After concluding the series a little over a year ago, Netflix brought Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt back earlier this month for one more episode but with a twist. Like the Black Mirror: Bandersnatch special episode, the viewer is in control of what choices the characters make in the story.
To be honest, I never actually made the time to watch the infamous Bandersnatch but as a loyal fan to the Kimmy Schmidt franchise, I knew I couldn't miss out on this special. When the series ended in January of last year, I was a bit disappointed to see the show go. I had enjoyed watching these characters grow and I wanted to see what else would happen to them past the series finale. Luckily this new interactive experience was able to give me some more of that closure that I so wanted.
The storyline picks up with Kimmy preparing for her wedding to Daniel Radcliffe, who plays a socially awkward and distant member of the Royal Family. Your first choice is simple, yet oh so crucial: picking between two dresses that Kimmy is deciding to wear to her wedding. All is well in Kimmy's life until she discovers that her archnemesis, the Reverend, has another secret bunker with more "mole women" inside and she decides to go on a quest to save them.
From there, the choices in each scene hold higher and higher stakes. While in some cases you may end up singing a Lynyrd Skynrd song in a seedy bar, in others you may end up dying at the hands of Jacqueline's son Buckley as he flys a plane for the first time. In my first attempt going through the episode, it seemed that I continuously made the wrong choices. I was constantly ending up at a black screen where one of the supporting characters would pop in to inform me that I had made the wrong decision with some witty banter.
Although I enjoyed the funny quips that each character had for me in those small moments of failure, I have to admit that I was starting to feel a little bad that I continued to lose. The title of this special, "Kimmy vs. The Reverend" entails that there is some sort of competition afoot and I was determined to win.
After many more mistakes and actually losing to the Reverend at some points, I eventually beat him and returned Kimmy to her wedding day just in time (although I did choose the wrong wedding dress). The story was exciting and interesting, to say the least.
Once I had finished the special, I went back to see all the other choices that I had missed out on before. I really enjoyed getting to see all the alternate realities of Kimmy's life and it felt almost nostalgic to get to see all these characters once again. Although I think this may really be the last episode this time, I definitely feel a little more at peace with this ending. There are no more dangers to Kimmy's life (except maybe that Japanese robot) and all of the Reverend's vile plans are hopefully gone.
