Schitt’s Creek Review: Rock On! (Season 5 Episode 6)
Jennifer Robertson has been pulling her comedic weight as Jocelyn Schitt since the show began, but on Schitt’s Creek Season 5 Episode 6, “Rock On!” she really seals the deal as one of the funniest pieces of a hilarious ensemble.
Jocelyn is teetering on the edge of sanity with a newborn at home. Anyone who’s ever felt the isolation and sacrifice associated with early parenthood can relate to the intensity with which Jocelyn is looking forward to her girls’ night out to see Poison perform.
When the concert gets canceled, Moira (Catherine O’Hara) shows a surprising amount of emotional intuitiveness as she successfully convinces Jocelyn that she needs a night out anyway.
Robertson shines in every moment of this Jazzagals outing. She absolutely nails Jocelyn’s struggle to hold on to her youth as she feels herself hurtling toward middle age.
Robertson manages to convey the sadness and nostalgia of growing older even as she is delivering line after line of comedic gold. She is funny and she is real and she steals the show completely.
Meanwhile, it’s hard to know if Dan Levy (David) knew just how prescient it was to pick Tina Turner’s “The Best” to underscore two important moments in David and Patrick’s (Noah Reid) journey, but it turns out to be almost eerily on-the-nose. David and Patrick simply are the best, and this episode proves it once again.
David’s misguided attempt to give Patrick freedom to explore shows another big moment of growth for a character who has grown more in the few years he’s lived in Schitt’s Creek than in the decades of life he lived prior.
On the previous episode, Patrick didn’t deal so well with his feelings of jealous over seeing Ted kiss David. It looks like the tables are going to be turned this week and David’s going to be processing his feelings of jealousy watching Patrick flirt with Ken.
Instead, David tries to be mature and offers Patrick a chance to have an experience he’s missed out on because he didn’t discover his affinity for men until recently.
It’s possible that David’s gesture is partly an act of self-sabotage. It’s possible he decides he’d rather be the creator of a situation where Patrick leaves him rather than having it occur naturally and out of his control. But what this relationship continues to teach David time and time again is that when something is right, it’s okay to trust it.
Patrick shows up on David’s doorstep, grateful for the freedom David is trying to give him, and also completely uninterested in taking him up on his offer. Patrick loves David and, unlike David, he doesn’t have any hang-ups or fears about what that means.
He’s going to convince David to have faith in their love no matter what it takes. Patrick is redefining the rules for David and every time he shows up in this way, David gets a little closer to understanding that it is possible for him to be loved.
Plus, David finishes his sentence about the other guy’s weird shoes and nothing has ever screamed ‘meant to be’ louder or clearer.
One last thought: the evolution of Alexis (Annie Murphy) and David’s relationship has been executed flawlessly five seasons, culminating here with her canceling her plans with Ted to wait out David’s misery and make sure he was okay.
She manages to still be so very Alexis, while also recognizing another person’s feelings and shows up for him.
What did you think of this episode of Schitt’s Creek? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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Schitt’s Creek airs Wednesdays at 10/9c on Pop.
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Schitt’s Creek is the Perfect World We Desperately Need Right Now
Tamar Barbash
Tamar Barbash is a TV-loving mother of three. She hosts the Shipping Room podcast where she has the opportunity to take advantage of her social work degree and dive deep into relationships portrayed on television. Tamar loves nothing more than to overanalyze the lives and experiences of fictional characters and she's so excited to be able to do that as part of the Tell-Tale TV community.