One of the most eccentric characters on Schitt’s Creek, David Rose has become a fan favorite for his melodramatic affectations, outrageous sweaters, and comical facial expressions. Once a spoiled gallerist from the big city, he’s adjusted to small town life over the six years he and the Rose family have called Schitt’s Creek their home. David has learned that being removed from places where “important things” happen means reassessing what’s truly important to him.
As he’s worked to shed his superficiality like last season’s trends, he’s surprised everyone with his empathy, which has allowed him to not rely on sarcastic defense mechanisms and embrace his empathetic nature. David’s layers have given him depth, and he’s gone through a considerable amount of growth on the hit series, but every once in a while character inconsistencies emerge that confound fans of Schitt’s Creek.
Running away to join the Amish
In the Season 2 episode “Finding David”, David decides he’s had enough of Schitt’s Creek and decides to flee, hoping to somehow make it on his own from the small town back to the big city where “everything important happens”. The Roses frantically look for him, eventually finding him in the last place any of them would expect.
David’s living with a group of Amish people, because apparently to someone like David with no appropriate life skills living with people who churn their own butter was preferable to his own family.
Missing his sister’s graduation
While it’s no fun for David to find out that everyone has better things to do than spend time with him on his birthday, they really prove to be better things especially in the case of Alexis who’s finally graduating.
David skips out on Alexis’ graduation, something that actually not only means a lot to her but he assumed would never happen, and has the audacity to feel sorry for himself.
Constantly judging the only friend he has in town
It’s not surprising that he motel’s co-owner and David have a good deal of things in common; they’re both misanthropes who hate people and want to be left alone to read trash magazines, knit, and judge. Even after recognizing their similarities, David has a frustrating habit of judging Stevie when she should be his closest ally.
David criticizes Stevie’s decorating style, her penchant for flannel shirts, and even her taste in men, which would make sense if he was talking about his sister, but Stevie is the one person he shouldn’t alienate. Beneath her sardonic asides, there’s a true friend who defends and supports David even when he doesn’t do the same.
Dating Stevie’s boyfriend
David, who hates someone’s “sloppy seconds” almost as much as he hates hand-me-down clothing, decides to inexplicably continue to date Stevie’s boyfriend Jake when he realizes in the third season that they’ve been seeing the same guy.
He even goes so far as to suggest they be in a “throuple” because it’s a more enlightened way of dating, but deep down everyone knows (including David) that it just won’t work out.
Sabotaging Patrick’s chance at coming out to his parents
David sticks his well-manicured foot in his mouth a lot with his word choice, and often his actions -however well-intended- backfire when he tries to meddle in other people’s affairs. This is the case when he finds out Patrick’s parents are coming into town, parents he hasn’t yet told about his sexual orientation.
David almost lets the cat out of the bag once, and later tells his father about Patrick’s anxiety, which leads to Johnny inadvertently spilling the truth to Patrick’s parents. Knowing this was a touchy topic that could make things incredibly upsetting for Patrick, David went ahead and inserted himself into the predicament anyway.
Kissing his sister’s boyfriend in front of his boyfriend
At Patrick’s housewarming party the gang decides to play a rousing game of Spin The Bottle, which results in more than a few brow-raising moments from David. Eventually, the bottle lands on him and a very buzzed Ted, and while David isn’t enthusiastic about the option agrees to adhere to the game’s rules.
David didn’t even stop to think about how making out with the boyishly handsome vet might make his boyfriend feel, not to mention how it would make Alexis feel, who unsurprisingly unloads her ire on David for smooching her beau.
Not trusting Patrick’s suggestions
While Patrick and David both have some sense of business acumen, Patrick’s is more utilitarian and professional, while David’s is more artistic and intuitive. This leads to them getting into tiffs over product placement at Rose Apothecary, rather than working together to make sure the merchandise is shoppable.
Like his mountaineering shoes, everything Patrick does according to David is incorrect. It could refer to the accessibility of breath mints and lip balm, or involve plungers at the front of the store, but whatever it is David ignores it rather than ask about the market psychology behind Patrick’s choices.
Not talking about Patrick’s ex
When Patrick’s ex comes to town unexpectedly, it throws off David and Patrick’s entire relationship. Patrick never told David about her because he was worried how David would react, and David does what he does best – overreact- thus proving Patrick’s point.
The incident nearly causes the two to break up, and after their pseudo-separation, they come together again like nothing happened. It doesn’t make sense that David and Patrick would never re-visit later as a lapse in trust and communication, but another Rose Family calamity steals their chance.
Trying to sabotage Stevie’s chance at a better life
When Stevie makes the uncomfortable decision to turn down the opportunity to franchise the Rosebud Motel with Johnny and Roland, she makes a commitment to finding another job outside of Schitt’s Creek. Rather than be happy for her, David actively sabotages her chances of succeeding.
She applies to be a flight attendant for local airline Larry Air, and David decides to apply with her to prove that he would be the better candidate. She makes it to the final round, leaving David behind and ultimately scoring the job, but at this point in their friendship David should have been excited at her growth and not oddly selfish.
Never spending any time with his mom
In the final season, David and Moira spend the afternoon wine tasting to determine which varietal she’ll consent to having her name attached to, and it’s implied the moment is a rare occurrence. Certainly over the years viewers haven’t seen David and Moira do a lot of mother-son bonding, despite the pair being so alike.
Moira has had less of a character arc throughout the series, with her children doing much more of the growing and maturing, and for the most part she’s been a part of Alexis’s development. For being so similarly melodramatic and theatrical, David and Moira should have seemingly spent more time together, complaining about the other members of the family and their insistence on structure and utility.
