If you’ve asked for a feel-good show to watch recently, chances are high that someone recommended Schitt’s Creek. The show follows the wealthy Rose family including Johnny, Moira, and their spoiled children David and Alexis. After sudden financial ruin, the Rose family finds themselves completely broke. They move to their one remaining asset, a small town called Schitt’s Creek. A town Johnny bought David as a joke gift. The Rose family comes together as a family to survive and get back on their feet.
As more people push back against the uber elite, and the “eat the rich” movement gains popularity, it’s surprising that audiences root for the Rose Family instead of reveling in their karma. The moral of Schitt’s Creek isn’t that we need to bring the upper classes down a peg. Instead, through its use of redemption, Schitt’s Creek argues that genuine improvement improves everyone.
Note: Spoilers for Schitt’s Creek below
Writing Realistic Redemption Arcs
To understand how Schitt’s Creek uses redemption arcs to comment on class and society, one must understand how to write a redemption arc. Much of this subsection is a recap of Timothy Hickson’s lecture, On Writing: Redemption Arcs. Effective redemption arcs often begin with three common story threads. (1) A character is confronted with the reality of their actions, (2) a character encounters a radical shift in circumstances, or (3) someone enters a character’s life as a positive influence.
Third, people are complex and breaking habits is hard. Thus, people make mistakes. Redemption arcs need to reflect the reality of the human condition. Picture a redemption arc on a graph. Redemption is on the Y-axis (bad to good) and storyline (start to finish) on the X-axis. A convincing redemption arc is not a linear plot line but a jagged line with many ups and downs. A character’s redemption is powerful when there are wins and losses throughout.
Fourth, the most convincing arcs often entail some kind of symmetry. Symmetry is more emotional and satisfying for the audience. It shows the character’s self-reflection and an understanding of their growth. It also shows the character has taken the lessons they learned to heart. On a psychological level, humans crave perfection and order everywhere (think Fibonacci sequence in nature). Symmetry satisfies the craving. When a redemption arc mirrors the beginning of the story, the character’s journey comes full circle with a sense of poetic justice.
Now you know how one writes realistic redemption arcs. Let’s look at how Schitt’s Creek applies these four lessons.
Lesson One: The catalyst to start the road to redemption
Schitt’s Creek uses all three-story threads to instigate redemption arcs for the Roses. Some stories only use one of the three-story threads. Using all three makes the redemption arch even more powerful. The second story thread is when a character encounters a radical shift in circumstances. The entire Rose family losing their wealth fulfills this. The third story thread is someone enters a character’s life as a positive influence. In Schitt’s Creek, each of the Roses enters a relationship (romantic, platonic, or both). This new friend or partner helps them navigate their new world and pushes them to be better. David meets Patrick, Alexis meets Ted, Moira meets Jocelyn, and Johnny meets Roland. The first story thread is a character gets confronted with the reality of their actions. The Roses confront the reality of their harmful actions and habits thanks to wanting to gain respect from Patrick, Ted, Jocelyn, and Roland.
Lesson Two: World Views Flipped Upside Down
The second lesson is through the story threads, a character changes their views of their desires, self, or world.
Before living in Schitt’s Creek Johnny and Moira wanted to be left alone and wallow in self-pity. They viewed their new world and residents with condescension and disdain. They viewed themselves as classier, smarter, and more elite than everyone in Schitt’s Creek. When the two-step off their pedestal, they treat Schitt’s Creek as their home. They view their current situation with gratitude and gain a sense of belonging. They view themselves as equals with fellow Schutt’s Creek residents. They get rid of their elitist worldview and instead build genuine relationships.
Lesson Three: Trials and Tribulations
The third lesson is about failures and tests. Failures and tests amid redemption are present in all six seasons of Schitt’s Creek. Alexis deciding between a quick, easy career path versus building her public relations career on her own. Johnny deciding whether to defend Schitt’s Creek to his old New York friends. Moira is learning to let others lead artistic endeavors. David choosing Schitt’s Creek over New York when the offer arises.
Most realistically, despite all of these changes, the Roses don’t fundamentally change themselves. David still has dry sarcastic humor but tries to use the humor in a less cruel manner. Alexis embodies the amazing personality of the friendly drunk who you meet in the girl’s bathroom but channels it in a more productive way. Moria still uses vocabulary that any SAT tutor would be jealous of, but does so to lift people up. Johnny is much closer to his children but still struggles to console them emotionally at times.
At the same time, the Roses are still improving. During the very last episode of the six-season series, David still struggles not to be cruel to mask his anxiety. Alexis still struggles with listening to other people’s feelings and considering other people’s situations. Moira and Johnny are working on connecting with their kids and being better parents.
Lesson Four: Reversal of Fortune
The fourth and final lesson is symmetry and Schitt’s Creek nails this one and brings it home. Most notable is the symmetry and changes that occur because of their relationships with the townspeople of Schitt’s Creek: the same people the Roses viewed with condescension and wanted nothing to do with.
On an individual level, at the end of season one, David runs away from the town in tears, going back to New York. In his old life, David’s friends didn’t like his real self, but David had material comforts. At the end of the series, after David meets Patrick and gains genuine friends, he learns to become more emotionally mature and trusting. David is the only one of the Roses staying in Schitt’s Creek. By marrying Patrick and staying in Schitt’s Creek, David metaphorically also marries the town. It turns out that David’s joke gift became his greatest gift.
Alexis has the biggest growth out of all four Roses. Before her redemption, Alexis was desperate to return to her adventurous and dangerous lifestyle. She followed guys around the globe doing whatever they wanted, no questions asked. Throughout season one, Alexis plays with two guys’ hearts to figure out which one is worthy of dating her and has the best notoriety in town. By the end of the series, Alexis no longer waits around for a man to live life and accomplish her dreams. She finally graduates high school, earns a degree in PR, and accepts a competitive job offer in New York. The job offer she receives on her own accomplishments, instead of through an old friend’s connections to the PR industry.
Alexis’s change is best shown through her friendship and relationship with Ted, the town’s veterinarian. At first, Alexis views Ted as nothing more than “Schitt’s Creek’s equivalent to a hot, rich doctor.” Ted views Alexis as the new girl in town and the stereotypically dumb but beautiful blond. Throughout the series, Alexis and Ted become equals and push each other to become the best versions of themselves. While Alexis finally finds the perfect partner, she lets Ted go. She has become a strong independent person who would choose to follow her own career instead.
As show creator Dan Levy says, “It’s really hard to tell a story of a love story that in the end is still a love story. It didn’t end because they stopped loving each other. It ended because circumstance stood in their way. That circumstance was their own growth.”
Through their breakup, Alexis has learned to see her friendships and partners as equals. Their breakup allows Ted to achieve his dream career too. To commit to the independent track even more, Alexis declined one of her friend’s offers to give Alexis money to get her started in New York.
Before moving to Schitt’s Creek Johnny is polished and uptight. Moira is icy, self-important, and melodramatic. Johnny and Moira think they are the only ones who can fix the town because of their old life in the big city; a life they will return to once they land on their feet. Johnny and Moria’s elite views conflict with mayor Roland Schitt and his wife Jocelyn. The Rose’s air of big city superiority threatens Roland and Jocelyn’s local royal status. When the Roses put aside their egos to get to know Roland and Jocelyn, they form mutual respect. Then, the two couples work together to make Schitt’s Creek even greater than they could alone. Johnny’s embracement of small-town life is evident in his new business venture. His new business is creating a motel empire in small towns and forgotten roadside pit stops. Moria’s change in attitude towards Schitt’s Creek is evident when she stops acting egotistically because she is a soap opera star. In the last two seasons, Moira is a mentor to help Jocelyn lead the choir and direct the musical. This decision mirrors an episode in season one where Moria believed her fame made her a better director than Jocelyn for a class skit for the D.A.R.E. program.
Connection Over Karma
Schitt’s Creek residents grew too because they opted to seek empathy and connection instead of leaving the Roses out to dry. Each person the Roses interact with changes for the better. In fact, roses often bloom better with fertilizer and manure. Similarly, the Rose family becomes better people because they live in a town aptly named Schitt’s Creek. Patrick becomes confident thanks to David’s unapologetic outspoken personality. Ted learns to pursue what he wants thanks to Alexis’s adventurous go-getter attitude. Jocelyn becomes less of a pushover thanks to Moira’s confidence. Roland’s ambitious thanks to Johnny’s business endeavors and mindset. Through this mutual growth, Schitt’s Creek argues that connection and empathy benefit everyone regardless of wealth.
Schitt’s Creek and Society at Large
Schitt’s Creek premiered in 2015 when “wealth porn” dominated pop culture and was created to be part of the growing movement against society’s infatuation with the rich. In fact, Dan Levy has said that he was inspired to create the show from the question “Would the Kardashians still be the Kardashians without their money?”. The growing resentment towards the 1% helped the show’s early success. Yet, the popularity of “eat the rich” stories (e.g. Parasite, Knives Out, Hustlers, Us, Ready or Not, etc.) doesn’t account for the show’s success from a longevity and scale level. At first, audiences may have reveled in the twisted satisfaction of seeing the Roses lose everything and struggle to do “normal people” things like cook and work a service job. However, it is through each family members’ redemption arcs that we learn to care for and root for them the way the townspeople did from the very start.
The “eat the rich” movement has only grown since the show’s inception. Schitt’s Creek could have rolled with the “eat the rich” movement and still could have been quite popular. After all, getting rid of the problem is the easiest and most appealing way to solve many of society’s problems. However, the show takes the harder (and some would say naive) path. Schitt’s Creek advocates for society to give rich people a chance to grow and redeem themselves. It argues that when people are surrounded by the right people and get external love and support, they improve. Schitt’s Creek may have started as a comedy series highlighting the differences between wealthy and regular people, but became a show about the things that unite us.