C — 31- Netflix Review — Schitts Creek
“Another story about going from riches to rags”, I said as I started watching this show with a friend. A wealthy family, which runs circles with the Trumps and Gates of the world get caught for embezzlement and are forced to live at the only property they apparently own, which is Schitts Creek, a small town they had earlier bought as a joke. Well now, the joke’s literally on them because Schitts Creek is a typical, yet uncommon countryside town brimming with bizarre characters living a lifestyle very foreign to our brattish elite family! A family that usually runs solo, with each family member living their own absorbed lives bonded by only the green paper, is now forced to squeeze their privileged lifestyles in a connected two-bedroom space of a roadside motel. As you can expect, this family struggles to fit in, or rather to not fit in the bucolic crowd.
The storyline is pretty neat and simple and is driven by pure character-based comedy. Watching the show is like watching a prolonged theatre drama, because the actors are way too convincing in their delivery. With every episode you watch, the show, that is the characters, start growing on you. These aren’t necessarily roles you relate with, but roles that amaze you at every turn!
Johnny rose (The father) is the sweetest and the most real character, who tries really hard to make ends meet in the town. He single-handedly carries the burden of maintaining sanity in a family full of narcissists! His paternal warmth is one of such striking features that is beautifully showcased on many occasions in the show. He extends that trait not only to his children but also to the motel owner, Stevie Budd in the most organic and wholesome manner. He is self-aware and acknowledges how his earlier way of life had distanced him from his family.
Moira Rose is a typical high society socialite who once used to sway in charity balls of New York’s elite every week but now socializes only with the Jazzagals of the creek. I loved how she is not shown as a typical gold-digging wife, but an entire complex person in herself who is histrionic yet understanding! The contrast between her dramatic narcissistic phase and her real and compassionate trait was not made too obvious on purpose, giving her the most subtle yet powerful character arch.
Speaking of character arch, Alexis is one such character who transformed from a dependent girl who would literally move continents for the guys she used to date to a girl who rejected moving to an island with her boyfriend to prioritize her work. If you haven’t watched the show and need a convincing reason to watch it, just google the clip “A little bit Alexis” and you will know what the buzz is about!
I was saving my most favourite for the last. David Rose is this quirky guy who wears Scottish skirts on a workday and follows an 11-step skincare regime. I love how his entire personality trait is not based on the fact that he identifies as Pansexual. The show makes no obvious facade of being intersectional feminist, rather organically normalizes queer expressions. Both of David’s relationships, one with Stevie as a friend and the other with Patrick as a lover are worth rooting for! Obvious tropes like jealousy are avoided in the equation, making it more nuanced and wholesome.
The supporting characters too have an immense amount of depth in their characters. In every episode, you feel like you can totally predict what this character would do, and yet anticipate something out of the box to happen! This is one of the few shows which has nothing problematic that I can point out! I just finished watching the show twice, and if you need someone to watch the show with, I will take you up on that offer without a blink!
