1x12 Surprise Party

[8.2/10] I don’t know if this one is the best episode of Schitt’s Creek so far but it’s definitely the funniest. Almost every scene here was laugh out loud funny. The show managed to do a great job at constructing a comedy of manners, where everyone is trying not to let onto others that they do/don't know about a surprise party for Moira. The disparities between how good everyone is at playing along and sniffing out the ruse leads to tons of great humor.

I laughed out loud at Johnny trying to do the “talk to the hand routine” to get his kids to drop their plans and help with the party. I cracked up at Roland just not understanding the very simple ruse to trick Moira into thinking that her surprise party is actually a benefit. I died laughing at Jocelyn responding like a “deer in the headlights” when Moira comes to talk to her about this “benefit” and even offers to help despite no one having told Jocelyn about this plan. (Her punctuating the moment with “fuck!” was particularly funny for some reason).

There’s laso the supreme glory of Moira unwittingly micromanaging her own party, trashing the preparation and planning that she doesn’t realize is her son’s work. There’s added comedy when David gets so sick of it that he straight up tells her, and we get the extra layer of humor from Moira pretending to be surprised and gracious about the whole thing. The disparities in who knows what and who’s conspiring with whom makes this feel like a Shakespearean farce in the best way.

Heck, we even got a pretty solid pairing between Johnny and Alexis, something fairly rare on the show. Johnny’s reaction to Alexis’s shtick and, well, life brought some laughs from a character who’s usually lighter on them.

That said, it’s heaven and hell in terms of the relationship drama. Alexis being ready to cheat on Ted with Mutt is the pitis and more reason not to like that character. (Plus, why is Mutt suddenly attracted to Alexis when it feels like they have nothing in common?) But on the other hand, though it’s light here, Stevie and David are still super cute together, and their back and forth over Stevie not ditching work to drive David to go pick up a cake is quite well done.

I even liked the sweetness of the ensign, with Johnny and Moira dancing, enjoying the party, and sweetly appreciating how well the town cleans up, punctuated with the crass butt-grabbing among Roland and Jocelyn, with Moira slumming it a bit by trying the same on Johnny. It’s an oddly heartwarming note to end on.

Overall, I really enjoyed this one and it speaks well to what the show can do when its comic chops are really working.