Moments of levity and references to non-insulting divine inspiration are pretty rare on television these days. Even rarer on shows like Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, which regularly features impromptu Bollywood-themed, lesbian daydreams. So, it was with great fear --at first-- but then great relief that I settled in and laser-focused on this scene when I realized they were going to talk religion:
Rebecca: There's you lifting weights. Supes cute. There's you flexing. Cute, cute, cute. Oh. Oh, this is you in the camp chapel. Remember? You were the only one who went in there.
Josh: Yeah, I know it's not cool to believe in God and stuff, but I do.
Rebecca: Oh, my God. That's, like... That's insane. I believe in God, too. What are the odds?
Josh: I think a lot of people believe in...
Not so bad, right? An acknowledgment of the square-ness of believing in God. But then a little screenwriting Jiu-Jitsu, and voila! The person who highlights the weirdness of believing in God, is then made to feel weird.
Dig that.
They also did a great job dealing with the subject of religion and pre-marital sex. Which, is 99% of this show. The premarital sex that is, not the religion. Unfortunately.
Check out what happens when male lead and love interest Josh (Vincent Rodriguez III) shoots hoops with his priest, and discusses his impure thoughts:
Priest: So, you're saying that one day, you want to marry Valencia, have kidlings and, like, live happily ever after.
Josh: Right, so then, when I find myself thinking about this other girl...
Priest: That's a foul, dude.
Josh: I know, I feel terrible!
Priest: No, I mean, like, like, watch your elbows.
Josh: Oh. So, I think about Rebecca's smile, you know, her hair, her boobs, her butt, her... Boobs.
Priest: Well, it's natural to have those feelings, dawg.
Josh: But it's not just that Rebecca makes me feel great. You know, she believes in me in a way that nobody else does.
Priest: Well, that's... Major.
Josh: And that's not all. I do other things that are sinful. I've had premarital sex. Lots of it. And sometimes I watch adult content and I take care of myself. And I don't mean in the vitamin/exercising kind of way.
Priest: Okay, bup, bup, bup, bup, bup. Look, dude. The way I see it-- you're lucky. No, man, this moral crisis you're having? It's a chance to look within. Like, God is personally inviting you to take stock of your life. So, here's an assignment, okay? For, like, the next 24 hours, what I want you to do is write down all the thoughts that you think are sinful.
Josh: Okay.
Priest: God is challenging you, man. It's an opportunity. Just like this is an opportunity.
Josh: Oh, come on.
Priest: Oh, nothing but net! And Christ!
Nice, right? At a moment went all normal TV shows would go with the “do what you feel, damn the consequences” line, a show that normally face plants into every form of depravity under the sun steers the straight and narrow.
Well done, Crazy Ex. Well, done.
