dramatic and weird" she can get. He seeks a cheerful, laid-back gal much like himself and Rebecca (nor Valencia) is just not it. And from Rebecca's side, putting aside her blind obsession for a moment, she ignores that he's just too chill for her and obviously their life goals and intellect are drastically different. Mirroring these two, we have Greg and Heather. I think they aren't a bad match at all, but we'll have to see more of them together to really for an opinion and prediction for their future. I'm curious to see how their characters will clash, with a dramatic (in his own way) and hard-working Greg and super-chilled but still level-headed Heather. They do share bluntness though - I like that about this pairing. The question is: does putting together two people with very similar issues like Greg and Rebecca could work too? They have fantastic chemistry, great banter and lots of things in common - but if together, wouldn't they just make each other miserable? Same if we got a hypothetical pairing of Josh and Heather - these two would accomplish nothing in their lives (but maybe they'd be happier that way). I wonder if balancing each other out works best for these four. Anyway, I'm very intrigued about where all of this is going. Winter break is going to be rough :/ As a sidenote: British Jew Paula slayed. Woman, stop enabling Rebecca and just be that awesome always, okay?

I love this article. It perfectly sums up what I admire the series for the most.

Oh, they definitely exist. I know at least 4 guys from my high school who became priests and they all have varied degrees of "modern approach". This is why Father Brah and his friendship with Josh rang so true to me. After all, my best friend's wedding was officiated by a priest who had also been her prom date back in a day. I'm curious how they're going to further handle Catholicism in the show. Next episode promo shows Rebecca being invited to the Chan family mass and both Rachel Bloom and her character are Jewish (and Rebecca hasn't been portrayed as a religious person, as she "believes in science") - so that could get messy/interesting/funny/cringe-worthy, as this show usually is.

Seriously, it's Rebecca, not Rachel...

Unfortunately, there wasn't any other way. The show was cancelled a day after they finished shooting this episode. I'm rather grateful it's this one, not for example 1x12 (not that it was bad, but that would have been a thousand times worse ending)

Aaaand it's over ;( I'm just sitting here, contemplating my overwhelming love for Eliza. I never expected to love her as much as I do now, especially since she reminds me so much of myself (excuse me, projecting here). Her enormous growth in such a short time is so inspiring and heartening. And finally, finally she feels good about herself. She can embrace her awkwardness as a lonely teen and be super proud of how far she went - and simultaneously, still like pretty clothes, make-up and sex. At last, she isn't apologizing for who she is, all the while tempering her more self-destructive habits and embracing various interpersonal relationships. I think with her speech outside the bookstore, we're supposed to understand that Henry's reaction, too, means that he's not going to try to change her too much. He looked upset at how the situation affected her and surely, if the show was given more time, we'd see that he would start to fully accept her just the way she is. Of course he's got feeling for her regardless, but when he tried to make her feel good about herself, he used examples of her past behavior that the past Henry would have found slutty and inappropriate. He might still not like her promiscuity (especially now that he's grown to love her), but he isn't slut-shaming her anymore. The message of the show turned out to be generally very positive, contrary to what people assumed based on the premise and the pilot. It was not about older guy making a vapid, social media-obsessed women more lady-like. It was about reaching out to people and meeting them in the middle, building support network around you and looking past the shallow appearances. It was also about not completely changing oneself, but accepting who you are and improving upon your best qualities. And not hiding behind the walls of modern technology or workaholism to cover your insecurities, but facing the challenges head-on. Eliza is finally getting there, Henry might be still a few steps behind, but he took a big step too. And just the general shout-out to the supporting cast. Charmonique is the queen ofc - I love the friendship between her and Eliza (and how cute was the genuine respect and admiration that Eliza has for her?) I adore every single one of them (Bryn and her book club being the least developed, I like them the least), with Freddy being the biggest surprise. He's a fun, if a little dumb guy. Henry and Eliza are obviously the endgame, but I'm kinda grateful I won't have to see the inevitable breakup with Freddy. Seeing his heart break for real would break mine too.

Sad and poignant episode. I hurt for everyone involved. Of course Eliza's pain was the most palpable, but for some reason my heart goes to Freddy - the guy was a mess. I think he didn't deserve to be treated like that. The scene where drunk Eliza goes to find him, you could feel desperation from both of them. She's throwing herself at him out of despair, but it's obvious he misses her very much, willing to take every scrap she offers him. Yes, he's a tool, but it's not his fault that she's developed above his level already and is not interested in him anymore. Do you think he's started to appreciate her more and more as she's been growing as a person (aside from her harsh and careless way she dumped him, of course - that was uncalled for)? Or maybe he's not that deep, lol. I wonder what Henry is thinking in the end of the episode. Is he sticking to his decision to reject Eliza or is he already regretting it? He feels awful, that's certain, but I wonder what was his motivation to go and see her that final time. I'm assuming he lied about Julia waiting for him downstairs... I just don't get why. Did he feel it was necessary to repeat that he doesn't want her? He was clear with his message the first time. If he didn't come back, Eliza would have gotten it anyway. It just really hurt to see Eliza so happy and hopeful in the beginning, and Henry crushing her first with his avoidance and then with his condescending rejection. He hasn't learnt anything at all, still thinking he always knows better. I know that he's terrified of this relationship, but projecting his own fears on Eliza is seriously insulting to her. I have a sinking feeling that he still thinks of himself as better than her. The repeated reminders that she had a few office relationships before him must be humiliating for such a judgmental guy like Henry. This is an ugly thought of his, especially since he knows her well enough now to know better. It's frustrating to watch him sabotaging himself and yet you can't help but feeling sorry for the guy. He's letting his own insecurities not only ruin his happiness, but seriously hurt Eliza (and Julia) too. Such a heartbreaking situation, but very believable and true to the character. I was fearing he would react like this - sadly, I was proven right :( Fortunately, there were some great moments to ease the pain of this episode. I adored 1) Eliza's first conversation with Freddy, especially "Your Adonis belt?! *spit* Freddy, NO!". All in the delivery. 2) Eliza storms to Henry's room and he looks for an escape route, great physical comedy 3) Charmonique vs. Bryn 4) Joan!! She was amazing on stage! Wish Saperstein's performance was a tiny bit longer too. Overall, fantastic episode. I wouldn't even mind if the show would last only one season, provided it told a finished story. However, I feel that 22 episodes would be perfect to address all the underlying issues those crazy kids have. My fear is that they'll have to sweep most of them under the carpet to give them a happy ending. There's so much room to grow for both the characters and the show! Somebody, please #SaveSelfie! One more thing: is it true that we have only two more episodes left, instead of three? IMDB lists 12 of them, but I haven't seen any official confirmation that they're skipping one. Can somebody please confirm?