The opening five hours of Schitt’s Creek are certainly funny episodes, though at times, the show’s lacked a distinct purpose, bordering on sketch comedy assembled in the loose form of a serialized show. “Wine and Roses,” by comparison, is a strong half hour built around a unified theme, the first time Schitt’s has truly felt like a cohesive story about the Rose family, and why their misadventures in Schitt’s Creek are such important moments of reflection and redemption.
And it’s not like the show needed to reach for something deep: all it took was a trailer on a commercial set and a yoga metaphor to make “Wine and Roses” the best episode of Schitt’s since “Don’t Worry, It’s His Sister.” The yoga metaphor is really the table-setter (quite literally, in fact): in the yoga class, David and Alexis find themselves leaning on other people physically for emotional support. David’s entire story is constructed around his first panic attack (“I’m not living in a 2500 ft. live/work space in SoHo!”), and it’s not until he goes to the yoga class with his sister that he’s finally able to relax, and sleep. The idea here is a little more abstract – in the scene where David falls asleep, he’s not being physically supported by his sister, but her presence there when he calls a “selfish” calls to attention the deep bond the two share about helping each other out in desperate times of need (the last time, Alexis called David to pick her up from a very shady-sounding situation overseas).
Their story is mostly played for humor -smartly, because David freaking out is always funny, and Alexis trying to endear herself to Mutt is great awkward comedy – but that idea of family supporting each other through trying times is established in their story (and shown physically, though Alexis doesn’t quite get the instructions on how to do this), which allows it to elevate the real highlight of the episode: the plight of Moira Rose. Moira’s career is summed up in a few lines by Johnny: driven by her alcoholism, she spiraled out of the public sphere, and found herself completely lacking in any sort of self-definition outside of “fame” (hence all the wigs). So it’s no surprise she blows her first commercial in years, for a fruit farm with terrible wine and a director who finds Moira’s growing panic less than charming.
Like David, Moira’s panic comes from a deep, personal place of failure: neither of their lives have gone the way they planned (or David would be a successful businessman in SoHo, and not as broke as the rest of his family in Schitt’s Creek, stuck with them), and have lost touch with who they are. Who they are may not be the most beautiful people, but the identities they’ve had for the last few decades are under a great deal of scrutiny in the strange, purgatorial village of Schitt’s. Moira might be the most lost of them all; and without her husband by her side, she quickly crumbles, his constant, needling presence on set proving to be more valuable than she’d ever considered.
These points are expressed pretty quietly throughout “Wine and Roses,” focusing instead on the comedic talents of the cast portraying the Rose family. And there’s nothing wrong with that – but failing to recognize the subtle, touching layer of familial connection underneath the surface of these hilarious scenes sells short just how clever the script is, in its entirety. And it’s peppered with other great scenes as well, like displaying Mutt’s skills as an interior designer, or the hilarious cold open, where Johnny can’t take an important business call, no matter how hard he tries (or how many phones he tries to receive the call on), continuing to develop the relationships being formed (and the others being examined) in the confined, revealing spaces of Schitt’s Creek.
In the end, “Wine and Roses” belongs to Moira, whose “I’m going to[effing] nail it!!!” declaration is an emotional high point for the series so far. And it’s followed by her final take at making the commercial, where she drunkenly stumbles (with a certain sense of elegance and charm) through her lines, while David lays on top of Jocelyn’s back, fast asleep. Those final images cap a particularly impressive episode for Schitt’s Creek, one that benefits from a pair of strong stories that spring from the same emotional well, a place I hope the show continues to explore in the back half of its freshman season.
[Photo via Pop TV]
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