Holy Schitt, Dan Levy has done it again. After co-creating one of the best Canadian series ever, if not the best, with Schitt’s Creek, he delivers another winner with Big Mistakes. This zany Netflix series created by Levy and Rachel Sennott (Shiva Baby) plays like the rambunctious relative of Schitt’s Creek. It’s another family-driven sitcom, but much darker and with a pace that’s both bumpy and relentless. Levy describes Big Mistakes as “another book on the same shelf” as Schitt’s Creek, but it’s more like the unspoken-of uncle of the Rose family who has a secret past as a drug runner for Pablo Escobar and a seemingly endless supply of too-wild-to-believe stories. We all have one of those in the family.
Levy’s Nicky basically becomes that kooky uncle, but more so by circumstance than by choice. A pastor at a vaguely non-denominational church, Nicky finds himself in a crisis of faith. He longs to step out with his very attractive and sensitive boyfriend Tareq (Jacob Gutierrez), yet the dynamics of the closely-knit parish advise him otherwise.
However, being a man of both the rainbow and the cloth becomes a minor sin. After Nicky’s sister, Morgan (Taylor Ortega), steals a necklace from a pawnshop as a gift for their grandmother, a few rosaries can’t save Nicky. Unfortunately, grandma dies while they’re en route to gift the neclace to her, and their mom, Linda (Lady Bird‘s Laurie Metcalf) insists they place it on her anyways. Cue an angry mobster, Yusuf (Boran Kuzun), looking for his high-priced gems, and Nicky and Taylor find themselves going down a rabbit hole of the local criminal underworld.
Big Mistakes drops audiences into the lives of these family members in media res. The conceit proves effectively disorienting. It’s like picking up on a series on the second or third episode without missing a beat. The series cuts to the chase while respecting the audience’s ability to suss things out knowing how things go with families in sitcom land. But it also subverts those expectations by digging Nicky and Taylor into deeper and darker holes with each episode.
Exhuming their grandmother to retrieve a necklace becomes the least of their mistakes as Yusuf makes clear there’s a debt to repay. As Nicky and Taylor go back to their personal lives, both of which are hanging by threads, they remain anxiously in Yusuf’s pocket. It doesn’t help matters, either, that Linda’s running for mayor. The family’s under public eye with pressure to uphold the perfect image.
Big Mistakes runs wild with the great comedic tradition of upping the funny by adding characters beat by beat. Yusuf’s criminal connections extend to the Russian mafia. The trigger-happy boss, Ivan (Emilia Perez’s Mark Ivanir), ensnares the siblings in a violent string of crimes that make bad PR the least of Linda’s worries. Meanwhile, Taylor’s relationship has tensions of her own, as her dweeb boyfriend, Max (Jack Innanen, Adults), finds the absolute worst opportunity to propose. His mom, Annette (Elizabeth Perkins), offers Linda a counterpoint of her own. Her high-priced businesswoman seems to have everything that Linda desperately craves: power, wealth, and kids who (mostly) have their shit together.
Big Mistakes explodes the idea of the perfect family by exploring facets of the characters’ that make them emblematic of the wayward modern family. Levy and Ortega have terrific chemistry as the siblings. Their relationship fuels the series with a love/hate dynamic familiar to brothers and sisters. They’re each other’s foil and rock with equal measure. The actors create the secret sauce that makes any of Big Mistakes work. Nimbly navigating tonal shifts and wackadoodle pacing—the series moves so quickly that audiences may have to catch their breath while binge-watching—there’s an innate spark to this ensemble that ensures the right level of creative comfort to go for broke.
The family also gets great vibes from Metcalf, who relishes a juicy matriarch role, while Perkins is a confident scene-stealer with a character who plays her hand well. Innanen and newcomer Abbey Quinn have a lot of fun in silly sidekick roles, and Gutierrez offers a fetching romantic interest. He brings a refreshingly Zen energy that contrasts with Levy’s anxious style of humour. Moreover, Big Mistakes smartly pairs characters with Yin and Yang energy. The antics often risk being too much, but there’s always someone else in the scene to create harmony.
As a lead, Levy smartly plays into the persona he created with David Rose, but finds a character who feels markedly different. For one, Nicky lacks David’s yassified style and culturista panache. As noted by his hilariously errant belt that flaps around his waistline, Nicky probably shops at Blouse Barn without care. Unlike David, Nicky exists in a small community where being gay remains taboo. The pastor’s lame get-ups reflect that, as do his anxiety flare-ups that push him—and, increasingly, Taylor—to the edge.
David Rose wouldn’t be caught dead in these outfits, but Big Mistakes also rejects the idealised environment that some critics felt too twee in Schitt’s Creek. Personally, I loved that aspect of Schitt’s—this place where someone could be as flamboyant as David without inspiring a snicker, but Big Mistakes knows it exists in a hardened, more cynical error. The age of innocence is over and this series’ darker edge reflects that. While Big Mistakes (so far) won’t go down in the history in on the same level as Schitt’s Creek, it ensures that Levy don’t remain a one-hit wonder. It’s a high-paced, high-energy caper with just the right hint of sass.
Big Mistakes is now on Netflix.
