In the latest episode of the CW’s Crazy Ex-Girlfriend that aired on October 20, titled “To Josh, With Love,” main character Rebecca (Rachel Bloom) continues her pursuit to find someone to help her take revenge against her ex-fiancé, Josh Chan (Vincent Rodriguez, III), for leaving her at the altar. This week her evil conservative boss, Nathaniel Plimpton (Scott Michael Foster), gets involved.
Rebecca offers sex to Nathaniel in return for helping her. Since stories of sexual misconduct between women and men in the workplace dominate our daily news cycle, it seems really lame for Rebecca, a lawyer, to be offering such a deal to her boss. Nathaniel is not a nice guy. She refers to their deal as "fifty shades of morally gray." Yuck.
Nathaniel arranges for the two of them to attend a cocktail party. Clearly the viewer is to understand that the guests at this soiree are wealthy conservatives as Nathaniel tells Rebecca, a liberal woman, to distract the wives of three men he plans to scheme with by having conversations with them. He tells her she can talk about anything “except for raising taxes, charter school vouchers and being pro-choice.” So, of course, she takes a dig at President Reagan.
Rebecca: So, what's the plan?
Nathaniel: We split up. Your job is critical. You see those three women over there?
Rebecca: Uh-huh.
Nathaniel: I need you to distract them while I talk to their husbands. You can talk to them about anything, anything at all, except for raising taxes, charter school vouchers and being pro-choice. Can you do that?
Rebecca: Absolutely. No problem.
Nathaniel: Good.
Rebecca: Mmm, I love this champagne. The level of carbonation is just right.
Guest: Mm, well is it champagne or sparkling wine? I never know.
Rebecca: Oh. One of life's great mysteries, like how to fix public education. Actually, it's not a mystery. You just adequately fund school districts irrespective of their tax base. Kidding. Uh, vouchers are the only way to go, am I right?
Rebecca: Mm. Mmm, this Brie is divine.
Guest: I know. Soft cheeses are like crack to me.
Rebecca: Crack, yeah. Crack, that is... A funny thing to make a joke about because it is not at all a cheap drug disseminated by the CIA during the Reagan administration to decimate our inner cities. Damn it, I mean, uh, Nancy Reagan was a national hero and a style icon, right?
Rebecca: You are absolutely right. Uh, Roe V. Wade is nothing short of judicial activism. Oh, thank God. Oh, my God, I was about to tell her that states should be free to make individual choices, but reproductive rights...
Nathaniel: You performed flawlessly. The table is set for our plan.
Rebecca: Oh. What do we do now?
Nathaniel: Now... We dance.
Ah, yes. The usual liberal trope about President Reagan, the C.I.A. and crack. It’s been widely discredited but that doesn’t stop the liberal narrative. The left continues to try to besmirch the legacy of a beloved conservative president at every random opportunity.
Then we learn how evil Nathaniel and his conservative friends really are.
Rebecca: Well, that was actually very satisfying.
Nathaniel: Isn't it always?
Rebecca: Only 39% of the time. There's some interesting literature on the subject, but, Nathaniel, tell me, what did we do to Josh?
Nathaniel: Mm, you sure you want to know? I don't want to corrupt your innocent soul.
Rebecca: Mm, no, no, no, tell me, please.
Nathaniel: Well, okay. You said you wanted to ruin him, right?
Rebecca: Uh-huh.
Nathaniel: Well, to ruin a man, you have to go after what he loves most.
Rebecca: Video games. Not that. Okay.
Nathaniel: He cares about family.
Rebecca: Family. Okay.
Nathaniel: So that's what we went after.
Rebecca: We went after Josh's family? Oh, okay.
Nathaniel: First, Josh's sister, Jastenity, she's about to be accused of plagiarism and kicked out of Cal State Northridge.
Rebecca: Oh... Oh, really? That's a bummer. 'Cause she just got on the Dean's list.
Nathaniel: Not as much of a bummer as what's gonna happen to Josh's father.
Rebecca: Oh... Uh, Joseph?
Nathaniel: Joseph. He is about to be audited for financial malfeasance at his radiology lab. There's gonna be criminal charges. And once that happens, he'll be a felon, and his permanent resident status will be revoked.
Rebecca: Oh, my God!
Nathaniel: And that's not all. I'm saving the very best for last. Josh's grandfather is about to draw his last breath.
Rebecca: His Lolo? What do you mean?
Nathaniel: One of the men at the party owns a chain of hospices. We have direct access to Lolo and his oxygen tank.
Rebecca: You're gonna kill Josh's Lolo?!
So, the wealthy conservative men from the cocktail party are helping Nathaniel by plotting to ruin Josh’s family to the point of cutting off the oxygen tank for his dying grandfather. Wow. This outlandish writing from Hollywood is what we can expect while there is a Republican in the White House, I suppose. Oh, who am I kidding? Hollywood always portrays conservatives as evil human beings.
