The Drip

Season 1, Episode 2

Written by Chris Pozzebon
Directed by Jerry Ciccoritti

Synopsis: Johnny attempts to get Roland’s signature on a document that will allow him to sell the town, while Alexis and David attend a party with some locals.

Rating: ★★☆☆☆

The Roses have spent their first night at the motel, and Johnny is woken in the early hours by murky brown water dripping from the ceiling directly onto his face. It’s odd that it’s taken him this long to wake up, given that his hair, pillow and nightshirt are already soaked, but I suppose a little comedic licence is in order here. His offspring seem singularly unsympathetic when he bursts into their room demanding the name of ‘the mouthy kid at the front desk’; David is more preoccupied with the fact that his father is wearing a nightshirt and the ‘whole Ebenezer Scrooge thing’ going on. ‘My best to Bob Cratchit,’ he murmurs before rolling over and going back to sleep.

This second episode involves more world-building, with the introduction of two additional regular characters: Roland’s wife Jocelyn, played by Jennifer Robertson, and the mysterious (for now) Mutt, played by Tim Rozon. We also meet the town’s best (i.e. only) real estate agent, Ray Butani (Rizwan Manji), who will become a popular recurring character, if a controversial one in some quarters.

We learn that, since misfortune befell the family, David has not heard from any of his friends (who Alexis claims he hires at model castings). ‘They’re giving me space right now. Because they’re considerate people,’ he asserts, not entirely convincingly. In a nice bit of structural symmetry, this apparent throwaway line in the show’s second episode will be echoed to devastating effect in the second to last episode of the final season.

We have another sparky scene with David and Stevie trading sarcastic one-liners. ‘I think you’re funny,’ he tells her, which is a step forward in their relationship from ‘I think you’re kind of rude’ in the previous episode. She attempts to invite David to something called a ‘tailgate party’ that evening, but he declines. Alexis, however, is thrilled to accept – mainly, it seems, in the hope that she can meet a handsome man.

The motel’s dodgy plumbing is the last straw for Johnny who is determined to sell the town as quickly as possible. There is (of course) a snag: to do so, he needs the mayor’s signature on the sale documents. Roland is happy to oblige, on condition that the Roses come to supper at the Schitt residence first. The dinner party is predictably awkward, with the writers again working a little too hard to emphasise Roland’s crude manners. His prolonged rooting around in the fondue with his hand before stuffing whatever it is he finds into his face, smearing cheese sauce all around his mouth in the process, is an untypically lazy joke for this show.

David escapes, pleading an oncoming migraine, and heads to the tailgate party. Stevie mocks him for attending after all; he explains, ‘Well, my sister texted me “Help”, and my mind went straight to Deliverance. So I wasn’t too far off.’

At this point David spots Alexis flirting and taking selfies with a group of local youths, at which point her motive for wanting to meet men at the party becomes clear. It’s not with the intention of dating them, but simply so she can post photos online showing the world, and especially ex-boyfriend Stavros, that she is moving on from their break-up. Seeing this, David reluctantly tells Stevie that he will stay for a while; there’s a touching implication that he is feeling protective towards his younger sister.

Having given up on finding a man sufficiently photogenic for her purposes, Alexis is all ready to leave, but David is now involved in a beer-chugging competition with the locals. Suddenly her eye is caught by a handsome, bearded man standing at the barbecue, shirt fully undone revealing an impossibly toned chest and abs. ‘You!’ she barks, striding over and kissing him passionately, deftly photographing the event at the same time. She breaks off and looks at him, evidently impressed, smiles and walks away, leaving Mutt (for it is he) looking after her in stunned silence.

Meanwhile back at the supper party we discover something a little surprising about Roland. Moira, it seems, is an actress famous for playing legendary bitch Vivien Blake in a TV soap opera called Sunrise Bay – and Roland is one of her biggest fans. He’s willing to sign the all-important contract in exchange for one of her iconic face-slaps. Despite encouragement from Roland, Jocelyn and a now desperate Johnny, she refuses, repeatedly, to do it – until she does, in what is the show’s first true laugh-out-loud moment. The contract is signed and Johnny and Moira leave with relief – but not before Roland has dropped the bombshell that the town had been on the market for 20 years before Johnny bought it, and could well take as long again to sell.

To be honest, this episode feels like a step in the wrong direction from the opener. Jennifer Robertson is a welcome addition as the eternally upbeat Jocelyn, but the other characters are still difficult to warm to, and there are fewer good jokes than in the first episode. Perhaps more damaging still is that too much of the writing feels like padding. There's the overlong and not especially funny scene where Johnny attempts to convince the rest of the family that he’s one step ahead of Roland in his power games; and David’s somewhat pointless exchange with a drunken Twyla. It won’t be long before the layers to these characters start to be peeled away; for now, though, it’s looking like an uphill struggle.

Moira-ism: ‘You are blind to reality, and for that I am most proud.'

Fun fact: the titular drip was the first of several examples in the show of Dan Levy having a joke at his dad’s expense. Apparently Eugene Levy is very proud of his hair’s natural bounce and hates being seen with it wet.

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Next episode: Don’t Worry, It’s His Sister