Emmy Episodes: Schitt’s Creek

It’s always my policy to watch every Emmy-nominated episode each year, which leads me to sample a handful of shows that I don’t tune in to on a regular basis. For the fourth year in a row, I’m making a special effort to spotlight each of those installments to offer my perspective on shows that I don’t review each week.

Schitt’s Creek: Season 5, Episode 14 “Life is a Cabaret” (B-)

This finale, the sixth submitted episode for this show in the Best Comedy Series category, was a bit of a mess in my mind, but it still had some entertainment value. Obviously, not watching all of the episodes in the season can make for an occasionally confusing experience. I wasn’t sure exactly what some of the plotlines were that were referenced here, mainly what was happening with Alexis going away and with this big performance. Most notably, David of course did a poor job preparing for the big announcement of his engagement and instead ended up spilling the beans right away in a manner that caused the news to spread to literally everyone before he could tell them, even his father who was told by Roland when he was the last one who hadn’t yet heard. I was surprised to see Patrick performing in "Cabaret" since we’ve mostly just seen him as the more buttoned-up member of the couple, hardly a theatrical player. I’m also not sure where Stevie was and why, since she wasn’t featured all that much this season, but that was quite a musical number for the very talented Emily Hampshire, who I’m always happy to see get a tremendous showcase. I’d say this episode was the weakest of the selections for this show, but I feel like I have a good picture of what seems to be a fairly average comedy series. I wouldn’t vote for it to win, but its inclusion in the lineup doesn’t bother me too much. If season six gets nominated next year, I’ll be happy to screen another six half-hours.