Listen, we all know this week has been insane. There is a literal pandemic going on. Enter the new episode of Schitt’s Creek. It’s badly needed this week. If there’s a time for distractions it is now. Titled “Sunrise, Sunset” we finally get a throwback to the soap-opera that launched Moira Rose into stardom, Sunrise Bay, and it’s just as satisfying as you can imagine, multiple slaps are involved. At the same time, this discovery came around as a symptom of Alexis’s downward post-breakup spiral. She’s not wearing makeup anymore, walking around in sweatpants, and even her hair extensions are falling out. And while I know that most normal women just basically live like that, Alexis Rose would have never done any of this if she hadn’t just lost the love of her life and one of the only decent straight men left on television. Hence, the serious soap-opera binging. We won’t judge. Though her timing is impeccable because the producers of Sunrise Bay are coming to Schitt’s Creek to see Moira and while Moira’s excited to see her former coworkers she knows something is up here. Just not what she imagined. It’s not a reunion they’ve planned, it’s an entire reboot of the show and they want some of the original actors to come back including Moira and her former co-star, Cliffton Sparks. They even have a contract ready for her. Now we devoted fans of Moira have been waiting for something like this! With the whole Crows movie, the series hinted that Moira would reignite her acting career and live in the limelight once again, only while this reboot seems like the perfect launching pad it is a little too good to be true. At least that is what a tv-obsessed, but clear-headed, Alexis thinks. After scouring the Sunrise Bay forums she comes across a conspiracy theory that Cliffton had her mother’s character killed off the show because he was jealous, and even found a video in which a drunk Cliffton basically admits it. Yet, Moira is adamant that the loss of her role in Sunrise Bay was her own doing, that she asked for too much in her contract negotiation and they had no choice but to kill her off. Alexis is not convinced, but warns her mother that even if she goes through with this reboot to remember that “there is nothing wrong with asking for what you deserve.”If her appearance had you worrying about Alexis worry no more, this queen has her head in the right place. What an iconic honest line, what a strong mentality. So strong in fact that Moira can’t help but ask Cliffton the truth of it, and since he’s such a sub-par actor he can’t help but admit the truth which the producer, Tippy confirms as well. Que the glorious slaps! This woman did not miss a beat, once she finished with that she turned around and began her new demands for her contract. As far as storylines go this one delivered on every score. A talented deserving woman who was cheated out of what was rightfully hers and blamed herself for asking too much, we see it every day. But then she is uplifted by another phenomenal woman and rectified the situation herself. The self-knowledge, the dignity, the empowerment, and support, we couldn’t have asked for more from this mother-daughter duo this week. Honestly, as it stands, this is the best Moira and Alexis story I think we’ve seen. However, Moira ultimately won’t be doing the reboot, but she’s thankful her daughter has shown her what she’s worth and pushed her to make sure she gets it. A daughter whom it may be noted is getting back into running again like she used to do, pre-Ted, or she would be if Moira and David hadn’t sucked her back into watching Sunrise Bay. Anyhow, we can take it as a signal that Alexis will be doing better as well, thankfully.
Alright, switching gears we need to focus on the men of the Rose family. David’s wedding, the wedding of the series, is coming up and Johnny has graciously offered to foot the bill for the food, which per David’s taste is nothing less than the best. Unfortunately, Johnny made the offer before he discovered that the foundation of the new hotel that he, Roland, and Stevie bought is about to collapse, meaning that their new investment has instantly become a money pit. With no clear way to recoup or even hold off their losses, Stevie pushes Johnny to tell David the truth and admit that he can’t afford to pay for the catering. Now we know Johnny’s a proud man so we’re not surprised he won’t do it, but we didn’t realize it’s also a solemn reminder of everything he’s lost. When Johnny built the Rose Video empire he and Moira stashed a nest egg of money for David’s wedding, they were seriously going to fly everyone to Bali. Now he still wants to give his son the wedding of his dreams but he can’t even pay for the food. The fraudulent demise of Johnny’s life work has been mentioned before, but here we are six seasons later and he’s still hurting from it and his comeback with the Rosebud Motel seems doomed. At least it does until Stevie swoops in. An honorary member of the Rose clan, Stevie pulls the classic new-plan-at-the-last-second move. After reading Johnny’s business book she suggests that instead of selling the ruined motel they buy thirty new motels. Once they have that amount of locations they will be making some real money. Here, Johnny thinks they’ll need a serious investor but he might be able to find one from his old life. Is this it? Is Johnny getting his new empire, only now with his two best friends? That would be a prime ending for this series but let’s not jinx it. Fingers crossed though. Overall, this was a top-notch episode. Johnny, Stevie, Alexis, and Moira were living their best life, David was blissfully unaware of any problems, Patrick was out this episode but hopefully, he’ll make an appearance next episode. Still, they managed to engage with the hurtful past wrongs and had their character challenge and grow from it in a hopeful uplifting way that, even if it didn’t definitively resolve anyone’s future, gave them the courage to do better in the future. Since it looks like we’ll all be homebound for the near future let’s hope that all the episodes left in this season will be just as good.
