Last night, TV lost another one of its brilliant, loving, kind, and smart comedies, as Schitt’s Creek, the Canadian series with a heart of polished gold, aired its final episode. While the series ran for six seasons, those of us here in the States were a bit slow on the uptake, only truly embracing the show and all it has to offer once it hit Netflix (the series aired on PopTV, a small cable network that now houses the wonderful One Day at a Time, so those looking for something to fill the Schitt’s void should give that one a look), so it feels a bit like we missed out on years spent with the Rose family and the denizens of Schitt’s Creek. But, in a business where shows we love often get snatched away too soon, without the creatives involved getting a shot to end things on their terms, we can take solace in the fact that Daniel Levy and his writing staff were able to end the show the way they wanted. And what a glorious ending it was.
Fish out of water tales are nothing new. But they are far trickier to pull off than one might think. Balancing the needs of the quirky town residents against the journey of the leads isn’t easy. When I’ve recommended Schitt’s Creek to folks in the past year, the most common response I’ve gotten is, “I tried watching it, but I didn’t like how unlikeable the Roses were, so I quit after a few episodes.” I always tell those folks the same thing: You have to give Schitt’s Creek more than a season. I know, in this age of too much TV it’s hard to sit through 13 episodes of anything to see if it works (even if those are only a half hour), but Schitt’s Creek is a series that needs the runway of about a season and a half to build these characters into who they were destined to be.
At first glance, the Rose family are spoiled, whiny, and not particularly likeable. They’re the worst of the 1% and they clearly want nothing to do with the town they own. But, over the course of the first season and a half, it becomes clear that there’s a hell of a lot more going on with this family of four than we initial thought. Schitt’s Creek is a story about a lot of things, but most of all it is a story about love. It’s about finding the human connections that form deep, meaningful friendships. It’s about pride in your hometown and those who inhabit it. It’s about letting go of the fears that hinder you and accepting the support of a romantic partner. And it’s about realizing that family – both biological and found – is the most important part of life. In our current world, where we might be physically separated from our friends and family out of necessity, that’s a heck of a thing to remember.
As Schitt’s Creek sharpened as a series over the course of its six seasons, the pure joy at its heart simply expanded. This is a world where hatred and homophobia didn’t exist. It is a world where, aside from some good-natured ribbing, everyone is allowed to be who they are, no explanations necessary. It never apologizes for wanting to see the good in others, and the series makes sure that its core four characters learn their lessons over time. The Rose family may have begun the series judging the townspeople of Schitt’s Creek, but they quickly become just as ingrained in the strange, loving world of the town as the folks they were put-off by. And we, the audience, slowly but surely fell in love with everyone. As the characters’ relationships deepened (the bond between Johnny and the parent-less Stevie was a personal favorite of mine), we were able to see the key message of the series: We’re not all that different.
It’s hard to sum up what made Schitt’s Creek so damn special. The acting was sensational (when you team up Catherine O’Hara and Eugene Levy, you know it’s going to be a home run – but the less-seasoned cast members were just as special, with Emily Hampshire turning Stevie into a complex character and Annie Murphy’s Alexis becoming the character with the series’ best arc), the writing was funny and emotional without ever feeling cloying, and the joy of the show was infectious. Telling stories about what makes us human – and the need for love in our lives – will make Schitt’s Creek a series that will stand the test of time. I can easily see it becoming another The Office or Parks and Recreation – a series that we can go back to time and again to watch characters we love learn lessons that we can apply in our own lives. We’ll continue to laugh and cry with them. And we’ll always know that when we need it, Schitt’s Creek is there with people who will accept us for who we are, no matter what.
