[7.6/10] There’s a lot of good stuff here. Some of it doesn’t go off as well as the show wants it to, but some of it lands like gangbusters. This is an episode big on the dramatic monologue, and a few of them are fantastic and a few of them come off as cheesy. It’s a tough line to walk.
The wackiest, sitcom-iest storyline is Johnny and Stevie inadvertently stealing Roland’s phone from him while he’s away on an errand, so that he misses the call that Jocelyn’s in labor. It’s pretty mild and broad, but the show wrings a few chuckles out of it, especially Bob’s conversations with Gwen. Again, a gentle set of laughs, but not a bad one.
There’s also some good work with Moira and Jocelyn. On the comedy front, I love the reveal that Jocelyn is the one driving Moira to the hospital rather than the other way around. It’s a little over the top, and obviously not the best look for Moira, but it’s a silly enough setup to work for me. Better yet, I like Moira’s arc here, worrying about Alexis and feeling like she needs her mother’s help to handle big events and media coverage, only to get a good push from Jocelyn that Alexis has changed, that she’s capable of handling this on her own, and that a certain point you have to trust your kids. It’s a touch corny, but it works in the moment, especially when Moira returns to the first “Singles Week” event and sees that Jocelyn was right. Plus, the tag with Moira’s discomfort at being Roland Jr.’s middle namesake is a chuckle.
I was less enamored with the actual Alexis and Ted stuff. Alexis’s speech about locks and keys that was a thinly veiled reflection on her own dating history definitely fell into the cheesy territory for me, despite the show trying to make it work with the slow push-in camera work normally reserved for dramatic monologues. At the same time, I know it’s supposed to feel cathartic when Ted and Alexis kiss, but I just can’t get over how quickly the show dispensed with Ted’s girlfriend and just treat this as an unmitigated triumph.
I know there’s a streak of romcom stuff to this show, and I can accept that, but Alexis and Ted is something the show built toward surprisingly well by not making it the focus of Alexis’s journey, just making it a slow realization. They squandered that goodwill by turning her into a pining, plotting interloper this season, and that makes this The Notebook style conclusion to her season-long arc feel off and wrong.
That said, Ted is surprisingly well-motivated via David, who has my favorite story in the episode. It is, in contrast to the Ted/Alexis stuff, very touching when Patrick tells David he loves him, even if David, in all his fit of pique, can’t quite say it back yet. But the show pulls off a neat trick by simultaneously motivating David and Ted at the same time.
Not only does David affirm that Alexis’s affections for Ted are genuine and that she’s changed enough to know she made a mistake (something the secondhand account does better than Alexis’s strained lock metaphor), but he vindicates the idea that if you know you “have it”, you should hold onto it. David thinks what Alexis and Ted has is real, and he realizes that if he feels the same way about Patrick, he should take his own advice. His ensuing profession of love is the emotional high point of the episode, and feels way more earned given the great writing that leads David to that epiphany in between Patrick saying “I love you” and David saying it in return.
There’s also some good bits to avoid things getting too treacly, from Patrick needling David about not getting him the tea to Twyla turning down some guy who tried to pull the same smooching technique that Ted did. It’s a nice way to cut the sentiment a bit without skimping on it.
Overall, this is a good finale for what is the first season of Schitt’s Creek not to be a clear improvement on the last. David’s arc in the show continued to blossom, and there was still some very good comedy throughout. But Alexis’s story of personal growth tripped over her story of romance for much of the season. Johnny’s shtick of managing the hotel hasn’t really gone anywhere besides more time with (ugh) Roland. And Moira’s been a little more free-floating than usual. The laughs are still solid, and there’s some great episodes, but this is the first season where I felt like the show got shakier rather than stronger.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParentSpoilers2020-07-01T01:27:31Z
[7.6/10] There’s a lot of good stuff here. Some of it doesn’t go off as well as the show wants it to, but some of it lands like gangbusters. This is an episode big on the dramatic monologue, and a few of them are fantastic and a few of them come off as cheesy. It’s a tough line to walk.
The wackiest, sitcom-iest storyline is Johnny and Stevie inadvertently stealing Roland’s phone from him while he’s away on an errand, so that he misses the call that Jocelyn’s in labor. It’s pretty mild and broad, but the show wrings a few chuckles out of it, especially Bob’s conversations with Gwen. Again, a gentle set of laughs, but not a bad one.
There’s also some good work with Moira and Jocelyn. On the comedy front, I love the reveal that Jocelyn is the one driving Moira to the hospital rather than the other way around. It’s a little over the top, and obviously not the best look for Moira, but it’s a silly enough setup to work for me. Better yet, I like Moira’s arc here, worrying about Alexis and feeling like she needs her mother’s help to handle big events and media coverage, only to get a good push from Jocelyn that Alexis has changed, that she’s capable of handling this on her own, and that a certain point you have to trust your kids. It’s a touch corny, but it works in the moment, especially when Moira returns to the first “Singles Week” event and sees that Jocelyn was right. Plus, the tag with Moira’s discomfort at being Roland Jr.’s middle namesake is a chuckle.
I was less enamored with the actual Alexis and Ted stuff. Alexis’s speech about locks and keys that was a thinly veiled reflection on her own dating history definitely fell into the cheesy territory for me, despite the show trying to make it work with the slow push-in camera work normally reserved for dramatic monologues. At the same time, I know it’s supposed to feel cathartic when Ted and Alexis kiss, but I just can’t get over how quickly the show dispensed with Ted’s girlfriend and just treat this as an unmitigated triumph.
I know there’s a streak of romcom stuff to this show, and I can accept that, but Alexis and Ted is something the show built toward surprisingly well by not making it the focus of Alexis’s journey, just making it a slow realization. They squandered that goodwill by turning her into a pining, plotting interloper this season, and that makes this The Notebook style conclusion to her season-long arc feel off and wrong.
That said, Ted is surprisingly well-motivated via David, who has my favorite story in the episode. It is, in contrast to the Ted/Alexis stuff, very touching when Patrick tells David he loves him, even if David, in all his fit of pique, can’t quite say it back yet. But the show pulls off a neat trick by simultaneously motivating David and Ted at the same time.
Not only does David affirm that Alexis’s affections for Ted are genuine and that she’s changed enough to know she made a mistake (something the secondhand account does better than Alexis’s strained lock metaphor), but he vindicates the idea that if you know you “have it”, you should hold onto it. David thinks what Alexis and Ted has is real, and he realizes that if he feels the same way about Patrick, he should take his own advice. His ensuing profession of love is the emotional high point of the episode, and feels way more earned given the great writing that leads David to that epiphany in between Patrick saying “I love you” and David saying it in return.
There’s also some good bits to avoid things getting too treacly, from Patrick needling David about not getting him the tea to Twyla turning down some guy who tried to pull the same smooching technique that Ted did. It’s a nice way to cut the sentiment a bit without skimping on it.
Overall, this is a good finale for what is the first season of Schitt’s Creek not to be a clear improvement on the last. David’s arc in the show continued to blossom, and there was still some very good comedy throughout. But Alexis’s story of personal growth tripped over her story of romance for much of the season. Johnny’s shtick of managing the hotel hasn’t really gone anywhere besides more time with (ugh) Roland. And Moira’s been a little more free-floating than usual. The laughs are still solid, and there’s some great episodes, but this is the first season where I felt like the show got shakier rather than stronger.
Oh well, on to the next one!