'Schitt's Creek' Season 6 Episode 6 Review: Alexis finds something she is actually great at
Spoiler alert for Season 6 Episode 6 — 'The Wingman'
'Schitt's Creek' is a show that at once manages to bring classical sitcom comedy to the screen while also avoiding tired tropes, and skipping right to the stories that matter. It keeps its characters' personalities front and center in the stories it sells and this episode is a great illustration of how well that works out.
Moira Rose (Catherine O'Hara) has spent much of this season spiraling in typical Moira-fashion to every little thing that might propel her back into the limelight. The disastrous video of Moira's premiere from the last episode has gone viral, but Moira's own PR agent Alexis Rose (Annie Murphy) has handled the situation off-screen before the episode even begins.
Alexis has proven to be remarkably competent — handling Moira is no easy task — and while she's been stressed, Alexis has handled it all without so much as a hint of resentment towards her very demanding mother. Alexis has proven to be flexible, savvy, clever, hardworking and resourceful and after the viral video incident, the rest of the world has started to take notice.
'The Crows Have Eyes 3: The Crowening' releases on "Interflix" worldwide and a barrage of flowers are sent to the Rosebud Motel — but they are not for Moira. They are for the good work Alexis has done promoting the movie. Most other shows would have used this moment to see Moira in an insecure, jealous spiral, but while Moira does have her insecurities, she truly cares about her daughter.
Sitting amidst testaments to her daughter's success, Moira skips straight past pride and into compassionate sympathy because she knows that Alexis is going to have a difficult choice to make. Going to live with Ted Mullens (Dustin Milligan) would take her away from her career and Moira knows the difficulty of that choice before Alexis has time to realize it herself.
It is a subtle indication of just how much growth Moira's gone through with the enforced closeness Schitt's Creek has brought to the Rose family. Fortunately for Alexis, Ted is impressively understanding and proud of Alexis' situation himself, so happy endings all around.
David Rose (David Levy) and Patrick Brewer's (Noah Reid) storyline has similarly avoided tired sitcom tropes — a veiled sexual invite from David's promiscuous ex does not promote jealousy from David or Patrick, but instead leads to an adorably open conversation between the two about testing their boundaries. With Jake (Steve Lund), however, David and Patrick find that while they may be willing to push their boundaries as a couple, there are still lines they won't cross. These are lines that Stevie Budd (Emily Hampshire) apparently will — an amusing surprise for the episode. Go, Stevie!
The third plotline of the episode sees Johnny Rose (Eugene Levy) trying to help Bob Currie (John Hemphill) bounce back from his divorce by trying to get back into the dating scene. Neither Ronnie Lee (Karen Robinson) nor Roland Schitt (Chris Elliott) are interested in making that any easier, and what follows is a pretty hilarious comedy of errors, dating fails and a return to roasting Johnny Rose.
'Schitt's Creek' has become something of an old magician's coat. It's comfortable and entertaining, but still has quite a few tricks up its sleeves that remind you just how good the show continues to be at making magic happen.
The next episode of 'Schitt's Creek' airs on February 18, on Pop TV.