Coming into this latest episode of Schitt’s Creek we’re expecting chaos, tear-stained mascara, a fort of used tissues, and of course some drama. This is still the Rose family after all, and it was only a week ago when we watched two beautiful deserving soulmates break-up and walk away from each other so that they can each live their best life. While we understand why Alexis and Ted had to do it we’re still heartbroken, meaning that Alexis should be shattered as well, right?
Well, as the title of this episode suggests, not quite.
The episode begins with what looks like an impromptu family meeting in which David is voicing his concern about Alexis’s reaction to the breakup. After watching Alexis grow and mature in Schitt’s Creek over the last six seasons it seems she’s landing back at square one and having flings with rich(ish) older men who don’t really care about her. The latest is Arthur, nicknamed by Alexis as “Artie” he looks to be about her father’s age if not older and even has his own set of grown kids and grandkids.
Though every other Rose family member is pretty disturbed, Johnny is understandably more concerned than anyone. He begins to snoop on his daughter’s romance and to gently hint that he thinks the age difference is too inappropriate. Since we’re dealing with original Alexis here these hints fly pretty high over her head, leading Johnny to take it straight to Arthur himself. He warns him of Alexis’s fragility after her very serious and very recent breakup. Artie says he understands and will act accordingly.
Cut to Johnny finding Alexis crying in the hotel. Artie broke up with her.
The whole thing was weird, but it finally gets Alexis to breakdown and admits that she’s heartbroken about Ted, that she has no idea what’s she’s doing or where she’s going now. Johnny’s comforting skills need some work because they mostly just relied on asking when David will come back, but he admits to Alexis that he’s getting involved in her love life now to make up for all the years he ignored her heartbreaks and wasn’t there for her. Well, he’s here for her now and letting her cry on her shoulder for as long as she needs. Even if it was a little off-beat this was a really sincere plot for Alexis and Johnny, we didn’t know where Alexis was going to go after losing Ted but having Johnny by her side ready to catch her while she figures things out is better than we could have hoped for.
Yet, the other Roses were just as prickly this week. Moira was in a particular huff after she found their car egged. But when she went to the town council to report the crime it turned out she might have deserved it. Moira accidentally insulted Schitt’s Creek in a People’s magazine interview by calling it the “last place she would want to live,” and just when the town was going to roll out a new and very expensive tourism campaign. She eventually rectified the situation by appearing in an ad for Schitt’s Creek, in a full black patent midi dress naturally, and highlighted some of the town’s best features including the cafe, Rose Apothecary, and the Rosebud motel.
Meanwhile, David went on the defense after he was cornered by Patrick into giving Jocelyn a trial run for a job at Rose Apothecary. Though she doesn’t comply with David’s sales suggestions, the local customers love her and she manages to rack up more sales in one day than the boys have all week. Always gracious in defeat, David takes Patrick’s decision and finally offers her a full-time job. Which she promptly turns down. She might be great at sales, but it’s just not for her. She’d rather lookout for some tutoring jobs since teaching students is so much more fulfilling. Did I miss an episode? What happened to Jocelyn’s teaching job at the high school? The whole story was odd and ultimately leads nowhere, though it was satisfying to watch Patrick’s complete surprise when Jocelyn turns the job down, but still not great overall.
This episode had some solid relationship building between Alexis and Johnny, reigniting Moira’s appreciation for a town she used to hate, but David and Patrick just sort of had some funny work troubles and Stevie was only mentioned when she saw Moira’s vandalized car. So far season six has had some pretty great moments but it would just be so nice if for once every member of the Rose family (Stevie included) got a good storyline all in the same episode. This is the final season after all, is it too much to ask?
