‘Crazy Ex-Girlfriend’ Musical Recap: Ping-Pong Nightmare
Rebecca played Ping-Pong (terribly), Greg took his first steps towards sobriety (awkwardly), Josh tried to keep his and Rebecca’s relationship a secret (badly), and Donna applied to law school (finally) on the eventful sophomore episode of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend‘s sophomore season, “When Will Josh See How Cool I Am?” Oh, yeah — and, as always, there were a bunch of kick-ass tunes! Check back here after each new episode as we rank and then break down each of CEXG’s new songs for your visual and aural pleasure.
1) “Greg’s Drinking Song”
What It’s About: After confessing to his friends that he’s an alcoholic — something that all of them pretty much knew, except for eternally naive Josh — Greg explains the history of his unhealthy relationship with liquor through song, rather than spoken word. In the process, we get a peek into what must have been some pretty ugly nights and mornings-after, from pee-stained pants to grounding an entire plane.
Sounds Like: A track off an Irish folk album recorded by a group of Irish brothers who wear matching wool sweaters on the jacket cover.
Best Lyric: “I knock on the cockpit, shouting ‘I’ll fly this plane’/We emergency landed, the TSA came/Now I’m banned from Southwest ‘cause I try to fly planes!”
Funniest Sight Gag: Greg’s ex-girlfriend, Heather, disinterestedly cleaning beer glasses in the background in full Irish barkeep mode.
What It Reveals About Greg: Besides the fact that he once had sex with a bush, his funny-sad account of his drinking days hints at just how desperately screwed up he was, and how few people thought to lend a helping hand. Even his best friends preferred to look the other way and chalk it up to “Greg being Greg” instead of trying to put him on the road to recovery.
2) “Maybe This Dream”
What It’s About: After years of punching the clock in a desk job at Whitefeather & Associates, Paula seizes control of her own narrative and makes a late-in-life choice to go back to school. To put it in musical theater terms, this is — as the title suggests — her “Maybe This Time” moment…
Sounds Like: “Maybe This Dream” is pure Disney princess all the way.
Best Lyric: “Maybe this dream won’t poop on my face like a seagull at the beach.”
Funniest Sight Gag: Two law associates flitting around Paula in cheap bird outfits, making like the forest critters dancing alongside Briar Rose, aka Princess Aurora in Sleeping Beauty.
What It Reveals About Paula: Poor Paula’s been disappointed by life so many times, it’s hard for her to take full pleasure in a major life moment. She’s always waiting for the other shoe — or piece of seagull poop — to drop.
3) “Ping Pong Girl”
What It’s About: Rebecca’s version of an awesome training montage includes putting herself in Josh’s head, trying to imagine the things he’ll say about her when he sees her sweet, sweet Ping-Pong moves.
Sounds Like: If Blink-182 suddenly got woke.
Best Lyric: “Ping-Pong shows she has control over her body/But doesn’t threaten my masculinity like basketball or hockey.”
Funniest Sight Gag: The random appearance of a flight attendant intent on taking down the Ping Pong Girl.
What It Reveals About Rebecca: She’s still obsessing over how Josh perceives her, in no small part because he’s so terrible at vocalizing what he’s actually thinking. She also has her own stereotypical ideas of the dude-bro psyche, assuming that all they think about is video games, penises, hot flight attendants … actually, she’s probably not too off-base about that.
Crazy Ex-Girlfriend airs Fridays at 9 p.m. ET on the CW.
