Aahana Swrup
In ‘Big Mistakes,’ siblings Nicky and Morgan’s lives take a chaotic turn when one bad decision leads them down a goldmine of dangerous choices. The younger sister, a failed actress turned public school teacher, manages to get her and her pastor brother into hot water with a local crime boss, Ivan. As a result, they’re blackmailed into running small-scale operations for a drug ring, which eventually turn into bigger and potentially deadly messes. All the while, they’re embroiled in drama from their own personal life. For Morgan, her relationship with her high school sweetheart, Max, proves to be a significant complication of the latter variety. From failed, and later successful proposals and mutual infidelity to mismatched goals for their future, the couple remains entirely out of sync with each other. Still, something continues to keep them falling back into each other’s orbit. SPOILERS AHEAD!
Max’s Lackluster First Proposal to Morgan
Morgan and Max’s relationship is introduced into the story on an eclectic note. As the latter is dropping his girlfriend off at her job, he tosses a ring box at her in an attempted nonchalant proposal. Even though the public school teacher isn’t necessarily a sucker for romance, she does expect something a little better from her boyfriend. Thus comes his second attempt, where he gets down on one knee in front of Morgan’s family in the aftermath of the passing of her Nonna. Even though she never explicitly says yes, and instead rides the moment off in an expression of surprise, somehow, in the chaos of the moment, her reaction is taken as a yes. However, this engagement is painfully short-lived.
This is because while all of this is unfolding, Morgan is going through a crisis of her own. Earlier, she had snagged a necklace from a store as a gift for her Nonna’s birthday. Unfortunately for her and Nicky, this necklace belongs to someone very dangerous, who now has them on their radar. As a result, after Nonna’s funeral, the siblings find themselves with no choice but to dig up their grandmother, retrieve the necklace, and clear their ledger. Max, of course, knows nothing about this because Morgan doesn’t trust him with the information. For the same reason, in an effort to shake him off her tail after Nonna’s wake, she ends up telling him about a possibly made-up affair, which effectively ends their engagement, at least the first time around.
Morgan and Max’s Engagement Sticks After a Second Proposal
The speedy end of Morgan and Max’s initial engagement establishes the truly unambivalent emotions that the school teacher has about the relationship. The duo was together in high school before Morgan moved away from Glenview to pursue an acting career in New York. This ambition ultimately failed, and she ended up returning home to her old life and old relationship. Therefore, there’s a perpetual sense that she’s only with Max because their relationship is something safe, familiar, and convenient. Nonetheless, she doesn’t seem all that committed to him in a romantic sense. Inversely, even though Max’s perception of their relationship isn’t healthy by any means, he does seem desperate to hold on to it.
For the same reason, he tries to fix things between them, albeit with his mother, Annette, present in the room. The discussion that follows isn’t all that productive, and Max reveals that he had also cheated on Morgan, which he thinks cancels out their individual transgressions. Afterward, the two agree to attend couples therapy. Max orchestrates another proposal, this time in a display that is a mixture of nonchalance and sentimentality, and the duo gets engaged once again. Simultaneously, Morgan continues to stay involved with Ivan’s criminal proceedings and develops a dynamic with Yusuf, their unofficial handler. Thus, she firmly enters the realm of leading two separate lives, of which Max is only a part of one.
Morgan’s Engagement to Max Turns Into a Life Sentence
On some level, Morgan’s engagement to Max also presents a stifling reality for the school teacher. It’s no secret that Morgan is a bit of an adrenaline junkie who wants adventure, thrill, and excitement out of her life. Her return to her hometown, job at the public school, and relationship with Max are all aftermaths of her failure to live the life she wanted to in New York. Consequently, anytime she realizes what marriage in her small town might mean, she gets overwhelmed and dubious of her life choices. However, eventually, her ability to remain apathetic about her relationship is taken from her. Towards the end of season 1, when Linda celebrates her mayoral win, Morgan and Nicky make a startling discovery.
As it turns out, Max’s mother, Annette, who is also the primary financier of their mother’s mayoral campaign, is actually Ivan’s boss and the original owner of the necklace. This means she is well-connected to dangerous people and is directly involved in the illicit turn the siblings’ lives have taken. Furthermore, along with being a crime boss, Annette is also a very loving mother. As such, now that she has realized Max has well and truly chosen Morgan to be his life partner, she wants to ensure the decision remains smooth-sailing for him. She lets Morgan know the same, implicitly threatening her against breaking her son’s heart. Ultimately, this raises the stakes of her relationship with Max more than any engagement, well and truly imprisoning her in the romance.
Read More: Shows Like Big Mistakes
