Crazy Ex-Girlfriend Season 2 Episode 6: Who Needs Josh When You Have a Girl Group? Recap (VIDEO)

Tonight, Paula feels trapped..Oh wait.

While we wait for the firefighters to get Paula out of the bathroom, let’s recap episode 6. After burning down her old place (along with Josh and Greg’s stuff), Rebecca has moved into a new place. But, whoops, she didn’t notice that underneath that very thin new layer of plaster, she’d chosen an infamous murder scene for her home. The renovations that hid the crime scene start crumbling and falling down around Rebecca just as fast as they were put up. Sort of like Rebecca’s life. Nearly everyone in Rebecca’s life ends up at the apartment before the night is over. It was an intense episode as the characters faced some hard truths about themselves.

-Spoken theme of the night: Forcing new friendships doesn’t work.

-Unspoken theme: Relying solely on old friendships that you expect to remain unchanged doesn’t either.

-Reiterated theme of the series: Forcing love or friendship instead of dealing with your underlying issues definitely doesn’t work. But it can occasionally be fun. Or tragic. Or both at the same time.

-Also- there are drug dealers and murderers in the warm, friendly town of West Covina, California? And the first responders can’t be counted on for help. Last year we discovered everything wasn’t what it seemed with the water supply under the surface of the town, but this is a much bigger problem.

-Trent is back, with a plan to infiltrate Rebecca’s friend group. Sounds familiar. He buys a book called Swimming for Idiots. Like our main characters, he’s in over his head and trying not to drown. (Is it me, or are the CW shows using fake book titles as a meme this season? Discuss.)

-What, Josh Chan? You have a new girlfriend already? Unacceptable, when you just blew off 2 goddesses last episode.

-Oh, right, it’s Brittany Snow. OK.

-There’s a $50 cover charge at Home Base now that Greg’s gone. It’s crowded and full of strangers. Uh-oh.

-We still miss Greg.

-Supreme Court Justice Girl Group Shout Out! Sotomayor, Bader Ginsburg, and Kagan. Valencia has no idea who these women are.

-Heather: “Studies show that women tend to be indirect communicators and I’m too direct.” Please have a long talk with Paula.

-The squad channels the Spice Girls with Friendtopia (“a dystopia around our friendship”). Rebecca- the brainy one, censorship and mind control. Heather- the cool one, “I put drugs in the water supply.” Valencia- the sexy one, Czar of Torture. All citizens must watch Hocus Pocus or they will be killed.

-Don’t start, Maya! Don’t start, Daryl! So glad they worked that story out, because bully Daryl seemed really out of character and I hated it. Maya and Daryl make an awesome opposite pair doing their dance moves together and finally being the center of attention. No drama, just two happy, earnest nerds.

-Sunil pulls out the woman-child card. Jealous much? He so wants to be the replacement Rebecca in Paula’s life.

-It’s The Trent Is Getting Ready Song! A reprise of The Sexy Getting Ready Song from the pilot. Since he’s a guy, all he does is look in the mirror and give up at the sight of blood. Yes, we all know men are wimps when it comes to getting ready! At least he didn’t take a nap. How did Trent know about The Sexy Getting Ready Song? Better not to ask.

-Rebecca wants the girl group to become blood sisters. There’s a lot of bleeding going on this season. The blood coven, the Blood and Lice book, blood sisters.

-Trent’s evil bro plan appears to be working. Oooh, until he took it a couple of steps too far. Too creepy. He and Rebecca are twins separated at birth.

-Heather finally gets a solo!! With its own title card and everything! The things that aren’t forced in this episode are stuck. Or forced then stuck. The whole episode is uncomfortable, and full of bathroom references, starting with Rebecca pooping in front of Val at Home Base.

-Not even going to comment on Angelique. Just…too much. Too creepy. Drainage hose? Ew. Will anyone ever be able to look at Karen again? Especially in meetings?

-Josh, Hector, and WhiJo are kind of lost without Greg to be the heart of the group. Home Base is no longer the friendly space it was.They don’t want to bother putting up with a new person’s quirks (like Rebecca, Trent, or even Heather, who is in the same position Greg was at the bar). They could have been at the girls’ table, had Josh not burned his bridges.

-Doesn’t Heather live with Rebecca? Did she help pick the apartment? She doesn’t seem phased when the apartment starts crashing down around them. Maybe she let Bex pick out the apartment alone. Hard to tell with Heather’s poker face.

-Rebecca can be a perceptive, supportive friend. She helped Daryl and Valencia in the last episode. That’s just not what Paula wanted from their relationship before. Rebecca has a big heart, cares a lot, is friendly and outgoing, and is very giving. You just have to take the narcissism and drama along with it. It’s not an unusual personality type in real life.

-Rebecca has switched from using her fantasy boyfriends to fill the void inside her, to using her fantasy girlfriends. It’s not working out any better.

Last year, Paula was in the midst of a mid-life crisis when she met Rebecca. She was bored and unfulfilled in her own life, and used Rebecca’s obsessions and neediness to fill that space. Now, Paula’s ready for more substance. She’s found a new, adult direction for her life, started law school, and expected Rebecca to snap back into being a grown up along with her. But Rebecca’s obsessions weren’t a game for her like they were for Paula. They’re part of her serious mental health issues. Paula acted like Rebecca’s fantasy of an approving mom last season, and now she’s taken that away. Paula doesn’t want to deal with the long haul of Rebecca’s true issues. Fair enough. But Bex hasn’t changed. Paula and what she wants from the relationship have.

Paula’s relationship with Sunil looks awfully familiar to me. It seems a bit like things got difficult with one friend, so she dropped her and moved on to a shiny new one. The period of time when Rebecca was ignoring Paula’s needs the most was also the period when both Greg and Josh were permanently ending their liaisons with her, and Greg left town. Paula encouraged Rebecca to chase that rainbow last season. When Rebecca almost had it,  she felt it slip through her fingers. That’s when Paula decided she wasn’t interested in being there for the aftermath. Rebecca has rallied and dealt with it on her own, because she’s used to parental figures rejecting her. Comforting herself, while chasing after the love of a rejecting parent, is something Rebecca knows how to do. Sure, Paula taught Rebecca a lesson in this episode. Now Bex realizes how selfish she can be. But who’s going to talk to Paula? Not Rebecca. Her biological parents already made sure that she knows that when a relationship goes wrong, she’s the one at fault. I’m surprised we didn’t get a reprise of You Stupid Bitch in this episode. Or did I miss it in the background?

Next week, Brittany Snow is back as Josh’s new girlfriend. I’m loving Rebecca and Valencia as a team of Crazy Ex-Girlfriends while Heather plays the Only Sane Woman.