'Schitt's Creek' Season 3 Sneak Peek: David's Afternoon Delight Is Interrupted

Schitt’s Creek returns Jan. 11 for its third season on Pop, but we’ve got an exclusive clip of the Rose family now.

As you see above, things have progressed nicely between David (Dan Levy) and Jake (Steve Lund), the man David and Stevie (Emily Hampshire) were both eying in the Season 2 finale. In the exclusive clip, David is as surprised to find his family all returning home as they are to see Jake in a towel. As always, mom Moira (Catherine O’Hara) has the perfect line: “David, stop acting like a disgruntled pelican.”

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It won’t be the last we see of Jake, as the “throuple” story with Stevie continues. “I think the wonderful thing about Schitt’s Creek is that it’s an incredibly liberal place,” says Dan, who co-created the series with his father and co-star Eugene Levy (Johnny). “There’s no judgment, nobody feels inhibited, which I think is a lovely choice that we made in terms of trying to project a world of acceptance and love even in this political climate.

“I think for David and Stevie, their romance and their friendship has always been oddly intertwined,” he continues. “We thought, what if you threw someone else in the mix? We had a lot of fun playing with this guy, who’s a very sexual Casanova, and intertwining Stevie and David in this funny romantic conundrum and just seeing how those characters wiggle their way out of it. It was fun to play, it was fun to write, it was fun to act. It’s one of my favorite little stories we’ve had so far.”

Here are a few more teases of what to expect in Season 3, which Dan says resets things: “We’re getting a little deeper in terms of characters’ backstories so that we can then move them even further.”

DAVID: Early in the season, after Johnny gets a car for the family, we’ll learn David doesn’t technically have a license. Alexis (Annie Murphy) will accompany David for the test, which leads to a true heart-to-heart. “We just thought it could be a really nice way to get those two characters together and talking about real stuff,” Dan says. “What’s exciting for us is being able to delve a little deeper into their past and lay more foundation for why they’re acting the way they’re acting.”

Mid-season, look for David to meet a new character, Patrick (Noah Reid), who becomes his partner in more than business. “We thought, ‘What if we introduce a love interest this season that will help to stabilize David a little bit?'” Dan says. “They slowly fall for each other, and it’s a really lovely little budding romance. How it ends is all up in the air, but it’s a really fun way to see David in a different light: a character that’s always been pretty hard-edged being forced to come to terms with slightly more intimate romantic feelings. I don’t think David’s ever been in a relationship with anyone who respected him before, so this is all new, exciting territory for him.”

ALEXIS: Later in the season, Alexis will go back to high school to get her diploma. “She realizes that if she ever wants to have a career, something that will require a degree, she needs to go back and finish what she started. So we see her going back to high school and really having an effect on a high school class,” Dan says. “I think part of the humor for these characters, particularly David and Alexis, is they seem a little stunted. You see these characters going through adolescence all over again because I don’t think they ever were really given the opportunity when they were growing up.”

MOIRA: She takes her hard-earned seat on the town council, and, in a shocking twist, dares to dine solo with Alexis. “For Moira, I really think it’s about discovering her own feelings this season and coming to terms with the fact that she might not be quite as hard-edged as she thinks. She might need her family more than she thinks, and need this town more than she thinks,” Dan says. “We get to peel back the layers on Moira a little bit this season, which gives Catherine a great platform to run wild… in a way that only she can.”

JOHNNY: His search for a professional life in Schitt’s Creek finally pays off. “He finds his place. He ends up getting involved in the motel this season,” Dan says. “He’s always been working his entire life. He built this empire that then was taken away from him. To find something to put his energy back into is a really validating thing for him — even if it is a really dumpy motel. It also forces him to start working with Stevie [who inherits the motel when a family member dies], which is a character pairing that we’ve never played with before. The result is really funny. They have a special little bond.”

Schitt’s Creek Season 3 premieres Jan. 11 at 8 p.m. on Pop.