Schitt's Creek was one of the most acclaimed comedies of the last decade. It was so beloved that it became the first comedy in Emmy history to sweep every single category in a primetime telecast — a victory so absolute that, by the end of the night, the show's co-creator and co-star Dan Levy seemed worried that people would start to resent him and the series for such dominance. Levy hasn't exactly gone away since we last saw the Rose family in 2020. He wrote, directed, and starred in a Netflix film, Good Grief. And he's acted in other people's projects, including an appearance in the final season of Curb Your Enthusiasm. But the new Netflix comedy series Big Mistakes, which he stars in and co-created with I Love L.A.'s Rachel Sennott, is easily the highest-profile post-Schitt's vehicle for him as both actor and writer.
Viewers who go in expecting the warm and kind vibes of Levy's most famous work may be surprised by the frantic, dark tone of Big Mistakes, in which Levy and Taylor Ortega play siblings who get mixed up in organized crime. It more closely resembles some of the films Sennott has written and starred in, like the stress bomb of Shiva Baby or the gleeful mayhem of Bottoms. It doesn't all quite work — especially if you stop for even a moment to think about the logic behind pretty much anything that happens — but it's interesting to see Levy getting so down and dirty (often literally) after he became one of the faces of a show about shallow people who find fulfillment in learning how to be nicer.
Levy and Ortega plays Nicky and Morgan, who long ago formed their own tight-knit unit within their dysfunctional suburban New Jersey family. Their mom Linda (Laurie Metcalf) is cranked up to 11 at all times. Their sister Natalie (Abby Quinn) has either always looked down on them or always resented their closeness — possibly both — and is spearheading Linda's run for mayor of their hometown. Nicky is minister of a small local church whose members don't mind that he's gay — but, as he explains, "They expect me to be non-practicing," so he has to keep his relationship with boyfriend Tareq (Jacob Gutierrez) a secret. Elementary schoolteacher Morgan has been dating Max (Jack Innanen, from FX's Adults) since they were kids, and is growing bored of his puppy dog devotion to her.