S04.E01: I Want to Be Here

[dubbel zout]

Quote

Rebecca faces the consequences of her guilty plea; Nathaniel looks for solace in a retreat; Josh searches for answers.

Edited September 29, 2018 by dubbel zout

[atomic]

Sneak preview of one of the songs:

[Spartan Girl]

Glad Rebecca is out of jail and Paula exposed Trent. Hope they lock him up and throw away the key.

Yeah, the Cell Block Tango attempt didn't go well. But I did love "No One Else is Singing My Song."

Valencia telling Rebecca to stop whining and do something was awesome, and a long time coming.

[txhorns79]

I feel like there was 40+ minutes of treading water, mixed in with three or four minutes of actual forward movement.  I was glad Valencia called Rebecca out, but how many times have characters called out Rebecca now?   

I thought the Cell Block Tango knock-off was more a time-waster than anything else.  The other song was pretty good.  Also enjoyed Josh calling Dr. Akopian's husband "Dr. Manakopian."           

[possibilities]

29 minutes ago, Spartan Girl said:

Valencia telling Rebecca to stop whining and do something was awesome, and a long time coming.

This should be a bumper sticker. Or a billboard. Or a Public Service Announcement. I think there are a lot of people who need to hear it.

[tennisgurl]

The "No One Else is Singing My Song" number was really good, and Valencia telling Rebecca off was awesome, but I generally thought most everything before that was pretty lame. The Cell Block Tango take off was awful (and I love Chicago!) and the episode seemed to be mostly spinning its wheels. I felt bored, and I never want to feel bored watching this show, especially after waiting so long for it. I am really glad that Rebecca is out of jail and that Trent confessed, so I hope this season livens up.

I did love the Grocery Clerk with Half an Eyelid guy showing up again. And it was fun seeing Carmen from GLOW as Rebecca's cellmate. 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

You know that things are topsy turvy when Hector, who has never been one to shy away from criticizing Rebecca, is the one pointing out to Josh that Rebecca was defending Nathaniel (rather than outright murdering people willynilly).

I'm with Heather - while I am glad that Josh is trying to figure himself out, taking online quizzes is not the way to go about that, and if he really thinks that he has any of the disorders he mentioned then he should seek professional help, not just read free articles.

George's obsession with ska cracked me up. Loved that Rebecca's non-fantasy singing is totally tone deaf.

The Chicago homage costumes were hilarious - sexy underwear right on top of the orange jail jumpsuits! The song at the end got bonus points for mentioning melisma (I blame Mariah Carey and American Idol for its prevalence these days).

Rebecca needs to stop seeing things as so black and white. Nathaniel did a nice thing offering to take her to Hawaii and she said no because she "needs to be a good person." You can be a good person AND celebrate the fact that you're not in jail and that you're in love by going on a weekend vacation.

Loved that Valencia was the voice of reason this week. Staying in jail doesn't help anyone just like pleading guilty to attempted murder didn't right any of the wrongs she had done previously. Feeling guilty about your privilege doesn't help the underprivileged either, so quit feeling sorry for yourself, get off your ass, and DO SOMETHING! Who would have guessed back in S1 that Valencia would be the one giving Rebecca such good advice and getting through to her?

[Eeksquire]

I was so happy that this show was back and then... not much happened. (And the less said about that terrible Cell Block Tango... mess, the better.) I feel like George was the MVP of the episode, which is just crazy.  I think the only laugh of the night was Paula tricking Trent into waking up from his 'coma' by suggesting that he had gone to Princeton.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

22 minutes ago, Eeksquire said:

Paula tricking Trent into waking up from his 'coma' by suggesting that he had gone to Princeton.

In my head, I heard Blair Waldorf saying, "Princeton is a trade school."

[SomeTameGazelle]

13 hours ago, txhorns79 said:

 

I thought the Cell Block Tango knock-off was more a time-waster than anything else.  The other song was pretty good.  Also enjoyed Josh calling Dr. Akopian's husband "Dr. Manakopian."           

The Cell Block Tango was used to illuminate that Rebecca's drama was frivolous compared to the situations of the other women in jail. Rebecca was trying to pull all of them into her fantasy frame and they resisted by refusing to sing. I didn't enjoy it as a musical number but I felt I understood what they were going for. Without the background Rebecca offering legal advice has less impact.

11 hours ago, MrFluffy said:

Jump the shark time. Now in its fourth season, I'm surprised they don't have a budget for decent sets and wardrobe. And poor dear Rachel (whom I admire greatly for getting the series made) cannot sing at all -- hideously out of tune. The whole show is like running through funhouse mirrors on 'shrooms.

Rebecca was hideously out of tune in the South Pacific number because it was real and that was what the other characters heard. The other musical numbers are fantasy and Rachel performs those in tune because that is how Rebecca feels.

[Penman61]

I thought the Cell Block Tango parody was intended to lose steam and then fall flat, because that's what was happening to the character:  Rebecca thought she was revving up to do a rousing sisterhood victim->victor anthem (like Cell Block Tango), but the air went out of the balloon when she realized how much better she has it because of her privi..um..p-word.  I guess it's a fine line between dramatizing enervation and inducing it in your audience...  

Edited October 13, 2018 by Penman61

[SomeTameGazelle]

2 hours ago, MrFluffy said:

I strongly disagree; it mostly proves how delivering something with confidence trumps the actual quality of the work.

Rebecca sang "I'm in Love With A Wonderful Guy" with tremendous confidence. It wasn't enough to make me think it was in tune.

 

2 hours ago, MrFluffy said:

I heard the same in the other songs, and it would be impossible for someone with good innate intonation to sing that "off."

Meryl Streep/Florence Foster Jenkins. Jo Stafford/Darlene Edwards. Patricia Routledge/Hyacinth Bucket.

 

2 hours ago, MrFluffy said:

And witness "My Sex Junk," purely from an artistic perspective. Ouch:

I listened to it and it sounded to me like there was intentional dissonance between the background music and the vocal part. The tone of Rachel's voice is not classically melodic but the notes she was singing were in tune; the chorus when it came in was consistent with her vocals. The song itself and the style might not be to everyone's taste but it appears to me that Rachel is singing the notes she means to sing.

Edited October 13, 2018 by SomeTameGazelle

[theatremouse]

17 hours ago, MrFluffy said:

And poor dear Rachel (whom I admire greatly for getting the series made) cannot sing at all -- hideously out of tune.

Rebecca Bunch cannot sing at all. Rachel Bloom can and has plenty before. This episode had way more of Rebecca singing in-story than any one previously (as opposed to musical delusions in Rebecca's head).

[dubbel zout]

20 hours ago, tennisgurl said:

I did love the Grocery Clerk with Half an Eyelid guy showing up again. And it was fun seeing Carmen from GLOW as Rebecca's cellmate. 

Yes! One thing this show does well is those little callbacks. So glad Britney Young is getting more work.

I would not want legal advice from a real estate lawyer who promises to "read up" on criminal law.

I love all the snark directed at Cats. It doesn't have a plot!

[txhorns79]

Quote

The Cell Block Tango was used to illuminate that Rebecca's drama was frivolous compared to the situations of the other women in jail. Rebecca was trying to pull all of them into her fantasy frame and they resisted by refusing to sing. I didn't enjoy it as a musical number but I felt I understood what they were going for. Without the background Rebecca offering legal advice has less impact.

I understood the purpose of the song.  I just didn't think it was all that well done.   

[ElectricBoogaloo]

23 hours ago, tennisgurl said:

it was fun seeing Carmen from GLOW as Rebecca's cellmate. 

Britney Young also appeared in S1.E10! She played Nicky/Samantha, the camper who was Rebecca's partner in elbow tag.

[DianeDobbler]

Britney Young was an assistant on CEG when she got GLOW. She says Bloom and Bosh McKenna cried in happiness for her when she booked GLOW.

This episode was meh for me. When I think about how brilliant the first half of S3 was, this does feel like wheel spinning. Without the lynchpin of her pursuit of Josh, which was an organizing principal for Rebecca's dysfunction, her behavior is not that compelling. I feel as if I've seen her go through the storyline that happened in this a thousand times before.

I don't know what's wrong with me, because I like Scott Michael Foster, but Nathaniel just feels like a waste of time, not interesting, and I am OVER the will they won't they shtick. I was hoping everyone had moved on but NOPE. Back to "I want you, I love you, but there are conflicts, so good'by!" It doesn't work for me that he's so into her, and they don't have chemistry. His chemistry with George, however, is stellar. Can't believe I couldn't stand George originally. As soon as Nathaniel came in and CEG developed that relationship - BOOM. Love George. I especially loved the scent diffuser adjacent to his tent. George knows how to camp! :)

Yes, the writing is killing itself making Nathaniel quirky, broken, etc., but I am not feeling it at all. I don't think that's especially in SMF's wheelhouse. He just feels like a conventional leading type guy with a nice deadpan / dry sense of humor. I thought he was completely outgunned in the three-part song with Bunch and Rodriguez. Bunch and Rodriguez, even in separate shots, shared a rhythm both vocal and physical, and had the same approach to the material, while SMF was kind of just hitting the marks.

I'm glad to see they are giving Josh something to do. It ended up really pissing me off what they did with him last season. The bottom line is Rebecca spent two and a half seasons manipulating him, lying to him, stalking and spying on him. She made him lose his job. She framed him. She even cheated on him. She was out of her MIND before the wedding, but blamed him when he left her at the altar, like she was some kind of martyr. I felt the show was gaslighting me, making everything Josh's fault, like it was HIS fault he was dumb and now in S3 we're just going to point and laugh. I don't know how the show had the balls to go through all those chasing Josh seasons and in the back half of S3 decide he needed to apologize to her. I was so pissed. And even though Josh is easy to laugh at and other male characters seem to have more partisans, I think he really anchored the show and I think he also made Rebecca easier to take, because he projects a warmth and an natural easy going energy. When you pit her against a more conventional type like Nathaniel, it feels as if he's just ignoring her OTT and working past it. Josh can bounce off it, share in it, etc. Anyway, bottom line is I have found REBECCA really hard to take in the back end of last season and now in this season, and IMO it's because the show lacks a character (Paula notwithstanding) to sort of play a good foil for her energy. I think without it even being noticable Josh did that, and the other characters don't do it as well.

[Cthulhudrew]

Count me in as thinking the episode was treading water for most of its running time. "No One Else is Singing My Song" was good, and Hector's confusion about the imaginary ceviche was the funniest bit. I hope this isn't an indicator of how the season is going to go, because I love this show and want it to end with a bang, not a whimper.

[alrightokay]

As I said toward the end of last season, I'm mainly watching this show for the supporting characters now.  Hector!  Valencia!  Heather!  and most of all, George!  These characters made this episode for me.  I LOVED how the end credits played over George's just-composed ska song, "I'm Broken"--that gave me the best laugh.  I also loved how Rebecca's point about the coyness of Harvard grads is the very thing that got Trent to "wake up" and have to confess.  The little details in this show still bring me joy; I'm just not attached to Rebecca anymore.  But I'm glad she's finally doing something selfless, and I liked the meta-ness of the two songs this week.  

[Yeah No]

1 hour ago, Cthulhudrew said:

Count me in as thinking the episode was treading water for most of its running time. "No One Else is Singing My Song" was good, and Hector's confusion about the imaginary ceviche was the funniest bit. I hope this isn't an indicator of how the season is going to go, because I love this show and want it to end with a bang, not a whimper.

Count me in too.  I suppose after the knot they tied the show into at the end of last season they had to spend at least one episode untying it, but I agree it just ended up treading water in the end.  I'm hoping for more as the season goes on.

One nice thing - The actress that plays Paula seems to have lost a significant amount of weight and she looks GREAT!

[Sara2009]

I guess I’m alone, but I laughed out loud multiple times during this episode.

[scrb]

Rebecca said she wanted to be good, make a real difference.

Nathaniel said okay go ahead and write some checks, serve on some boards, then offered up a Hawaii luxury resort getaway.

She was excited at first but then maybe thought spending money wasn’t going to make her feel better.

 

I was never big into camping but since when do they have pop up tents, vaporizers and gourmet meats?  I remember dehydrated packets of food.

Maybe that’s why Nathaniel thought a luxury vacation would make her feel better.  It seems to for him.  Guy from a wealthy family probably would not be into anyone who can be termed crazy.

[Whimsy]

I agree with the majority here. This episode was bleh for me. I am willing to stick it out because they had to sort of wrap up last season and set up this one, and it’s the last season. But, if this is an indication of how the season will be I’ll be ver disappointed. 

The only thing about this episode that excited me was when Nathaniel said he booked a room at Four Seasons Hualalai. My daughter worked there for four months as a pastry chef and we got to visit her. It was truly magical and amazing. 

[DianeDobbler]

I just thought the George stuff was meant to be a joke, which was executed pretty well. There's Nathaniel trying to do extreme survivalist stuff (although you could see the road and open areas through the trees behind him all the time), and up saunters George who with a flick of his wrist tosses his fully inflated tent onto the ground, which lands perfectly, and then unpacks the rest of his set up. He was glamping. :) Glamping is very very popular, although usually on a larger scale than George. The diffuser just made me laugh. He looked so comfortable. 

[AllyB]

This was definitely a 'we wrote ourself into a hole, reverse, reverse,' episode. Last season's finale had a lot of people being really dubious about Rebbeca's claims that Trent was threatening Nathaniel's life and she was acting in his defence. In this episode, every single person except for Josh was clear that it was completely obvious that she pushed Trent to save Nathaniel. Even Rebecca said her innocence was obvious to the judge. It was a total cop-out and I would be more annoyed about it, but it was an unbelievably stupid storyline and if this just means that the writers have recognised their mistake and did what they had to, to move past it really quickly, I can given them the benefit of the doubt and move on.

[possibilities]

I have zero use for or interest in Nathanial. I just don't think he adds anything to the show at all. He's a one dimensional bore. He hits the same note in every scene and in every song. I don't understand why they are wasting time on  him. If they wanted another lover interest for Rebecca, to show that she's going to handle it differently than her obsession with Josh, they could at least have made it someone who was inherently interesting and not just a cardboard cut out trope.

I liked the rest of the episode, though. I thought they tackled the issues well. It wasn't the best episode ever, it lacked thrills and excitement, but I think that's because right now everything is rock bottom, not manic. Rebecca is in that place where she isn't the person she used to be but she's not anyone else yet either. Her friends are confronting her, not enabling her, and she's not running away but she hasn't got momentum  yet, either. So it wasn't really a plot driven episode. It was more a reset and "this is where we are now" episode. Low on joy, not fun, and not crazy either. Ex-crazy Girlfriend.

[Rinaldo]

On 10/13/2018 at 12:51 AM, MrFluffy said:

And poor dear Rachel (whom I admire greatly for getting the series made) cannot sing at all -- hideously out of tune. The whole show is like running through funhouse mirrors on 'shrooms.

They have clearly and repeatedly established that when Rebecca (not Rachel) is singing "for real" -- the other characters hear it as singing -- she's not good at all. Rachel's own singing is fine, as shown not just within the show but at live appearances delivering the show's songs.

On 10/13/2018 at 6:34 PM, SomeTameGazelle said:

Meryl Streep/Florence Foster Jenkins. Jo Stafford/Darlene Edwards. Patricia Routledge/Hyacinth Bucket.

Exactly -- and perfect examples! (Just the ones I was going to name in fact.)

[dungeonwriter]

I just feel like this show has no idea where to go. I was so excited for its return but wow, it's gotten very stale. I think they really want to wrap up the journey, but you can't undo all of Rebecca's antics. 

Best thing she could do is start over. 

[Empress1]

On 10/13/2018 at 7:40 PM, dubbel zout said:

I would not want legal advice from a real estate lawyer who promises to "read up" on criminal law.

Yeah. That was really tone-deaf. It's still all about her. Rebecca not being a criminal attorney but giving these women advice on their cases could have real, lasting, damaging repercussions for those women, even if her giving them advice makes HER feel better. If she wants to help them, she should refer them to good criminal lawyers who will take their cases pro bono.

I liked seeing Carmen from GLOW too.

On 10/13/2018 at 10:30 PM, DianeDobbler said:

I am OVER the will they won't they shtick. I was hoping everyone had moved on but NOPE. Back to "I want you, I love you, but there are conflicts, so good'by!"

Me too. There comes a point where it's like, if y'all haven't gotten together by now, y'all aren't meant to be. 

[Yeah No]

23 hours ago, DianeDobbler said:

I just thought the George stuff was meant to be a joke, which was executed pretty well. There's Nathaniel trying to do extreme survivalist stuff (although you could see the road and open areas through the trees behind him all the time), and up saunters George who with a flick of his wrist tosses his fully inflated tent onto the ground, which lands perfectly, and then unpacks the rest of his set up. He was glamping. :) Glamping is very very popular, although usually on a larger scale than George. The diffuser just made me laugh. He looked so comfortable. 

I kind of got the impression that Nathaniel was trying to do his own version of the TV show "Alone" from The History Channel.

I suppose he was doing it as some sort of penance for his own perceived wrongdoings with regard to Rebecca.  I wasn't really sure what that was all about.

[iMonrey]

I thought it was pretty good! And I say that after really losing interest in it last season, so I wasn't especially looking forward to this. It sat on my DVR a couple of days before I finally got around to it, and I ended up being pleasantly surprised. I thoroughly enjoyed the Cell Block Tango parody and really liked the other song where everyone was singing in split-screen. I also liked the running gag with the website and its original content like Terrier Chef or whatever it was. I guess I'm not hard to please.

Is White Josh gone for good? I hadn't heard he was leaving the show. First Greg, now him? Boo.

[GreenlinetoHarlem]

On 10/13/2018 at 4:50 AM, ElectricBoogaloo said:

Feeling guilty about your privilege doesn't help the underprivileged either, so quit feeling sorry for yourself, get off your ass, and DO SOMETHING!

I love this timely message. I think a lot of people need to hear it and I'm grateful they are exploring it.

On 10/13/2018 at 6:40 PM, dubbel zout said:

I would not want legal advice from a real estate lawyer who promises to "read up" on criminal law.

You might if the alternative is no legal advice from any counsel.

 

3 hours ago, Empress1 said:

If she wants to help them, she should refer them to good criminal lawyers who will take their cases pro bono.

Yes, in a perfect world, but in reality total unicorns. Rebecca has been shown to be extremely bright and a creative attorney. I can buy her becoming an excellent criminal lawyer in this universe no problem.

I loved the ep and I'm so glad this show is back. Last season was not my fave; this seems really promising and there were some good laughs too.

[MilkMachine]

Thematically, I thought it was nicely done. I noticed the parallels between R/J/N—-I felt like all of their problems, to different degrees, were invented/self-made, and all of their solutions were a weak form of self-flagellation. Rebecca especially seemed to enjoy the drama of “jail life.” They are all blind to their privilege and making a mockery of people who actually suffer. To that end, I was pretty pleased with their shared song which just drove home their selfishness and cluelessness.

 

All that being said, it was a snooze to watch.

[theatremouse]

3 hours ago, Yeah No said:

I kind of got the impression that Nathaniel was trying to do his own version of the TV show "Alone" from The History Channel.

I suppose he was doing it as some sort of penance for his own perceived wrongdoings with regard to Rebecca.  I wasn't really sure what that was all about.

I don't think it was about penance for Nathaniel. When Nathaniel listed other things he'd done at other times, I took it to mean one of his go-to coping mechanisms is that when he feels very bad (emotionally) about something, he seeks out activities that will make him feel equally bad or worse physically. Whether that causes some sort of comparative effect (dehydration and a bloody nose is more unpleasant than his emotions so then they don't seem as bad/he has something else to focus on) or if it's more of his just wanting a physical manifestation of bad feelings that he can control (now I have an actual reason to feel this bad, so now it is acceptable to feel bad), I'm not sure. Given what we saw of his relationship with his parents I'm guessing more the latter? But it's that sort of thing where he's either replacing emotional pain with physical pain, or distracting himself from emotional pain with physical pain.

[Yeah No]

8 hours ago, MilkMachine said:

Thematically, I thought it was nicely done. I noticed the parallels between R/J/N—-I felt like all of their problems, to different degrees, were invented/self-made, and all of their solutions were a weak form of self-flagellation. Rebecca especially seemed to enjoy the drama of “jail life.” They are all blind to their privilege and making a mockery of people who actually suffer. To that end, I was pretty pleased with their shared song which just drove home their selfishness and cluelessness.

 

All that being said, it was a snooze to watch.

I agree with this.  I think this makes sense of this episode for me, especially the part about making a mockery of people who actually do suffer.  All of Rebecca's drama is self-created.  She is so out of touch with the prison crowd that even when she sort-of "wakes up" to it, she comes back offering them free legal advice which probably won't help them since she doesn't specialize in criminal law.  And of course even if she tries it will quickly become a misguided obsession whereby she does more harm than good for them.  

[Irlandesa]

On 10/13/2018 at 4:50 AM, ElectricBoogaloo said:

Rebecca needs to stop seeing things as so black and white. Nathaniel did a nice thing offering to take her to Hawaii and she said no because she "needs to be a good person." You can be a good person AND celebrate the fact that you're not in jail and that you're in love by going on a weekend vacation.

You can but not if you're still struggling with your sense of guilt over your actions and discovered that going to jail wasn't the solution you'd hoped it would be.  Before Rebecca even plead guilty, Nathaniel just wasn't fully understanding what's going on with her.  He tried to convince her that what she did (and he did) wasn't their fault because of their parents.  He took her guilty plea as a personal affront.  And when she talks about wanting to be good, he suggests a passive solution of giving away money and going on vacation to Hawaii.  Then he whines because she doesn't want to go.

Edited October 16, 2018 by Irlandesa

[iMonrey]

Yeah I didn't care for Nathaniel's attitude either. At least Rebecca has the self-awareness to acknowledge she's got some stuff to work on. He clearly does too, because who else thinks getting beaten up then dropped off in the wilderness is a character building experience? He just wants to run away from his problems.

[morakot]

I was mostly overwhelmed by the number of ads this time. It probably wasn't more than usual (was it?) but I found myself constantly picking up the remote to ff, and I couldn't get involved in the story much.

[DianeDobbler]

"I just feel like this show has no idea where to go. I was so excited for its return but wow, it's gotten very stale. I think they really want to wrap up the journey, but you can't undo all of Rebecca's antics. "

I think the problem is the dramatic tension is gone now that she has a diagnosis. Before there was the tension of - will Rebecca be exposed? Will Josh find out? Now they're trying to have her get up to some of the same antics without either the tension or the organizing principal that she thinks Josh will solve all her problems. They kind of have to invent a reason for her to act out. This week it was her wanting to do real penance, or thinking she did. Then what she's really doing is pointed out to her. So now we move onto something else. It's kind of random, and there's no narrative trajectory. We're just waiting for her to stop doing it.

I absolutely hate to agree with upthread that SMF is dull and Nathaniel is dull, especially since I didn't like Greg/Santino Fontana and thought SMH was a better fit. But the truth is, he has this small range that he does well, and after that he's got nothing. The three-way song kind of highlighted that. He was doing exactly what was expected, while Rodriguez III was much more inventive and alive. I don't really understand the character's attachment to or attraction to Rebecca. His issue - that he struggles to process or express emotion and handles it in stereotypically repressed uber masculine or WASPy ways - doesn't work for me because I don't believe in the emotion that's underneath. They keep telling me, but I'm not buying him as this emotionally broken dude who fits in with all the other CEG misfits. He doesn't (except with George).

Then there's Rebecca Bloom's performance. I hardly recognize Rebecca from S1 to S4. Not just physically, with the hair change and clothing style change. The performance is now all big, brassy notes and it feels kind of lazy. The heartfelt stuff just feels like she's hitting the beat and that's all. There used to be more variety in her singing, now it's "La la la la BELT THIS LINE la la tra la". I think the performance lacks heart and conviction these days.

And finally I think they missed the boat not closing the Josh loop. As soon as she had her diagnosis, it became against the law for them to have a scene together, except for when she thought he came to apologize and instead he came to thank her. Give me a big fat fucking break with that! She basically ruined his life while stalking him/engaged to him, and then ruined his life again when she had him lose his job and screwed his reputation. The fact that CEG tries to tell us it was good for Josh and woke him up to himself is b.s. because it doesn't take away from the wrong of it. Somehow, CEG which is so scrupulous about calling things for what they are - for example, calling b.s. on Rebecca's guilty plea - has decided to gaslight us about what went down with the Josh stuff.

 

Funny thing, last year the show runners were spinning Rebecca's guilty plea as kind of a noble way to take responsibility. I guess it didn't sell because this season they've backed off it.

Edited October 17, 2018 by DianeDobbler

[lavenderblue]

On 10/17/2018 at 8:50 AM, DianeDobbler said:

"I just feel like this show has no idea where to go. I was so excited for its return but wow, it's gotten very stale. I think they really want to wrap up the journey, but you can't undo all of Rebecca's antics. "

I think the problem is the dramatic tension is gone now that she has a diagnosis. Before there was the tension of - will Rebecca be exposed? Will Josh find out? Now they're trying to have her get up to some of the same antics without either the tension or the organizing principal that she thinks Josh will solve all her problems. They kind of have to invent a reason for her to act out. This week it was her wanting to do real penance, or thinking she did. Then what she's really doing is pointed out to her. So now we move onto something else. It's kind of random, and there's no narrative trajectory. We're just waiting for her to stop doing it.

 

 

I also feel like -- while this can turn on a dime, being CEG -- the message of this episode followed very poorly from Rebecca's existing narrative thread. The idea of taking action instead of wallowing in guilt over one's realized privilege is certainly timely, but not once have I watched this show and thought the BIG problem was Rebecca's failure to recognize her institutional advantages. Because while she is privileged in many outward ways (including the ability to blow through her income with incredible recklessness), she has also spent the series profoundly suffering due to significant mental health issues. She's not Josh (or many people in the real world) self-diagnosing as a way of establishing a new identity; her life to date has been defined by a sort of illness that's fairly rare in its severity and demands a lot of conscious effort to manage. I would like to think we'll learn that this focus on privilege, penance, or any other new searches for meaning she might embark on, will be just a replacement for a guy obsession and ultimately Rebecca will come back to her root issues and learning how to deal with herself before she tries to help anyone else. But the back half of S3 was so scattershot that I honestly can't feel confident it will go that way. And it's disappointing, because I loved this show's willingness to go as far as it did with the topic of mental health and wellness.

Edited October 19, 2018 by lavenderblue

[DianeDobbler]

On 10/19/2018 at 1:49 AM, lavenderblue said:

The idea of taking action instead of wallowing in guilt over one's realized privilege is certainly timely, but not once have I watched this show and thought the BIG problem was Rebecca's failure to recognize her institutional advantages. Because while she is privileged in many outward ways (including the ability to blow through her income with incredible recklessness), she has also spent the series profoundly suffering due to significant mental health issues.

Yes. Her problem was not privilege, and in fact I think her mother on occasion acted as if that WAS her problem, and mom was wrong. "After everything I did for you, Harvard and Yale, you throw it away for this dumpy town, blah blah blah." I was able to follow all the crazy (so to speak) things Rebecca did because the pain she was running from was so clear. The writers were so clear about it, even in the details. She'd burn the candle on both ends; she'd crash. Something didn't work and we'd see her the next morning slumped with an empty bottle of wine behind her.

Now that you have pointed out, I realize I need to ask myself - is Rebecca still suffering now that she has a diagnosis? Or is that water under the bridge, and she just needs to now manage her behavioral habits with medication and mindfulness? Behavioral habits that mostly boil down to - "she's very dramatic and immature." That only scratched the surface of the Rebecca we originally met, and it's not a very interesting show or protagonist now. There's nothing at stake and no rationale for the behavior because the diagnosis seems to have replaced the pain. Oh, she's borderline, and this is how borderlines act. Actually, I don't see her as behaving very "borderline" now that I think of it. I understand it as having incredibly intense emotions that are hell to manage, a lack of empathy, a component emptiness and a manipulative tendency all bound up together. This Rebecca seems to have lost all of her fear, all of her anxiety, emptiness, her terror of being alone forever. I don't think a diagnosis removes those fears, but therapy should give her some tools to manage them. What I see now is a brassy, dramatic gal who is a whole lot "extra" as they say, whose friends are very forgiving of a bunch of stuff she's done in the past, who is very immature and enjoys being the center of attention as a way to avoid coping with real life stuff she should be doing, but what that stuff is CEG has not been clear about.

Edited October 21, 2018 by DianeDobbler

[Trini]

I won't be participating in the threads much, but just wanted to say that I'm the show is back, and I'm eager to see where they take everyone in the final season! I'm glad that it looks like they actually have a plot for Josh.

[aradia22]

Look, I'm going to be watching every episode this season no matter what but this was a weak first episode back. The one good musical moment was towards the end of "No One Else is Singing My Song" and that was more because of the jokes about harmonies, etc. and less about the insightfulness of the song. They've done stuff like this in the past and it's worked better. Also, it reminded me too much of this

It was weak on the jokes and I felt like this episode mostly served to clean up the messiness of last season and get Rebecca cleared of the charges. Nathaniel's story could go somewhere interesting but I'm doubtful because I think they want him hanging around as a love interest unless they have someone else in mind or a different story for Rebecca. In which case, Nathaniel doesn't need to be there because if he's no longer a viable love interest then any screen time he does get will just detract from the more important stories that need to be told. I guess Josh being in therapy is good but... why? I'd rather see more with any of our other characters. Also, did I forget what happened to White Josh? 

[aradia22]

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Jo Stafford/Darlene Edwards

Oh my God, I love Jo Stafford and I never knew about Darlene!

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Yeah. That was really tone-deaf. It's still all about her. Rebecca not being a criminal attorney but giving these women advice on their cases could have real, lasting, damaging repercussions for those women, even if her giving them advice makes HER feel better. If she wants to help them, she should refer them to good criminal lawyers who will take their cases pro bono.

I agree with @GreenlinetoHarlem that some legal counsel is better than no legal counsel. And given the stories we heard, I'm assuming these women don't have great legal counsel. Besides, she didn't say that she would represent them in court... just that she'd help with legal advice. 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

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