Tilt-a-Grrl – As the first episode of The Lake begins, Billie (Madison Shamoun) complains to her parents for making her spend time on the lake. They think it is safer for her there while they’re on tour for the book, but Billie worries she is about to be eaten by inbred hillbillies. Billie is encouraged to connect with her birth father. Justin (Jordan Gavaris) tries to pick out the perfect ice cream. He believes chocolate would be too pandering and vanilla would be too triggering. Oreo is insulting while Neapolitan is every flavor of colonialism. When the clerk offers to help, Justin gets flustered. Justin takes armloads of stuff to the front to check out before the clerk learns he lost the argument about the ice cream.

He tells the clerk that his daughter is an athlete. Justin admits that is weird to say since he had her in high school and took off to Australia. There was an adoption in between so Billie has parents who love her. The clerk says he was lucky to find a spot up here because it is mostly lifers. Justin knows as his grandparents used to own a cottage up here. His dad sold it because his mom wanted a crappy condo in Florida. Justin makes a joke about manchildren with tattoos before quickly telling the clerk his tattoos look great on him. When he returns to the car, Billie asks about the ice cream. Justin believes he just tried to seduce his prison hipster fantasy with anal douching. Billie admits that is why her generation doesn’t have sex.

Justin learns they cannot leave yet because it’ll take 30 more minutes for their vehicle to charge. Billie reminds him that saving the environment takes time. They eventually leave. Justin has to pull their belongings on a surfboard because one of the four-by-fours was too homophobic for him. He hopes the cottage has an AC, but changes his mind when Billie tells him air conditioners are big contributors of climate change. Once they go into the cottage, Justin argues it is likely a good time to start drinking. He intends to give her a drink until he learns that she is 16. Instead, he suggests they go for a swim in the lake. Ulrika (Carolyn Scott) joins them outside after hearing Billie worry about leeches to say they can be beneficial. She is in the cottage next door.

Billie and Justin tell her about their situation and how Justin got his best friend pregnant at prom. Once she leaves, Justin changes his mind about swimming and decides to take the canoe out instead. While going out, Justin shows Billie the Henderson’s cottage and explains how Mrs. Henderson leased her husband out to her best friend two nights a week. Mr. Henderson broke the agreement and married the best friend at Tilt-a-Palooza next summer. He says that is the last event on the lake before the boathouse shuts for the season. There is a regatta and potluck throwdown. Everyone competes for crappy prizes and bragging rights while people hold grudges for generations. Billie says that is about white. Justin shows her the cottage that his great grandfather built.

It was his happy place until his dad remarried and his wicked stepsister ruined everything. Justin thinks they can just walk up and find out who owns the cottage now. When no one answers the door, Justin suggests climbing up and getting in through the window. Billie warns him that is a felony although he calls it a classic, summer shenanigan. As Justin climbs to the window, Billie contemplates filming it and sending it to her mom who will have to let her come home, but she doesn’t have her phone. Justin gets in and immediately notices that everything is the same. Billie grabs her phone from the canoe before seeing something bad. She runs back to tell Justin someone is coming. He considers stealing something that belonged to his grandpa, but she makes him put it back.

They run into Victor (Terry Chen) and Killian Lin (Jared Scott) before they can flee in the canoe. They introduce themselves as Billie says Justin gave her up because he is gay. He claims he picked parents who could give her a better life though. Victor will ask his wife to give them a tour of the cottage since it is hers. When they’re told about the boathouse barbeque, they quickly agree to come. As they paddle away, Killian asks his father why he needed to ask mom to show the cottage. Victor reminds him that his mother needs everything to be perfect.

Justin accuses Billy of eyeballing Killian and she accuses him of doing the same to his father. Back at their cottage, Billie learns that they do not get a signal there. She reminds him that parenting involves keeping the kids safe. For instance, you shouldn’t rent a cottage in the woods where you can’t call for help when the rednecks or demons invade. She tells Justin not to be the redneck invading someone else’s cottage. Justin just wanted to show her where she came from. Billie says she came from 300 clicks from here and she is going back once she tells her mom and dad about his breaking and entering. Justin doesn’t know what she did to deserve it, but it was either summer with him or Pioneer Girls Bible Camp. Billie would rather be moderating the virtual climate conference she organized.

Justin asks what the point of saving the environment is if you’re not going to enjoy any of it. He recommends asking Killian to show her around tonight before promising not to be her parent. As they paddle to the boathouse later, Justin tells her it is over 150 years old. Once they enter, Billie asks why everyone is staring at them. Justin says giving her up for adoption was the second biggest scandal to rock the lake. He points out Whoreen (Alison Lawrence) and Horny Henderson (Bill Lake) before admitting Maureen is the one they’re renting the cottage from. He sends her to the lifeguard lounge to get away from the sharks. Wayne (Jon Dore) and Jayne (Natalie Lisinska) come over to Justin to ask whether she was the child. Justin confirms she was the child he abandoned.

They talk about his weight loss and the fact that he dated a Coffs Harbour Hemsworth. Justin is told to come to them if he needs help because they have four kids now. When they say it is just like old times, Justin really hopes not. Killian asks Billie if she is hiding. He tells her about tilting or canoe jousting. There is a tournament that his father has won nine times. With one more win, he’ll beat Wayne’s record. Billie says it is a bunch of guys affirming patriarchal rituals of dominance and aggression. After she contemplates trying it, he warns her she would be going up against the unbeatable junior champ. Wayne and Jayne are surprised that Justin was okay with the new owners of the cottage.

Justin walks over to say hi to Victor who is talking to the guy from the gas station Riley (Travis Nelson). Victor introduces them to his son Darian who wants to be called Opal (Declan Whaley). Opal says his pronouns are he and him. They’re having a rough night because Opal’s pick got torpedoed for movie night. Opal can watch Carol later, but he wants to make sure Killian isn’t watching porn then. Before long, Justin says he wants to meet Victor’s wife. He hears a voice behind him saying his name. Victor admits his wife is Justin’s stepsister Maisy-May (Julia Stiles). Killian tries to teach Billie how to joust. She ends up dragging him to the ground on top of her. Killian is told she is not a chew toy. Billie is introduced to Kerri, Terri, Jerri, and Olive.

Billie jousts with the girls and drinks when she gets knocked to the ground. Killian thinks she might’ve had enough, but Billie isn’t ready to quit. Justin tells Maisy that his dad was going to sell the cottage so her mom could buy a condo in Florida. Maisy says he changed his mind and left it to her. They don’t agree on that matter. Maisy knows he didn’t have an easy relationship with his father. She says he really didn’t change. Maisy understands how much the lake meant to him and why he brought Billie there. Justin hears the girls shouting chug over and over so he suspects he needs to respect Billie. Maisy offers to help before Jayne and Wayne join them. The girls pretend they were just teaching Billie to tilt and she was like that when they got here.

Ulrika says the parents pay a $200 fee for underage drinking and Billie will be suspended from the boathouse for two weeks. Justin says he is the only one drinking here before taking a big chug from the bottle. He wonders why he shouldn’t be drinking when his birthright was stolen from him by trickery and deception. Justin challenges Maisy to trial by tilt. He says she has to return the cottage to its rightful owners if defeated. Victor says he will accept the challenge as Maisy’s husband and champion. Billie tries to talk Justin out of it. Victor tells Maisy that he’ll let Justin knock him around a little to make him feel better after finding out about his dad giving her the cottage. While Justin and Victor go out onto the water, Killian tells Billie they didn’t steal the cottage.

When the tilt begins, Justin jumps out of the boat away from Victor. In the morning, Billie thanks Justin for saving her. When she asks what happened in Australia, Justin says his ex became a Buddhist and banged half of Bondi Beach. He asks why her parents wanted to send her to bible camp. Billie reveals she accidentally uploaded a few sexts to the family Cloud. It wasn’t the fact that she got arrested at the climate march since they were proud of that. The texts to Jared who was the leader of her activist youth circle did it. He is 22 and starts grad school in the fall. Justin thanks Jared because she wouldn’t be here if she didn’t send him child porn. Killian arrives with some of his dad’s old stuff that Maisy wanted him to have. He tells Billie not to get into a drinking contest with Kerri, Terri, or Jerri because Olive is the weak link.

Justin believes he just proposed in boy and recommends Billie go after him. He is already gone although she finds a folder on the ground. She returns and finds Justin crying with the decoration he tried to steal yesterday. He explains that his grandpa made it. His grandma taught him to needlepoint when he was at college. His dad hated him doing it when it rained because he thought he should be out doing stuff that straight boys do. When grandma died, his grandpa let him teach him the petit point. Once she reads it, Justin confesses that he was a little racist. She shows him the folder she found. Justin looks at it and says it was an addendum to dad’s will. The cottage is in a trust. If Maisy ever leaves, it will pass to Justin. He suggests they need to give Maisy a reason to leave so they can take back what is theirs.

 

The Lake Review

After the first episode of The Lake, it is safe to say that some will enjoy their dip in The Lake while others will prefer staying dry on the bank. While the cast is full of unique, interesting individuals, Jordan Gavaris’s Justin receives the bulk of the spotlight as he attempts to build a relationship with the daughter he gave up and reconnects with old friends. The story plays heavily on progressiveness in terms of the cast, story, and jokes so certain viewers will be eager to look elsewhere for their summer entertainment.

The humor falls flat more often than not as it seems to try too hard, but there is a bit of charm hidden beneath the surface. The Lake often forgets it is in Canada since it regularly incorporates American insults such as hillbilly which was used three or more times. Tossing the term around to describe any white person who enjoys the lake isn’t a good look, especially when the show is set in Canada.

While the humor is weak, The Lake has beautiful scenery and Justin could be interesting enough to carry the series. The first episode scores a 5 out of 10. Recaps of The Lake can be found on Reel Mockery here. Find out how to support our work at this link.