Another Schitt’s Creek review? Well, the show has been reviewed multiple times but one aspect of the show is not given the right attention, this blog aims to change that.

An interesting moment unfolds when Stevie Budd, trying to play Sally Bowles in Moira Rose’s production of Cabaret in Schitt’s Creek says, “I wish I wasn’t watching this from behind a desk. You know? It feels like everyone is growing up around me.” This Schitt’s Creek review was ideated upon hearing this nuanced comment.

The writing of the show, Schitt’s Creek, remarkably portrays the topsy-turvy journey of uprooted characters trying to find a stable ground to grow and prosper. While the Rose’s have an explicit struggle to raise themselves up from the ashes of their past, Stevie Budd embarks on a different journey that resonates well with almost every viewer. Her words echo with anyone who has ever felt stuck. Interestingly in the show, the initial seasons portrays Stevie as the only sane and mature individual amidst a baffling entourage of characters like the Schitt’s and the Rose’s. It is her witty and sarcastic charm that pokes fun at the hyperbolic reactions to the woes of the formerly well-endowed Roses. Her temperament makes her likeable and the draws her closer to the viewers in that they find a reflection of themselves in her. In this context her remarks in the season 5 finale, backstage of her star performance, stand out.

Watch the first episode Watch Schitt’s Creek | Netflix

Stevie Budd – Schitt’s Creek’s ultimate side character

Stevie embodies the unease of a perpetual spectator who possesses the metafictional awareness of being a side-character. The truly haunting realization that perhaps our life will not be remembered as our own but will be seen through the lens of someone else. A feeling that most of us acquaint ourselves with at least once on our lives- ‘what if I am just a side character in someone else’s story?’ But for Stevie this undoing has redeeming powers.

Further, the universal anxiety that stems from the monotony of present and hints at a future which is not only uncertain but is marred with the possibility of being the same as the dissatisfying present lies at the center of what aches Stevie. In simpler words, a quarter life crisis. Stevie’s struggle captures that pain of not having explored ones’ passion, of not having seen the world, of being left behind in a place like Schitt’s Creek when others have sailed forth. It is the latter specifically, the bittersweetness of watching your friends grow past you, which gets to Stevie as it does to most of us. While David has progressed remarkably in his life with his self-made business and his lovely fiancé, Patrick, Alexis has risen up to the occasion and become a major “girl boss” with her degree and her new company. Johnny and Moira have also adjusted themselves professionally and socially to their new lives. Yet Stevie still remains tied to the motel that her aunt dropped on her shoulders, without any serious development in her love life.

Stevie “Buds” (blossoms) even in “Shit’s Creek”

“Perhaps she just needs a bit of a shock to her daily routine.”

When Moira Rose knocks on Stevie’s door with the script of Cabaret she knows exactly what aches Stevie and exactly what might help her. She sees Stevie for the “chrysalis bursting with potential,” that she truly is. According to Moira, all that is needed is a change of routine, a shock to monotony- a realisation that has struck Stevie as she herself points out in reference to her failed relation with Emir. But that’s not all that can end a complex disenchantment. That would be a gross oversimplification, like saying, “Oh girl! Just get a makeover, you will get over it!” Or in Stevie’s case, “Join Larry Air.” A wrong move that leads to the right outcome. She explores what she thinks she might like to realise what she does not like and what she truly loves- the motel.

“Maybe you just wanted to see what you didn’t want in order to figure out what you do. ”

Patrick’s words have merit but they are only effective when they are backed with courage. The courage to go back to what you left behind and embracing it anew. The strength of averting a crisis like Stevie’s requires the courage to not just explore beyond ones comfort zone but also the courage to make a mistake. The fear of failure only serves to stunt the heights which we are capable of reaching. Thankfully for us, Stevie has the courage to make a mistake and the courage to learn from it because by the end of the series we see a young, self- assured women standing behind the motel’s desk, with the same wit and sarcasm but more confidence and a broader smile.

I hope you enjoyed this Schitt’s Creek review of Stevie Budd’s journey. What do you think about the character? Tell me in the comments below!

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