I finally saw the first season of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt! I watched all thirteen episodes in one sitting. Inspired by Elizabeth Smart, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt is the latest sitcom created by Tina Fey and Robert Carlock, who made 30 Rock. Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt is about a woman who is rescued from an apocalyptic cult after being kidnapped and imprisoned for fifteen years. Instead of returning to Indiana after a morning show interview, she impulsively decides to stay in NYC, encounters the old school shady New Yorker landlord, Lilian, played by Carol Kane who makes her the roommate of the broke singer, Titus. Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt is about Kimmy’s adjustment to the weird and wacky world of NYC.
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt is at its best when Kimmy has to confront people extremely different from her: ambitious showbiz wannabes, careless rich decadent Manhattanites and New Yorkers who miss the bad old days before gentrification. The first five episodes are flawless and nonstop hilarious, but afterwards Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt loses momentum and sacrifices character development as Kimmy suddenly isn’t working as much and is devoting her free time to other activities.
The first five episodes were firmly rooted in practical financial realities and psychological ramifications of being sexually abused for fifteen years while somehow still being funny. Unfortunately those realities are largely brushed aside for broader, cheaper comedic tropes such as romantic shenanigans, goofy small town law enforcement jokes that haven’t been funny since Don Knotts retired and prosecutor jokes that haven’t been funny since the 90s. It was also disappointing for Vera and Charles to disappear from the sitcom since you always need a handful of normal people to ground a sitcom in reality when it is filed with so many outlandish characters. Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt faltered in maintaining its main character’s temperament in episodes 9 and 11. She isn’t casually cruel though she can be stern and rebuking in the right circumstances so I didn’t buy her actions in those episodes.
Fortunately the main supporting characters pick up the slack in these remaining eight episodes so while Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt falters, it is still eminently watchable. Jane Krakowski is back as an insecure trophy wife and manages to carry off what could be a questionable plot twist in lesser hands. My favorite Titus moment is a moment of silence as he quietly looks at a prostitute who is left in his apartment by an unwanted guest, and he finally says, “Bye, Vicky!” Also there are two episodes with cats. If we could get more Dean Morris, that would be great. I would love to find out more about Kimmy’s lesser-featured bunker mates: Donna Maria and Gretchen.
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt is at its best when jokes are layered on jokes, and you feel compelled to rewind and make sure that you don’t miss any. Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt is a bittersweet sitcom that is perfect when it deals with the grim realities of our world, but falters when it goes for the cheap joke. I’m hoping that the second season is more consistent. Difficult People took awhile to come together, but ended on a strong note. Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt began strong, but seems to have as much of an identity crisis as its characters.