A Truly Schitt-y Pandemic: How Our Favorite Show Foreshadowed 2020
A TV exec’s appreciation of “Schitt’s Creek” and its parallels to life under Covid-19
By Marissa Ronca
There is no bright side. This is the dark side of the moon, Johnny, and we’ll be here another 20 years. Tucked in a crater. Lost to all. — Moira Rose, Season 1 / Episode 2, Schitt’s Creek
This was basically me in March when quarantine started. My optimism that it would only last a week or two quickly gave way to the feeling that it would never end. I white-knuckled my way through spring homeschooling with a steady flow of wine, Zoom and bingeing shows.
Like pretty much everyone, I love Schitt’s Creek. As a television executive who has heard thousands of pitches, I wish it had come my way. It’s funny, smart, original, and ultimately, bursting with heart and warmth. Despite my fandom, I’m always a season behind.
The sixth and final season of Schitt’s Creek premiered on Pop TV in January. Since then, it has become the critically acclaimed little show that could, racking up fifteen Emmy nominations and inspiring countless memes and gifs.
Throughout August, I savored every episode. After six months inside my socially distanced bubble, the series resonated in a whole new way. I now see the show as one giant metaphor for the way we’re living today.
Think about it: A family loses everything and is forced to hunker down in close quarters at a rundown motel until they can rebuild their lives. Throughout six seasons they grow closer to each other and to their community, which supports them through this trying (but ultimately temporary) time in their lives.
My recent losses have been less devastating than theirs, but I’ve cleaned and reorganized every closet in my house, just as they work to clean up and renovate the motel. Amid the chaos of this year, I sought order, even redemption, in tidy piles. On a more existential level, I am sketching a new vision for whatever comes next. At some point, we all have to leave the motel.
I remember there was like a whole year where we didn’t see each other. — Alexis Rose, Season 6 / Episode 14, Schitt’s Creek
If you watch the show, you know that the Rose family lives extravagant, largely separate lives until the IRS seizes everything and they lose it all. My husband, two sons and I never lived large, but we did live busy. At times, that kept us apart. Two working parents, frequent business travel, school, travel sports teams, music lessons, birthday parties, commuting. Almost everyone I know does this much and more. When Covid-19 essentially canceled 2020, everything stopped, and we had to face each other 24/7. This has brought its own challenges and anxieties, but when I think of how much we used to jam in a day, it makes my head spin.
Over six seasons of Schitt’s Creek, the Rose family comes to treasure their closeness. They develop an appreciation for their town, their friends and each other. In the final season, it’s time for them to separate. Watching them go, I felt pangs of nostalgia for this life we’re still living in quarantine.
My own family has developed a new rhythm, new habits and a new level of closeness. It’s not all wonderful, of course. I am as exasperated and worried as most parents. And yet, I love the slow, sweet pace. The spontaneous projects. Long lunches. Stopping by my boys’ room anytime I want to just say hey.
Our lives are like little baby crows carried upon a curious wind. And all we can wish for our families, for those we love, is that that wind will eventually place us on solid ground. — Moira Rose, Season 6 / Episode 14, Schitt’s Creek
Clearly, the show’s writers could not have intended the parallels between this final season and our current lockdown. It was fully produced before 2020 — before so many people began to suffer, die and struggle with Covid-19. For those most affected, the repercussions of the last six months will last a lifetime. For the rest of us, there is the hope of stability ahead.
The final season of Schitt’s Creek brought me an unexpected amount of comfort. It reminds me that I need to appreciate my loved ones who are near (often too near!). It reminds me that everything comes to an end. And when we eventually launch back into the world fully — the schools, the offices, the routines — we can be better versions of ourselves despite everything 2020 has taken away. As Johnny Rose says as the final season comes to a close, “As much as I’ll miss this being together, at least I can go to sleep knowing we’re all going to be okay.”
