What I’m Watching: Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt

Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: Season 2, Episode 10 “Kimmy Goes to Her Happy Place!” (B+)

This show does a fun job of melding its complete ridiculous elements, like Mikey’s grandmother not even being a person, with more legitimate storylines like Titus never having had the chance the come out. Titus’ disappointment at not getting to sing a song or be the center of attention seemed selfish, but then Mikey found the perfect way to let him shine, delivering a heartfelt performance that seems to have endeared him to Mikey’s family and certainly to Mikey himself. Kimmy’s time spent in therapy has been extremely entertaining thus far, anchored by her inability to steer away from 90s references and the shock that most of her models of masculinity are gay. Her excitement at getting stickers was understandable, and that was much sunnier than the brutal violence that started to happen in her animated happy place songs. That was pretty disturbing and dark even for this show, which usually says some crazy things but doesn’t often show people, animated or otherwise, being sawed apart. Some choice moments from her first set of sessions with Andrea were the conversation with fruit puns, Kimmy declaring that she doesn’t get pissed off – she gets pissed on – and night Andrea wearing a dyziplen shirt. Lillian protesting gentrification led her to the important realization that she is invisible, and she’s now found a way to use that to her advantage. I also enjoyed the hipster restaurant bringing out their take on the pop tart that’s called something else because both of those words are gendered.