Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt Review: (Mostly) Strong as Hell (Season 4 Episodes 7-12)

Note: This review contains spoilers from the fourth season of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.

Since it premiered as Netflix’s first original comedy, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt has been a bit of conundrum.

Building a comedy around a woman recovering from a traumatic event does not seem like a foolproof concept but the show has managed to have more jokes per minute than nearly anything else on television.

They are so layered you might miss one (but seriously, try watching with closed captioning on. It’s eye-opening, or should I say ear-opening).

Amidst an absurd universe — and oftentimes even more absurd characters — it has also attempted to make incisive social commentary; when it swings, it swings big, and only some of it works.

That is never more noticeable than in Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt Season 4B, the final 6-episode run of the series. To quickly review, Season 4A clearly lays the foundation for the latter half of episodes and that’s not always the case for a season.

While I personally loved Season 3 of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, it was less focused than the first two seasons, but Season 4 has clear themes throughout tying 4A and 4B together.

From the jump, the focus is on #MeToo, female empowerment, and all the characters becoming better versions of themselves.

Interestingly, the last we see of the Reverend (Jon Hamm) is in Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt Season 4 Episode 3, “Party Monster: Scratching the Surface.”

The Reverend’s presence was always a foreboding specter in the background of the show so while his exclusion from Season 4B (except for a random flashback or fantasy scene) is odd, it’s also our first signal that Kimmy’s story is close to reaching a new chapter.

The Reverend’s actions certainly have repercussions in Kimmy’s life but she is more focused than ever on crafting a new narrative for herself and he is more of a dim presence in the background of her life.

You know how I mentioned that this show swings big? Supersized Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt Season 4 Episode 9, “Sliding Van Doors,” is a perfect example of that. 

Constructed around the commonly used Sliding Doors conceit, “Sliding Van Doors” is easily one of the best episodes of the series and a treat for any long-time fan. There are multiple callbacks and fan-favorite characters (Hello, Gretchen!) from the entire series that make an appearance.

It’s also a great testament to how well-developed and well-lived in the characters of Titus, Kimmy, Jacqueline, and Lillian are.

Time after time throughout the episode, I caught myself thinking, “Did Kimmy just curse? Normal Kimmy would never do that. Or that. Or that!” And so on and so forth, for every character.

The episode also manages to explore the subtle impact Kimmy has on her friends’ lives all while offering up brutal takedowns of Trump, Scientology, and preconceived ideas about who gets to be a leading man in Hollywood. It is stellar.

If Season 4 Episode 9 “Sliding Van Doors” is a swing that works, then Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt Season 4 Episode 8, “Kimmy is in a Love Square,” is an example of a bold choice that does not necessarily pay off.

Similar to how I felt watching Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt Season 2 Episode 3, “Kimmy Goes to a Play,” aka the episode where Titus dresses up as a geisha, I wanted to disappear into the floor watching “Kimmy is in a Love Square.”

Here, the #MeToo movement meets the Kimmy Schmidt universe and Rowan Farrow is even along for the ride (I enjoyed his presence but it should have been cut in half, however, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt isn’t necessarily a show that believes in the credo “less is more”).

Titus is embroiled in the scandal, having been a victim of assault at the hands of children’s puppet show star, Mr. Frumpus.

At one point, we see puppet-penis (a phrase I never thought I would type as a journalist…or well, ever). Ultimately, there’s an opportunity for personal growth and Titus takes it, but getting there is unpleasant, both for Titus and viewers.

While the two aforementioned 4B episodes prompt the most discussion, there’s plenty of highlights and memorable moments amidst the other episodes — another glorious appearance from Busy Phillips, a side-splittingly funny Cats storyline, more bizarre mania from Mimi Kanasis (Amy Sedaris), and the return of Xanthippe (Dylan Gelula)– all leading up to the series finale.

Now about that finale: it is notoriously difficult for series finales to satisfy everyone and while Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt‘s feels rushed and imperfect, ultimately it hits more strong notes than sour ones, especially for our heroine.

Titus and Kimmy get the best possible endings we could hope for. I challenge you not to cry as Titus sings triumphantly in his Lion King debut or when a young reader approaches Kimmy, sharing that “[her] books make [him] feel safe.”

While Titus’ happy ending is more traditional as he rides off into the metaphorical sunset with Mikey, it’s significant that Kimmy’s ending does not include a romantic partner.

Throughout the series, she’s had a number of love interests, including the much-missed Daveed Diggs, who was seemingly written off because he had scheduling conflicts, but I appreciate that her happy ending did not include a neatly tied up romantic relationship.

After all, we met Kimmy when she was emerging from an abusive, traumatic relationship with the Reverend; her healing over the past seasons has been focused on moving forward from that and it feels too on the nose that her evolution would include a positive, romantic relationship with a man.

Her joy was never wrapped up in that and truthfully, it’s a nice change of pace to see a happy ending for a female character that isn’t tied up in her relationship with a partner or child, but instead about her relationship with the world around her.

Jacqueline’s ending is perhaps the most disappointing, but her overall arc through the entirety of the season is one of the less interesting parts of the show. Especially compared to some of her development and strides over the course of the second and third seasons. 

Most of the season underutilizes Jane Krakowski’s exponential talent, but fortunately, she’s so comedically gifted she can make even the smallest storylines work.

Even if she gets the short end of the stick writing-wise, she wrings about as much as she can out of the material she’s given.

Her love story with Eli (Zachary Quinto) feels tacked on and rushed and would have felt more earned if he had been a larger presence throughout the latter half of the season rather than such a late-season addition.

Quinto is a delight and he does his best to construct a character bombastic enough to make sense in the Kimmy Schmidt universe, but it’s hard to have much investment in these two as a couple.

Nevertheless, while the finale isn’t perfect, as the camera pans away on a wide shot of Greemulax World, an amusement park based on Kimmy’s book, it’s hard not to feel that for Kimmy, Titus, Jacqueline, and yes, even Lillian, the world isn’t a little bit shinier and brighter than it was when we first met them.

It feels pretty heartwarming, dammit.

What did you think of this episode of the farewell season of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt? Do you hope it comes back for a feature-length film, as has been discussed? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt is now available for streaming on Netflix.

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