The first two episodes of Netflix’s “Big Mistakes,” which basically play as one hour-long episode, actively annoyed me. A premise that feels overly familiar in the era of ordinary people getting caught up in violent situations a la “Ozark” with frustratingly dim lighting that matches that increasingly influential award winner centered by two obnoxious characters who I expected would just bicker their way through the next eight chapters: I started to regret my career choices.
Some of the issues in the first hour of “Big Mistakes” linger, but to say that the show finds its footing in unexpected ways would be an understatement. Behind-the-scenes drama could be to blame for the rough start tonally, but Dan Levy and his team relatively quickly figure out how to amplify the best aspects of their show, pivoting into a radically different one than it first seems.
“Big Mistakes” was created by and intended to be a vehicle for Levy and Rachel Sennott. When “I Love L.A.” went to series, Sennott couldn’t juggle both shows, so her part was recast with Taylor Ortega, and it feels like that shift impacted the show’s launch. The first impression I had was that Levy and Ortega not only don’t feel like siblings, but I’m not convinced they’ve ever even met. That lack of sibling chemistry early in the season really impacts the tone—it’s different watching a brother and sister bicker than it is two obnoxious strangers. There were also reports that Levy was struggling with the balance between crime and comedy in the writers room, and one can totally feel that early in the season, too.
And then it’s gone. Before the halfway mark, “Big Mistakes” has become a more confident, balanced, entertaining show, a program that still struggles with some unbelievable choices by its many characters, but one that moves with such momentum that it’s an easy binge. It’s one of those shows where you want to see what’s going to happen next, how these two are going to fall into another trap or work their way out of one. And it contains several engaging performances, especially from Levy and Laurie Metcalf. It’s not perfect, but if this is Netflix’s newest “Ozark Lite,” it’s a better one than most of that imitative field.
Levy plays Nicky, a pastor in a town so small that his mother Linda (Metcalf) can both own the hardware store and be running for mayor. When his grandmother is dying, Linda tasks Nicky and his sister, Morgan (Ortega), with buying a nice necklace for her burial. They go to a pawn shop, and Morgan decides to shoplift what seems like an ordinary piece of jewelry, only to discover it is a bauble that is very important to a local crime syndicate. The store clerk/tough Yusuf (Boran Kuzum) brings Nick and Morgan to his boss, Ivan (Mark Ivanir), who basically forces them to join the payroll, giving them flip phones they have to answer whenever he needs them. What better unexpected pawns could a crime lord have than a pastor and a schoolteacher?
Meanwhile, Linda launches a heated political campaign with her third child, Natalie (Abby Quinn), taking on a truly toxic power player in the community, Tom Donaldson (Darren Goldstein), whose strings are pulled by his wife, Annette (a perfectly cast Elizabeth Perkins). There are times when the Metcalf/Quinn/Perkins half of “Big Mistakes” feels like a different show from the Levy/Ortega one, but that becomes something more of a feature than a bug. The always-great Metcalf chews on the clever dialogue regarding small-town politics in a way that makes you wish she had guest-starred on “Veep,” and it allows a bit of a release from the criminal half of “Big Mistakes” while also reminding one that the worlds of international crime and local politics aren’t that different when it comes to idiotic behavior.
Levy settles into his role, too, getting just enough character work outside of the action of the piece to make him feel increasingly genuine. Mostly, he just doesn’t seem as adrift as in the early episodes, even developing some stronger chemistry with Ortega, although the extended scenes where they just yell at each other are the most consistently grating.
Importantly, Levy and his fellow producers wisely surround their abrasive leads with rich supporting characters, mostly on the criminal side of the coin. Kuzum and Ivanir are particularly good, taking roles that could have been two-dimensional and making them richer through subtle choices. Ivanir conveys why Ivan would see our leads as different from his usual criminal cronies, while Kuzum finds a balance between being charming and dangerous.
“Big Mistakes” sometimes feels a bit too derivative of things that its creators know people love from the accidental criminals of “Ozark” to the dysfunctional siblings of “Schitt’s Creek,” but it’s ultimately smart enough to overcome that criticism. It’s an easy weekend binge in one of the most crowded TV months of the year. And a reminder that sometimes people, and shows, aren’t what they first appear.
Whole season screened for review. Now on Netflix.
