| Worth seeing: | for Dan Levy's exasperated pastor, getting drawn deeper into the Russian drugs underworld, while his mother is standing for mayor |
| Featuring: | Dan Levy, Taylor Ortega, Abby Quinn, Ben Biggers, Boran Kuzum, Darren Goldstein, Elizabeth Perkins, Guy Nardulli, Ilia Volok, Jack Innanen, Jacob Gutierrez, Joe Barbara, Joe Grifasi, John Noble Barrack, Laurie Metcalf, Mark Ivanir, Patsy Meck, Robert Funaro |
| Key crew: | Adam Bernstein, Colin Bucksey, Dean Holland, Iain B MacDonald, Meredith Mills, Russ Hammonds, Dan Levy, Erin Levy, Etan Frankel, Rachel Sennott, Timothy Greenberg |
| Channel: | Netflix |
| Length: | 30 minutes |
| Episodes: | 8 |
| Broadcast date: | 9th April 2026 |
| Country: | US |
WHAT’S IT ABOUT?
Pastor Nicky (Dan Levy) and his sister Morgan (Taylor Ortega) are the black sheep of their family. Their younger sister Natalie (Abby Quinn) is the organised and reliable one, who’s running the mayoral campaign of their put-upon mother Linda (Laurie Metcalf) against a sleazy local businessman.
Natalie has even found time to buy a nice gift for their ailing grandmother. Under pressure to get something before she dies, Nicky and Morgan spot a necklace in a run-down store, only to be told by the assistant, Yusuf (Boran Kuzum), that it’s not for sale. By the time Morgan produces the necklace at their Nonna’s bedside, she’s already died, so Linda says she should be buried in it.
Late that night, there’s a knock on Nicky’s window – Yusuf is standing there, demanding the necklace back.
Before long, Nicky and Morgan find themselves unwittingly working as drug mules for a Russian mobster – which probably won’t look too good, if Nicky’s congregation, Morgan’s prospective mother-in-law (Elizabeth Perkins) and Linda’s potential voters find out.
WHAT’S IT LIKE?
Fans of Schitt’s Creek have been eagerly awaiting Dan Levy’s latest creation – and star vehicle; another dysfunctional family comedy, but much darker than its predecessor.
At its heart is another brother-sister relationship, with a domineering mother, but this time, we have an additional sibling and a largely absent father figure – but the biggest difference is its tone.
A formerly well-off family struggling to survive in a run-down motel has been replaced by a priest and a primary school teacher who get caught up in the Russian drug-dealing underworld.
As the characters are introduced and the storyline is set out, the opening episodes are by turns fresh, funny and shocking – but as the plot starts to unravel, it becomes unnecessarily complex and drags the characters further away from where they’re most entertaining, leaving you feeling you’ve got the joke – they can stop now.
There is always humour to be found in “fish-out-of-water” comedy and we have that in abundance, but as we start to explore more of the “out of water” and less of the fish, the charm that originally hid beneath the thrills gets a little lost. It spends too much time on the crime – and not enough on perfectly workable characters.
Most crucially, the double act at its heart – Dan Levy’s pastor and Taylor Ortega’s teacher – continue to zing with unpredictability as they struggle to keep their complicated personal lives separate from their criminal hinterland.
It’s bold and fun but not always entirely convincing – and it was more frustrating than compelling, in setting itself up for a second season, rather than tying up the loose ends and putting the series to bed.