This review was written by Rachel Jensen for Big Shiny Robot, you can find her on Twitter @supermochella
(9.5 out of 10) Created by Tina Fey, and Robert Carlock; Starring Ellie Kemper, Jane Krakowski, Tituss Burgess, Carol Kane, Lauren Adams, Sara Chase; Streaming now on Netflix.
I can’t believe I survived waiting a whole year for Season 2 to drop on Netflix. This is the kind of neurotic feel-good comedy I need more of in my life, and much to my delight, I ate up all thirteen episodes in a three-night span. You wouldn’t be reading a review of Season 2 if you hadn’t already watched season 1, but just in case, spoiler alerts abound (and go watch Season 1 cheese on crackers, you’re a year behind). I was a little bit obsessed with this show before, and now my huge fan-crush on both Kimmy, and creator Tina Fey, has exploded.
Season 2 drops us off a few months after the finale for season one concluded. Kimmy is back in New York after getting the Reverend locked up, Jacqueline has absconded with a police car back to her family’s home on the Reservation, and Tituss and Lilian are keeping things eccentric. More of the characters’ back stories get screen time right from the get go. Things shake up really fast with the revelation that Tituss was not only married over a decade ago, but to a woman scorned. In this season we still get to see Tituss’ boisterous and flamboyant actions, and also his soft side when he finds, and fights like hell against, true love. This was absolutely the highlight of the season for me, and I ‘awwd’ at the screen more times than I feel comfortable with saying.
Jaqueline has a rougher go at things. After losing almost everything in her divorce, she tries to reconnect with her family and her Sioux roots, which both fail miserably. She takes baby steps and begins a journey on realizing what a completely selfish trophy wife she had really been, and that she can be worth much more than that. Jane Krakowski is absolutely endearing as a clueless blonde learning how to live like ‘normal’ people do in the city. Not to mention, the relationship between Jacqueline and her best frenemy Deirdre is wickedly delicious. The typical vapid socialite is turned upside down in some of the best off the cuff remarks I have heard in comedy.
I laughed and I literally screamed for joy throughout every episode.
Lillian has slightly more of a main focus in Season 2, which I appreciate being such a huge Carol Kane fan. She’s off in her own mismatched neon-colored world in which she has made it her mission to keep hipsters out of her perfectly weird neighborhood. Several amazing sight gags and one liners come out of her paranoia and determination to save her crime-riddled, crumbling street. Most minor characters from Season 1 also come back for more, including Dong, Xanthippe, and the other Mole Women.
Kimmy is front and center in midst of people who might actually be crazier than she is. Tender-hearted Kimmy is always willing to help others out, and now that she’s no longer employed by the former Mrs. Voorhees, it comes at a great sacrifice. She’s starting to learn about the cause of most of her issues with help from a very drunk, and highly educated, Uber passenger named Andrea (played by Tina Fey). Through Kimmy, the central themes of trauma, friendship, and self-discovery make her story so much more than a typical fish-out-of-water comedy. Really big topics are tackled head on by Kimmy and her cohorts. I applaud Fey for never shying away from addressing issues within the LGBT community, racism, PTSD, and more than a slight smattering of in-your-face psychology. You’re laughing the whole time, but each episode deals with some really heavy shit.
It’s good, smart humor no matter who you are: man, woman, or Robert Durst.
On the surface, “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt” might seem like a feel-good chick sitcom. Despite the wonderful feminist plot-line this is on par with Fey’s past project “30 Rock:” It’s good, smart humor no matter who you are: man, woman, or Robert Durst. I particularly liked the many subtle running gags that reminded me of all the reasons I had fallen in love with my last comedy addiction, “Arrested Development.” Yes, it’s that good. Netflix does rate it a 14+, so even though Kimmy uses some familiar non-swears, and her child-like innocence might seem on par with pre-teens, most of the jokes are very adult in nature, and the situations are not what you would see in the horrible reboot of “Full House.”
I have nothing but really amazing things to say about this season. I waited a year, and I was not disappointed. I laughed and I literally screamed for joy throughout every episode. These characters feel real and the writing is so on point that you can’t help but get sucked in. This is definitely something you will binge watch, and that is actually its only downfall; thirteen episodes seems like far too few for such a great show, and it’s maddening having to wait to see what will happen next. Netflix, you’re on a roll with this one, just make these seasons roll out a little bit sooner!