We deconstruct the ending and the meaning of Netflix’s Big Mistakes: from the Annette reveal to the “necklace” shackle, discover why the final scene is a portrait of a family prison you can never escape.
In Big Mistakes, it all begins with an innocent necklace. It was intended as a tender gift for a dying grandmother, a final embrace from the family nest toward a fading cornerstone. Yet, that necklace quickly transforms into an absurd MacGuffin, dragging Nicky and Morgan into a dangerous entanglement with local organized crime. As the series unfolds, we begin to realize the true nature of the prison in which the two protagonists have found themselves.
The new series by Dan Levy—widely celebrated as the co-creator of Schitt’s Creek and the actor behind David Rose—seems to define an entirely new perspective within the creative landscape we have come to associate with him. For the first time in the history of comedies penned by Levy in recent years, the family unit is portrayed as a trap, an environment far too restrictive for its protagonists. Both Nicky and Morgan would express their personalities far better outside the family circle; instead, it is the family itself that drags them into the worst versions of themselves.
Beneath the guise of a chaotic crime comedy, Big Mistakes conceals a deeper meaning that demands closer inspection. The necklace serves as the common thread, but it is also the symbol of the message the series intends to convey: Nicky and Morgan represent a darker reflection of the roles each of us plays within our own families.
Nicky and Morgan in Big Mistakes: The Regressive Power of Family
When Dan Levy was interviewed by Netflix Tudum to introduce Big Mistakes, the most inevitable question was whether this new series was inspired by his own personal family dynamics. Levy was quick to clarify that the show does not reflect his own upbringing, but he admitted that the sibling interactions on screen represent something universal for anyone who has returned to the “family nest” as an adult. “It ends up reducing us to our most childlike selves at times,” he stated quite bluntly.
Indeed, watching Nicky and Morgan bicker like two petulant teenagers every time they are forced to collaborate on these absurd criminal missions is as revealing as it is hilarious. While they clearly love each other, they seem fundamentally incapable of existing in the same space without friction, spending their days rehashing old grievances and tallying the “weight” they each place on the other’s life.
From the moment they are tasked with securing that cursed necklace for their grandmother, the family dimension becomes a tunnel that forces them to regress into their worst profiles. They become insecure and immature, perpetually out of place, and convinced that they lack the opportunity to express the vital centers of their own personalities. Nicky is forced to hide his relationship because, after an entire year, he hasn’t found a way to confidently introduce his boyfriend, while Morgan feels permanently branded as a mess—a chaotic force whose behavior is merely a problem for others to manage.
For the adult Nicky and Morgan, the family has become a foreign environment, or at least it appears so at the start of the series. But as we approach the finale of Big Mistakes, the secret meaning behind the interpersonal dynamics we have observed episode after episode is finally unveiled—and it is far darker than we imagined.
Big Mistakes Ending Explained: The Necklace Twist and Annette’s Leash
The ending of Big Mistakes delivers a staggering plot twist that redefines everything we thought we knew about the characters’ motivations. At the party celebrating her mother’s mayoral election, Nicky and Morgan finally uncover the secret architect of their mother’s success. Annette (Elizabeth Perkins) is revealed to be far more than just the mother of Morgan’s fiancé, Max, or the financier of Linda’s campaign. She is the shadow boss coordinating the Italian crime syndicate that the Russians have been working for all along.
Everything began with that stolen necklace in the first episode. We quickly learned that the piece was exceptionally valuable and indispensable to the Russian boss, Ivan, though the “why” remained a mystery. When Annette produces that very same necklace in the final moments and places it around Morgan’s neck, the truth is laid bare: the MacGuffin was always intended for the woman at the top of the local criminal hierarchy. Annette—Morgan’s soon-to-be mother-in-law—was the Kingpin no one suspected.
In a cruel paradox, the extended family life that awaits Morgan is no longer just an existential trap; it becomes a physical prison from which there is no escape. She is condemned to be a pawn in the hands of a boss who will never stop viewing her as a servant to the family’s interests.
As Annette generously fastens the jewels, Morgan remarks, “It’s a little tight.” Annette’s symbolic response—“You’ll get used to it”—crystallizes the hidden meaning of the Big Mistakes ending. This is the moment the mother-in-law effectively fastens a leash around Morgan’s neck. From that second forward, Morgan is officially a possession of the family business. Her role as a wife is now a foregone conclusion, and her status as a “mafia henchman” is simply the natural, inevitable consequence of her new life.
The $75,000 necklace is magically transformed: it is no longer a trophy of wealth, but the heavy chain that holds Morgan prisoner forever.
The Illusion of Escape: The Weight of Silence and Nicky’s Fate
Ultimately, Big Mistakes is not a story of redemption, but one of inevitable submission. While Morgan embodies the physical side of this imprisonment—symbolized by the necklace that tightens around her neck like a gilded leash—it is in the character of Nicky that the series’ most tragic and least discussed nuance resides.
Nicky is a pastor: his entire identity is founded upon the power of the word, the sanctity of confession, and the ability to liberate souls from the weight of sin. Yet, the series finale condemns him to the cruelest form of psychological captivity: the code of silence. To protect his mother, Linda, and his sister, Morgan, Nicky must renounce his own voice. He becomes the silent custodian of Annette’s crimes, transforming his moral integrity into an isolation cell. While Morgan wears Annette’s chain upon her body, Nicky carries the weight of that same chain within his spirit.
The “big mistake” that gives the series its title, therefore, is not the initial theft of the necklace. The greatest error is the illusion that the two siblings cultivated their entire lives: the idea that they could ever be “other” than their roots. Nicky and Morgan spent the season attempting to flee, trying to build authentic lives far beyond the radar of the family syndicate, only to discover a chilling truth. The front door of the family home does not close behind us to let us go; it locks in front of us to prevent us from ever leaving.
That final family portrait, with its forced smiles and warm lighting, serves as a manifesto for Dan Levy’s newfound pessimism. It tells us that we are not the people we choose to be, but rather the pawns our families force us to become. In that picture-perfect frame, freedom is the only thing that finds no space in the shot.
For those who wish to explore the psychological deconstruction of Annette’s “family prison” or the inescapable weight of the necklace through our Spanish edition, the analysis of Errores Épicos is available here.
Big Mistakes: FAQ & Curiosities
The series finale reveals that Annette (Elizabeth Perkins) is the true “Kingpin” of the local criminal syndicate. While the characters spend the season fearing the Russians, it is eventually revealed that Annette has been pulling the strings all along, using her financial influence over Linda’s mayoral campaign to consolidate power.
Beyond its $75,000 value, the necklace serves as a symbol of family as a shackle. In the first episode, it is a “gift” intended for a dying grandmother; by the final scene, it becomes a literal “leash” that Annette fastens around Morgan’s neck. It represents the moment Morgan loses her freedom and is officially “owned” by the family business.
The marriage is the closing of the trap. Annette forces the union not out of love for her son, but to ensure that Morgan is legally and personally bound to the family. By marrying Max, Morgan becomes a permanent “insider,” making her crimes (and her silence) an essential part of the family’s survival.
In one of the show’s most absurd moments, Nicky and Morgan transport prize-winning bulls used to smuggle drugs. This “big mistake” serves as a metaphor for the family legacy itself: something that appears traditional and respectable on the outside, but is hollowed out and filled with poison on the inside.
Besides, “Cocaine Bulls” are inspired by real life: throughout the history of the drug trade, cartels have notoriously used live animals as “camouflage” for their shipments.
While both shows were created by and star Dan Levy, they exist in entirely different universes. However, thematic fans view Big Mistakes as the “dark mirror” of Schitt’s Creek. While the latter showed how family can make you better, Big Mistakes explores how family can regress you into your most insecure, childlike, and “messy” self.
