- Yes, Josh is a dream,
But I’m right here
In flesh and blood and self-hate.
Settle for me!
In a sad way, darling, it’s fate.
Written by Erin Ehrlich, directed by Stuart McDonald. Original airdate 11/2/2015.
"When Rebecca learns that Josh and Valencia seem as happy as ever, she goes into a spiral and vows to make healthier choices. As a result, when nice guy Greg asks her out on a date, she wonders if that is the path towards a happier life."
Songs:
"Sex with a Stranger" (sung by Rachel Bloom)
- Affectionate Parody: Of Beyoncé's "Partition"
music video and Ciara and Justin Timberlake's "Love Sex Magic". - Double Entendre: "Uh, your balls smell weird / Your balls smell so much worse than I feared / You haven't aired out those balls in hours / Please go wash your balls in the shower." She actually means the stress balls he's been carrying in his hand to help him with his carpal tunnel syndrome, but in context...
- Fanservice: Obviously for a an Intercourse with You song. Of course, it's also...
- Fan Disservice: It's not very sexy considering Rebecca's less invested in the sex and more worried that he'll kill her in her sleep, give her an STD, or steal her kidneys.
- I Have to Go Iron My Dog:Hey sexy stranger, I’ll be right back
I just forgot to do the dishes. - Intercourse with You
- Or Are You Just Happy to See Me?: "Is that a gun?! Oh thank God, it’s just your penis."
- Organ Theft: Rebecca is worried that the man she's brought back to have sex with is going to harvest her kidneys.
- Overly Narrow Superlative:Rebecca: Listen, um, you're a really great guy, and I really admire your commitment to the health of your wrist tendons.
"Settle for Me" (sung by Santino Fontana and Rachel Bloom)
- Better Partner Assertion: Played for Laughs. Greg tries to convince Rebecca to choose him over Josh, even though she's madly in love with Josh. Greg's argument? He's not what she wants but close enough, and he's the one actually paying attention to her.
- Deliberately Monochrome: Black and white, since the song evokes Old Hollywood song and dance numbers.
- Insecure Love Interest: Greg wants to be with Rebecca, even knowing that she likes Josh. Everything he says just reinforces the fact that he's insecure, but also that he still wants Rebecca to "settle" for him.
- Pastiche: Of Fred Astaire-Ginger Rogers-song-and-dances.
- Self-Deprecation: The song is all about how Greg knows he's not the one Rebecca wants, but the one she could settle with.
- Sharp-Dressed Man and Pimped-Out Dress
- Unreliable Narrator: This is all in Rebecca's head, so when she later tells Greg he was giving out a "settle for me" vibe, he states that he doesn't want her to settle for him. He's insecure, yes, but he wants her to choose him and not settle for him.
"Settle for Me (Reprise)" (sung by Rachel Bloom)
- Dark Reprise: The first "Settle for Me" was a happy tune, even if the undertone was sad. This version is just straight up sad as Rebecca tries to convince herself that she should grow up and just settle for Greg.
- Locked in the Bathroom: Rebecca sings this while in a port-a-potty. At a taco festival. Needless to say, there are people waiting for her to get out.Unidentified Angry Festival Attendee: You cannot monopolise the bathroom at a Taco Festival!
Tropes in this episode:
- The Reveal: A minor example, but the whole series was kicked off when Rebecca saw a butter ad that asked an Armor-Piercing Question. In this episode, the ad gets way more on the nose asking "Are you disgusted and uneasy with your current butter? Are you making healthy choices? It's never too late to get the butter you deserve", once again prompting Rebecca to question her own actions. We eventually learn that the campaign was created by a copywriter going through a personal crisis of his own (having left his wife for a prostitute).
