IF YOU MISS the series Schitt’s Creek, you’ll likely turn to its star and co-creator Dan Levy’s new series Big Mistakes hoping for a bit of the same comfort and laughs.

But do the series have much in common? Yes, and no. What they do have in common is Big Mistakes’ best part, but it’s where they diverge that the issues appear. 

The new Netflix series sees Levy explore the world of family dysfunction once more. In the six years since Schitt’s Creek last aired, this topic hasn’t lost its appeal to him. But in Big Mistakes, he places a dysfunctional family into a grittier world.

Levy co-created the series with Rachel Sennott (Shiva Baby, I Love LA), and Sennott was originally supposed to play his sister, before I Love LA got picked up by HBO and she had to step back. 

Dysfunctional family

Levy stars as Nicky, a gay pastor who’s not ‘out’ to his flock. Nicky is anxious, snappy, but ultimately lovable, as it’s impossible not to enjoy Levy on screen. 

Taylor Ortega plays his sister Morgan, a wisecracking, sarcastic Gen Z-er in a complicated relationship with her long-term boyfriend.

Their third sister is do-gooder Natalie, played by Abby Quinn.

At the helm of the family is their mother Linda, played by the always delightful Laurie Metcalf. If you’re a fan of Metcalf in the film Lady Bird, she amps up that character’s frantic energy here, which was a little too frantic at times for this reviewer. But you can see instantly how she supplies the energy to keep the sparks flying between the family members.

Dan Levy as Nicky and Boran Kuzum as Yusuf in Big Mistakes Spencer Pazer Spencer Pazer

On edge

Everyone in Big Mistakes is on edge. But then things get even more edgy when Nicky and Morgan become accidentally entangled in a criminal web. It all happens after their grandmother dies and Morgan steals a necklace to give to her, which happens to be a piece of jewellery connected to a criminal gang.

When it’s at its best, Big Mistakes allows us to witness the family’s complicated but relatable dynamics. The fizzing chemistry between them keeps things sparky. It’s when the series leans into the criminal side of the plot that things shift off the rails a little. (The idea stemmed from Levy’s own fear of getting accidentally involved in a criminal enterprise.)

Laurie Metcalf as Linda in Big Mistakes Spencer Pazer Spencer Pazer

Taylor Ortega is a standout, more than able to match Levy and bringing with her some of the brio of Mikey Madison from the Oscar-winning film Anora.  

Both Ortega and Levy are gifted at both delivering whipsmart lines, and Big Mistakes has some lovely gems in its script. Like Schitt’s Creek, the script is smattered with great one-liners, though Big Mistakes is not chock full of big laughs.

As the series progresses, the mother Linda pursues a mayoral role, Taylor and her boyfriend try to make their relationship work, and Nicky starts to hide his boyfriend less. They’re all changing, but it’s not hugely clear where the criminal side of the plot comes in here – you would expect it to play a larger role in nudging them towards change.

Big Mistakes won’t replace Schitt’s Creek in your viewing schedule if you’re a fervent rewatcher of the latter. It doesn’t have – and isn’t reaching for – Schitt’s Creek’s cosy, all-will-be-ok tone. And perhaps it’s unfair to make a direct comparison between the two series.

There are funny scenes here, sardonic dialogue and great one-liners. Things do zip along, with the soundtrack nudging us quickly from scene to scene.

But hanging over the series is the big question of where it’s all headed. There are some important themes touched on here – long-term relationships, celibacy, family trauma – but sometimes it’s like a patchwork that’s not quite coming together as a cohesive image.

Without the crime subplot, this would be more of a quirky family drama and it would be easier to connect with this messy, entertaining family. The great dialogue and funny scenes don’t help the two sides to this series cohere, though Levy and Ortega’s chemistry is hugely appealing. But should this series get picked up for a second round, there’s a lot of good grounding here to move forward from.

Big Mistakes is on Netflix now.