After fifteen years of being trapped in an underground bunker for the fake end of the world, Kimmy (Vietnamese slang for penis) has adjusted well to life in New York. She’s having normal mid-20’s problems like stopping her Vietnamese ex, Dong, from getting deported, and assisting her friend having fifteen Christmases a week. Ellie Kemper does not make this season dry for us, keeping up the positive childish quirks and a tempo unlike anything else that’s aired. Netflix has really cranked up this show by jam-packing the season with household names; Lisa Kudrow, Fred Armisen, David Cross, and taking a main role in her series is our main girl Tina Fey. They have even created the option to ‘Kimmy-fy” your Netflix, making the site Kimmy sweater pink and having a flurry of sparkles following your mouse.
After 30 Rock aired its season finale I felt like a very specific niche of comedy had been lost, although the shows are in no way similar. It’s comparable to how Peep Show is no longer on our screens. Tina Fey and her co-writer, Carlock, are consistent in producing comedic concoctions that I can only describe as ‘innocent mature’ content. The jokes are simple but do not lack imagination because of it. New characters are delightfully original too. Anna Camp plays an insane alpha mum looking for thrills, and Amy Sedaris, a desperate social-climbing estate agent, makes an episode with only a few lines. There are however some characters I find tiresome, like the landlord Lillian, but this is forgivable given the show’s writing.
The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt may be the most lighthearted of comedies but it doesn’t shy away from serious equality issues and ironies for the rich and poor. For instance the mistreatment of native American people and the lack of the US’s reprimand, having a major football team called The Washington Redskins (which is almost unbelievable in this day and age, but then again, Trump exists). Seeing the characters tackle heartless New York while still keeping the comedy building makes me distressed that it’s going to be another year until the new season comes out, but goddamnit if it’s anything like this season it’ll be worth the wait.
Lauren Emina-Bougaard
Image courtesy of www.etonline.com