Steven Gidwaney commented on this when he appeared on Watch Ross. He normally gets cast as lowlifes and scumbags, and plays Ryan's well-meaning (if a little crazy) best friend.
Tricia Sammy Rose is normally much wackier than the serious character she plays in Episode 3.
Reality Subtext: Andrew Connor claims that the plot is essentially a more comedic version of something he went through.
Those Two Actors: Tricia Sammy Rose stars in Episode 3 and has worked with Steven Gidwaney numerous times.
Troubled Production: The first episode had to be postponed because the blizzard in March 2018 happened when they were planning to film. Episode 3 likewise ran into sound problems and had to be delayed.
Underage Casting: Steven Gidwaney plays a character who is presumably much older than his actual age. Twenty-one!
Word of God is that the tone was originally closer to Gavin & Stacey, where Ryan and Catrina would be the Vanilla Protagonists and the supporting cast would be much wackier. Eventually Ryan became just as funny as the rest of the cast.
The first episode was going to end with Ryan and Lazzie singing karaoke together, but budget concerns led to that being scrapped.
