February 9: What Vicky Is Watching *Special* The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt Finale

Streaming: The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt

*Warning! Finale Spoilers Ahead!*   

The Short of It:  After 15 years of captivity in an underground bunker in Durnsville, Illinois bright-eyed and bushy-tailed Kimmy Schmidt heads off to New York City to reclaim her life. Now in her thirties, Kimmy has the optimism, energy and wide-eyed naivety of a girl half her age. Her adventures (and misadventures) gleefully engaging in the world around her joined by ridiculously funny larger-than-life characters Titus, Lillian and Jacqueline have been a Netflix darling since its premiere in 2015. The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt’s Season 4 Part 2 wraps up the Kimster’s story for good. Part 1 ended on a cliffhanger: Jacqueline is losing White Talent, Mikey is getting married, Titus’s Broadway career is over before it's even started. But worst of all Lillian, Titus and Kimmy’s actually-a-tug-boat apartment is going to be demolished by the city. Once again Kimmy is going to be jobless, homeless, and adrift in the world. OR IS SHE?

What Vicky Thinks: Like a bag of Trader Joe’s Trex mix, my feelings about how Unbreakable ends its nutty characters stories are mixed.

Starting with Titus: The Peeno Noir crooner sashays his flamboyant, shiny self across the screen dropping bits like, “I’m pretty but tough, like a diamond. Or beef jerky in a ball gown.” I’d point you out as a liar (liar pants on fiiiyaarh) if you didn’t agree that Titus is one of the most hilarious parts of The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. But his pizza parties for one, and a stint as a werewolf in a movie monster themed restaurant can’t hide that while Titus is a riot and a half he’s also annoying as hell.

The same can be said for snobby socialite Jacqueline Voorhees (who ditched her Jackie Lynn White Native American roots in pursuit of a glamorous NYC life and a filthy rich husband to pamper her). But the biggest difference between J and T (not to be confused with Man of the Woods Justin Timberlake) is that Jacqueline actually grows as a character. Titus stubbornly stays the same.  

This is especially seen in Titus’s courtship of cute but clueless construction worker Mikey that spanned two seasons. Scene stealer and LOL-worthy meme Titus is I can’t help but groan at his happy ending in the finale which gets wrapped up like a present on Christmas. Mikey ditching Blandrew Andrew at the altar for Titus and professing how much he loved him all is not romantic or believable. It’s an unearned, forced, convenient fairytale ending for Titus’s divaish, high maintenance jerk of a character. No likey.

Jacqueline’s story comes to a close with an odd romance of her own. Eli, the smug talent scout, and Jacqueline’s ultimate rival confesses he’s blind. Oh and that he’s in love with her. This would be more of a bombshell if Eli (the wonderful Zachary Quinto) wasn’t just in THE LAST TWO episodes. Eli’s blindness is a cringey gag (he uses echolocation to get around) and even cringey-er answer to Jacqueline’s own “happily ever after” - finding a man who loves her for who she is, not for her pinup model looks. Jacqueline’s purpose is reduced to being defined by a man--basically a rando man at that. So much for all her character development and strive for independence and boss bitchery.

I promise this is not all eye-rolling and bellyaching! The Kimster has the most authentic and fulfilling ending of all. For the entirety of The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt Kimmy Schmidt and Ellie Kemper shine brighter than Titus and his bedazzled wardrobe. Yes, at the time of the finale Kimmy is still afraid of velcro. She still punches out “FIRE MONSTERS!!!” and poops in those trick-or-treat plastic pumpkin buckets but, over the span of 51 episodes, Kimmy transformed her life. And with each of her little wins, we were there with her laughing our heads off, or cheering, or shrieking in mirth over some inappropros thing she said. She took her trauma and tragedies and turned them into joy and hope! She's given the most touching and likely ending with her fantasy novel The Legends of Greemulax becoming a theme-park spawning runaway hit. Talk about ALL the yays!!!

3 ½ out of 5 Stars. With its distinctly smart, ridiculous humor and quotable, over the top jokes on jokes on jokes The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt as a whole strikes a balance between absurdity and genuineness all the way to the very last minute. Unfortch much of The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt’s finale is hasty, soapy, fluff that strays from the heart of the series. As someone who’s been a Kimmy fan from the very beginning, I can’t help but hold out for a hero potential movie that really wraps this strong as hell female’s story!! (Damn it!)