Can ‘The Lake’ Continue Canada’s Sitcom Golden Streak?

Back in 2012, an antagonizing Vanity Fair piece titled “Of Moose and Men” claimed Canada’s comedy output would never enjoy a global reach (“Because nobody outside of Canada feels any urgent need to read or hear about, or even be aware of, Canada”). Since then, Schitt’s Creek has achieved a record-breaking clean sweep at the Emmys, Kim’s Convenience has helped to launch a Marvel superstar, and everything from Letterkenny and Workin’ Moms to Sort Of have found audiences on international streaming platforms. Turns out the Great White North isn’t so insular after all. 

Now Amazon is getting in on the boom with their first original Canadian sitcom (although Upload is filmed in Vancouver, it’s an American production). And The Lake, which comes hot on the heels of comedic game show LOL: Last One Laughing Canada and sketch revival The Kids in the Hall, is possibly the most proudly Canuck so far.

Created by Julian Doucet (Killjoys, Hudson and Rex), the eight-part series is set entirely amid the idyllic countryside of Northern Ontario for one thing and promises to reflect “one of the quintessential Canadian experiences” for another. Only those natives privileged enough to spend their summers at a lakeside retreat will know whether this really does involve drunken canoe jousting, taxidermist ventriloquists and festivals named Tiltapalooza. But the rest of us can still enjoy the scenery and the performances, if not always the uninvolving central plot.

The Lake stars Jordan Gavaris as Justin, a newly-single gay man who returns to the childhood haunt (known simply as The Lake) for some bonding time with the 16-year-old daughter he and his high school best friend gave up for adoption as teens. The bunch of oddball locals, including a schmuck who still says ‘Wassup’ (Jon Dore) and his pun-loving realtor wife (Natalie Lisinksa), are surprised to see the former talk of the town back in town. But none more so than Julia Stiles’ Maisy-May, the ‘wicked step-sister’ who unbeknownst to Justin was gifted the family cottage by his father. And she now plans to have it entirely renovated.

Unsurprisingly, Justin doesn’t take this news lying down. Yet given the current economic climate, it’s difficult to get too invested in a bratty squabble over a vacation home between two step-siblings stuck in arrested development (they’re still very much prone to slapping each other in the face). Luckily, The Lake has more to offer than this first world problem. 

Stiles appears to relish subverting her teen rom-com nice girl persona with a fabulously bitchy turn as the wine box-drinking mean girl determined to hold onto her inheritance at all costs. And Gavaris, best-known for playing Tatiana Maslany’s foster brother in Orphan Black, also delivers an equal amount of sass as a Mean Girls obsessive whose jealousy threatens to consume his entire stay. 

As with Schitt’s Creek, who it shares similar fish-out-of-water vibes with, there’s a romance between its younger male outsider and a slightly more grounded local. Plaid-wearing handyman Riley (Travis Nelson) and Justin’s relationship isn’t quite as wholesome as Patrick and David’s – their first sexual encounter ends in a disastrous threesome with the only other Grindr user within a ten-mile radius (Jerry O’Connell sleazing it up as a corrupt mayoral candidate). But you’ll still be rooting for them to last the distance in another small town which refreshingly shows no signs of homophobia: Maisy-May and husband Victor (Terry Chen) also have a genderfluid kid named Opal (Declan Whaley). 

In fact, the only relationship disapproved of is the heterosexual one between Justin’s eco-warrior offspring Billie (Madison Shamoun) and ripped teenager Killian (Jared Scott), with the latter’s uptight mom Maisy-May constantly reminding them of their cousin (albeit non-biological) status. Despite this semi-incestuous tension, though, their will they/won’t they is your average soapy YA fare. Even their magic mushroom trip lacks any hint of excitement. 

Billie and Killian do, however, get the chance in episode six to star in their own mini scary movie, a fun Cabin in the Woods homage which initially suggests The Lake is playing around with its format. And the former often gets the best lines, particularly whenever sparring with the man who’s blatantly ill-equipped to play the father figure. “For a black girl, breaking and entering is more When They See Us adventure than Wet Hot American Summer shenanigans,” she tells Justin about the plan to sneak into his old family home. 

Their complex reunion, facilitated by Billie’s globe-trotting parents, is certainly more interesting than all the petty property warfare, the conclusion of which suggests the inter-family squabbles are only going to get more intense. Should a second season be commissioned then writers might want to shift their focus elsewhere. Far spikier than the recent run of homegrown hits, The Lake has already proved to Vanity Fair that Canadian humor isn’t always “relentlessly nice” and “unconfrontational.” But the show perhaps needs a less whiney premise if it’s to travel worldwide.   

Jon O’Brien (@jonobrien81) is a freelance entertainment and sports writer from the North West of England. His work has appeared in the likes of Vulture, Esquire, Billboard, Paste, i-D and The Guardian.