Crazy Ex-Girlfriend – Can Josh Take a Leap of Faith?

By: Stacy Miller

The episode opens with Rebecca (Rachel Bloom) sending her dad a text message to see if they can get together. It is similar to the one she sent Josh in the pilot. Paula (Donna Lynne Champlin) arrives with Rebecca’s veil. “I’m crafty, I can do stuff,” Paula says proud that she was able to add beads using hot glue, but warns Rebecca not to touch because it could fall apart any second. Rebecca can’t believe that she’s marrying Josh Chan. This leads to the song “What a Rush to Be a Bride,” which is a heavy metal duet with Paula and Rebecca. After Paula leaves, Rebecca shares her wedding excitement with Josh (Vincent Rodriguez III). He makes a comment that he can’t wait for the wedding to be over so they can begin their lives together. Rebecca is all for the traditions of weddings, especially the father-daughter stuff because she gets to spend time with her dad. “Maybe this is the version of Rebecca Bunch that he’ll stick around for,” Rebecca tells Josh. She’s excited when her dad texts her back. Rebecca’s disappointed that her father writes he can’t meet her because of business commitments, but will see her at the rehearsal dinner. Rebecca brushes off her disappointment by saying it’s not like her father will abandon her because he’s in town for her wedding. “This is what happy looks like” she tells Josh. We then get a flashback from seven years ago. Rebecca has on a Harvard sweatshirt and is wearing a veil. A guy tells her how beautiful she looks in the veil. “Oh Robert,” Rebecca says. Oops…she said that out loud and to Josh? Come on Rebecca, how do you explain your little slip of the tongue? Rebecca tells Josh that Robert is the new of the new client at the firm, actually Julia Roberts, who is a single mom investigating a water contamination case. “She’s a real pretty woman,” adds Rebecca. Ha!

Josh is given a stag party with Darryl (Pete Gardner), White Josh (David Hull) and Hector (Erick Lopez) attending. Still thinking about Robert, Josh asks Darryl about the firm’s new client Julia Roberts. “That’s Erin Brockovich,” Darryl says. Josh tries to laugh it off, but now he’s totally wondering who Robert is. Josh questions Father Brah (Rene Gube) about whether he had any doubts when he decided to marry God. Father Brah, who is wearing a “‘I May Be A Priest But I’m Not Saint” t-shirt, responds that when he got the calling from God he went to see Father Rodrigo at the seminary in San Luis Obispo. White Josh says to Darryl he feels Josh and Rebecca are the last two people who should be getting married to anyone and adds that most marriages tend to end in divorce anyway. Darryl is not happy to hear White Josh’s views on marriage.

Valencia (Gabrielle Ruiz) is really in her element as a wedding planner and has an equally capable assistant, Heather (Vella Lovell). Naomi (Tovah Feldshuh) and Mr. and Mrs. Chan (Amy Hill) think it’s not normal that Josh’s ex-fiancé is in charge of Josh and Rebecca’s wedding. At the rehearsal dinner, Valencia tells Rebecca that there will be a father-daughter dance at the wedding. Rebecca is beyond excited. “I get to dance with my daddy,” Rebecca says. Maybe they’ll dance to an acoustic guitar version of “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.” What girl wouldn’t want to dance to that with her father at her wedding? Naomi is on hand to bring her daughter down, reminding Rebecca that Silas is late for the rehearsal dinner. Paula tells Rebecca she can’t expect Silas (John Allen Nelson) to change as a father just because of the wedding. “The best predictor of the future is the past,” Paula says. Rebecca runs into her father’s arms when Silas arrives. She introduces her dad to Josh, who suggests they have a conversation to get to know each other. Nathaniel (Scott Michael Foster) arrives and tells Rebecca that her father invited him. Josh asks Silas about Robert and learns that Robert had something to do “with that whole Harvard Law” thing, adding that Rebecca was supposed to go to Harvard, but ended up going to Yale instead.

The next day, Rebecca comes to the dance rehearsal for her father-daughter dance wearing her wedding dress. The instructor suggests that they think about a recent happy memory together in order to get the emotion needed for their dance. It’s sad to hear that the last time Rebecca saw her father was for twenty minutes four years ago when he was in New York to go see The Lion King with his new wife and son. Silas tells Rebecca he has something he needs to say to her but it’s hard for him. “You can tell me anything,” Rebecca assures, touched that her dad is about to share honest feelings with her. But then, it happens…Silas asks his daughter to borrow money! And the award for Father of the Year doesn’t go to Silas Bunch!

Later, Rebecca has a therapy session with Dr. Akopian (Michael Hyatt). The psychiatrist tells Rebecca that her father’s behavior has set a pattern for Rebecca, which is to chase after emotionally unavailable men. Rebecca has a disassociated episode when she thinks about when Robert, her married professor who broke up with her after deciding not to leave his wife for her. Then, Rebecca rushes out of her eight-minute therapy session to go convince her father not to leave town. Meanwhile, Josh is asking Naomi about Robert. Naomi tells him that Robert was Rebecca’s beloved dog that got sick. She also reminds Josh that Rebecca needs him doubt free for the wedding. Rebecca comes to her father’s room and gives him back Father’s Day cards and the check for his son Tucker’s braces. “All that matters is that I want you in my life. Please don’t go,” Rebecca pleads and also asks Silas to walk her down the aisle. Silas tells Rebecca that he’ll stay and of course he’ll walk her down the aisle. He suggests that they forget the past and everything bad that has ever happened between them. At that moment, there’s someone very interested in the past. Rebecca’s past. That person is Trent (Paul Welsh) who is bribing a woman for dirt on Rebecca in order to stop her wedding.

It is Rebecca’s wedding day and she very happy as she leaves with Valencia. But Josh is less than happy. Father Brah arrives and tells a mopey Josh if he has any questions he needs to find Rebecca and ask her. At the beach wedding location, Rebecca sings a reprise of “The Villain in my Own Story,” but this time she feels like she is the princess. Josh has convinced himself that everything is going to be okay after he talks with Rebecca, but then Trent arrives with an envelope containing the information he got on Rebecca’s past. Confused as ever, Josh talks with Our Lady of West Covina Church League co-church member Sara (Tanisha Long). She is soothing and very pretty, reminding him of Father Brah’s words about how he seems to turn to pretty girls when he gets confused.

In the bride’s room, Paula is helping Rebecca get ready. Valencia sends Heather to look for Josh, who is late. But when he drives up, Josh doesn’t stop! Meanwhile, Rebecca wonders what is delaying the start of the wedding. Father Brah enters and tells Rebecca that Josh is with someone else. We then see Josh putting Trent’s envelope in the trash as he arrives at the seminary in San Luis Obispo and tells Father Rodrigo he’s come to answer the call and get the cool t-shirt. Learning that Josh left her to become a priest, Rebecca runs out of the room to the end of the bluff. Paula calmly talks with her. We learn that Rebecca set Robert’s things on fire after he dumped her and was convicted of three counts of arson. Robert was also granted a restraining order which meant Rebecca had to leave Harvard. She also was ordered to get mental health treatment to have the conviction stricken from her record. So, Rebecca spent time in a mental hospital where she sang all day to herself. Paula tells Rebecca that she’s not responsible for all those men leaving her, starting with her father. With that, Rebecca throws Silas out of her life. And he gets no private plane ride back home. “Have fun flying coach dick,” Nathaniel tells Silas, who leaves. Rebecca will make Josh pay. “Josh Chan must be destroyed,” she tells Paula.

To Be Continued…Next Season