“Kimmy Goes To The Doctor” is essentially the perfect episode of a Tina Fey-produced series. Written with Jack Burditt, another 30 Rock vet, the episode takes advantage of all imaginable references to show business as possible. Kimmy’s story is essentially too crazy to comprehend, but we finally meet Titus’ own nemesis, Coriolanus Burt, played by the perfectly cast James Monroe Iglehart.
The episode kicks off with Kimmy dragging a TV into the apartment, since she just found it sitting on the street. She turns it on and - of course - an episode of Law Squiggle Order is on. Titus is stunned, as Corialanus is in the scene with Munch (Richard Belzer). This instantly makes Titus think that Corialanus has made it big, while he’s still struggling.
Titus thinks he’s got a shot at a big role when a castmember from Siderman 2: Too Many Spidermen is seriously injured. That opens up a spot, so he finally gets his headshots at an arcade and waits in line. Later, he explains how Coriolanus became his rival, telling Kimmy that Cariolanus took a part in an all-black production of Oklahoma! called Alabama from him.
Next, Titus has to get an agent. Oddly enough, the agent recognizes Kimmy, who tagged along. Kimmy, who really hates being called a “Mole Woman,” decides that it means that she really needs to get plastic surgery to change her face. (We’ll get back to that in a second.)
During his audition, Titus reveals to the audience that he can sing!... and not much else. He can’t dance or act. He definitely can't fit comfortably in a harness. After the audition though, he sees that Coriolanus is there too! How is that good, Kimmy wonders. Well, it means that Coriolanus’ breakthrough wasn’t as bad as Titus thought! Coriolanus is a struggling actor, too.
Kimmy did go to a doctor in this episode, just not the kind of one you might have expected. When Jacqueline teaches Kimmy how to take a selfie, Kimmy finally sees herself for the first time. (Flashback to a bunker memory, in which Kimmy refuses to have one of the other girls describe what she looks like because if she turns her head fast enough, she can see herself!) She decides that she doesn’t like the way she looks and thinks about getting a facelift, per Jacqueline’s suggestion.
After meeting Jacqueline’s crazy doctor, played to the hilt by Martin Short, Kimmy is still apprehensive. But after Titus’ agent recognized her, she goes back. During the procedure, Kimmy refuses to let the doctor go through with it and has an epiphany. It’s what’s inside that counts. You have to fix the inside. She makes the speech to those in the waiting room, but it turns out she was incoherent in reality.
Now that she’s happy with herself, she calls back Cindy, one of the girls from the bunker, and invites her to New York.
After four episodes, Kimmy Schmidt continues to be hilarious, but it is getting a bit too close to 30 Rock territory. I was hoping that Fey could find a way to write a show that doesn’t involve show business, but it looks like that’s the only industry Fey has interest in lampooning.
image courtesy of INFphoto.com