[6.5/10] I have no idea how to rate this episode, because it has two different storylines I dislike very very different reasons, and one that I adore. What can you do?
Let’s start with the most obvious one to disdain. Holy cow, why so much Roland? His antics, between trying to make Johnny his baby’s godfather, and the cartoonish, over-the-top meal, daredevil activities, and choking fit he has are just the worst. Why is this character still in the show? This stuff is so unfunny, and I don’t think it’s just the writing, because Johnny’s scene with Jocelyn is much better. (Johnny wanting to be just good enough of a parent to get credit for David and Alexis without being responsible for the newest Schitt baby is amusing.) It’s how they craft this character, and I am exhausted by it.
I also don’t care for the Alexis/David/Ted/Heather story, but for what are slightly more nuanced reasons. There’s a good story to be written about the uncomfortable intersection between Alexis’s personal and romantic concerns and David’s business concerns. There’s even a good beat here where Alexis sets aside her own personal discomfort in order to try to do something good for David’s store, by getting him exclusive rights to Heather’s cheese.
But holy hell, it’s such bad sitcom writing to stack lie on top of lie on top of lie in a way that no sane human being would if it weren’t for the drama. Alexis and David pretend they don’t know who Heather is. They pretend that they don’t know she’s dating Ted. They pretend they don’t know why she recognizes Alexis’s voice. When Heather asks how Ted and Alexis know each other, they say merely that they work together, neglecting to mention that they were once engaged. It’s a ridiculous series of falsehoods, one of which might have been tolerable, but an avalanche of which verge into the unbelievable, especially for straight arrow Ted.
If you want to do the far off looks and inner life story of this as serious romance for Alexis, then you can’t build it around such a wacky series of fabrications that strain credulity.
For all my frustration there, I love the Moira story. We don’t get enough of Moira and Stevie as a pairing, especially since Moira’s theatrics and Stevie’s dry wit make for such a great dynamic between the two of them. Moira milking the fact that the Internet thinks she’s dead and reveling in the kind things people are now saying about her (not to mention the gift baskets) is played for good comic effect.
But Stevie also works well as a “last sane man” to Moira’s usual overreactions and fretting about the world finding her in a “podunk hotel.” There’s some good laughs there (especially when Moira pauses to consider whether she’d rather be caught dead or caught at the motel), but also some genuine heartwarming material. Moira giving Stevie life advice is a strangely durable avenue of sentiment on the show, and her reassurance that when Stevie passes, she’ll have a coterie of admirers and people saying nice things is surprisingly sweet, even if it comes with the usual Moira Rose cynical twist.
Overall, if this one was just the Moira/Stevie story, it would be tops. But it features two other subplots that falter independently, and it’s a shame it gets shackled to them.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParentSpoilers2020-06-29T02:46:59Z
[6.5/10] I have no idea how to rate this episode, because it has two different storylines I dislike very very different reasons, and one that I adore. What can you do?
Let’s start with the most obvious one to disdain. Holy cow, why so much Roland? His antics, between trying to make Johnny his baby’s godfather, and the cartoonish, over-the-top meal, daredevil activities, and choking fit he has are just the worst. Why is this character still in the show? This stuff is so unfunny, and I don’t think it’s just the writing, because Johnny’s scene with Jocelyn is much better. (Johnny wanting to be just good enough of a parent to get credit for David and Alexis without being responsible for the newest Schitt baby is amusing.) It’s how they craft this character, and I am exhausted by it.
I also don’t care for the Alexis/David/Ted/Heather story, but for what are slightly more nuanced reasons. There’s a good story to be written about the uncomfortable intersection between Alexis’s personal and romantic concerns and David’s business concerns. There’s even a good beat here where Alexis sets aside her own personal discomfort in order to try to do something good for David’s store, by getting him exclusive rights to Heather’s cheese.
But holy hell, it’s such bad sitcom writing to stack lie on top of lie on top of lie in a way that no sane human being would if it weren’t for the drama. Alexis and David pretend they don’t know who Heather is. They pretend that they don’t know she’s dating Ted. They pretend they don’t know why she recognizes Alexis’s voice. When Heather asks how Ted and Alexis know each other, they say merely that they work together, neglecting to mention that they were once engaged. It’s a ridiculous series of falsehoods, one of which might have been tolerable, but an avalanche of which verge into the unbelievable, especially for straight arrow Ted.
If you want to do the far off looks and inner life story of this as serious romance for Alexis, then you can’t build it around such a wacky series of fabrications that strain credulity.
For all my frustration there, I love the Moira story. We don’t get enough of Moira and Stevie as a pairing, especially since Moira’s theatrics and Stevie’s dry wit make for such a great dynamic between the two of them. Moira milking the fact that the Internet thinks she’s dead and reveling in the kind things people are now saying about her (not to mention the gift baskets) is played for good comic effect.
But Stevie also works well as a “last sane man” to Moira’s usual overreactions and fretting about the world finding her in a “podunk hotel.” There’s some good laughs there (especially when Moira pauses to consider whether she’d rather be caught dead or caught at the motel), but also some genuine heartwarming material. Moira giving Stevie life advice is a strangely durable avenue of sentiment on the show, and her reassurance that when Stevie passes, she’ll have a coterie of admirers and people saying nice things is surprisingly sweet, even if it comes with the usual Moira Rose cynical twist.
Overall, if this one was just the Moira/Stevie story, it would be tops. But it features two other subplots that falter independently, and it’s a shame it gets shackled to them.