Upon seeing that Alise Chaffins wrote a review of comedian-director-producer-showrunner-writer-actor hyphenate Dan Levy’s new Netflix show [here], it was off to the races to watch this show this weekend because apart from being a self-described “soup eater” which is pretty much my identity, Alise and I generally share a sensibility about shows, such as the great Ted Lasso, which is coming back this Summer.
At eight 30-minute-a-pop episodes, the first season of Big Mistakes equates to 240 minutes of TV viewing which is roughly 4 hours. That’s like one and third movies these days (yes, Barbenheimer ruined it all for us).
Gratuitous link to Barbie review below.
Dan Levy plays a pastor named Nicky, the adopted son of Laurie Metcalf’s (Roseanne’s Jackie) matriarch, Linda. They live in a New Jersey town that feels like it could double as a setting for The Sopranos, where everyone is Italian. Nicky is the eldest of three siblings. His younger sisters are Morgan (Taylor Ortega), the wild child with glorious hair who tried acting in NYC but now works as an elementary school teacher back home, and Natalie, the Type A sibling who doesn’t quite fit in with Nicky and Morgan but cares for her mother intensely, and I mean intensely. She’s running Linda’s mayoral campaign, because yes, Linda is running for office.
Linda promised herself she would finally do something for herself after her mother, aka “nonna,” died. From the first episode jump, the audience is launched into chaotic frenzy of a hospital room, where Linda is shouting orders, arguing with doctors, trading barbs with her children, and somehow already turning the moment into a campaign stop. It’s intense. Thankfully Linda mellows out a bit as the story progresses because the SHOUTY-ness that frames her existence is much too much.
However, if you can make it through the dysfunction of the first 10 minutes of Bad Mistakes, you’ll make it through the show. The payoff comes in the form of dark comedy, fraught sibling dynamics and connection, mobsters, and crimes of Breaking Bad proportions that make it all the more worthwhile. At its core, it’s a poignant story about family, and the crosses we bear in the name of love (and sanity).
It’s hard to watch this show without comparing Nicky to Levy’s Schitt’s Creek character, David. Nicky feels like a more grown-up version of David, someone who has matured and become less self-obsessed, while still retaining that same sensitive, sarcastic, and hilarious way of being.
But like any actor who has played an iconic, beloved TV character, it can be hard to move on from public perception. Just ask Henry Winkler. He’ll always be “The Fonz,” and likely asked to do his signature “ayyy” even though Happy Days aired more than 40 years ago.
Where the show departs from Schitt’s Creek, beyond the obvious Levy and O’Hara parallels, is in Morgan, Nicky’s sidekick sister. In Schitt’s Creek, Alexis begins as fairly superficial, with surprising depth emerging over time. Morgan, by contrast, feels closer to a Rachel Sennott–type character (I Love L.A., Bottoms, I Used to Be Funny, Shiva Baby): more overtly neurotic and impulsive, striking a balance between self-loathing and self-obsession that edges into something darker.
Rachel Sennott co-created the show with Levy, and her influence is clearly felt here. Morgan is the tough yet vulnerable, self-doubting sister, in contrast to Nicky, who is sweet and outwardly kind to others but unkind to himself. He’s also keeping his romance with Tariq a secret, fearing he could lose his job and his congregants if it comes to light.
The funniest moments of the show come in the second half of the season, where it finds its emotional footing and dramatic rhythm. The cliffhanger finale leaves me hopeful it will return for another season. It also feels like the story is only just beginning to show its full range and there’s more characters to explore, like Elizabeth Perkins (Big, Weeds), whose Celia-esque character, is set up to play an even bigger role next season. And RIP to Mark Ivanir’s Ivan who was so well cast in this as a Russian mobster with a conflicted heart. I will miss him.
Let’s Discuss
Do you miss SCHITT’S CREEK?
Do you know how to fold cheese?
Lastly, have you or are you planning to watch BIG MISTAKES?
What’s the BIGGEST mistake you’ve ever made? (Joking, you don’t need to answer that)
Another Excellent Dan Levy Netflix Creation (This one more serious):
If you’re interested in organizational psychology, or workplace EQ, chances are you’ve come across the names Adam Grant and Brené Brown. Both have contributed extensive research and published numerous books focused on bringing theory into real-world application, with Brown approaching the work from a social work lens and Grant from an academic one.
Their latest podcast, The Curiosity Shop, available wherever you listen to podcasts, including YouTube, is an experiment in how two people who have previously disagreed on important topics (and are likely to disagree again) can model how to learn from one another’s differences. Their conversations span topics ranging from leadership and vulnerability to conflict, trust, and how we navigate disagreement in the workplace and beyond.
Here’s a note on “metacognition” and some thoughts it spawned based on my own professional experience. I like that my brain was already doing some of this analysis and monitoring work years ago, even when there wasn’t a word to describe it.
So This is Happening is HAPPENING: It’s my workplace romance (think Bridget Jones Diary, if Bridget were Jewish and lived in New Jersey) novel! Excited to share that it will be published by the incredible Alisa Kennedy Jones’s Empress Editions. Here’s my most recent passage:
At the Intersection of Inner Monologue and Romantic Musings: My Inner Monologue When a Handsome Man Returns My Gaze Michelle Milliken
Earning even more respect for Wes Andersen’s muse Jason Schwartzman: A Library Card is a Bicycle for your Brain Alyson Mosquera Dutemple
Your Favorite Classic Bedtime Stories Rewritten for Today: Fun NEW State-Sanctioned Titles in our Library’s Kids’ Section! Sheila Moeschen
Cultural Tidbits BTS on the Dark Winds series which I’m finally catching up on thx to a free trial of AMC+: Zach McClarnon on Directing ‘Dark Winds,’ Redford, and ‘Run Lola Run’ Fawnia Soo Hoo
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