Season Review: Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt Season 2: Close Enough for a Cigar

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Please do not be misled by the title. Throughout the second season, I do not believe that anybody—not even Kimmy herself—actually smoked a cigar. Despite the bitter wave of disappointment some may feel about this shocking reveal, you will probably not regret and may even enjoy the process of watching the current season of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.

Is the second season as good as the first? Well, not quite, but it still offers us a lot more quality comedy than most shows, either on TV or any other sort of streaming. By the way, in case you have spent the last several years on the Planet Neptune (or in an underground bunker of your own, for that matter), the two Kimmy Schmidt seasons are available on Netflix.

I was glad to see all the main characters come back, as well as most of the supporting ones. There were a few changes, but they were pretty much a wash transaction. While we did lose Kimmy’s clueless stepdad and angry half-sister, we picked up some new people who made some excellent contributions. Amy Sedaris comes most immediately to mind as Jacqueline’s barely-functional friend Mimi. For those who have not even seen the first season (which you should if Season 2 is to make the impact that it should) Jacqueline was Kimmy’s employer during most of the first season. What their relationship is during the next season is too ambiguous to be nailed down in a concise manner.

Two other newcomers make an impact. One is the actor we have loved to hate for many years now, David Cross. No, in this season of this show he is nowhere nearly as despicable as he was in Arrested Development or Modern Family. If there is to be a Season 3 (and, based on the cliffhanger at the end, there almost certainly will be), Cross will probably figure in it to some extent.

One part of the overall plot that surprisingly brought the series down a notch was Kimmy’s somewhat accidental retention of a psychiatrist. The surprise about this being a weak part of the show is that Tina Fey, of all people, played the analyst. It is not that she did a bad job or that her impact may have been more amusing if it had not gone on beyond the point where the joke was fresh, but it did. By the time her character bowed out of the series, I was glad to see her go, and I am a very big fan of her comedy.

Yet it was from that somewhat draggy area that Kimmy got the idea she should confront her mother, whom we had yet to meet. Eventually we do get to meet her, and I found the casting choice to be excellent. It was a lady you might forget is about a generation older than Ellie Kemper, because most of us remember this actor as a younger person. I will not say the name, but will drop a hint. In an earlier incarnation, she was married to a fellow named Darryl.

I had briefly mentioned the guest actors from season one that were missing in season two. There is another one, who had quite a bit to do with that first season. This performer is nowhere to be seen until the very end of the current season, but, in that brief cameo, leads Kimmy to the cliff from which she and the rest of us will have to hand, probably, until sometime in 2017.

So, okay, maybe not five stars this time out, but easily a good four and a half. There are not many shows on TV I would even give a four to, so there you are.

Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Netflix, 2015-16

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Thomas Cleveland Lane

Thomas Cleveland Lane is a semi-retired freelance writer for pay and a stage actor for nothing more than the opportunity to make a fool of himself. Well, he does get a small stipend from the Washington Area Decency League, after playing the role of Hinezie in The Pajama Game, to never, ever appear on stage in his underpants again. When he has not managed to buffalo some director into casting him, Thomas can often be found at his favorite piano bar, annoying the patrons with his caterwauling. Thomas is the author of an anthology called Shaggy Dogs, a Collection of Not-So-Short Stories (destined to become a cult classic, shortly after he croaks). He is also the alter-ego to a very unbalanced Czech poet named Glub Dzmc. Mr. Lane generally resides in Gaithersburg, Maryland, and was last seen in the mirror, three days ago.
Thomas Cleveland Lane
Thomas Cleveland Lane
Thomas Cleveland Lane is a semi-retired freelance writer for pay and a stage actor for nothing more than the opportunity to make a fool of himself. Well, he does get a small stipend from the Washington Area Decency League, after playing the role of Hinezie in The Pajama Game, to never, ever appear on stage in his underpants again. When he has not managed to buffalo some director into casting him, Thomas can often be found at his favorite piano bar, annoying the patrons with his caterwauling. Thomas is the author of an anthology called Shaggy Dogs, a Collection of Not-So-Short Stories (destined to become a cult classic, shortly after he croaks). He is also the alter-ego to a very unbalanced Czech poet named Glub Dzmc. Mr. Lane generally resides in Gaithersburg, Maryland, and was last seen in the mirror, three days ago.