6x01 Smoke Signals

[4.4/10] I really didn’t care for this one. All of the Roses were so inconsiderate and rude to one another, in a way that made them feel like they were reverting to their early season form. It really didn’t work for me.

Let’s start with the main offender. I actually like the idea of an emotional conflict where David is hurt that Alexis talks about how much she can’t wait to get out of Schitt’s Creek and Alexis is hurt that David isn’t more upset about her leaving, until the two admit they’ll miss one another.

The problem is just that they’re such frickin’ assholes to one another over it. David treating Alexis’s trip like it’s just a vacation, to where he’d have his wedding without her on short notice, feels downright cruel. His unwillingness to apologize for it is borderline mental. Alexis likewise lashes out rather than just expressing her hurt, and her trying to turn the fact that she accidentally booked her flight for the wrong month into a “wedding gift” to David so he can have his dream venue is terrible.

Neither of the Rose siblings deserves forgiveness or sympathy here. They’re just shitty to one another, and it makes both of them pretty unlikable. The one saving grace is Stevie’s reaction to it all, which is pretty funny, and the hints that she too is reconsidering her future.

Likewise, the Moira/Johnny story is broad at best and harsh at worst. Once again, there’s meat to the notion of Moira having a “near-death” experience that convinces her to retire from acting, only to immediately jettison her new perspective on life when she learns that her movie’s been picked up by a streaming service. But the way she entirely neglects Johnny and leaves him to get picked up by a cop for skinny dipping because she’s so involved in her own conversation with her agent seems pretty horrible. Moira is the character who’s arguably grown the least on the show, but even this feels like a bridge too far.

Overall, this is another disappointing season premiere for the show, which used to be something of a tradition, but one Schitt’s Creek had seemingly broken itself of. Sadly, that’s not the case. This may be the worst one yet.