This article goes into details about how the finale came together - writing (including profiles on 11 of the show's writers and their best jokes!), the music, the production, etc. and it's an interesting read! I've summarized a little of it below:
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- always envisioned as a four-season show, with four different cycles (denial, love, turned on him, rebuilding)
- going back to the pilot, always felt like Rebecca would "bottom out" before she was diagnosed
- began outlining season three in February 2017
- when working on the season three finale, realized that the last two episodes of season three had too much focus on Nathaniel and Trent, hence added the conflict with Paula
- "In the original script for 'Trent?!,' Paula agreed without hesitation to help Rebecca stop Trent. So it was tweaked to make Paula more of a reluctant accomplice. 'A thing we wanted to add was the idea that Rebecca might actually do something to harm their relationship,' says Dan Gregor [one of the episode's writers]."
- not yet renewed for season four, but wrote the finale assuming they would be - "We’ll catch back up with Rebecca in 'some sort of prison setting. We stripped away all the things she was because they were never her choices. She’s starting back at square one, because she is a stunted child.'"
- originally a third song was slated for the episode, a "Settle for Me" reprise sung by Nathaniel, titled "Settle for Her," but was cut :(
- had to hand-colour the extensions Donna Lynne Champlin wore for "Miracle of Birth"
- a $15,000 prop doll was used for Darryl's newborn baby, rented for $1,200 per week
- used the third take of Rebecca's courtroom monologue
- the show has not yet been renewed for a fourth (and final) season
- with Nathaniel, wanted to subvert the trope of the rich asshole who becomes a better person because of a girl
- Paula was the one protecting Rebecca from taking responsibility, which led to Rebecca understanding and facing her own culpability when she was "without her sidekick"
- the episode is about "repercussions and responsibility," echoed in Heather's storyline as well as Rebecca's
- two men (Jack Dolgen, songwriter, and Adam Schlssinger, composer) wrote "Miracle of Birth" after speaking to several women about the realities of giving birth
- explains the decision for the time jump as "want[ing] to show that [Rebecca']s in a weird stasis with her relationship with Nathaniel.": "another bigger theme was that everyone in their life was moving forward and whizzing past Rebecca."
- for Valencia's relationship with Beth, wanted to show her in a relationship with someone who appreciates her and treats her differently than Josh did; "she meets someone who thinks she’s funny and appreciates her business — those are two things Valencia cares about."
- looked through about five or six dogs to find Dog Josh: "We looked for one that looked like David and Vinnie. It was that kind of like snub-nosed look, that kind of slightly flattened, small nose look that had jumped out at us."
- pitched the show as four seasons, still waiting for a renewal to get that fourth season but has a very clear idea for four seasons: "It was always a story about a woman’s descent and her rising up."
sources: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
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Does Rebecca deserve this, ONTD?
