Big Mistakes is a comedy-thriller series created by Dan Levy and Rachel Sennott. The show centers on two thirtysomething suburban siblings, Nicky (Levy) and Morgan (Taylor Ortega), whose poor decisions get them swept up into the world of crime.
Nicky, a gay pastor who is hiding the fact that he's not celibate from his congregation, and Morgan, who is trapped in a relationship with her childhood sweetheart, run afoul of the criminal underworld when Morgan shoplifts a necklace from a gift shop run by Russian mobsters. They must balance their newfound debt to the mob with their responsibilities to their partners and family as their mother runs for mayor of their town.
Tropes features in Big Mistakes include:
- All Girls Want Bad Boys:
- Morgan ends up sleeping with Yusuf.
- Linda ends up sleeping with Andrei even after discovering that he's a mobster.
- The Cartel: The Brazilian gangsters turn out to be members of the Mexican Sinaloa cartel who operate out of Brazil.
- Church of Saint Genericus: Nicky never mentions the denomination of Glenview Community Church, though he states that he's not Mormon. He's styled a pastor, and the congregation does not accept homosexual relationships.
- Dig Your Own Grave: The Cartel makes Ivan and Andrei dig their own graves before they're certain that they're on the level.
- Foreshadowing: Nicky is frequently annoyed by Rose, a member of his congregation, letting herself into his parsonage. Toward the end of the first season, she comes in and sees Nicky romantically entangled with Tareq, spoiling their Secret Relationship.
- Gayngster: Filipe, the son of The Cartel boss, is gay and propositions Nicky. Nicky turns him down but promises to keep his secret.
- Happily Adopted: Nicky is the only adopted sibling in his family but isn't treated any differently from his mother's two natural children.
- High-School Sweethearts: Morgan and Max have been a couple since they were 14. For Morgan, the spark has long since extinguished, but she's stayed through sheer inertia.
- Innocently Insensitive: Linda has a heart-to-heart with Natalie about how she was told she could never have children and so adopted Nicky, only to unexpectedly have two pregnancies and give birth to two daughters. Natalie clearly doesn't appreciate Linda repeatedly telling her that she was "an accident" and tells her she's made that point clear.
- The Mafia: Ivan works for the Italian Mafia and is in a subservient position to them.
- The Mafiya: While Yusuf, the mobster who runs the gift shop, is Turkish, the shop itself is owned by Ivan, a Russian gangster.
- Mama Bear: Linda punches her mayoral rival after he insults Nicky. She then manages to spin this altercation to her advantage in the race, promising to harness her instincts to protect the whole town.
- Mistaken Nationality:
- Nicky and Morgan assume that Yusuf is Russian, but he angrily asserts that he's Turkish. They are further confused when they hear him speaking Russian to his Russian boss, Ivan.
- Nicky and Morgan are told by Ivan that they're meeting Brazilian gangsters in Florida, but the boss clarifies that they're Mexican and simply moved to Brazil to do business there.
- Mob Debt: The "worthless" necklace that Morgan stole turns out to be worth $75,000. She and Nicky are forced to retrieve it and give it back by any means necessary, and even then, they're still on the hook for service.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Yusuf is shocked when Nicky and Morgan tell him that his ratting out Ivan resulted in a complete massacre.
- An Offer You Can't Refuse: Ivan gives Morgan and Nicky cellphones as part of his "friendship" so that they can do services for him to work off the debt they incurred by stealing the necklace.
- Parental Favoritism: Go-getter Natalie clearly has a closer relationship with Linda than Morgan and Nicky.
- The Reveal: In the final episode of season one, it's revealed that Annette has been behind all of the siblings' problems as the local boss of the Mafia.
- The Queenpin: It turns out that Annette has been the don of the mafia all along.
- Secret Relationship: Nicky is a pastor in a denomination that welcomes gay people but still holds homosexual actions to be sinful. He is therefore openly gay but officially celibate. In reality, he's in a long-term relationship with Tareq that he hides from his congregation.
- Serious Business: Being in and out of the closet. Tareq calls Nicky to task for effectively forcing him back in the closet to maintain their Secret Relationship. Later, Nicky refuses to tell the Mafia about Filipe being gay even under threat of death.
- Shotgun Wedding: In the final episode of season one, Annette tells Morgan that she will marry her son Max or face severe consequences.
- Straight Gay: Tareq is a handyman who frequents the family's hardware store and has no gay mannerisms.
- Tattooed Crook: Yusuf is a gangster, and he has a prominent neck tattoo of a snake.
- You Wouldn't Shoot Me: When he's finally had enough, Nicky asserts that Ivan wouldn't shoot him because it would be only bring him more trouble. He and Morgan walk out the door, clearly bracing to be shot in the back, but he's correct.