Netflix Catch-Up: Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (Series Finale)

Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: Season 4, Episode 12 “Kimmy Says Bye”

It’s weird to watch this series finale knowing that there’s a TV movie reuniting all the characters that’s already been made. It’s also not as if it took all that long, like, say, the “Deadwood” movie did, but instead just over a year passed between when this episode premiered in January 2019 and the TV movie debuted in May 2020. I’ll look at that Emmy-nominated movie shortly, and will instead try to consider this as the real wrap-up to this show. Titus had the most dramatic choice of all, opting not to kill the woman he was understudying to make sure he could get the coveted role in “The Lion King” and missing Mikey’s wedding as a result. It was great to see Mikey show up to confess his feelings for Titus after earlier eating his meat pocket square, and I’m glad the two of them ended up together with adopted babies to show off on the red carpet. Kimmy’s misunderstanding of concepts like the oldest profession being dinosaur lawyer and hooking for it meaning being a pirate meant that it took her longer to achieve the success she always wanted, and there was no better way for her to realize that than by discovering that Xanthippe, whose name she had no idea how to spell, was reading and quoting from her book. Opening a theme park where people were supposed to be good was a perfect resolution for her, and a far better fate than the confusing mole woman on mole woman celebrity cam videos. Eli revealing that he was blind was a surprise and a truly weird turn, but he and Jacqueline were indeed good for each other, both professionally and personally. And Lillian surviving an explosion after meeting Artie and Roland’s ghosts resulted in her being deemed the ultimate representation of New York, resulting in her hilariously becoming the new voice of the MTA. This episode was typically strange but fun, and I guess I’m glad that there’s a little bit more of it to look forward to with the interactive special.

Series finale: B
Series grade: B
Season MVP: Ellie Kemper as Kimmy
Season grade: B
Series MVP: Ellie Kemper
Best Season: Season 3
Best Episode: “Kimmy is a Feminist!”