Recap: Crazy Ex-Girlfriend Episode 6 – My First Thanksgiving With Josh!

Recap: Crazy Ex-Girlfriend Episode 6: “My First Thanksgiving With Josh!” – The CW, original airdate Mon. 11/16/15
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I’m giving thanks for Crazy Ex-Girlfriend this year! Tonight’s Crazy Ex-Girlfriend Thanksgiving episode included awkward bathroom issues, make-up sex, a couple musical numbers, and a lot of laughs. Here’s a quick look at Episode 6, “My First Thanksgiving With Josh!”

It all begins with Rebecca boring the boba stand guys to no end, and as she prattles on about Josh’s admission from last week’s episode (remember, he’s very attracted to her), the guys suggest the possibility that perhaps he was just blowing her off. Oh no, she insists, because he used the word “very.” Josh walks up, chitter-chattering away, about how he’s “very sorry,” there’s “very much traffic” … you get the picture. “So ‘very’ is your go-to adverb,” Rebecca notes. After they discuss Josh’s upcoming huge family Thanksgiving (and all of the cities he has relatives coming in from — so many), Rebecca describes her own sad, bland Thanksgiving plans back home with her mom. (Rolling craisins in turkey, body-shaming dogs, etc.)

At work, Paula tries to convince Rebecca that Josh’s relationship with Valencia is likely on the fritz (because he did say he’s very attracted to Rebecca after all) and he’s putting out feelers. Rebecca envisions a wonderful holiday with the Chans, surrounded by “the unconditional love of 100 Filipinos,” but points out that Josh didn’t invite her to Thanksgiving. Paula, who tells Rebecca she gives up too easily, has a scheming twinkle in her eye.

Later, at Home Base, Greg is having a rough day at work, and tells Rebecca and Chris (the little kid who hangs out at the bar) that he’s planning on quitting his job in a style that’s “all Jerry Maguire mixed in with a little Norma Rae” so he can move out and attend business school, once he finds his ailing dad a nurse. Rebecca offers to buy him a drink (no catch) before he goes, and he agrees, as Valencia walks in. Greg and Rebecca greet her; she acknowledges Greg but flat-out ignores Rebecca, who has taken to calling her friend pet-names (V-ster, V-dub, VW Bus). After she leaves, Greg points out that not only does Valencia not like Rebecca, but she’s also pretty stressed out because she has to spend Thanksgiving with Josh’s family. Chris pipes in that the Chans don’t like Valencia. It turns out that every time Valencia spends time with Josh’s family, the couple almost breaks up.

Later, Greg quits his job, with much frustration, because his boss Kevin is just too nice. (This guy reminds me of the super-nice cop boss in So I Married an Axe Murderer. OMG, I just totally dated myself, didn’t I? I may be a little older than Crazy Ex‘s target demo.) “Wait, are you quitting? Good for you!” Kevin says, and the moment is even more ruined for Greg when Kevin tells him he’s too good for this place anyway, and offers a hug.

Meanwhile, Rebecca and Paula head to the Asian grocery store — Paula has hatched a plan, you see — where (surprise!) Mrs. Chan is shopping. After they “accidentally” run into Mrs. Chan and Paula spouts off Rebecca’s impressive credentials, Mrs. Chan welcomes Rebecca to town and invites her for dinner sometime. “How about tomorrow,” Paula asks, pointing out that Rebecca has nowhere to go, because she saw her parents murdered in front of her … in an alley … in Gotham. “Oh dear!” Mrs. Chan says, “Just like Batman!” Rebecca reassures her that Paula’s just joking (“My parents aren’t dead; they’re just abandoning and frigid”) which prompts an invitation for Thanksgiving.

The next day, Rebecca listens to some Tagalog language lessons on her iPhone, whips up an odd-smelling traditional Filipino dish, and texts her mom to tell her she won’t make it home this year. Paula stops by with an owl brooch that contains a small camera with audio capability, which will stream to an app, so Paula can witness Rebecca’s day with the Chans. Rebecca dons a light blue cardigan and pearls over her white dress, and with the brooch she completes the ensemble, which makes her look like a 1950s housewife. She performs the “I Give Good Parent” song about her abilities to win over parents.

Best line from the song: “I’m DTF, but understand me: it means I’m Dazzling The Family!”

And wow the parents she does, much to Valencia’s chagrin (as Paula watches from home, ignoring her whole family during their Thanksgiving feast). As Valencia glares, Mrs. Chan invites Rebecca to her book club (and ignores Valencia’s request to join too: she just read a book by Leah Michelle with lots of blank pages — basically a journal). Later, as Rebecca clears plates and continues to be a suck-up, Valencia confronts and berates her, but Rebecca kills her with kindness (and ends up in a family photo).

Greg, meanwhile, is on his second try telling his dad he’s leaving. In a previous scene, he was about to, but when his dad started coughing, he went to get the oxygen tank and cut off his speech. He tries again, bursting into the room dramatically, and finds his dad passed out on the table. He takes him to the hospital, where he learns that not only is his dad petitioning his doctor to have a whiskey and a cigarette with him, but his emphysema has progressed and the insurance company isn’t going to cover his new meds. Greg wonders aloud how he’ll afford this. It’s pretty clear what he’s going to have to do, and he does it: He goes back to Kevin and asks for his job back. Nice guy Kevin gives it back to him, sans his seniority, so now he has to work on Thanksgiving and clean bathrooms. This leads to (in the scene after next) a funny, charming song about how Greg just can’t break free of West Covina.

Rebecca, still dazzling the family, gets invited to church with them despite Valencia’s protests (“She’s Jewish!”). When Valencia says she’d like to go to church too (“because I actually believe in Jesus”), Josh’s mom tells her, “Knock yourself out. It’s a public place of worship.” Rebecca gets a terrible rumble in her stomach, and as she runs for the bathroom, gets a call from Paula assuring her she’s “crushing it” with Josh’s family. Rebecca has to poop so badly, but she hears freaking out coming from the bedroom adjacent to the bathroom: It’s Valencia and Josh fighting about her! The fighting soon turns to squeaking, however — bedsprings squeaking — and it seems as though Josh and Valencia will never stop (“Oh God, the STAMINA!” Rebecca laments).

Once the couple is done, Rebecca decides she has to get out of this house and, stomach still gurgling, makes a run for it. Josh’s mom, however, catches her and asks if she is still coming to church. “You know, I really want to,” Rebecca says, “but I have to take a giant —— raincheck.” At this point, Josh gets everyone’s attention and starts to make a flowery speech about what really matters in life. He’s not proposing (I totally thought he was) but he and Valencia are moving in together. Valencia tells Josh later how thankful she is for Rebecca (even though she’s the worst and she hates her); if they hadn’t fought about Rebecca, they wouldn’t be moving in together, into this duplex Valencia has had her eye on. The panic on Josh’s face is evident, and I have a feeling there either won’t be a move-in, or it’ll be a disaster that makes for a very funny future episode.

Back to the hospital: Greg and his dad are having a teary moment, and Greg’s dad tells him he loves him. Greg’s spent all of his savings to treat his dad. Greg’s such a good guy, such a sweetheart. He heads over to Rebecca’s (after she makes it home to the bathroom — a hilarious scene including “Whyyyyyyy?” yelled through the phone at just the right time to cause some confusion at Paula’s Thanksgiving table). Rebecca thinks it’s Paula walking in (and tells her “My butthole’s the gate to hell”) but it’s Greg, with tacos and tequila (the promised drink). With some bathroom breaks, the duo sits on the couch watching Netflix and eating tacos (against Rebecca’s better judgment), and Greg tells her he didn’t go through with the quitting-moving out thing. His dad is the only one who’s been there for him, his entire life (aw). As they watch the dog show that Rebecca would normally watch with her mom, they shove tacos into their faces, joke around, and have a pillow fight. Paula sees all of this from her app, and laments, “No! Not Greg! Josh! Josh! You worked so hard for nothing!”

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend airs Monday nights at 8/7c on The CW.

All photos courtesy of and © 2015 The CW Network, LLC.