It's more of blackly comic deconstruction of a RomCon, actually And a weekly, hour-long musical . . . really. It's really kinda its own thing. (Even this year's theme song jokes about the fact that it's "hard to summarize.")
I loved how meta this episode was and Heather’s abnormally normal expressiveness! Valencia and Father Brah were a thing in high school!? I don’t know what to make of New Greg. I read an interview with the show runner. They intentionally recast Greg because they wanted him to seem like a completely different person after his time away at business school and being a recovering alcoholic. Personally I am not a fan of recasting.
The opening credit joke was the first time I've laughed outloud at it for a few weeks. So Greg finally returned! I liked how they dealt with the recast, out in the open. Rebecca sees him as a different person and, alas, so do we. I'm hoping I get used to the new actor. He a perfectly fine actor and singer, but he's no Santino Fontano. That's the trouble with any recast really. I loved all the meta jokes, they always make me smile. Oh and the side plot of Vanessa almost ending up with Father Brah back in school was a bit random. However Heather being involved made it more bearable. I need drama!
IMO, best episode of the season so far. Best written. directed, and acted. Loved Heather and Valencia's interaction. The "conversation" they had where Valencia just reacted with her face to Heather's questions, suggestions, and assumptions, was brilliant. Loved "Bart" sliding drinks and food which all came to an abrupt stop in just the right places. But the icing on the cake of course, was finding out that Valencia's high school boo was Father Brah. Perfect. Totally unexpected. I wondered during the episode if recasting Greg was done on purpose or if they couldn't get Santino back. Ultimately, I didn't think it mattered because I thought bringing to life the whole '(your ex) looks like a completely different person" cliche in the literal way they did, was great. However, the new dude can't sing like Santino. Glad Rebecca told him what she'd done. Josh, White Josh, and Hector together were hilarious. Josh is a more rounded person, but he can still be clueless. I only got the episode's writer's first name (think it was Rene), but I hope he or she does more after the hiatus.
^ That’s exactly why they recast Greg. They wanted him to seem like a totally different person. They even contacted Santino to let him know they were recasting. But I wish they had just invited him back. His voice, next to Donna Lynne Champlin, was the best on the show!
Yeah, I'm not a fan of recasting. I get why they did it here, but I still found it distracting. I don't think that Rebecca and the new Greg have quite the chemistry that the original Greg did.
A month? That's sooner than I thought, though being as we still have ten episodes to go, it's not surprising. Why did I think it was later? I watch EastEnders, a soap opera, here in the UK. A total guilty pleasure that I still watch even though it hasn't been consistently good for years. It used to be really good when I was younger so I watch out of habit. Anyway, when actors depart for bigger and better things, the families that get left behind are usually collateral damage. When something big happens to them like a marriage or a death, the person who left very rarely shows up, which is always a mystery. This has led to quite a few recasts over the years. Some are decent, some are terrible and look nothing like the original person. They are usually distracting in most cases, unless it's a kid that rarely speaks. This new Greg is at least similar looking, and can sing. It's only one episode we've seen but the chemistry between him and Rebecca just isn't the same as Santiano Fontana. Their song together was a lot of fun though, so the potential is there.
I only started watching the show in the beginning of November, and it was terrific. I'm all caught up now. I'd rather see the original Greg. I've noticed that most of my favorite songs involved him. Though "First Penis I Saw" may be number 1. Between the lyrics and choreography, it was hilarious.
Saw Heather in the Christmas Chronicles with Kurt Russel, and as one of the Princesses on She-Ra. Her career is really taking flight.
Well that was a lot of fun! I've never seen Cats (I'm not sure I ever want to either), so some of those bits were a little over my head, but the songs really made me smile so they worked enough. We even had little callbacks to Hey Sexy Stranger and Textmergency. Greg and Nathaniel bonding over the same ex? Awkward, yet so very, very watchable. Josh walking around in just pants? Again very, very watchable. The cats at the bar at the end talking about which of the guys was their favourite was hysterical. George's amazing gloves for the win, though.
The Cats stuff was funny, and I also noticed the callbacks which was so clever. White Josh getting so invested in Greg and Nathaniel not finding out about their same ex was priceless!
I think it’s strange that everyone has expected Rebecca to bond with Darryl’s baby. She gave him an egg, that’s it. Not once did she say that she was going to be involved in it’s life. It’s something that should have been discussed before she donated to Darryl. I feel like Rebecca is once again rushing into a relationship, with Greg. I really wanted to hear the potential duet between them but the stupid baby ruined it. Josh and Nathaniel’s song was great!
Yeah that was one of my favourite parts! Up there with Rebecca's little song to the baby where I thought I might cry at this show. Again. There is some rushing on Rebecca's behalf, though I did enjoy her moment where she paused to let herself think about things. The last scene where Josh was taking his photo got more and more hysterical with each new person walking in on it!
The whole Valencia vs Hector thing just cracks me up. I love that they haven't let us know the reasons behind it, and that their friends, who don't seem to know it's origins either, just accept Valencia dogging him. Hector for his part just seems happy to survive any encounter with her. BTW, there's never enough of Valencia speaking Spanish. Yes, there is something not quite right about Rebecca and Greg. Plus they keep showing us the affect it is having on Nathaniel. That means something. I am still thinking that Rebecca ends the show happily, or at least not unhappily, single. Both of these guys have worked to make themselves worthy of Rebecca or any woman, but neither deserves to lose her to the other. Paula's storyline is really sweet.
The rom-com homage was fun! I noticed quite a few The Devil Wears Prada references. Maya and Nathaniel’s song was great!
Yes! What a brilliant song. I noticed Devil Wears Prada and She's All That references, though the overdosing on rom-com tropes mushed my brain. It was fun watching before it dribbled out of my ears. At the start of the episode, and for the majority of the show, I've been preferring Greg as a romantic partner. After today, and seeing how much Nathaniel has grown since he first came along, I felt so bad for him. Is a threesome a mentally healthy way to move forward? Probably not. This week also made me think about the last time the show played with genre tropes so broadly, when the episode 'Josh's ex-girlfriend is crazy!' did the horror show. No shirtless Josh this week? I was beginning to get used to that.