S01.E13: Kimmy Makes Waffles!

[yeswedo]

Kimmy is stuck in Durnsville. Jaqueline gets back in touch with her roots when she and Lillian drive to Indiana to find Kimmy.

[godonlyknows]

Welp, that was an enjoyable weekend spent watching all these episodes and I expect I'll have the theme tune stuck in my head for the next few weeks. I wouldn't say I was in love with the show or in any rush to rewatch but it still made me laugh quite a few times. I loved how towards the end of the season the supporting characters were interacting with each other - I wish we could have had more of Lillian and Jacqueline's road trip. I never cared for Dong or Logan so don't really care about that aspect and the lawyers were so incompetent and unbelievable I couldn't really enjoy the court scenes.

[LADreamr]

I liked it, and will probably watch next season, but wasn't rushing to rewatch. There was a lot I liked though. Marcia and Chris ending up in the middle of nowhere and being just as inept there with an obvious case was pretty funny. But with all the inside jokes, I was kind of bummed that the reverend and Kymmi never ran into each other.

[ApathyMonger]

I wonder if Kimmy and Kymmi's mother going missing is something they'll follow up on next season.

 

Did they ever mention what happened to Kimmy's real father?

[TimWil]

I don't think he was ever referred to.

[Frisson]

I hope next season doesn't give the stepdad his own side plots. His character is terrible and grates.

[TimWil]

The worst acting in all the episodes was the extra playing the officer who escorted Jon Hamm's character out of the courtroom. His excessive mugging was awful. He should have had a deadpan expression throughout the episodes he appeared in but he made faces and pulled focus.

Edited March 8, 2015 by TimWil

[Samsnee]

I hope next season doesn't give the stepdad his own side plots. His character is terrible and grates.

Yes a little goes a long way. The characters are supposed to be slow, but he takes it to a whole new level.

The finale was a letdown. The first half of the season was strong when it was Kimmy coming to her own. But the love triangle and return to Indiana just werent that funny.

[swimmyfish]

I really like the whole series, but the court case really dragged, I thought. Making fun of Marcia Clarkson (?) isn't exactly timely, nor quite on-brand for a show about women who can survive any disaster. And while I did love Tina Fey's perm (it reminded my of my mom's perm from the '70s),it was such a small role, it seemed like a waste of her.

 

I did, however, really like that it was the un-made-over mole woman (sorry! I only remember Cindy and Kimmy) who figured out the deal with the timestamp on the VHS tape, and brought the reverend down. I like that all of the bunker women have their strengths, and I hope that, while the focus of the show is obviously on Kimmy, we do continue to see how the rest of them are progressing.

 

Also, between this and Parks & Recreation, waffles are definitely going to be my spirit food from now on.

[wrestlesflamingos]

The extended car trip with Jacqueline and Lillian should be put into a time capsule for alien races. I immediately restarted with episode 1 but concede the entire perfect thing is very New York. The bodega line during the car trip doubled me over laughing.

Edited March 8, 2015 by wrestlesflamingos
name switch for cohesion

[starri]

The extended car trip with Jacqueline and Lillian should be put into a time capsule for alien races. I immediately restarted with episode 1 but concede the entire perfect thing is very New York. The bodega line during the car trip doubled me over laughing.

Lillian's last name Kauschtupper (and then the pan up to the sign indicating the distance to Kauschtupperburg) was everything.

 

As was Jacqueline's bottle of Diet Water.

Edited March 8, 2015 by wrestlesflamingos
name swap

[Lawgiver]

I think Tina Fey had an underlying message to this series, whether intentional or not (I like to think intentional) and that is we don't listen to one another and want to believe what we want to believe. The only way Rev. Richard Wayne Gary Wayne would have convinced so many people that he wasn't guilty in the face of overwhelming evidence even before The Apprentice audition tape is that people wanted to believe that a smooth talking, good looking man would never do that to people. And Titus didn't listen to the original viral singer that viral fame brings unwanted results. People don't hear things that make them question their desires and beliefs.

 

Yes, I know this is a broad sitcom and it drove the story to have the trial mishandled by TF's perm, but that's the overall take I had form the first season. (And it was really funny, too.)

[SeanC]

“Do you think this penis cake has nuts in it?”

 

I like that the guy who locked them in the vault is the person previously identified by Kimmy as the worst person in town.

 

I was genuinely uncertain how Kimmy was going to win, so the outcome of the trial scene was interesting (I had previously noted the shifting dates on the video, but I hadn’t assigned any plot significance to them).  The trial scenes were hit-and-miss to me, despite Jon Hamm's enthusiastic performance, and both Fey and the guy who I initially thought was Tim Meadows were not really funny.

 

Jacqueline and Lillian's sideplot was probably the comedic highlight of the episode.

[starri]

Discovering that Jon Hamm was Ellie Kemper's acting teacher when she was a middle-school student in Missouri added a whole other level to the show.

[EdnasEdibles]

I can't remember if it was this ep or the one before it that had one of my favorite Titus lines.  When the theme song person calls Titus brother he quickly says "Sir, we are cousins at best . . ."

 

Ha!

 

I don't know why but it made me die laughing.

 

I can't believe I watched this entire show in one week. 

[TVSpectator]

Hello, my name is TVSpectator and I have basically binge-watch this show on Netflix, this past Saturday, and I love it (and I am going to guess this is where we can just discuss the season in general here?).

 

Overall, kind of knew it that it would be Kimmy doing the prosecutors' job of convicting and of finding evidence to put Rev. Wayne away.  Although, I really didn't mind the OJ joke, since I was old enough to remember the trail and also some of the criticism of the prosecutors (which is, in my opinion, what Fey and Minor basically formed their entire joke around). So, the jokes at least made some sense, to me. 

 

Edit: the Ed Hardy joke,-the one where Kimmy said that he was the worst person from her town- was that a nod to Parks and Recs? I do know that they had some 30 Rock references throughout the season but I thought that they might  have had a similar joke to that on Parks and Recs, but I am unsure?

Edited March 17, 2015 by TVSpectator

[Bort]

Hello, my name is TVSpectator and I have basically binge-watch this show on Netflix, this past Saturday, and I love it (and I am going to guess this is where we can just discuss the season in general here?).

No, there's another thread.

[TVSpectator]

No, there's another thread.

 

Okay, thanks for pointing that out to me. 

[arc]

Just noticed on a rewatch of this that the judge's last name is "Bad". As in, his little name plate on his bench reads "Judge Bad".  Way to stick it to NBC one last time, Fey & Carlock.

[ruby24]

So, I know it's a comedy and they probably just didn't want to go there, but there was enough edgy/dark material rooted in this whole premise that it's sort of hard to see how they dodge the whole "rape" factor of a crazy preacher who kidnaps teenage girls and keeps them as his prisoners for 15 years. Are we not supposed to think he ever had sex with them in the bunker that whole time? Seems like they'd obviously have to adress that at some point.

Edited March 22, 2015 by ruby24

[paramitch]

Wow. I was really disappointed with this.

 

I liked most of the first half of the season, but this was really upsetting and unpleasant. I just didn't find the utterly inept prosecutors funny (or appropriate) in such a high-profile case.

 

And meanwhile: I cannot stand the guy who plays Kimmy's stepdad. He is okay when deliberately cast as over the top, but that's all he can play.

 

I just really find him unfunny, and given that he's hinging on a plot that's already really borderline upsetting, I just absolutely hate every moment he is onscreen. I can't stand him.

 

Meanwhile, Jon Hamm was fine but even so, I hated where this storyline took the whole show and I just thought he was a needless addition to the cast and an already thankless storyline. Ugh.

[EC Amber]

The humping! Oh dear god the humping!

"Murmur, murmur... we're part of this" Brilliant!

That line about god not wanting women to talk because their mouths look like their privates.... how can I love and hate a line so much? 

 

A whole show of Lillian and Jacqueline please. I know Kimmy is the focus, but I could have easily done a whole episode of those two in the car. 

 

There was a certain delicious irony to Brainwashed woman #3 (can't remember her name) being the one to point out the timestamp. There was a certain "save yourself" ring to it that made it so much better than if Kimmy really just came along to save the day. 

 

I'll watch this again because there are A LOT of subtle jokes and nods that went over my head. But this is a cute and fun show that has enough weirdly darkness to it to keep it interesting. 
 

[TVSpectator]

So, I know it's a comedy and they probably just didn't want to go there, but there was enough edgy/dark material rooted in this whole premise that it's sort of hard to see how they dodge the whole "rape" factor of a crazy preacher who kidnaps teenage girls and keeps them as his prisoners for 15 years. Are we not supposed to think he ever had sex with them in the bunker that whole time? Seems like they'd obviously have to adress that at some point.

 

It's probably a good thing that they didn't do the edgy rapey jokes. Although, I could see the Rev having multiple wives and also the one that went willingly (what was her name, Gretchen?) being one of the Rev's wife. That being said, they did cover how they would do things like make out with 'can man' which sounds as horrible as it looked in the flashback. 

[joanne3482]

So, I know it's a comedy and they probably just didn't want to go there, but there was enough edgy/dark material rooted in this whole premise that it's sort of hard to see how they dodge the whole "rape" factor of a crazy preacher who kidnaps teenage girls and keeps them as his prisoners for 15 years. Are we not supposed to think he ever had sex with them in the bunker that whole time? Seems like they'd obviously have to adress that at some point.

 

I can't remember which episode it was in, but Kimmy does do a throw away line about how they did weird sex stuff. 

[tennisgurl]

I really don't like the prosecutors. Apparently its a reference to the OJ trial. And that does make sense for this show (with Kimmy trapped in the 90s) it all kind of goes over my head. OJ was a little before my court watching years! 

 

I hate Kimmy`s step dad. I might get a headache, I roll my eyes at him so much. 

 

On the other hand, Jacqueline and Lilian are awesome sauce. 

[janie jones]

So, I know it's a comedy and they probably just didn't want to go there, but there was enough edgy/dark material rooted in this whole premise that it's sort of hard to see how they dodge the whole "rape" factor of a crazy preacher who kidnaps teenage girls and keeps them as his prisoners for 15 years. Are we not supposed to think he ever had sex with them in the bunker that whole time? Seems like they'd obviously have to adress that at some point.

In the first or second episode, Kimmy says something to Titus about the "weird sex stuff," and the reason she didn't have sex with the English guy was because when she initiated sex once, she learned that how she learned to have sex was completely abnormal, and I think injured him.

 

I didn't think anything about the trial was funny.  I thought everyone was too stupid.  If they had made everyone slightly less stupid, it would have been much funnier to me.

[joanne3482]

I didn't think anything about the trial was funny.  I thought everyone was too stupid.  If they had made everyone slightly less stupid, it would have been much funnier to me.

 

It made it seem like there was no challenge there. If the lawyers had been competent but the Reverend was still winning over the jury because he was just that darn charismatic that would be one thing. It would have been funnier to me if the lawyers were feeling more like the line "I feel like I'm taking crazy pills here" (from Zoolander but it is the sentiment I'm looking for).  They are making complete sense but the jury is just so swayed by the awesomeness that is the preacher.  That would also help people to understand why the other 3 went with him (presuming Kimmy was the only true kidnap victim). The way they showed it, it just seemed like Kimmy and the other 3 were just completely stupid. Maybe that was the point given their apocalypse song. I don't know. It loses something there. 

[Sakura12]

I agree, I would've rather seen the Lawyers be semi competent but unable to convince anyone that the Reverend was the bad guy. We could've seen their WTF reactions to everything turning into a circus despite their best intentions and them begging Kimmy to come testify or they'd lose the case. I guess I just thought it was too serious of subject to make that big of a joke out of it. That kind of ruined the show for me. 

 

I'll probably check out season 2, since I hope we never have to hear about that trial again. 

[janie jones]

They are making complete sense but the jury is just so swayed by the awesomeness that is the preacher.  That would also help people to understand why the other 3 went with him (presuming Kimmy was the only true kidnap victim).

That would have been much better.

 

Also, his argument to Kimmy was that he couldn't have been the one to kidnap her, since she claimed a man with a beard had kidnapped her, and he's clean shaven.  First of all, it doesn't make sense that Kimmy didn't mention that he had shaved.  But second of all, I thought that was going to come up when they were showing the video of him with a full beard as evidence.  And did no one remember him having a beard?  He was living a normal life above ground wasn't he?  (He was at least ordering pizza.)

Edited March 26, 2015 by janie jones

[TVSpectator]

That would have been much better.

 

Also, his argument to Kimmy was that he couldn't have been the one to kidnap her, since she claimed a man with a beard had kidnapped her, and he's clean shaven.  First of all, it doesn't make sense that Kimmy didn't mention that he had shaved.  But second of all, I thought that was going to come up when they were showing the video of him with a full beard as evidence.  And did no one remember him having a beard?  He was living a normal life above ground wasn't he?  (He was at least ordering pizza.)

 

I don't think that the beard came up after Rev. Wayne said that line (but I think they showed Rev. Wayne with a Beard in Kimmy's flashbacks and that he might have had a mustache in the videos) but I think that  scene in the court room was supposed to hammer in that a) Rev. Wayne is charming and b) that jury, the judge, and everyone but Kimmy (and two of her fellow Mole Women) that were present in the courtroom were just plain stupid (along with the prosecutors). 

Edited March 26, 2015 by TVSpectator

[Kel Varnsen]

It made it seem like there was no challenge there. If the lawyers had been competent but the Reverend was still winning over the jury because he was just that darn charismatic that would be one thing. It would have been funnier to me if the lawyers were feeling more like the line "I feel like I'm taking crazy pills here" (from Zoolander but it is the sentiment I'm looking for).  They are making complete sense but the jury is just so swayed by the awesomeness that is the preacher.  That would also help people to understand why the other 3 went with him (presuming Kimmy was the only true kidnap victim). The way they showed it, it just seemed like Kimmy and the other 3 were just completely stupid. Maybe that was the point given their apocalypse song. I don't know. It loses something there. 

 

That would have worked better for me as well. I mean come on, they had Jon Hamm. The guy can do charismatic. They could have made the prosecutors/judge decent and then just have the Rev pull some Don Draper smooth talk so that no matter what the prosecutors said the jury would only believe him. It would have been a better comment about how sometimes you get bad juries. Would have been a better point to make than the point about how apparently everyone in Kimmy's town is a complete idiot. 

[lucindabelle]

I understand why Hamm wants to be funny but it just doesn't work for me... same as when he was on 30 Something.

Now if he'd been Don Draper... I could see it!

[Portia]

I understand why Hamm wants to be funny but it just doesn't work for me... same as when he was on 30 Something.

I think you mean 30 Rock? He was 16 years old when Thirtysomething was on the air.  ;-D

[lucindabelle]

god yes that is what I meant. Oops!

[OnceSane]

IA with most here: if you have to make characters completely stupid to make your plot work, then you need to work more on your plot. I felt like I was watching an episode of General Hospital (the head writer only allows one or two characters to use the town brain on any given day). A disappointing end to what had been (and could still be) a great show.

[Cuatro1234]

 

A whole show of Lillian and Jacqueline please. I know Kimmy is the focus, but I could have easily done a whole episode of those two in the car.

 

I'll watch this again because there are A LOT of subtle jokes and nods that went over my head. But this is a cute and fun show that has enough weirdly darkness to it to keep it interesting.

Hear, hear, @ECAmber!

[dusang]

Discovering that Jon Hamm was Ellie Kemper's acting teacher when she was a middle-school student in Missouri added a whole other level to the show.

 

I'm sorry, what??  I need so much more elaboration on this, please thank you.

[starri]

Here's Ellie Kemper telling Seth Meyers about it.  After college (which, given what came out recently, has a dimension that we didn't know at the time), he came back to Saint Louis and taught drama at his old high school, where Ellie was in eighth-grade.

[helenamonster]

I thought this was a pretty solid finale. It wrapped up the season and set up a couple plots for S2: finding a way to get Dong out of his green card marriage and dealing with Titus's wife. I reaaaaalllyyy hope they drop the Native American stuff with Jacqueline, though (although I do like the actors that play her parents).

 

"Murmur, murmur, we're part of this."

[thuganomics85]

I didn't put the pieces together exactly, but as soon as The Reverend mentioned The Apprentice on the tape, I figured there was a reason for it, so the big reveal wasn't too surprising.  Basically done in by his own arrogance.  A fitting end for the character, but overall, I found the whole trial thing to be a bit of a misfire.  I think Jon Hamm's performance was the only thing I really liked about it. But the case itself just wasn't as funny, and I honestly think the concept of the "OJ lawyers" were a bust, and dragged it down.  I agree that it would have worked better if they had actually been competent, but The Reverend was just that manipulating, that he kept the edge.  Instead, they were unfunny buffoons, and he didn't even have to try.

 

Also, as much as I like Tim Blake Nelson, Randy was too much.  Especially since I felt like he was taking screen time away from characters I actually like, such as Titus, Lillian, and Jacqueline.  I hope they don't bring him back next season.

 

The Lillian/Jacqueline road-trip was the best part.  Wished we got more of that.

 

The set-up for next season is good, I guess.  But I hope they get back to the earlier type episodes, and forget about attempting something like these past few episodes, because the entire Indiana arc was just kind disappointing.  Still, I really enjoy most of the series, and can't wait to see where it goes next.  And I thought Ellie Kemper was amazing throughout the entire thing.  And, yet she ended up being the only one who didn't get an Emmy nod.  Go figure.

[DianeDobbler]

Probably my least-favorite episode of a show I binge-watched and mostly enjoyed a lot. Jane Krawkowski isn't 100% working for me as Jacqueline Vorhees - she's just too one-note, a la Jenna Maroney. You have to believe there's a person in there somewhere and I never do. Tituss Burgess, however, basically kills - I love him in the episode where he tells Kimmy that Cindy's boyfriend Brandon is gay. 

 

I agree about Jon Hamm. He's enthusiastic in comedy, there's been a couple of things he's done well on SNL, but also stuff on SNL where, if he weren't Jon Hamm, it wouldn't have been a really successful gig. I first saw Hamm on 30 Rock, not Mad Men, and nothing about him made me think oh, I can see why he'd be a big star on another show. You forget him as soon as he's off screen.

 

Much as I look forward to S2, there's stuff I'd love dropped, namely, the triangle with Dong and Logan (both characters can go away) and Kimmy's dad. I can only take Jacqueline in small doses, but Carol Kane works a miracle by having some equally silly material - just relentlessly silly, to where it gets tiresome, and not getting on my nerves.

[DianeDobbler]

Probably my least-favorite episode of a show I binge-watched and mostly enjoyed a lot. Jane Krawkowski isn't 100% working for me as Jacqueline Vorhees - she's just too one-note, a la Jenna Maroney. You have to believe there's a person in there somewhere and I never do. Tituss Burgess, however, basically kills - I love him in the episode where he tells Kimmy that Cindy's boyfriend Brandon is gay. 

 

I agree about Jon Hamm. He's enthusiastic in comedy, there's been a couple of things he's done well on SNL, but also stuff on SNL where, if he weren't Jon Hamm, it wouldn't have been a really successful gig. I first saw Hamm on 30 Rock, not Mad Men, and nothing about him made me think oh, I can see why he'd be a big star on another show. You forget him as soon as he's off screen.

 

Much as I look forward to S2, there's stuff I'd love dropped, namely, the triangle with Dong and Logan (both characters can go away) and Kimmy's dad. I can only take Jacqueline in small doses, but Carol Kane works a miracle by having some equally silly material - just relentlessly silly, to where it gets tiresome, and not getting on my nerves.

[LisaM]

I cringed throughout the entire trial -- thought the humor was too broad, the OJ Simpson lawyers jokes too stupid and the whole set up was just ridiculous. Major fail for such a wonderful show. Also - cannot stand Randy. They have way overplayed his presence in the show. Once again with the stupid.

I did crack up at the idea of Jacqueline and Lillian taking a road trip together although Jacqueline came off a bit too stupid.

Titus and the video!

[methodwriter85]

I'm really late to the game but whatever.

The show's been really fun but I really want a moment where Kimmy processes what she lost and what has been done to her in a really good crying scene. I was expecting that at some point in this season and it didn't happen and I was disappointed by that. I know that this is broad satire and not a gritty drama, but sitcoms haven't shied away from good crying scenes and I really wanted one here because I still came away from this season feeling like Kimmy is still repressing her feelings about what she lost. A cry scene would have been cathartic and it's disappointing that didn't happen.