Get a grip, Rebecca Bunch: 'Crazy Ex-Girlfriend’s' second season is step backward

Since the moment she abandoned her New York career life for West Covina, Calif. in the series premiere, Rebecca Bunch of The CW’s “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” (2015–present) has been an imperfect, delusional and inspiring mess. Rebecca Bloom, co-creator and star of the musical comedy series, writes Rebecca as someone slowly coming to understand herself as she journeys through the show's hilarious first season. When she finally admits — to herself and others — the reason she moved to West Covina in the season’s finale, it feels like real emotional progress has been made. A weight has been lifted!

Well, old habits die hard: That weight comes crashing down in season two.

Although Rebecca’s issues have always included being selfish and lacking self-awareness, these traits reach new heights in the second season of “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend,” which first aired in October 2016. Torn between her fantasy boyfriend Josh Chan (Vincent Rodriguez III) and charming deadbeat Greg Serrano (Santino Fontana) in an imagined love triangle, Rebecca quickly falls back into her self-pitying and scheming ways. Spoilers lie ahead.

Despite her realization at the end of season one, Rebecca does a number of increasingly ludicrous things throughout the majority of season two, including ignoring the needs of her best friend Paula (Donna Lynne Champlin), making Greg’s alcoholism about herself, burning down her house, celebrating a pregnancy scare, giving herself a makeover that turns her into Amy Sedaris from “Strangers with Candy” (2005), abandoning her new female friends for a man, losing Paula’s child in a club and kissing her new boss just days after getting engaged.

While plenty of these actions are decent setups for comedic and dramatic plot points throughout the season, they bring the audience further and further away from understanding and supporting the Rebecca they thought they knew. Her trajectory as a “feminist” protagonist appears to be the opposite of Amy Poehler’s Leslie Knope in “Parks and Recreation” (2009–2015), who began as gratingly oblivious and developed into a kinder and stronger character.

Luckily, there is more to “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” than Rebecca Bunch. Paula’s law school plotline and the boundaries she sets with Rebecca show amazing character development and pushes her outside her role as best friend and confidant. Greg, addressing his alcoholism and future goals, also begins to make good decisions for himself while remaining bitingly funny. Heather (Vella Lovell), an Aubrey Plaza-type monotone cool girl, is featured more prominently in season two, as is a post-Josh Valencia. Although Josh remains rather childish, his personality outside of his girlfriends and his struggle being alone is explored throughout the season, and Rodriguez III shines in many of the musical numbers.

The song-and-dance side of “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” is arguably as strong as it was in season one, running the gamut of genres, from Irish drinking songs and Spice Girls power bops to hair metal and a direct parody of R. Kelly’s rap musical, “Trapped in the Closet” (2005–2012). The satire is spot-on for nearly all of the numbers, and the budget is clearly higher this time around. A big Marilyn Monroe-style performance from Rebecca, “Math of Love Triangles,” parodies the clueless blonde stereotype and infantilization of women, reminiscent of “Teach Me How to Understand Christmas” from the 2011 Christmas episode of “Community” (2009–2015). Unfortunately, the new theme song has none of the sing-along spark of the first season’s theme.

With only one episode left before the season finale, “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” is running out of time to redeem Rebecca as a character worth rooting for or even watching. While the show continues to inclusively explore the challenges of many types of relationships, put out great musical numbers and keep up running jokes (why does everyone want to buy a kayak?), it needs a strong Rebecca to truly be successful.

“Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” airs Friday nights at 9 p.m. on the CW.