Rebecca realizes the sheer magnitude of the actions she took in last week’s episode: she told Josh (nearly) every awful thing she did since she came to West Covina, and he can now see just how “crazy” she really is. She has this realization while still wearing her wedding dress, laying in bed and having a conversation with her younger self (her anxiety manifested into an actual person standing in front of her, as young-Rebecca puts it). Luckily, the only thing Josh doesn’t know about is her past with Robert, and the fact that she was put in a mental institution. For now, that secret is her saving grace.
Her younger self tells her that it’s time to put a stop to this lawsuit being drafted. She did enough damage to both herself and Josh, and this is just another unnecessary step she’s taking.
At the office, Nathaniel is clearly not his usual self. He’s practicing his stances, and wandering around the office looking a little lost. Turns out he’s caught some Major Feelings for Rebecca, which were entirely unexpected. For the first time, he doesn’t know how to talk to her, how to handle himself, and what his next step should be.
This is a really interesting turn of events for his character, who was a monster when he first came to take over the law firm; we’re now finally seeing that he is capable of having and showing emotions, and he’s not just a jerk. It’s adorable, really, and gives some much needed dimension to him as a character. He and George (his name is finally remembered!) try to work through these emotions and Rebecca off Nathaniel’s mind, but she keeps blowing him off and he’s focusing too much on her. According to George, Nathaniel needs to reassert his dominance and show that he is the one in charge of this little fling that they’re having.
Meanwhile, Rebecca is telling Paula that they need to rethink this whole lawsuit thing, that it’s not such a brilliant idea after all, but Paula has some news for her. Details about the revenge case were given to a popular blog that they follow, and one of the bloggers took an interest in the story and wants to write an entire article about it. This huge exposure wasn’t really what Rebecca wanted—she says that after all, it’s a rather juvenile case and that high power lawyers such as themselves should not be working on it.
We get to see a bit more of Heather this episode (finally! I love her), where her perpetual title of “student” has come to an end. She’s taken every single course that the community college has to offer, so it’s time for her to graduate and move on. She’s shaken by this news, and now doesn’t know what she’s going to do with her life.
As Rebecca tries to move past the issues with the Josh lawsuit, she gets a notification that he’s livestreaming a video to his friends, giving them the gist of what happened with the wedding, where he’s at with his priestly path, and what else is going on with his life. Young Rebecca appears again, and convinces Real Rebecca that he’s going to expose her and everything she said if he isn’t stopped. So this gets Rebecca back on track with Paula’s idea to have the blogger write an article about Josh. If she can get ahead of him and expose him before he exposes her, things will all work out in the end…
And as usual, Rebecca is so wrapped up in her own drama and mess that she can’t focus on anyone else. Heather tries to seek advice on what to do now that she’s going to be graduating, but doesn’t get anything, because Rebecca is waiting for the blog to post the article about Josh. With Heather, it’s harder to tell how she’s feeling because she doesn’t emote much (unlike Paula), but you can still tell that she’s sick of Rebecca’s selfishness too.
After the article is published, Rebecca works on forwarding it to all her friends and acquaintances, to make sure everyone can see it before Josh talks. She’s so focused on this mission that she, once again, rejects Nathaniel’s advances and blows him off. He tried to go back to his domineering attitude, but that didn’t work either; he’s mystified. And he realizes that he likes her. Likes her. Like, a lot. It’s a startling moment for him.
At Home Base, Josh meets up with his friends to fill them in on his life. But they’re not having it. They read the article. Hector and White Josh tell him that he’s been pretty terrible lately, and the whole time he was with Rebecca he did some questionable things too. According to the article, it seemed like he was the crazy one and Rebecca was just a victim. They’re not pleased with his attitude or actions, and don’t even want to hang out with him anymore.
Which is…weird to me. When Rebecca first came to town, none of Josh’s friends really liked her or trusted her, and told him about their feelings constantly. Then after all this time, the article comes out and suddenly, magically, they believe Josh is crazy? That he did all this horrible stuff to her and he’s totally to blame, and not her? It seems like a huge oversight by the writers to me. Sure, Josh did do some questionable things, but nowhere near as bad as the things Rebecca did. They’ve known him for many years, know a lot of his flaws, but decide to turn on him all of a sudden? It irks me.
Rebecca isn’t as pleased by this outcome as she thought she was. Seeing how Josh’s friends rejected him really hurts her, and it takes some encouraging words from Paula to semi pick her up afterwards.
And then…Josh remembers the mysterious file he was given on his wedding day that made him walk away. Rebecca’s history. He runs to Father Brah with it, reading through it and trying to find evidence that proves Rebecca is the crazy one. And yes, that includes the Robert story. Josh needs to be an adult and face his problems head-on instead of ignoring them, so, they read through it, and afterwards Brah calls Paula to try and mediate.
Oh Josh…
Just as Rebecca gets back to the office, she’s informed that Brah called Paula and asked her to come in; Becks listens to the message, panics, and runs to see what this meeting is about. Paula is informed of the Robert story as well, and sees the records of Rebecca’s restraining order and her admission papers to the institution. Rebecca arrives just in time to hear them talking about her and how they feel betrayed and lied to, so she bolts.
She goes home to pack a bag and just run away, trying to start a new life. Her young self appears again, and tells her that her anxiety has hit peak. She’s going to be alone forever, all of these people were never really her friends, and she’s screwed for the rest of her life.
Just as she’s leaving, Nathaniel shows up and explains his feelings; she’s mostly brushes it off, but uses the emotional moment to her advantage and get him to take her on his private jet to Rome. He swoops in to save her, and it gives her the boost of confidence she needs to go on with this escape plan. Just as they’re leaving, Paula and her whole group of friends show up, concerned and confused and looking for answers.
The episode ends there, leaving us at the edge of our seats to see what happens now that Rebecca’s past has finally come into the light.
This week’s songs, brought to you by secondary characters who finally shine:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iaVvfzMTVZA
“The Moment is Me”
Heather reluctantly gets her own song, a big emotional Broadway show tune (which she is aware of, and points out at the beginning). This is her time to figure out what her future holds and make sure her star shines. She mopes her way through it as the chorus soars, which makes this a relatable and new favorite song.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qA-j14lN6BQ
“I Go To the Zoo”
Another solo song for Nathaniel, who shares his secrets for cheering himself up when things go wrong in his dating life. He goes to the zoo, and then the aquarium, to try and clear his head. But this time, it doesn’t work; Rebecca’s got him so twisted around that his tried and true pick me up fails.
