Big Mistakes: Dan Levy's New Dark Comedy is a Spot-On Series of Wrong Moves

By Karen Gordon

Rating: A

Dan Levy (Schitt’s Creek) has done it again.  His latest, the eight-episode Netflix series Big Mistakes is a superb, addictive dark comedy. 

Levy’s series, which he co-created with actress/writer/producer/director Rachel Sennott (Shiva Baby, Bottoms) is note-perfect and built around characters who, as the title suggests, have to deal with the fall-out of big mistakes, and keep making them throughout the series. 

Dan Levy and Taylor Ortega are trouble-prone siblings in Big Mistakes

The series is built around a family that is a cocktail of poor communication behaviours, ie: passive aggressive, and almost constant baiting each other and casually lying on the spot to cover themselves.  But then again, things go wonky, so you know, what can you expect?  

It’s a masterclass in how ridiculous and frustrating characters and a coherent storyline that doesn’t waste a beat, can make for a series that is very binge worthy. 

Levy plays Nicky Dardano, a sincere pastor in a small New Jersey town. Nicky’s biggest problem,  at least when the series starts, is that he has to hide the fact that he has a boyfriend, Tareq (Jacob Gutierrez)  from his congregation.  

But that’s small potatoes compared to what comes next.  The problems start when he and his restless, sarcastic, risk-taking school teacher sister Morgan (Taylor Ortega) go to a gift shop to buy a necklace and some room decorations for their dying grandmother’s birthday.   

They’ve been shamed and guilted into it by their mother, the manipulative and  intrusive Linda, (played to perfection by Laurie Metcalf, who notes that their hyper confident and annoying younger sister Natalie (Abby Quinn), arrived with a gift. She commands them to do the same. 

So, Nicky and Morgan go to a generic gift shop in a local mall where  they encounter bored,  hostile, and antagonistic manager Yusuf (Boran Kuzum).  Morgan spots a pearl necklace in a display case that seems perfect.  Yusuf says it’s not for sale, which sparks a verbal sparring match between the two.  While Nicky is paying for his purchases, Morgan steals the necklace.  As the series title warns us: big mistake. 

They return to the care home to discover their grandmother has died, and Laurie commands them (her basic way of communicating is to command) to put the necklace on her anyway. 

The problem is that the necklace isn’t the cheap, mass manufactured piece of costume jewelry that Morgan assumed it was. And so later that night, Yusuf shows up at Nicky’s place, and demands it back in a way that is clear that he means business.  The other problem is that in spite of Nicky’s best efforts to retrieve it, their grandmother is buried with it. 

And thus starts a course of events with a (literally) ballistic Yusuf, and Ivan (Mark Ivanir), a Russian entrepreneur and crime boss. With no real choices, the bad mistakes start to snowball. 

While brother and sister are trying to stay ahead of the threats and danger, the rest of their family is embarking on a different mission.   Linda is about to declare her candidacy for mayor of their town, with the hyper critical, competitive, and of course passive aggressive and annoyingly competitive youngest daughter Natalie as her manager. 

There are other complications, including Morgan’s ardent wannabe fiancé Max ((Toronto’s Jack Innanen), egged on by his wealthy mother (Elizabeth Perkins) to keep her son focused on the socially desirable nuptials.

By the time the series reaches its last few episodes there’s a village of characters all moving around their own issues and in many cases bad mistakes, dragging the hapless Nicky and Morgan with them. 

There’s so much that’s good about this series that it’s hard to know where to start. The characters are well drawn. The casting is perfect, and the script takes advantage of every moment, fleshing the characters through the asides and little dropped sarcastic comments that sometimes cover for true yearnings.

Somehow or other, these characters, who seem almost constantly amped up to 11, manage to be simultaneously irritating and endearing.  

And there’s a lovely moment for Levy’s character Nicky, who, in spite of all the craziness and threats, holds the line on a secret.  It’s a sweet moment in a sea of craziness, all of it welcome. 

Big Mistakes. Created by Dan Levy and Rachel Sennott,. Directed by Dean Holland. Starring Dan Levy, Taylor Ortega, Laurie Metcalf, Abby Quinn, Jack Innanen, Boran Kusum, Jacob Gutierrez, Mark Ivanir, Ilia Volok, Elizabeth Perkins. Streaming on Netflix April 9.