If there is one thing that Dan Levy does exceptionally, it’s playing one-half (or in the case of Big Mistakes, one-third) of a siblinghood. His lovingly intense and frantic chemistry with Annie Murphy’s Alexis Rose in Schitt’s Creek was on point, showing a brother-sister dynamic that gave us as many laughs as it did tears.
Levy takes this energy into his role as Nick in Big Mistakes, his latest series that puts the genres of comedy and crime in a blender and hits puree. Nick is a respected preacher and stand-up citizen of the town, while his sister, Morgan (Taylor Ortega), is the polar opposite. She is going through it and displays wild symptoms of middle child syndrome. She feels neglected, stuck, and unloved, even though her overeager boyfriend Max (Jack Innanen) is constantly showing love as if she were his twin flame.
The youngest sibling and proud brown-noser, Natalie (Abbie Quinn), will not leave her mother’s side. Linda (Laurie Metcalf) is the kind of overworked and underappreciated matriarch of the family (and mayoral candidate) who likes to constantly remind her children that she is overworked and underappreciated.
Created by Levy and Rachel Sennott, Big Mistakes kicks off with Linda lecturing Nick and Morgan on the importance of getting a gift for their grandmother, who is in the hospital room with them and is literally on her deathbed. As Natalie obnoxiously shines as the golden child, Linda’s guilt trip pushes Nick and Morgan to buy a gift for their nonna before she meets her maker.
After Morgan has a heated exchange with the gruff cashier Yusuf (Boran Kuzum) Nick discovers that Morgan has made a bad mistake, a mistake that snowballs and hurls the siblings into the world of organized crime.
Going in blind with Big Mistakes can work to your benefit, because it was a pleasantly surprising solid follow-up to Schitt’s Creek for Levy. Working with another sharp and clever writer like Sennott helps takes this to a new space that has the abrasive charm of I Love L.A. and the irreverent heart of Schitt’s Creek.
I feel like Big Mistakes and Search Party live in the same TV comedy universe that was cut from the same cloth as Poker Face, Barry, and Only Murders in the Building. Levy and Sennott take the elements of a crime comedy and cleverly bend and sculpt the genre into a refreshing, but familiar series.
What would normally be presented as a frightening and traumatic scenario is made into a subversive crime comedy that includes two bickering siblings working with a clueless Turkish henchman who works for crime overlords.
Out of all that is in the Netflix claw machine of content, Big Mistakes stands out as a well-crafted, smart, and ridiculously (and, a lot of the time, inappropriately) funny series that left me chomping at the bit for a second season.
Levy holds this series on his shoulders confidently while Ortega delivers a breakout performance that will thankfully put her on the radar of more people.
But let’s talk about the force of nature that is Laurie Metcalf. The way she played this never-satisfied character brought me insane joy. Linda feels like what Roseanne‘s Aunt Jackie would have been if she had gotten out of Lanford, Illinois. She keeps the pulse at the perfect level of anxiety. I smell awards season fodder — not just Metcalf, but Levy and Ortega as well.
The series even went as far as to bring on organized crime consultant Dan O’Sullivan, an award-winning journalist and host of The Outfit, produced by the Obamas’ Higher Ground.
Levy also brought on a LGBTQ+ reverend consultant who specifically helped inform the character of Nick, a type of character we don’t see often: a gay, adopted pastor who leads a progressive congregation. Even though Nick is openly gay, his congregation requires him to be celibate — even though he has a nice treat of a boyfriend in Tareq (Jacob Gutierrez). It’s giving “You can be gay, but you can’t actually be gay” energy.
Crime comedies aren’t usually my cup o’ tea, but one created by a person who’s part of the alphabet mafia (aka the LGBTQIA+ community) brings a different perspective. Add the co-writer and star of Bottoms, music composed by the iconic Peaches, and Elizabeth Perkins as an overbearing mother-in-law to the mix, and you’ve got yourself a good time.
Thank you for being a subscriber to the DIASPORA newsletter! Help support our work and independent journalism by contributing to our GoFundMe as we build our nonprofit era. If you want to support more thoughtful, fact-driven, journalism about arts and culture that is not influenced by corporate pressures, please consider donating. Help us amplify untold stories as we build DIASPORA into the media organization our culture deserves!
Your donations will help fund and develop DIASPORA’s journalism mentorship program, community salons, as well as general operations, initiatives, and events to help bolster trustworthy journalism, community, and underrepresented voices. For more information and to be part of our vision and work, please click here.
