After a long wait, Kimmy Schmidt finally returned to Netflix with a mere six episodes. Although I was super disappointed by the lack of episodes, the show always delivers the laughs. I honestly could just sit and write an article full of Titus Andromedan quotes.(I will try my best to restrain myself) Season 4 (Part 1) brought the laughs along with an abundance of character development.
Kimmy finally has a legit job and income. (Giz-toob. Love it.) She is starting to see the world for what it really is, and in a way it’s bittersweet. This is because I really, really like the original concept of this show. Kimmy’s naivety, one-liners, and ’90s references have always been pure gold. Ellie Kemper is absolutely phenomenal. Now we get to see some much needed character growth for Kimmy, as she starts to become more of an activist (understandably so) after seeing how privileged certain men are. Kimmy ultimately writes a young adult book about how there is evil in young boys and how it can be stopped to prevent them from becoming terrible men.Good for her. I like it.
It makes perfect sense that Kimmy sees the world through this lense as she’s essentially been imprisoned by the reverend (Jon Hamm) for years. I thought Kimmy’s freak out about Beauty and the Beast (Episode 5 – Kimmy and the Beast) was absolutely brilliant as she could definitely relate. Of course it didn’t help that she had been talking with Bobby Moynihan’s over the top male rights character Fran Dodd. Dodd would be the terrible male character we would immediately come to hate, as per the Jon Hamm role. Kimmy having a better understanding of the sexism and cruelty of the world was bound to happen, and naturally she makes it her mission to fix everything. Although I’m somewhat sad to see Kimmy grow up, I’m happy to see the direction this character is going. This needed to happen and I expect big things from her come the series finale.
At times I did think a few things were over the top preachy for this comedy setting. Naturally we know Tina Fey (who is absolutely killing it with this show) has her views and is making them very apparent as ever this season. There’s definitely a huge microscope on most of the male characters on this show and the male driven society we live in today. Although I am a big time feminist (and married to the biggest one in the world) there were at least two times where I was taken back by something Kimmy had said that seemed a little out of character. Perhaps those lines were a little more Fey speaking than Kimmy. It’s not that I disagree with the underlying messages, I think my issue is more-so the approach.
Note: Speaking of Fey, we noticed the continuation of 30 Rock Easter Eggs as they had brought back the “Gals on the Town” show from an episode of the NBC comedy series.
So now that I’m done psychoanalyzing the characters, let’s get to those Titus Quotes. When Lillian mentions to Titus and Kimmy that Titus still hasn’t told Kimmy about 9/11, Titus quickly adds, “12, 13, 14, 15. That’s how you count to 15!” And of course Kimmy just flashes that huge smile. Titus is a gem. Everything Tituss Burgess does on this show is absolutely gold. I love the scene where he’s auditioning the students for the play and he disqualifies the one kid for counting in “5, 6, 7, 8”. (Instead of 1,2,3,4) There was also a huge misdirect when Titus finds out a boy named Hudson can sing. Just when you think Titus is going to be self-sacrificing, he takes the boy to the wrestling team to get him away from the play. That had me dying. I was however, super-disappointed we did not get to see more Titus and Greg Kinnear scenes.
I wanted to talk a bit about the documentary episode (Episode 3 – Party Monster: Scratching the Surface) which I thought was both incredibly amazing and stupid (by design). First and foremost: Yes, that Jon Hamm dating show clip was real. Secondly, what an interesting way to do some storytelling concerning the reverend. I absolutely loved that Titus was oblivious to all his parts having anything to do with Kimmy’s real life ordeal. At the end he goes, “So that’s what that was for.” Amazing. I even recall at one point Tituss playing a mole woman. Also, I could not stand DJ Fingerblast at all. (Again, by design)
Can we talk about that backpack puppet? It was kind of creepy but hilarious. When Kimmy realized she had to grow up and took “Jan” to the water and started filling her with rocks to kill her, I was absolutely floored laughing. What a great scene.
The subplots with Lillian (Carol Kane) and Jacqueline (Jane Krakowski) were great too. Lillian always cracks me up. “You must be bras or toothpaste, cause I ain’t buyin it” had me dying in regards to her dealings with Artie’s (Peter Riegert) daughter. It was also nice to see Xanthippe (Dylan Gelula) check in and bond with her step-mom. Great story arcs to keep both characters in the mix while so much is going on with Kimmy and Titus.
Now, I am a bit confused as this is NOT the end of Season 4 which is set to return January 25, 2019. My immediate thought is, why not call that Season 5? Although I’m glad I can binge the series on Netflix, this show is made for tons of episodes. Maybe even on a weekly basis. (Obviously, we know NBC had turned it down) I think if anything, this series should get the old Community “Six seasons and a movie!” treatment. With talks of a movie in the near future, I say sign me up. Four seasons of a solid comedy with a fantastic cast like this just isn’t enough. It’s a no-brainer.
Rating: 8.5 Out of 10
-Rob Crowther IV
The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt Season 4 Part 1 is currently streaming on Netflix.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMdo_0H1thU
