Late to the Party: The Final Schitt’s Creek Post
Yesterday, in what was admittedly a very emotionally fragile state, I decided it would be a good idea to watch not only the entirety of the final season of Schitt’s Creek in one sitting, but also the behind the scenes documentary, Best Wishes, Warmest Regards: A Schitt’s Creek Farewell. This may or may not have been a good idea, but I did it, and I had an emotional rollercoaster of a day.
As you may recall, we left the Rose’s at the end of season five on the up and up, and the writers and creators got to be in a coveted position where they were choosing to end the show on their terms, rather than due to a network cancellation. That meant season six got to be fully dedicated to wrapping up storylines and giving characters the happy endings they all deserved. And let me tell you, they hit it out of the fucking park.
Over the course of the season, Johnny works with his business partners, Stevie and Roland, to expand Rosebud Motel into a franchise, Moira finds a new direction in her acting career, David plans for his wedding and life with Patrick, and Alexis grows her PR business and decides how to proceed with her relationship with Ted. Every member of the family grows into the best version of themselves before our very eyes, and gets their own well-earned ending.
Normally, I would find it fairly frustrating when a story ends with everyone getting a happy ending. It’s actually one of the things that bothered me about The Color Purple because it felt so tonally inconsistent with the rest of the book. But Schitt’s Creek isn’t about reality, it’s about imagining a more beautiful world. This is most clearly demonstrated in their treatment of LGBTQ+ characters and plot lines. While it’s clear that David is guarded, possibly due to past experiences, and Patrick is initially nervous to come out to his parents, neither of their arcs hinge on a huge coming out story, a traumatic act of homophobia, or a lack of acceptance. They just get to be themselves, and for two gay men to be the central romantic couple of a long-running sitcom that isn’t about gay men and for that couple to be an example of mutual respect, healthy communication, and learning and growing together is simply revolutionary.
Additionally, the love story between Ted and Alexis, the secondary romantic plot, is handled so beautifully. Ultimately, they come to the decision to end their relationship, even though they still love each other, because their careers are taking them in separate directions and neither wants to hold the other back from their fullest potential. In their breakup conversation, they are able to acknowledge how much they love each other and how they wouldn’t be who they were today if it weren’t for the time they spent together. Through Ted and Alexis, Schitt’s Creek tells the story of a relationship that ended but did not fail, and avoids the toxic messaging of so many other sitcom finales (Friends, Sex and the City, etc) that end with a couple where one or both partners have to make a major personal or career sacrifice to prioritize their relationship. Don’t get me wrong, that happens sometimes in life, but for Alexis, a character who, in earlier seasons, could easily be written off as an air-headed valley girl who spends all her time chasing boys, to grow into someone so independent and sure of herself that she knows that she can and should put her own career first is so beautiful to watch.
Before we get into the panic attack level heartbreak I experienced watching this show come to an end, I would be remiss not to mention that just like prior seasons, the final season of Schitt’s Creek was also hilarious and filled with so much joy and laughter. Catherine O’Hara continued to shine as Moira, and her whole journey to promote her movie The Crows 3: The Crowening destroyed me. And I know I’m always partial to a David and Patrick storyline, but the episode where they thought David’s ex wanted to have a threesome with them was brilliant, as was their escape room bachelor party. When Noah Reid’s Patrick got so genuinely excited about going to an escape room, I had to pause the episode because I was laughing so hard I was crying and couldn’t hear what they were saying.
Speaking of crying, I cannot tell you the last time I sobbed so uncontrollably about fictional characters. I did have a very emotional response to the ending of The Good Place, but this was next level. As I mentioned earlier, I was in a vulnerable place while I was watching, but I don’t think just any show would make me cry like that. As the storylines wound down in the last two episodes, I genuinely felt like I was in mourning for these characters. When I watched Ted and Alexis break up and David and Patrick get married and Johnny and Moira drive away from the motel, I cried, not because the ending was a great tragedy, but for the dual loss of the end of the show and the knowledge of those actors that went to work every day for six years and how hard it must be for them. I cried for the ending of the beautiful experience I was having, for the endings and new beginnings in the characters’ lives, and the ending of a chapter in the cast and creatives’ lives. Watching the documentary special only affirmed this feeling of loss, especially hearing how many of the cast members were in really difficult places in their lives and careers before they booked the pilot. It was a happy reminder that life can change on a dime and that you just never know where the next great thing is going to come from.
Also, there was something so special about watching a family love and support each other for six years (albeit for me it only took five months, primarily concentrated into the last week or so), especially in a time in my life when I haven’t seen my own family for almost a year and a half. I miss them a lot. I don’t know what the next few months, nonetheless years, of my life will bring me, but in a way this past year has made me feel like the season one Roses. I’ve never been wealthy, and my life wasn’t a walk in the park before the world shut down almost a year ago now, but I know how it feels to lose everything. It’s been a really difficult time for the world and in my own life, but I can only hope that in six years I’ll have a career like Alexis’ or a love like David and Patrick’s. They only got where they were though, because their life veered completely off course and they learned to roll with the punches. I think that’s a more important lesson now than ever, and while I hope my life will have far fewer punches in the years ahead, I feel more confident to navigate them with love, grace, and a sense of humor, because of the hours of my life I’ve spent with the Roses.