Big Mistakes opens with a pastor, a fake necklace and a bad idea that turns real fast. Dan Levy plays Nicky, a nervy cleric hiding his boyfriend from both his family and his flock, when his mother orders him to track down a diamond necklace for his dying nonna.
That errand sends Nicky and his sister, Morgan, played by Taylor Ortega, into a gift shop, where the necklace is so valuable the cashier refuses to sell it because it is real. Morgan steals it anyway. Soon the pair are being chased by the criminal gang guarding the necklace, and the review says the show barrels through one clunky development after another without making them believable.
That would matter less if the jokes landed cleanly, but the review says much of Big Mistakes does not stand up to scrutiny. The bad guys are described as more tedious than terrifying, which leaves the chase scenes without much bite. Even the final twist is said to be a blunt setup for season two rather than a payoff that rewards what came before.
Laurie Metcalf plays Nicky’s highly strung mother, adding some sharp casting to a premise that looks built for chaos. But the review’s central complaint is that the chaos never quite earns itself. The story keeps reaching for bigger turns, including a blindside ending that points straight at season two, yet the path there is crowded with implausible moves and strained plotting. Rachel Sennott co-created the series with Levy, but she does not appear in it.
The project also lands in a familiar place for Levy. Schitt’s Creek debuted on Canadian network CBC in 2015, then became a global hit after Netflix picked it up a couple of years later. Netflix later worked with him again on the 2023 film Good Grief. Big Mistakes is being framed as his post-breakthrough difficult second project, and the review suggests that label fits: bold on paper, shaky in execution, and too eager to tease what comes next before it has justified what is already on screen.
For now, the answer to whether Big Mistakes works is no. It has the cast, the setup and the nerve to go strange, but the review says the show keeps tripping over its own big mistakes before it can turn that premise into a satisfying comedy.
