Season 3 Discussion

[ElectricBoogaloo]

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Johnny searches for a new purpose; Moira faces the realities of politics.

Promo:

[Jextella]

4 hours ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

Promo:

"Awards" is Moira's favorite season!  Hysterical.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

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David and Stevie must come to terms with their new relationship, while Alexis and Moira become anxious when they schedule a rare mother/daughter lunch.

[LauraAnders]

I just watched this episode and I'm sad to say I was very disappointed.

I had grown to love this show over the first two seasons. It seemed to me that in most every aspect of the production the people working on this show had grown and expanded their story lines and the show just kept getting better and better. The Season Two Finale was a lovely gem of an episode and it really warmed my insides at the thought of just how good it can be to have a loving family.

But, IMO, this episode (the 1st of Season 3) just fell flat. The sub-plot (if I can call it that) involving Mutt and Tennessee didn't make hardly any sense to me in the context of the story. I mean, what was the point? It seemed like they started to explore the two conflicts (one between David and Stevie and the other between Ted and Alexis) but they had no relation to the conflict between Mutt and Tennessee. It all just seemed to end in a real mess. It was as if they were starting to explore each of those relationships: (David, Jake & Stevie, Ted and Alexis, and Mutt and Tennessee). But then the episode seemed to crawl up to the edge of a big cliff and then, it just ended. I felt the ending came at a very strange point and I just didn't understand. I couldn't call it comedy at all and I couldn't call it drama either.

Excuse me for going on such a long rant that doesn't appear to make much sense. But that is just the way this episode left me feeling.

I sure do hope the rest of this season attempts to put together the problems with the relationships that it started to explore in t his episode. It would be a real shame if it didn't do that.

By the way, one of the above posts contains the line, "Awards is Moira's favorite season". I must have missed that somehow. I don't recall hearing that line anywhere in this episode.

Edited January 11, 2017 by LauraAnders

[ElectricBoogaloo]

2 hours ago, LauraAnders said:

By the way, one of the above posts contains the line, "Awards is Moira's favorite season". I must have missed that somehow. I don't recall hearing that line anywhere in this episode.

That's because the promo was for the entire season, not just this episode. It looks like that line is from next week's episode.

Loved David defensively saying that he hasn't bedazzled anything since he was 22!

Totally loved Alexis and David fucking with Johnny when he was hungover.

[LauraAnders]

Thank you for explaining that to me ElectricBoogaloo.

[weightyghost]

I agree that this wasn't their strongest episode. The kids are my favourites so I tend to glaze over any of the town hall stuff. But having all four have separate storylines made them all feel a bit unfinished. 

Though this cracked me up as an extra - 

[iMonrey]

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I sure do hope the rest of this season attempts to put together the problems with the relationships that it started to explore in t his episode. It would be a real shame if it didn't do that.

But I think the whole point is that they are setting up a season-long story arc that began with last season's finale. We have the Stevie, David and Jake triangle and the Alexis, Ted and Mutt triangle (or, quadrangle if you count Tennessee). I found it interesting that all is not as rosy with Mutt and Tennessee as it appeared to be in last season's finale. I'm still rooting for Alexis and Ted though because Ted > Mutt IMHO.

As for Stevie and David - run in the opposite direction! You are both better than this! Nobody is that "cool." Jake appears to be toying with them.

The thing with the town council is a bit of a mess, though - and the show has had a problem from the very beginning by not defining exactly what it means for the Rose family to "own" the town. 

[Evagirl]

I thought last season finale had David driving out of town alone, near tears.  Or was that the 1st season finale?  I guess I've slept a couple of nights since then - LOL!

[iMonrey]

That was the Season 1 finale, Evagirl. The Roses retrieved him from an Amish farm in the Season 2 premier. 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

The cast discusses the love triangle:

 

Which cast member could be a politician in real life?

 

And for non-Canadians:

Edited January 13, 2017 by ElectricBoogaloo

[iMonrey]

Love the bonus videos, except I can't get the top one to play. The one with David and Alexis talking about fad diets is so obviously improv - you can see Annie Murphy starting to crack up a couple of times. I bet it would be a ball being on set with these people when they film this show.

[cleo]

Poor John. Love how supportive Moyra is. 

I was just so happy to see them all back.

I like Alexis and the vet as friends.

[LauraAnders]

On 2017-01-12 at 7:55 PM, iMonrey said:

That was the Season 1 finale, Evagirl. The Roses retrieved him from an Amish farm in the Season 2 premier. 

The part of the episode where the Roses retrieve David from an Amish farm was one of my most favorite sequences ever. It was extremely funny to see how the Roses and the Amish took such very different views of David's behavior. I tend to doubt they would ever be able to understand each others' POV. Nonetheless, it just made for some really great comedy.

I would just like to add that in this episode, (as well as in the entire show to date), the character of Twila is very under-used. It's as if she is only given a line or two in each episode and I think she could provide a great deal of humorous back-story as in what she was like in growing up and how she developed the interest or experience to run this restaurant.

Another character that I would like to see a lot more of is Jocelyn. I don't think she had a single line in this episode and overall, it seems to me that episodes that involved her in a decent sized sub-plot were usually terrific (like the episode where she talked about her feelings towards her young teenage boy students and the way they would all get "boners" when she dressed a certain way). There were unfortunately, only a very small number of other episodes that featured her to a considerable degree. For the most part, she is only used to point out what an idiot her husband can be. IMHO, the show runner could remove Roland completely (as well as perhaps a few other supporting characters) and give all their time to Jocelyn and I think the result would be a good improvement.

However, before continuing this line of thought, I suppose I should find another thread that is more general and does not concern just one episode. I thought it would be OK to discuss this issue in this thread because of the extreme lack of Jocelyn's presence and also because I found the scene involving the Town Council to be especially disappointing.

Edited January 14, 2017 by LauraAnders

[iMonrey]

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the character of Twila is very under-used.

I don't think Twila was ever intended to be a major character though. She just happens to be played by Eugene Levy's daughter so maybe we just expect to see more of her.

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Another character that I would like to see a lot more of is Jocelyn. I don't think she had a single line in this episode

She's the one who brought John home from the cafe when he had too much to drink. It did feel sort of like an obligatory scene to include her in the episode. 

[Portia]

32 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

I don't think Twila was ever intended to be a major character though. She just happens to be played by Eugene Levy's daughter so maybe we just expect to see more of her.

She's the one who brought John home from the cafe when he had too much to drink. It did feel sort of like an obligatory scene to include her in the episode. 

Yes, and I thought it was a sweet little character detail that she seemed so compassionate and non-judgmental toward Johnny at that moment. Roland would have been a complete asshole about it. 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

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Johnny and Moira feign poverty in an attempt to get a deal on a used car, while David helps Stevie lay her great-aunt to rest.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

One thing I always love are the moments when you can see the sibling relationship between David and Alexis. Sometimes it's really over the top but there are so many times when their petty squabbling is very realistic. And as much as I love my sisters, I can only imagine how annoyed we would get with each other if we were sharing a bedroom in a motel for months on end which makes Alexis and David's arguing really understandable.

This week, their conversations were much less antagonistic (despite the sometimes bitchy tone). From Alexis saying she was going to keep walking because she had no interest in the David/Stevie/Jake awkwardness to their entire conversation that began with how she ate David's cake and then turned into her trying to give him some real advice about his new weird threeway relationship which then turned into her stating that their mom likes him better, they were pitch perfect. Even the non-verbal conversation they had where they just made faces at each other after Moira entered the room was great.

Oh, Jake. You had so much potential but you had to go and make things even weirder!

OF COURSE Ted has lunch with his mom at least once a week.

I wasn't really interested in the Johnny kind of works at the diner storyline, but at least he got to work with his real life daughter for almost an entire episode. That must have been fun for them.

[LauraAnders]

I was disappointed with last week's episode. But this episode has me thinking it may be time to check out of this show. I thought it just fell flat and was kind of stupid and a waste of time.

I get the feeling something may have gone wrong with the negotiations for this season and the production team just decided to check out of this show. It feels like these episodes were made without any of the heart or feeling found in the previous two seasons.

I could easily be wrong. But I get the feeling they decided to just take the money and run. Perhaps they are changing their focus into looking for new opportunities elsewhere. The CBC can't possibly be paying them what they could make in America. In any case, it feels like they are just slapping together these episodes with a minimum of thought or effort. If it turns out that I'm wrong, I'll come back later and apologize.

Edited January 18, 2017 by LauraAnders

[Milburn Stone]

This episode sucked. IMHO that is. :) The scene with John and Amy Grace in the diner not only failed to produce any humor, it sucked whatever humor might have already been in my living room into a black hole.

[Syd]

On 1/13/2017 at 0:04 PM, iMonrey said:

Love the bonus videos, except I can't get the top one to play. The one with David and Alexis talking about fad diets is so obviously improv - you can see Annie Murphy starting to crack up a couple of times. I bet it would be a ball being on set with these people when they film this show.

Yes, and when he talks about the backward split around the pole, I cried laughing. 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

David and Stevie talk about the threeway:

[iMonrey]

So are Stevie and David done with Jake now? Or are they just reevaluating? 

I'm a little tired of Ronnie always giving Moira the stink eye. Yes, Moira is over the top and self involved but Ronnie knows that by now. When Moira was on the phone with someone complaining about the geese and said "You just have to watch where you step" Ronnie gave her a look like "Oh My God I can't believe she just said that." But, what did she expect her to say? Sounded like sensible enough advice to me. I mean, what did this person expect the town council to do about geese? 

Ted has to be the most lenient boss in the entire world. 

[LauraAnders]

Oh, Jake, please just give up.  You could be a real interesting character but, you have just taken your part one step too far and it shows. Oh Lord, how it shows!

BTW, I understand the actor playing the part of Jake really has little or no say in just how the character is written. But, I'm just at my wits end trying to figure out how to go ahead and ask Jake, "What's up?"

Edited January 20, 2017 by LauraAnders

[ElectricBoogaloo]

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Johnny and Moira become concerned about the future of the motel, while David panics in anticipation of having to re-take his driving test.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Workplace etiquette:

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I always wondered who owned the motel since Stevie seemed to be the only employee. I guess that answers that question!

[cleo]

Love the clip. It was funnier than the show.

[iMonrey]

OMG I thought this was probably one of the funniest episodes in the entire series! The awkwardness of John trying to explain to Roland why he wanted to borrow his clothes - the hysterical British persona Moira adopted for herself and the scene at the dysfunctional funeral parlor. I never stopped laughing!

I totally don't get how Stevie's aunt owned the motel though. It was Roland who "comped" the two rooms for the Roses in the pilot episode, so I assumed he owned it. Maybe he was running it for Stevie's aunt but then again . . . I still don't understand how the Roses themselves don't own the motel, since they own the town.

[Milburn Stone]

On 1/18/2017 at 7:10 AM, LauraAnders said:

I was disappointed with last week's episode. But this episode has me thinking it may be time to check out of this show. I thought it just fell flat and was kind of stupid and a waste of time.

I get the feeling something may have gone wrong with the negotiations for this season and the production team just decided to check out of this show. It feels like these episodes were made without any of the heart or feeling found in the previous two seasons.

I could easily be wrong. But I get the feeling they decided to just take the money and run. Perhaps they are changing their focus into looking for new opportunities elsewhere. The CBC can't possibly be paying them what they could make in America. In any case, it feels like they are just slapping together these episodes with a minimum of thought or effort. If it turns out that I'm wrong, I'll come back later and apologize.

All those thoughts have been running through my mind also. 

As a microcosm of the problem, I give you Roland Schitt. He wasn't in this episode, but he was in the previous one. He had lines. He had something to do in terms of taking a position contrary to Moira's on an issue. But all of it had no more character behind it than if the lines had been spoken by someone listed in the end credits as Councilperson #3, or Councilperson with Beard. 

Edited January 26, 2017 by Milburn Stone

[LauraAnders]

Kim Basinger owns some town in the USA - in Georgia, I think. But that doesn't mean she owns all the businesses in that town.

Funny though, I wonder what it does mean to "own" a town. I suppose it means that one own all the roads and municipal buildings and collects all the municipal taxes. If the taxes exceed the costs, I'd guess that means the owner makes a profit. But it seems very strange for anyone to own a town.

This episode was indeed a big improvement over the first two episodes this season. I hope that Stevie owning the motel leads to some good future episodes. I would imagine in one future episode she will try to sell it in order to grab a few dollars and enable herself to escape the horror of working at that place. If I was her, I would be thrilled to sell it for a few thousand dollars - mostly because then someone else would have to put up with all the crap involved in working there.

I suppose the Roses must be collecting some kind of welfare or Social Assistance. Since both John and Moira are likely over 65, they would be collecting CPP and Old Age Security. It should amount to around $2,000 each. So they could use that money to pay for staying at the hotel. But, realistically, if they collect $4,000 per month, I would guess they would rent someplace in town. That would have to be better than living in that dump.

Maybe Stevie inheriting the motel could mean the Roses will finally escape the Hell of the Motel and move somewhere more comfortable. Or would that destroy most of the reason for the comedy in this show? If the family wasn't living in cramped quarters, I wonder how much comedy would remain?

[iMonrey]

I wonder where this show is supposed to take place - Canada or the US? The fact that Stevie said her aunt moved to Saskatchewan made me think it must be Canada. I wasn't able to make out the license plates on the car.

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Kim Basinger owns some town in the USA - in Georgia, I think. But that doesn't mean she owns all the businesses in that town.

Funny though, I wonder what it does mean to "own" a town. I suppose it means that one own all the roads and municipal buildings and collects all the municipal taxes. If the taxes exceed the costs, I'd guess that means the owner makes a profit. But it seems very strange for anyone to own a town.

Kim Basinger went bankrupt from buying that town, and she doesn't own it anymore. She bought it thinking she could rent it out for movie and TV location shoots, since she had shot a movie there herself. 

A quick Google search seems to suggest that owning a town means owning everything in it - businesses, buildings, everything that doesn't belong to the government like utilities or government buildings. So the Roses should own the motel, the cafe, and every house that's located within the town limits. (Most towns that are actually for sale don't have anyone living in them.) I imagine that if a town, collectively, agrees to put itself up for sale it means everyone who owns a piece of it like a business or a home is willing to sell to a buyer for a specified cut of the price. At that point it would be up to the new owner whether you could continue renting said home or business - the new owner would have the option of kicking you out and tearing it down if they wanted to. You've already sold it.

However, the town's owner would then have to generate some kind of revenue in order to pay all the property taxes. I believe this is what bankrupted Basinger.

Edited January 27, 2017 by iMonrey

[ElectricBoogaloo]

David and Stevie's friendlationship:

[jumper sage]

On 1/27/2017 at 3:20 PM, iMonrey said:

 

I wonder where this show is supposed to take place - Canada or the US? The fact that Stevie said her aunt moved to Saskatchewan made me think it must be Canada. I wasn't able to make out the license plates on the car.

 

Canada.

[Ki-in]

David and Moira wearing the same outfit at the end of the show was everything.

 

Yes, they are in Canada which is why they are all lovable. If they were Americans they would be obnoxious and insufferable like the Hiltons or Kardashians.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

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Johnny puts the motel in jeopardy when he rents rooms to a dubious enterprise and David helps Moira with a film audition.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Awwww, once again my favorite thing was Alexis and David's relationship. Poor David spent so many years worrying about her while she was having adventures all over the world. It was also nice to see Alexis give David some practical advice. When she denied having things fall into her lap, I thought that maybe she was going to admit that she actually make an effort to get what she wants, but nope! In her defense, David has had things fall in his lap. Remember that his first job was as a model in a Gap Kids campaign!

[Guest]

I loved when David asked Johnny if all the other cars were on fire thus necessitating the choice of the Lincoln.

I swear this show goes by in five minutes time. I wish it were a little longer.  

[Milburn Stone]

On 1/27/2017 at 2:20 PM, iMonrey said:

A quick Google search seems to suggest that owning a town means owning everything in it - businesses, buildings, everything that doesn't belong to the government like utilities or government buildings. So the Roses should own the motel, the cafe, and every house that's located within the town limits.

A fundamental flaw of the show, IMO, is that it abandoned the concept that Schitt's Creek (the town) is an absolute shithole. It made sense that the Roses owned the town and that they were still dirt-poor when the town was portrayed as without value. But we've seen the Café Tropical numerous times now, and it's clear that it's a pretty darned nice café! I wouldn't be surprised to find it in a prosperous small college town. Twyla keeps herself up well and seems like she's deriving a good living from the Tropical. Some residents of the town seem more like educated young artisans than hillbillies. Ted is a young professional doing well with what appears to be a thriving veterinary business, the revenue of which, in turn, can only be coming from pet owners with some amount of disposable income. So the concept of the show doesn't make sense. Further, there's a prosperous town just up the road, with such things as a clothing store for women professionals, the proximity of which town would surely be casting off some economic benefit in Schitt's Creek's direction.

This is more than a trivial problem, because the concept of the show--formerly rich people having to live in their definition of hell--was where the humor was coming from.

That said, I did like this episode, for reasons mentioned by the rest of you above.

Edited February 1, 2017 by Milburn Stone

[iMonrey]

There's also the fact that Schitt's Creek is big enough - and has a large enough population - to merit a Town Council. The fact that Moira would have to "run" for a position on Town Council makes no sense either. She owns the town. I can't think of any decisions or deliberations a town council would have that couldn't be overridden by the owner of the town.

Don't get me wrong, I still love the show. But the premise should have given the Roses some other reason for having to live in Schitt's Creek other than "owning" it.

[Milburn Stone]

51 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

Don't get me wrong, I still love the show. But the premise should have given the Roses some other reason for having to live in Schitt's Creek other than "owning" it.

Very true--that would solve it. Maybe something like, "Having been ruined, Johnny Rose comes across an article describing The Least Expensive Town in Canada, and figures it's the one place he and his family can make their meager resources last."
 

[Guest]

8 hours ago, Milburn Stone said:

So the concept of the show doesn't make sense.

I think midway through S2, I gave up on the concept of this show not making sense. My main annoyances: the Roses have to be making money from the town somehow yet manage to never exploit it; John seems to have never made a single business contact in his former life who could give him a decent-paying job; Moira, an actress, doesn't seem to be interested in pursuing that to make money; and the kids are GROWN ASS HUMAN BEINGS who don't need to be living there. That being said, I also love this show but, yeah, the initial concept makes zero sense -- and seems to have been wholly abandoned by the writers. 

[applecrisp]

Love this show. Maybe a little like Green Acres.  Alexis reminds me of Lisa.

[iMonrey]

I did think the scene where Alexis finally realized that David cares about her was kind of sweet. Beyond that, though, I found the episode rather lackluster. I'm not really interested in Stevie or the motel, and the whole thing feels like an attempt to give the character something to do. If they want me to care that Stevie is stressed out over owning the motel, they have to tell me why. What's the difference? She was already running the place single-handed. Is it because now she has to pay property taxes on a business that has no income? They do pay property taxes in Canada, don't they? Otherwise - what's she stressing out about? Explain, show.

[Guest]

Yeah, I didn't get the Stevie motel angst either. Who's been signing her paychecks all these years anyway? Who was paying the motel bills? We've never seen another employee in that place, like, ever. 

I just rematched the very first episode and it was Roland who let the Roses into the motel -- I was thinking maybe he had owned the place? I guess not. 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Motel for sale:

Annie Murphy on Alexis:

The cast talks about taking their driving tests:

Which cast member would be the best used car wingman?

[ElectricBoogaloo]

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Johnny proves more interested in playing golf than doing business when he and Stevie pitch a package deal to a nearby course; Moira agrees to attend Twyla's murder-mystery party, but must recruit other guests or risk being the only one in attendance; and Alexis considers Ted's offer to go back to school.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

So Bosnia isn't lovely this time of year?

[iMonrey]

OMG OMG this is going to go down as one of my favorite episodes ever. The bad rip-off of The Birds was absolutely hysterical ("They're crows! It's more specific!") and I about died when Moira told Jocelyn "It's between me and one other actress," and when asked "Who is it?" she replies "They haven't found her yet." LOLOLOL.

Then there's Ted undressing himself in front of the bunny cam and doing all those weird stretches and then actually being flattered he got so many hits.

I was surprised when John said they hadn't had a guest in four days: I didn't think the motel ever had any guests. 

[applecrisp]

I liked it too.  They are all decent humans , the Roses. What was Moira's singing at the end.