Last year Netflix did us all a favor and bought “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt” from NBC, a show that came from the comedy genius brains of Tina Fey and her “30 Rock” co-creator Robert Carlock. Now the show is back and ready for you to binge watch – which you should, because the second season does not disappoint.
For those who need a refresher, “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt” is about Kimmy Schmidt, a small-town Indiana girl who is kidnapped by a cult and kept in an underground bunker for 15 years. The first season opens with her rescue and decision to move to New York to start her life over. It sounds heavy, but with the lively and cheerful Ellie Kemper playing the title role, the show is anything but.
In the most recently released episodes, each character has their own development that the actors show off perfectly. Kimmy is finally learning who she is after growing up isolated from the rest of the world. She is trying to come to terms with all of the time she missed, as well as sorting out her feelings for her GED-class crush, Dong Ngyuen. The 1990s references are abundant and Kemper plays the character with so much enthusiasm and excitement that you can’t help but root for her.
Jacqueline Voorhees (Jane Krakowski), Kimmy’s former employer, is finally divorced and now insists that everyone call her “Ms. White.” She is asserting her independence, but the socialite doesn’t know how to exist with “only” the 12 million dollars she was left with. Jacqueline is still selfish and bossy, but somewhere along the way she starts trying harder to be nice to people and the lines between personality traits become blurred. Krakowski delivers her obnoxious lines perfectly and makes an over-the-top character even more ridiculous in the best possible way.
Kimmy’s landlord Lillian (Carol Kane) is just as crazy as she was in the first season, and spends a good part of every episode trying to keep new people out of her neighborhood. She’s either spray-painting graffiti on a building or telling a weird story about her youth. The whole time you’re watching, you’re wishing Lillian was a person that you could experience in real life.
And of course, we have Titus Andromedon, played flawlessly by Tituss Burgess. Titus gives us the best one-liners (“He just talks and talks, and I just have to listen and listen; it’s exhausting.”) and the best impromptu musical numbers. If you thought his hit single “Pinot Noir” from the first season was good, wait until you see his one-man show based on his past life as a Japanese geisha, titled “Kimono You Didn’t.” Burgess’ sass and facial expressions make Titus the show’s funniest character.
There is a joke in almost every line of this show. They come so fast that you almost don’t notice, and every single one works. It pokes fun at characters, at social issues – in a smart way – and at itself, letting each episode be individually hilarious.
For a show that is a comedy about a person who has been through such a huge trauma, “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt” is insanely fun to watch. The tone is uplifting and infectiously happy, and you’ll have all 13 episodes finished before you know it.