“Hashbrown No Filter”
By Lauren Mullally
When it was announced that Tina Fey and Robert Carlock were getting together again to produce another comedy series, I was so relieved that we would be in the safe hands of these two creative minds. The first series of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt was nothing short of amazing. It was unique with jokes so continuous that you could watch it again and still find something new. Now onto its third season, the series is still one of a kind and its writing is yet to fail.
Season 1 revolved around Kimmy hiding her past of being held captive in a bunker for 15 years and learning what she missed and where to go from there. Season 2 deals with Kimmy’s issues as a result of the bunker including the anger towards her mother. Season 3 involves a lot of character development as each of the core cast are pursuing love and career goals. Kimmy as her usual bright and bubbly self struggles to find what she wants to do and a pathway to it. Titus is still a struggling “star on the rise” this time with a broken heart. Jacqueline is finally supporting herself, caring for others and making real change. Lillian fights for her political beliefs, allowing herself to love another man after the death of her husband.
Many classic sitcoms revolve around a few friends living together in an apartment, helping each other through their problems. Friends, Will and Grace, How I Met Your Mother. Needless to say it has been done before. Then you get a series like Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt that brings one lazy, flamboyant yet negative, failing actor and an energetic, strong minded women with a rare, traumatic past into an underground, derelict apartment. They refuse to follow cliche plot lines but rather push comedy into new territory, looking at trauma, racism and classism in a way that is so humorous and satirical that you don’t even realise.
It’s full of cameos including the usual crew of Fey’s friends (e.g. Rachel Dratch, Maya Rudolph and Fred Armisen). Jeff Richmond once again nails the score of the show, bringing just as much humour and uniqueness as the writing does. Each episode flows making it too easy to binge watch.
As much as I loved the season, if the show continues as more of the same it will be a little disappointing. This season felt as though it simply continued from the last, slowly evolving the characters. There was definitely less interaction between the core cast which was a shame as we didn’t see as much of the different dynamics against each other but rather saw their individual stories. It played it safe this time and it will be interesting to see what the next season brings and how long they can keep it going. If you are a fan of shows such as 30 Rock (another Tina Fey masterpiece) that keeps comedy fresh, then you will love this series.