The American romantic musical, CrazyEx-Girlfriend is the “it” on the CW network. The ace production created by Rachael Bloom and Aline Brosh MacKena has indeed brought together all the necessary ingredients for an absolutely remarkable television series. Included in this one is a captivating and breathtaking story and of course the remarkable characters who gracefully and effortlessly brought the characters to life. The series chronicles the love life of ‘Rebecca Bunch’, a New York-based real estate attorney who falls in love with love life while trying to reconnect with her former boyfriend, Josh Chan.
It happened that after crossing paths with Chan, her first love from summer camp, she learns that he plans to move from New York to his hometown of West Covina, California. In search of happiness, she decides to follow her ex and voluntarily finds a job at the law firm Darryl Whitefeather, located in West Covina, just to be close to Josh.
The fourth season of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend hailed the screens in October 2018. Its 18 episodes which started on October 12, 2018 ended on April 5, 2019. Before we get to the season breakdown, check out the cast of Crazy Ex series – Girlfriend.
Crazy Ex-Girlfriend Cast and Characters
Rebecca Bunch (played by Rachel Bloom)
As mentioned earlier, Bunch is a real estate attorney and a Yale graduate, he also studied at Havard University. She is plagued by illnesses of anxiety and depression, forces that often cause her to hallucinate and make impulsive decisions. She is often delusional and makes the strangest fantasies and guesses. Meeting Josh Chan, for her, was like a second chance to love. Bunch’s opportunity came more than once and she wasn’t going to let the second pass. She gives up life in New York and moves to West Covina, California, where Josh has also moved to try to win him back. With Rebecca, it would be a book of different chapters taking into account her often needy, clumsy and impulsive personality.
The real Rebecca, Rachel Bloom is a talented American actress, singer and comedian. Bloom, who is one of the show’s writers, won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Musical or Comedy for her performance.
Josh Chan (played by Vincent Rodriguez III)
He’s the sole reason for Rebecca’s move to California, and a bit carefree. Often oblivious and self-absorbed, much like Rebecca, he finds it hard to go down this path, and in the long run it becomes a huge challenge for both of them. Josh tries to catch up with Rebecca for her past and embarks on a journey of self-discovery to improve after apologizing.
In reality, Vincent Rodriguez is an American actor. Born in California in 1982, he rose to popularity after portraying the role of Josh in Crazy Ex-Girlfriend.
Greg Serrano Played by (Santino Fontana) for the first two seasons and (Skylar Astin) for season 4
An alcoholic and Josh Chan’s best friend who also has feelings for Rebecca, Josh’s crazy ex-girlfriend. He knows that this feeling is unacceptable and that it would ruin his friendship with Josh. Because of this, he left West Covina to attend business school at Emory University. He returns as another actor (Skylar Astin) in Season 4 of Crazy Ex-girlfriend and is a better person.
Paula Proctor (played by Donna Lynne Champlin)
She is Rebecca’s new best friend in California and also her colleague at work. She is married and faces huge challenges in her marriage. This causes her to become a mad devil’s advocate, particularly of Rebecca’s choice to follow Josh. It was mainly to make up for her lack of accomplishment from not pursuing her dreams when she was younger. But life happens, she eventually realizes and builds better positions with Rebecca.
Darryl Whitefeather (played by Pete Gardner)
He is Rebecca’s middle-aged boss who is mostly confused about her sexuality and suffers from a mild personality disorder. Darryl makes sure he’s bisexual and also feels bad about being disconnected from his friends. He starts dating Josh Wilson (White Josh), a friend of Josh Chan.
Heather Davis (played by Vella Lovell)
She’s Josh’s crazy ex-girlfriend, Rebecca’s neighbor who attends college. Heather does not take her studies seriously and her parents have never disciplined or encouraged her. She would later become Rebecca’s roommate, but nothing changed in her approach to life.
Valencia Perez (Portrait by Gabrielle Ruiz)
Rebecca’s rival, Valencia is in a relationship with Josh and always tries to protect him from other women. She isolates herself from other women as she suffers from insecurities, from Josh, from her body and from everything else. She then becomes friends with Rebecca after breaking up with Josh.
Josh Wilson (played by David Hull)
Often referred to as White Josh. He is a friend of Josh Chan who is dating Rebecca’s boss, Darryl. He calls her later with Darryl. after he (Darryl) opts for a baby with him, but as friends and not as a couple.
Nathaniel Plimpton III (played by Scott Michael Foster)
After buying shares in Whitefeather & Associates, Nathaniel, a lawyer, becomes Rebecca’s boss in the second season. They both feel a connection and begin dating the following season. Despite his strengths, he suffers from an inferiority complex and is often disconnected from others. They later break up but he moves on and tries to work on himself.
Crazy Ex-Girlfriend Seasons
Crazy Ex-Girlfriend is divided into 4 seasons with over 30 episodes. Season 1, which traces the events surrounding Rebecca meeting Josh for the first time in years, has 18 episodes. The first season premiered on October 15, 2015. With the eighteenth episode aired in 2016, the first season was last aired on April 18 this year.
Season 2; always on Josh, premiered on October 21, 2016 and consists of 13 gripping episodes. The second season ended with the thirteenth episode airing on February 3, 2017.
Nathaniel and Rebecca began their relationship in the third season of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, which first aired on October 13, 2017. Season three consists of 13 episodes. The last episode of the season aired on February 16, 2018. The fourth and final season of the series aired on October 12, 2018 and last aired on April 5, 2019.
Notes, why was the show canceled?
Overall, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend is quite an interesting romantic comedy series. But it is important to note that the series has its negative and positive sides. While it may appeal to the younger generation, it also touches on themes that may foster immorality. This includes frequent use of sex-related words and phrases. More so, not all parents may want their children to watch people contemplating suicide on TV.
But we won’t forget to mention the enchanting music and the very talented actors who effortlessly portray their characters, making the show very appealing to everyone. But above all, the themes used in this show should not be digested indiscriminately. That’s why most adults rated the movie 15+. It’s not the same with younger generations, especially teenagers who rate the show at 13+.
Obviously, the discrepancy between the ratings isn’t as obvious as expected, which shows that the show appeals to young and old, but it’s not quite suitable for those too young. These mixed reviews gave the show low ratings, leading to reservations from stakeholders for the release of the third season.
In simpler terms, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend was indeed a hit show after the release of its first season, but viewership has lagged over the years. On average, Season 3 received 0.22 rating points and less than 1 million viewers, which is a small percentage of increased viewership compared to previous seasons. It was almost the same case with the second season of the show
For the CW network, it was clear that the show was enjoyed by a limited number of viewers. There was no doubt that these viewers were ardent and loyal fans of the program. But then the profit factor kicked in, and it was feared the CW heads would retire from the show. However, after a series of stakeholder considerations, CW chief Mark Pedowitz approved airings for the fourth season.
Season 4 of the show received critical acclaim. It was truly a pleasant surprise for the cast and producers to see the fourth season earn 100% epic wins over ‘Rotten Tomatoes’ with an encouraging reception to the 18-49 show.
It turned out that pleading guilty to attempted murder wasn’t enough to give Rebecca Bunch the peace of mind she needed. The season 4 premiere episode, which saw the presiding judge throw out his guilty plea, was all the viewer needed to come back. Everyone wanted to see how Rebecca could make up for the bad things she thought she had done.
Truly, giving people what they want is a huge determining factor necessary for the success of any television series. This belief was what CW executives held on to and risked airing the fourth season of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. Luckily for them, it worked.