‘The Mick’: Thomas Barbusca Reveals His First Reaction To Chip’s Paternity Twist

In last night’s midseason finale of Fox’s “The Mick,” Chip (Thomas Barbusca) finally found out that Christopher Pemberton (Laird MacIntosh) is not his real father. And just as Chip didn’t see the news coming, Barbusca admitted that he’s also taken aback when the twist about his character’s paternity was initially revealed at the end of the show’s freshman run.

In a recent interview with TVLine, Barbusca said that the revelation that Chip is not a full-blooded Pemberton was not in the script for the Season 1 finale.

“I didn’t even know that was a thing, I really didn’t,” the 14-year-old actor said, explaining that the line about Chip not being Christopher’s son was added on the spot. “When they were filming that scene, one of the [creators] said, ‘Throw this in there for this next take and that’ll be it.’ And I guess that’s what they used. But I didn’t even know until the season finale aired. I texted [creators Dave and John Chernin] and they were just like, ‘LOL!’ I was like, ‘No, wait, who’s his dad?!’ They left me on a cliffhanger.”

Even though the Chernin brothers didn’t tell Barbusca about the twist ahead of the Season 1 finale, the actor thought that the big surprise about Chip’s personal lineage “was pretty funny,” most especially that “Chip takes so much pride in being a Pemberton.”

Executive producer Kaitlin Olson, who also plays Mickey on the series, told TVLine last September that Chip’s paternity twist was “hilarious” because Chip identifies himself as a Pemberton more than his older sister Sabrina (Sofia Black D’Elia) and his younger brother Ben (Jack Stanton). “And he loves his daddy [Christopher], even though he won’t call or check in on him,” Olson said.

As revealed in last night’s Season 2, episode 9, Chip’s real dad is Howard Buckley, a widower who owns an outdoor recreation company. Chip visited the firm and got to interact with Howard. Chip pretended to be an intern at the company and later found out that Howard has a daughter named Kelly (Alyssa Jirrels). At the end of the episode, Chip revealed to Howard who he really is. But instead of welcoming him with open arms, Howard drove Chip away and told him to stay away from his family.

What do you think of Chip’s paternity twist? Sound off in the comments section below!

“The Mick” will be back with new episodes in January.