- Network: Netflix
- Series Premiere Date: May 12, 2020
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Critic Reviews
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The interactive technology still isn’t compatible with Apple TV, but in a computer browser, the interactivity and user experience is pretty sold). That said, it’s hard to deviate too much from the broader path, as most bad decisions are pretty quickly reversed and bring you back to the core storyline. ... Even though the outcomes were different, all three experiences were a lot of fun — you could spend hours replaying all the different options and tracking down the most obscure Easter eggs buried in these decision trees.
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The story is fairly coherent from beginning to end, even if you make some choices that mean you don’t get to the “winning” solution. But as with the series it came from, we just wish some of the jokes whizzing by our heads were a wee bit funnier instead of just thrown out there to see what lands.
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“Kimmy vs. The Reverend” isn’t “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmit: The Movie.” It’s too light, too silly, and too unconcerned with characters you once cared about to be taken as the actual ending to a vaunted series. But it’s not trying to be a movie, and it’s not trying to replace the ending Fey and Carlock already provided or reexamine Kimmy’s tragic past; it’s just offering a good time in a way few other TV shows can, matching its madcap creative spirit to a format that allows every joke to have a home.
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A lovely origami crane of a coda. ... Not surprisingly, that sympathy provides the “best” way through the story. If you choose the honorable path — for our four heroes are, on their own self-involved terms, honorable people — you will come to the perfect ending, of several possible. Sometimes the dishonorable choice will seem the more apt, or potentially fun, but whatever you decide, you will be eventually nudged back in line.
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Much of Kimmy vs. the Reverend makes no sense at all, which is just fine, though I will say that the ultimate ending does bring the series full circle in a more satisfying way than the series finale did.
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A “fudging” good time, “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: Kimmy vs the Reverend” is a ceaselessly riotous and uplifting sendoff to one of television’s most infectiously goodhearted characters, a survivor who plays the game of life (and who never cheats at Clue!) with immense optimism that makes us believe in the best of people.
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The main story is always roughly the same, and it can be a headache to navigate through everything multiple times just to get to new jokes(*), but the comic rewards are almost always worth it.
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The setup is so entertaining that it belies the tremendous amount of work that must have gone into it. ... The result is seamless, as plots veer off in different directions without ever feeling jarring.
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Kimmy vs. the Reverend isn't wholly essential as an epilogue to Tina Fey and Robert Carlock's comedy, but it's also much more substantial and satisfying than most fan-service-oriented post-series projects. Most impressively, the special uses the interactive element to build on the themes that made Kimmy Schmidt such a unique show.
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The characters are so well-drawn, and bedded in, that being back in their company is a delight, while some scenes hint at the show’s glory days. ... If there’s an air of filler about it, it floats by on an endless stream of one-liners from Fey and Carlock, who have long buried some risqué material under Kimmy Schmidt’s cutesy-poo exterior. Some moments, however, stick out like a sore thumb.
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“Kimmy vs. The Reverend” is impressively smart about how it tangles and untangles its narrative depending on what you choose to do with it. There are clear throughlines and traditional A/B/C storylines, but they all morph as you map them out and eventually dovetail into each other with surprising ease, no matter which paths you choose.
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 13 out of 20
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Mixed: 2 out of 20
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Negative: 5 out of 20
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May 12, 2020