'Schitt's Creek' Episode 4 Review: The art of walking on eggshells to protect vulnerable egos
Schitt’s Creek is, and always has been, a show about the managing of fragile egos. Everyone walks on eggshells around each other, and the comedy of the show has worked in the number of eggs that are constantly cracking.
Moira (Catherine O’Hara) is on the edge. With the release of the trailer for ‘The Crows Have Eyes 3: The Crowening,’ her career is one tremulous step towards a comeback, and out of the town that she still so desperately wants out of. Even under the best of circumstances, no one’s ego is more fragile than that of an actor on the cusp of something big, and Moira’s far from ideal circumstances. She, of course, has the support of her family, and her Jazzagals, as she shows them the trailer over, and over again, but a less than enthusiastic response from Jocelyn (Jenn Robertson) is not something that Moira’s about to let go.
It’s up to the long-suffering Jocelyn to push past her personal distaste for horror movies to dig deep and write what is a truly impressive review for what is at best a mediocre trailer for a C-list horror flick. Jocelyn has apparently been hiding an impressive writing talent, but for now, she’s back to the drawing board for a little while until she can write a more Moira-centric review.
Stevie (Emily Hampshire) in the meanwhile is going through a crisis of her own. Exploring new opportunities hasn’t been working out too well for her, she realizes that the company she works as a flight attendant for is somewhat less than trustworthy. We can’t say we didn’t see the warning signs last episode, but it’s a real blow for Stevie, whose first tentative steps into a new world of opportunities have proven faulty. Stevie usually keeps her confidence wrapped in several layers of comfort-zone, and without that, we see her flounder.
In a moment that highlights how far Alexis (Annie Murphy) has come in terms of empathizing with other people, Alexis forfeits the Maid of Honour role she’d been trying to reclaim from Stevie in recognition that of Stevie needing a win — a win that Alexis is going to help Stevie earn with her support, overbearing as it might be. It’s Daniel Levy, oddly enough, who really sells this scene, from initial panic at Stevie’s breakdown to the unspoken pride David has at his sister’s self-sacrifice.
The only two people who spend the episode comfortable around each other are, funnily enough, Johnny (Eugene Levy) and Roland (Chris Elliot) as they deal with a possible violent squatter in their motel. Now partners in the motel business, the once antagonistic relationship between the two has evolved into a real friendship of two vastly different kinds of people.
It’s an episode that highlights fragility, but comes away with little bruising of egos. The characters have learned to navigate around each other in wonderfully heartwarming ways, and support each other in ways that can’t always be openly expressed. There’s a subtle vocabulary of give-and-take between the characters that is ‘Schitt’s Creek’ its best...even if some people demand a lot more give than others.
The next episode of ‘Schitt’s Creek’ airs January 30, on Pop TV.