YMMV / If/Then

• Adorkable: Liz/Beth, Josh and Lucas have their moments.
  • Josh has an excuse; he's from Nebraska and had an Abusive Father.
  • Liz doesn't want to start a relationship with Josh because the odds are against their relationship succeeding. She proceeds to spend the night with him, after realizing that they agree on the odds being against them. As she puts it herself the morning after, "What The F**k?"
  • David squealing in delight over Liz's baby definitely qualifies.
• Angst? What Angst?: Josh is a doctor in military service, but he doesn't display typical signs of PTSD. Averted with the abuse he suffered from his father's hands, since he had vowed to become a better parent than his dad was.
• Harsher in Hindsight: "Hey Kid" is all about how excited Josh is to see his kid grow up, despite all his nerves, with lines like "Is it true you'll stick around for eighteen years?" Josh wouldn't live to see his children grow up.
• Iron Woobie:
  • Josh, surviving an Abusive Father, serving two terms in the army and returning without showing any typical signs of PTSD.
  • Elizabeth in both timelines tries her best to hide her emotional pain, whether it's Beth being rejected by Stephen and left in a lonely apartment or Liz tragically losing her husband to the atrocity of war. "You Learn to Live Without" encompasses this as both versions of Elizabeth sing about trying to live with depression.
• Just Here for Godzilla: Some people, particularly fans of Wicked and/or Frozen (2013), wanted to see the play solely because of Idina Menzel being in it. And obviously fans of RENT were very impressed to see both Maureen and Mark.
• Paranoia Fuel: The idea that a single, seemingly inconsequential decision could snowball into a dream career, meeting the love of your life, or in Josh's case, meeting an untimely death. Ironically, the musical suggests we should not be paranoid about these possibilities.
• Unintentionally Unsympathetic: Lucas, Lucas, Lucas. In both timelines.
  • In the 'Liz' storyline, he behaves very self-centeredly in his relationship with David in a way meant to highlight his awkwardness and ego as a Manchild hipster, but many feel it comes off as being unfair to his doting partner. His telling a still-grieving Liz that he's always been in love with her while his husband is in the background, pushing their kids in a stroller similarly fails to be heartwarming.
  • In the 'Beth' timeline, while it's sad that he secretly wants a family with Beth and Cannot Spit It Out, he effectively guilt trips her for not telling him about her abortion while brushing off the fact that this was her own body. The fact that he holds such a grudge against her that a year after the incident, he intentionally ignores her/doesn't check on her when she reaches out to him for support after a near-death experience certainly doesn't win him any points either.
• The Woobie: Kate after finding out Anne cheated on her. Her spunky positive attitude takes a turn for the depressed as she deals with being hurt by the woman she loves.

---