S04.E09: Sliding Van Doors

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Quote

What would life be like if Kimmy never got in the Reverend's van and Titus missed his audition for The Lion King?

Original air date: 1/25/19

[starri]

Alternate universe episodes can often go horribly wrong, but this one did almost everything right.  And then after all funny, they brought it back to the show's entire theme of Kimmy refusing to give in.

I loved that even in this universe, Titus Jack Straightman still ended up getting harassed by Mr. Frumpus.

[Corgi-ears]

"I was born in Kenya..."

And Mikey wearing a belt as a tie killed me dead.

Edited January 27, 2019 by Corgi-ears

[helenamonster]

I really, really loved this episode. I thought they tied all the characters and their missed opportunities together beautifully, and it ended on the message I knew it would: despite enduring one of the most horrific things that could ever happen to a person, it brought Kimmy to where she is now and made her the best version of herself. 

"I'm gay." "You think I don't know that?"

[Kel Varnsen]

I liked this episode although it does bug me that with only a handful of episodes left they spent a whole one on a what if style episode. It was really funny though. Kimmy swearing was a bit wierd. And I did like the line about how the reverend would be hot with a shave and haircut.

Didn't really care for the fake trunp though. This show never really does well for me when they try to do fake versions of real people. Too much like an over the top sketch show. Going all the way back to the OJ lawyers in season 1.

[tennisgurl]

I love an alternate universe episode, and this was a fun one. I loved seeing the possible futures of everyone, especially Kimmy. I loved care free but hard ass sorority queen Kimmy, super focused career woman Kimmy (with Donna Maria as her maid!), and married to Titus (I mean, Jack Straightman!) Kimmy. And I liked how things ended, that as many horrible things happened to Kimmy, they also made her the person she is now, and as bad as things are, this is probably all for the best for the characters. At least Kimmy and Titus (JACK) wont end up in some serial killers fridge! 

I especially loved Gretchen as the new head of Not Scientology. Always looking for a new cult, that Gretchen!

In all time lines, Mr. Frumpus is a creepy perv. 

[Ms Lark]

5 hours ago, Kel Varnsen said:

Didn't really care for the fake trunp though. This show never really does well for me when they try to do fake versions of real people. Too much like an over the top sketch show.

I didn't mind so much. I think Anthony Atamanuik does a great Trump, much better than Alec Baldwin, although the latter seems to get all the wins.

This was a fun episode, so as filler it was better than some of them.

[helenamonster]

On 1/27/2019 at 4:09 PM, Kel Varnsen said:

I liked this episode although it does bug me that with only a handful of episodes left they spent a whole one on a what if style episode.

I generally find "what if" episodes to be a combination of high risk and jumping the shark, but this is one show where I think it not only worked but was necessary. UKS is all about how the worst thing that happens to you doesn't have to define you, but it will inform the kind of person you become moving forward and may even have a silver lining on that front. Kimmy is more than the bunker, but she can't pretend her decision to get into the Reverend's van doesn't shape who she is currently, and in a lot of ways for the better.

I think it also works that Sliding Doors was in theaters at the time she was kidnapped. The connection doesn't feel forced (the timeline has always been that she was taken in 1998) and it serves as a great jumping off point for the concept. The editing of the "sliding doors" in this episode was also fantastically done, I thought.

[Duke2801]

The only part of this I liked was the fake “sound bites” from Sliding Doors at the beginning and the end. The middle was a whole lot of *meh* for me. But it looks like I might be in the minority. 

[Cementhead]

On 2/1/2019 at 6:03 PM, Duke2801 said:

The only part of this I liked was the fake “sound bites” from Sliding Doors at the beginning and the end. The middle was a whole lot of *meh* for me. But it looks like I might be in the minority. 

You and me both.  I am trying to watch it right now and am not really enjoying it.  I was going to just suffer through it but saw that it is a double-length episode.  Oy.  So, I am going to do something I never do and actually just skip on over this one.  I enjoyed the Sliding Doors British snark, as well as the Church of Cosmetology bit but that's it. 

[heatherchandler]

Did NOT like this episode.  

Also FYI Sliding Doors is on Netflix!

[Dobian]

I thought the episode was great, they were able to sustain the laughs for a whole 45 minutes.  Nice tie-in at the end where Kimmy and "Jack" meet their demise because Kimmy never had her bunker experience to teach her about stranger danger!  The Scientology spoof was a riot.  I thought the alternate timelines of all the characters were pretty hilarious, especially Jacqueline and Mikey.

Edited March 18, 2019 by Dobian