#but overall the lyrics fit these two much better since Scott never truly ���saw them that way” despite how long they've liked him

[lunarin64art]

That feeling when he can't stand to see you that way, no matter what you do, no matter what you say😩😭💔

[nonbinarysasquatch]

I Have to Get Out

Only sort of related mental health rant:

Anti-depressants are so not a big deal. But SSRIs probably don’t do anything to help with depression (for most people.) This is something I have a slight bug up my ass about. It’s best explained by the fact that low serotonin levels don’t cause depression. It’s a myth that’s been debunked pretty hard in the last twenty years but public knowledge hasn’t really caught up to it.

Despite that, SSRIs get pushed pretty hard (being far and away the most heavily taken, despite the amount of newer drugs and better science that exists today.) Serotonin may play some sort of role in the overall makeup of what causes depression but simply raising serotonin levels isn’t going to fix depression (hence why people struggle so much with SSRIs, for most people raising serotonin levels isn’t going to make a difference.)

We need more focus in media on anti-depressants that aren’t SSRIs. Rant over.

This episode was a step down over the last couple but the show has still hit its stride as we head into the ending.

Darryl/April: I was really excited to see Madison again. I kinda thought maybe we wouldn’t see her again. And heyyy Mindy St. Claire, playing a character nothing like Mindy St. Claire. I thought this plot was cute. Looks like going into the finale all of Rebecca’s friends will be paired off.

Josh/Nathaniel/Greg: Maybe the real ex-boyfriends were the friends we made along the way. You know, I’m noticing the more they let Nathaniel act like Scott the generally more enjoyable he is. Like he’s kind of boring in this episode but he also he isn’t screaming at people that he’s nice now and hey, kudos to the show for actually having Nathaniel learn about ethics and morals. Did some of them read my earlier reviews? (Probably not.)

But the focus here is Josh and Greg and their long deteriorating friendship. Much like the party bus in season 1, old resentments bubble to the surface, kind of about Rebecca but really not. It’s interesting Josh this genuinely mad. It’s something we don’t usually get to see Vinnie do and hooboy.

I suspect they were probably always planning on having Greg and Josh arrive at this point, where they realise that they aren’t best friends anymore but that’s OK.

Rebecca/Musical theater: The true OTP arrives.

Back in the pilot the universe gave Rebecca signs, encouraging her to remember the last time she was truly happy. It used Josh for that but instead of remembering performing in a musical, she only remembered Josh because of the patriarchal love narrative.

She spent most of the three seasons trying to fit herself into a narrative. In season four she’s (mostly) come down to earth, learning to accept that life isn’t a narrative. But now the universe is having a second go of it, going so far to have the ink from a flyer for a local musical theater production come off almost directly over her heart.

She probably still has some struggle ahead with this since she probably isn’t fully aware that she’s not naturally talented with singing and dancing but music is her heart and if there’s an endgame, it’s probably this. (Though people probably think about endgame wrong with this show.)

Paula/Heather/Valencia: I love that Paula and Rebecca are getting paralleled again. I had some nervousness earlier on in the season that perhaps Paula’s lawyer dream would fail (possibly for Rebecca related reasons) but I’m glad that’s not the case (assuming she does pass the bar.)

Heather and Valencia were sure in this episode, weren’t they? I really hope the two of them do get some meaty stuff before the series ends but I’m not holding my breath.

Rebecca/Greg: The polar opposite of Rebecca’s breakup with Nathaniel back in 4.04. This was really good, mature and well-handled. A good honest moment between them. It never seemed that likely that this would work out but it’s nice that it’s ended quietly and not in flames.

Josh/Nathaniel: Well, not about them pairing wise but obviously they are being set up to both serve in a Rebecca 2.0 sort of role while Rebecca herself pursues musical theater. A final test of her recovery on whether she can ignore the call of the patriarchal love narrative to pursue what makes her truly happy.

The Songs:

Anti-Depressants Are So Not a Big Deal: Instant classic (my grumbling about SSRIs aside.) Just a lot of fun and nice to see a few past minor characters return for it. Definitely the song from this episode that got stuck in my head.

End of the Movie (Reprise): You know at first I thought them using this song for this moment was a bad sign but upon paying attention to the lyrics I realised that the show was just acknowledging that sometimes Rebecca has been given painfully obvious signs as opposed to the times where she saw what she wanted, looking to fit herself into a narrative.

Real Life Fighting is Awkward: Never thought we’d get a Kung Fu Fighting parody. Skylar and Vinnie clearly had a lot of fun with this.

And that’s all I have to say about that.