'Crazy Ex-Girlfriend' Gets Real About Depression

For something completely different, Crazy-Ex Girlfriend went in a new direction on Monday night. Instead of Rebecca tirelessly scheming to try and win Josh over, she finally faced the facts for a split second: Josh is happy without her. It was a hard realization to come to, and for her, it had dire consequences. Those few moments of happiness for Josh made Rebecca realize she wasn't happy, and that sent her on a downward spiral for the rest of the episode. But, in its usual stellar fashion, Crazy-Ex Girlfriend addressed mental health and succeeded with flying colors — or should I say black and white, because that's the palette for Rebecca's song in the episode.

"I reject this feeling. I respectfully decline this feeling," Rebecca mutters to herself about sadness, as she tries to get some work done during "I'm So Happy That Josh Is So Happy!" It doesn't work. And then the Alice In Wonderland allusions start coming, with Rebecca being tempted with a bottle that read "DRINK ME" followed shortly thereafter by a bathroom covered with odd rabbit wallpaper. While there's no denying that she went down the rabbit hole in this episode, she didn't fall all the way down.

After a song, "Sexy French Depression Song," which included lyrics about the fact that she's so anxious she doesn't even know why she's anxious anymore and can't even remember what made her anxious in the first place (the song is sadly not online yet. Also, it was mostly in French. Seriously, is there anything Rachel Bloom CAN'T sing?) she seeks out help. In a callback to the pilot episode, Rebecca tells her new doctor that she got rid of all her medication, but now she needs it again. She's not feeling like herself anymore, and is looking to get help — her reason is that it's a "work thing," but it translates into a "Josh thing" as she tries to pull herself back up.

It doesn't work. Rebecca contemplates taking a pill off the floor in the bathroom of her doctor's office, which she does, and then gets high with her underused next-door neighbor Heather. It's these actions that lead Rebecca to realize that what she's doing isn't going to help her in the long run; it's only a band-aid that will temporarily fix things. If she's going to get better, she needs to take this seriously. Oh, and she hallucinates guest-star Dr. Phil for most of the episode.

As usual, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend managed to handle a very real issue with both humor and reliability, and managed to show real growth from Rebecca in the process. I can only imagine what it'll tackle next week.

Imagea: Scott Everett White/The CW (2)