History Series / CrazyExGirlfriend

* EskimosArentReal: Alex, the Aloha Tech Store manager, doesn't think that UsefulNotes/{{VCR}}s exist.

* {{Jerkass}}: Naomi Bunch. Practically everyone sentence she says to Rebecca makes you want to [[TalkToTheFist bitch-slap her into next year.]]

->''I...was...''\\
''Working hard at a New York job making dough, but it made me blue.''\\
''One day I was crying a lot and so I decided to move to...''\\
''West Covina, California, brand new pals and new career!''\\
''It happens to be where Josh lives, but [[BlatantLies that's not why I'm heeeeeere.]]''\\
'''She's the [[TitleDrop crazy ex-girlfriend]]!'''\\
''What? No, I'm not.''\\
'''She's the crazy ex-girlfriend!'''\\
''That's a sexist term.''\\
'''She's the crazy ex-girlfriend!'''\\
''Can you guys stop singing for just one second?''\\
'''She's so broken insiiiide!'''\\
''The situation is a lot more nuanced than that!''\\
'''C-R-A-Z-Y!'''\\
''Okay! We get it!''\\
'''Crazy ex-girlfriend!'''
--> -- The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzY3EaJTuJk first season's theme song]]. The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMHz6FiRzS8 second season]], [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Duc4JiQ0kc third season]], and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4owK09kW58 fourth season]] have their own theme songs.

* MediumAwareness: "Where is Josh's Friend?" has Rebecca observing during the big musical number that said number blew their whole production budget for the episode.

* ArcSymbol: Pretzels appear frequently throughout the show. Some of the most prominent examples include when Rebecca sits on a giant flying pretzel in the end of "West Covina" in the very first episode and when she steps on one during her transformation in "Where's Rebecca Bunch?". This all culminates in ''the pretzels themselves'' getting their own song called "Our Twisted Fate" where they lament being a symbol instead of merely pretzels. This all foreshadows [[spoiler: Rebecca giving up her law career to open a pretzel shop.]]

* BatmanGambit: Rebecca advising Josh to tell Valencia that Josh kissed Rebecca. It hinges on the conviction, shared by everyone, that if Valencia were to find out that Josh had kissed anyone other than her, she would never forgive him and would break up with him on the spot. [[spoiler: It fails, because Valencia does forgive Josh.]]

** Rebecca saying she has no underlying issues address and can't be held responsible for her actions in the season two opening titles. [[spoiler: "Can Josh Take A Leap Of Faith?" makes it very clear, what with the whole "being charged with arson after abandoned" thing.]]

* TheBlindLeadingTheBlind: Rebecca takes nebulous life advice from butter commercials. [[spoiler: Turns out the copywriter who worked on those commercials had just left his wife for a prostitute.]]

* ChekhovsGun: The file Rebecca's ex, Trent gave Josh, and threw away in the Season 2 finale plays a part in 3x03: "Josh is a Liar". [[spoiler: The file contained Rebecca being sent to a mental institute after trying to burn down her Harvard professor named Robert's apartment down (she had an unhealthy obsession with him). Josh shows the file to Father Brah, who then calls Paula to tell her this]].

** Also, the LoveTriangle, BettyAndVeronica and BettyAndVeronicaSwitch all get this treatment. Sure, Valencia is [[AlphaBitch not a very nice person]]. However, [[spoiler: when Rebecca finally starts to see things from her point of view, she realizes that SHE is the problem. Add to that, Valencia is repeatedly frustrated with Josh's behavior throughout the season to the point where she has to dump him.]]

* DidNotGetTheGirl: [[spoiler: Neither Josh, Greg, nor Nathaniel end up with Rebecca as Rebecca chooses to work on herself rather than work on falling in love.]]

* DumpThemAll: [[spoiler: The series finale shows Rebecca deciding to TakeAThirdOption, or rather, fourth option, by rejecting Josh, Greg, and Nathaniel to focus on herself and her blooming career as a songwriter.]]

* {{Foreshadowing}}: In the Season 3 song 'Where's Rebecca Bunch?', which is addressing what happened in the season 2 finale, [[spoiler: namely that Josh jilted Rebecca at the altar to go to priest school]]. George suggests that if he were in Rebecca's situation, [[spoiler: he'd kill himself. Rebecca tries to do this a few episodes later on a plane back to West Covina from her mothers house in New York when she found out that she had been secretly giving Rebecca anxiety medication.]]

** After Paula has turned formerly obnoxious sexist pig Tim into her fawning pet [[spoiler: by letting him know that she won't reveal to the authorities that he's Canadian and on an expired visa]], she orders him to go wash her car. As he meekly obeys, Mrs Hernandez watches him go with an approving beam.

** Same goes for Josh after [[spoiler: he admits to Father Joseph he's attracted to Rebecca]]. Rebecca is the dedicated, financially secure one, but Valencia is the childhood sweetheart he's most committed to.
%% * GettingCrapPastThe Radar: Due to overwhelming and persistent misuse, GCPTR is on-page examples only until 01 June 2021. If you are reading this in the future, please check the trope page to make sure your example fits the current definition.

* JewishMother: Rebecca's mother Naomi has been abusive and controlling for much of Rebecca's life, blaming her for her father walking out on the family, forcing her to become a lawyer, and criticizing her for attempting suicide for all the trouble it put her family through. She also happens to be Jewish. Deconstructed: [[spoiler: Her mother deeply cares about her, but thinks she needs to be pushed to become strong for when the "Cossacks" inevitably come. When Rebecca finally stands up to Naomi, the latter is relieved and proud.]]

* LateArrivalSpoiler: Due to the amount of positive press coverage it's received, it's nearly impossible to go into the series without knowing [[spoiler: that Rebecca actually is mentally ill]].

* MalignantPlotTumor: In season three, there's a few early mentions that Darryl wants a baby. By the last episode, [[spoiler: Rebecca has donated an egg, Heather is the surrogate, Paula sings a beautiful, horrifying song about giving birth, and]] it ends up consuming a lot more character energy than Rebecca's diagnosis or recovery. [[spoiler: There is even a time skip devoted almost exclusively to gestation, during which Rebecca apparently just repeats her mistakes and makes no progress in dealing with her disorder.]]

** After Rebecca [[spoiler: has lost the water supply case]] and Audra is lording it over her, she tells Audra that it's important to be happy. Audra tells her that she ''is'' happy, and that "This is what happy feels like," echoing Rebecca's line to herself in episode 1 when her firm offered her a promotion and she had a panic attack.

** In "I Never Want To See Josh Again". Naomi steals Rebecca's laptop and starts snooping around on it with an impish smile, hoping to get some dirt she can lord over her daughter later. [[spoiler: Instead, she finds out Rebecca was researching the least painful methods of suicide. The terror on her face makes it painfully clear this isn't a joke.]]

** in season 4 [[spoiler: she ends up in jail and at first wants to stay there as she feels she deserves to be there. Even after the case is dropped and she's declared innocent she is reluctant to leave. Valencia points out that [[MartyrWithoutACause her being in jail doesn't really help anyone]] Rebecca eventually leaves the prison and starts actually helping by providing free legal advice to the inmates]]

* ThePowerOfFriendship: Despite all the awful things she does, Rebecca's friends never give up on her, mainly because they realize fully well she isn't dealing with a full deck. In season 3, she even [[spoiler: tries to commit suicide due to figuring she's screwed up too bad and her friends must all hate her now]] she fails, and her friends come to comfort her in the hospital.

** The Truly Butter commercials and ads. Subsequently, Rebecca actually taking advice from them. [[spoiler: Just as a fun fact, the flight stewardess in 3.05 is the woman who voices the butter commercials.]]

* SilentCredits: At the end of "I Never Want To See Josh Again." [[spoiler: Which wraps up with Rebecca DrivenToSuicide on a flight to Los Angeles. [[PlayedForDrama It is not played for comedy at all]].]]

** In Season 4's "I See You", Heather struggles with Nathaniel to get a mysterious envelope off him. It bursts and the contents spill all over her. [[spoiler: They're the ashes of his late nanny.]]

* SuicideByPills: [[spoiler: Subverted at the end of "I Never Want To See Josh Again." While flying home from a disastrous visit to her mother's house, Rebecca downs a bunch of her mother's anxiety pills in an attempt to kill herself. As her consciousness fades, Rebecca hallucinates the "HELP" button above her head to read "HOPE," convincing her to press it and get a flight attendant to help her before she dies. Rebecca gets medical treatment as soon as she gets home.]]

** Rebecca and Josh's entire story arc throughout season 2. When they [[spoiler: get together at the end of season 1, their relationship becomes sexual, but is still one-sided after Josh catches on that Rebecca was always obsessed with him and it does not in fact turn into the fairy tale she hoped. Even when they begin a real relationship that leads to an engagement in the second half of the season, Josh doesn't go through with the rash decision]].

* TomboyAndGirlyGirl:[[spoiler: Valencia is the latter to her tomboyish business partner Beth, and by the time of "[[SeriesFinale I'm In Love]]," they're partners in love.]]

* TookALevelInJerkass: Rebecca starts out pretty nice, if rather odd. In season 2 and especially 3 she gets ''much'' meaner and crazier. By season 4 she is starting to get nicer, though this is due to her [[spoiler: being diagnosed and getting treatment midway through season 4]].

** A more subtle one happens in the season 3 finale. After Rebecca [[spoiler: decides to plead guilty and go to prison]], an instrumental version of "I'm a Good Person" starts playing in the background, which then continues into the credits.

* TruthTellingSession: The episode "Josh's Ex Girlfriend Is Crazy" starts with one. Rebecca's friends finally learn the truth about Robert; when they confront her about it, [[spoiler: she flies off into a spiteful rant and blurts out all the opinions she'd been holding back about them. Everyone's shocked and hurt, except [[EmotionlessGirl Heather]], who full-on admits that [[JerkassHasAPoint she's right]]]].

* VomitDiscretionShot: Rebecca has one of these in "All Signs Point To Josh... Or Is It Josh's Friend?", leading her to believe that she is pregnant. [[spoiler: She isn't. She ate an egg salad sandwich from the vending machine, and as Paula points out, "they ship those sandwiches in hot trucks from Colorado".]]

** "Can Josh Take A Leap of Faith?" [[spoiler: Josh leaves Rebecca at the altar to become a priest. Meanwhile, flashbacks reveal that, back in college, Rebecca was having an affair with one of her professors, who happened to be married at the time. Despite his promises that he would leave his wife for Rebecca, he ended up dumping Rebecca instead, causing her to set fire to his home in revenge. She was then committed to a mental institution where she kept singing all the time. The fact that the show is a musical is symptomatic of Rebecca's undiagnosed mental disorder. Meanwhile, back in the present, Rebecca and Paula unite to ruin Josh.]] Hell of a way to end a season, huh?

** In "When Will Josh And His Friend Leave Me Alone?", Paula's son Brendan's offscreen line when the doorbell rings, [[spoiler: "Mom, I'll get it since you just had an abortion!"]]

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: When Rebecca [[spoiler: sleeps with Greg's dad]], she leaves, horrified, while he's still asleep and never tries to contact him again. We see her deep shame about it, but don't see his reaction. Eventually subverted in the next season, when it's revealed that he considers that night to be his 'rock-bottom' moment, and immediately quit drinking and started attending AA meetings.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/crazy_ex_girlfriend_cast_photo.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:The first season cast: [[EmotionlessGirl Heather Davis]] (Creator/VellaLovell), [[IJustWantToHaveFriends Darryl Whitefeather]] (Creator/PeteGardner), [[StepfordSnarker Greg Serrano]] (Creator/SantinoFontana), [[ByronicHero Rebecca Bunch]] (Creator/RachelBloom), [[AsianAirhead Josh Chan]] (Creator/VincentRodriguezIII), and [[HypercompetentSidekick Paula Proctor]] (Creator/DonnaLynnChamplin).]]

* PepTalkSong: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brzZQBSVMX0 "Face Your Fears"]] from Paula to Rebecca. It goes off the rails, though, when she starts singing about running with scissors and jumping out of buildings.

* HelpingGrannyCrossTheStreet: During the song "I'm the film in my own story", Rebecca questions how she be the villain if she gives annually to UFICEF and "And just last week [she] helped a lady cross the street/Who was super old and deaf"

* FlareBartending: Josh watches some Youtube videos to learn to do this while working at Home Base. He seems to think he's much sexier doing so then he actually is. His friends can't stop watching him perform due to BileFascination.

* MagicalNegro: Parodied with the "Dream Ghosts", who give sage advice, wear big hairdos, and sing 60's style RAndB for low pay and sub-par dental coverage. One of them is white, but she's played by Ricki Lake in a ShoutOut to ''{{Film/Hairspray}}''.

* IntimateHealing: Rebecca tends to over-rely on this, even when it's rather inappropriate, such as with her boss or her even her friend's dad. She gets better in season 4, where when she feels bad she instead prefers to.. [[ADateWithRosiePalms amuse herself]] with [[GuyOnGuyIsHot gay porn.]]

* ADateWithRosiePalms: Rebecca does a ton of this in "I Need Some Balance", and we learn she [[GuyOnGuyIsHot prefers gay porn above all else]]

* ExcitedShowTitle: Every episode of Season 1 except for "Why Is Josh in a Bad Mood?" ends in an exclamation point, underlining Rebecca's manic nature. See also "Why Is Josh in a Bad Mood?" below.

** With the exception of "Why is Josh in a Bad Mood?", Season One's episode titles [[ExcitedShowTitle end in an exclamation point]].

* ThePowerOfFriendship: Despite all the awful things she does, Rebecca's friends never give up on her, mainly because they realize fully well she isn't dealing with a full deck. In season 3, she even [[spoiler: tries to commit suicide due to figuring she's screwed up too bad and her friends must all hate her now]] she fails, and her friends come to comfort her in the hospital.

* IntercourseWithYou: Parodied with [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8a4vtGanrFA "Sex with a Stranger."]]

[[caption-width-right:350:The first season cast: [[EmotionlessGirl Heather]] [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold Davis]] (Creator/VellaLovell), [[BenevolentBoss Darryl]] [[IJustWantToHaveFriends Whitefeather]] (Creator/PeteGardner), [[StepfordSnarker Greg]] [[TheCynic Serrano]] (Creator/SantinoFontana), [[ByronicHero Rebecca]] [[WrongGenreSavvy Bunch]] (Creator/RachelBloom), [[LovableJock Josh]] [[AsianAirhead Chan]] (Creator/VincentRodriguezIII), and [[HypercompetentSidekick Paula]] [[WellIntentionedExtremist Proctor]] (Creator/DonnaLynnChamplin).]]

* GagBoobs: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZx5zfkG6oU Heavy Boobs]] is this mixed with TruthInTelevision.

* SlapstickKnowsNoGender: In her fantasy numbers, Rebecca is often on the end of a good deal of comedic violence, from the anal waxing in "Sexy Getting Ready Song" through the various physical humiliations of "I'm So Good at Yoga" to being boinked in numerous unlikely positions in "Oh My God I Think I Like You". In "Heavy Boobs", her boobs smack another dancer in the eye and give her "permanent retinal damage" and at the end of the song, Rebecca and all the dancers are moaning in pain from all the boob-swinging they've had to do.