A Love Letter To: ‘Schitt’s Creek’

“Schitt’s Creek” delivers six seasons of comic release. PHOTO CREDIT: deadline.com

WARNING: SPOILERS!

My love letter began writing itself a year ago when I stumbled upon a little show called “Schitt’s Creek.” 

Coming in hot with an 8.5/10 rating on IMDb, the six-season show is still one of the most talked-about shows on the internet. From its beautiful depiction of the LGBTQIA+ community to the emotional family bonding, this series is an adorable riches to rags story that will have you on the edge of your seat for one episode and sobbing at the next.

The show starts when an outrageously wealthy video-store magnate Johnny Rose (Eugene Levy), his soap opera star wife Moira (Catherine O’Hara) and their two twenty-something children—hipster gallerist David (Daniel Levy) and career socialite Alexis (Annie Murphy)—suddenly find themselves broke, leaving them no choice but to move to “Schitt’s Creek,” a small backwoods town Johnny once bought as a joke. With their pampered lives nothing more than a memory, the Roses must face their humiliating hardship and figure out what it means to be a family, all within the unfamiliar environment of their new home. 

I mentioned the supportive depiction of the LGBTQIA+ community in the show which in turn gave the show such popularity in society. 

“It’s so rare to find a show with healthy LGBTQIA+ representation and the relationship between Patrick and David is so important for the fans,” Manish Pandey, a BBC Newsbeat reporter, wrote in an article.

 David, who identifies as pansexual, and Patrick, who is gay, form a relationship about halfway through the show and we see how their relationship progresses into marriage and life together as a couple. They are not seen as just “the gay couple,” but as the couple that everyone’s rooting for and loves. 

“There’s no storyline about homophobia or being disliked by the community,” Eliza Gilbert, a fan of the show, said in the BBC article. “It’s portrayed as a relationship between two guys who love each other very much and are treated as a non-standout thing. For a lot of LGBT people, this feeling of general acceptance is a nice reassurance.” 

My personal favorite aspect of the show is the family’s transition from extravagant wealth to normal life and how they learn to adapt and find beauty in the simple things. At times the series does flashbacks where their rich life is shown, but in these moments we also see how unhappy the Rose’s really were. Now, as a connected family living in close quarters at the motel, the Roses find themselves nearly inseparable by the end of the sixth season. Throughout the show, we see Johnny start a new business from scratch, Moira become more genuine with people, David learn to love through his trauma and Alexis grow into an intelligent young lady. The main characters also all learn the meaning of real friendships, as we see in Season 2, Episode 13 titled, “Happy Anniversary” where we see the Roses bump into some old friends that have offered no help while the townspeople have welcomed them with open arms. 

I just finished watching the show for the second time and am bidding it adieu, so I wanted to write this farewell love letter as a goodbye. If you haven’t seen it, I highly recommend giving it a shot because it might just become your favorite passing time as it was for me. Caw caw!