When we last left Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Kimmy was just fired from her job as Buckley’s nanny because she showed up two hours late on her first official day of work. In the second episode, “Kimmy Gets A Job!,” she has to head back to Jacqueline and beg for her job back.
After getting re-hired and being reminded by Jacqueline’s maid that she looks like a real-life version of the Wendy’s logo, Jacqueline gives Kimmy her first assignment. She has to plan a superhero birthday party for Buckley. It’s a huge deal, since Jacqueline is hoping that it will convince her husband to finally come home from a two-week trip that became a two-month escapade.
While preparing the party, Kimmy meets her nemesis - 15-year-old Jacqueline’s stepdaughter, the wonderfully named Xanthippe (Dylan Gelula). When Xanthippe and a friend stumble downstairs, Kimmy realizes that they have been drinking. As a naive person who has no idea what teens do these days, Kimmy is completely stunned. Even more shocking is the fact that Jacqualine doesn’t want to do anything about it. So, Kimmy is told to discipline Xanthippe, who can’t take a 29-year-old woman wearing light-up sneakers seriously.
“Kimmy Gets A Job!” introduces us to the show’s real format, which should be familiar to anyone who watched 30 Rock. Tina Fey, co-creator Robert Carlock and their team of writers are going to have a blast coming up with jokes for flashbacks to Kimmy’s cult days. But these aren’t just going to be jokes for cheap laughs. Instead, they inform Kimmy’s decisions in New York. For example, Kimmy recalls one of her mantras while living in the bomb shelter for 15 years. You can stand anything for 10 seconds, so just take life 10 seconds at a time.
While Kimmy deals with obnoxious rich New Yorkers, Titus has his own problems. Since Kimmy lost all her money, he has to put his dreams on hold again and continues to play fake Iron Man in Times Square. When Kimmy tells him that she got her nanny job back, Titus decides that he can finally quit. However, they still need money right away, so Titus hopes to get his $200 security deposit on the suit back. After all, that’s all they need to develop their own show... or so Kimmy thinks.
However, the costume shop owner won’t give him the deposit back, so he sulks. While on the subway, he runs into a Mariachi band and discovers that they have the same problem. The costume shop owner is refusing to give anyone back their deposits on the awful costumes they wear around Times Square. Titus has a plan though and threatens to tell Disney, Marvel and other companies about the costume shop owner infringing on their intellectual property. After all, Titus has experience with Disney, since they threatened to sue him for his own one-man Off-Broadway version of The Lion King.
But it turns out that Titus needs the costume one last time. Kimmy’s superhero party for Buckley flopped because Buckley wants to be a supervillain, not a hero. Kimmy calls up Titus to play Iron Man so Buckley can beat him up. It’s all for a good cause. Plus, Kimmy makes up with Xanthippe temporarily because Kimmy figures out that Xanthippe is trying to impress her friends with a story from The Babysitter’s Club books.
If there's one thing these early episodes prove, it's that Ellie Kemper has gone too long without a series of her own. She's incredible so far, with one of the most expressive faces among today's sitcom stars and everything she does is hilarious.
Check out our recap of episode 1 here!
image of Jane Krakowski courtesy of Roger Wong/INFphoto.com