Stevie Budd may be leaving Schitt's Creek, and it's a move that's long overdue

Aside from the first episode, that overturned the life of the Roses in a major way, ‘Schitt’s Creek’ has not been a show about major changes to its protagonists life. As is appropriate for a small, sleepy town, the characters are less focused on the Next Big Thing than they are making the best of what they can with what’s available to them. Stevie (Emily Hampshire), however, just may be looking to leave the small town, and it’s a move that’s been long overdue.

Stevie has spent all of her life in Schitt’s Creek, and only got into the motel business because of an inheritance - it wasn’t so much her choice as a family responsibility. From day one, it’s been clear that she does not really enjoy her job, even if she is committed to it, day after day. She’s always been Schitt’s Creek’s hardest critic, as well, despite how deeply her roots are embedded in the town. 

The only thing more powerful than Stevie’s hate for Schitt’s Creek, though, is her unwillingness to leave her comfort zone. It’s been one of Stevie’s defining features, and her comfort zone is a place she’s been repeatedly pulled out of by the Rose family. The Roses are a force of chaos in the small town of Schitt’s Creek, and Stevie would have likely spent the rest of her days in a town she would increasingly grow to resent if it wasn’t for their upturned life upturning everyone else’s. 

Through the Roses, and throughout the series, Stevie has been repeatedly challenged - and they’ve been challenges she’s proved well up to facing. The most significant being her starring in the town’s production of ‘Cabaret,’ a move that’s about as far out of a comfort zone as one can get. As the latest episode of ‘Schitt’s Creek’ shows, that role has been the final push that helps Stevie to realize how much she wants to explore a life outside the motel business - and outside of Schitt’s Creek. 

Where everyone else has been learning to settle in, they’re reaching the end of their arcs. Everyone but Stevie has found themselves in a different place from when the show started - aside from Stevie. While she’s gone on her own kind of journey, until ‘Cabaret’ she hasn’t really ventured far enough away from her comfort zone that she can’t return at a moment’s notice. 

Her character deserves better than having her arc end in the same place it started, without her having the chance to  explore other options - and the show seems to recognize that. With this being the final season, we might see Stevie leave Schitt’s Creek for good - and it’s been a long time coming.

The next episode of ‘Schitt’s Creek’ airs January 21, on Pop TV.