Kimmy has an eye-opening experience when Jacqueline introduces her to her plastic surgeon. Titus auditions for a Spider-Man musical.
For years, Kimmy was able to survive by simply smiling and staying upbeat. She was trapped in an underground bunker for 15 years. She never left the place. But she was always able to stay positive by smiling through the pain and the uncertainty while just proclaiming "You're not really here!" There's no reason why she should have remained so positive throughout that experience. And yet, that's exactly what she did because she had her trust in Reverend Richard Wayne Gary Wayne. Now she is living in the real world and trying to use the same philosophy. There is nothing she can't deal with if she simply smiles and proclaims "You're not really here!" It is a coping mechanism for her - just like the counting to 10 trick she had in an earlier episode. It helped her deal with a horrible situation before. But now, it's simply not enough to appear fine on the outside.Titus has been wanting Kimmy to talk about her experience in the bunker for awhile. She has become a working part of society now. She still refers to the present-day as the future. But she is slowly falling into a rhythm with her new relationships with Titus, Lillian and the Voohees family. That is comforting to the character. She is moving on from her past. But she still hasn't directly addressed that experience. She won't let it break her. But refusing to properly deal with it, isn't healthy for her either. Titus is trying to force her into talking about it by sending a letter to Cyndee, one of the other woman. As he points it, the only other person who would get it is one of the other women who were down there. Simply by talking to Cyndee though puts Kimmy into a panic. Talking to those people she spent 15 years with is something she doesn't want to do because she only wants to be moving forward.
Jacqueline is very helpful in distracting Kimmy for a little bit. She provides an answer and philosophy that she believes will help Kimmy (and herself) in this situation. Jacqueline believes that if you look good on the outside, then you will feel good on the inside. It's the self-obsessed opinion we would expect Jacqueline to have. She has her own plastic surgeon who she frequents regular, Dr. Sidney Grant (it's spelled Grant, but pronounced Frampf). It's funny seeing how much work he has had done. It makes guest star Martin Short almost unrecognizable. But it's the type of story we would expect from Jacqueline and it plays out in a predictable fashion. Kimmy gets recognized out in public and she wants a completely new face in order to match her new life. As she is about to go under, she comes to the realization - thanks to a wonderful commercial for Buhbreeze air freshener - that you can't just cover up your problems. Changing your outside doesn't fix your inside. She fights off the doctor before he can do anything to her look and rushes to share her new wisdom with the people in the waiting room. She delivers a wonderful monologue that is then revealed to be purely in her own head. In reality, she's slurring her words because of the small amount of anesthesia she was given. It's a wonderful comedic beat. She receives clarity on this subject but is incapable of helping anyone else.
That is except for Jacqueline. She has been worrying about the state of her marriage. She was trying to hide that pain by doing exercises and getting her feet redone - as she points out, "feet are the new butts." But she is still upset about her marriage. Kimmy helps her accept that as being true. It is painful but it's something that she has to address in order to actually be happy. Kimmy, too, is able to take her advice by calling Cyndee up again and inviting her to visit sometime soon. Kimmy is making that first step to accepting and dealing with her past trauma. It may not be a perfect fix. Cyndee is struggling in the real world as well - dreaming about Reverend Richard Wayne Gary Wayne chasing her but with his face being the baby from Full House. That's a wonderfully specific image that the show fortunately gets to recreate for Kimmy and the audience to experience as well. And yet, the invitation allows Kimmy to truly embrace her past. She may not know what addressing it will do to her and her future. But it is such a healthy thing that she needs to do.
Some more thoughts:
- "Kimmy Goes to the Doctor!" was written by Jack Burditt & Tina Fey and directed by Tristram Shapeero.
- Titus auditions for a musical entitled Spiderman Too: 2 Many Spidermen - a new Spiderman play with 12 Spidermen - after several of them are injured due to gravity and the floor. Again, it's a story largely distant from the stuff Kimmy is dealing with. However, it's really funny watching him audition and be a bad fit for this musical.
- Titus' full version of the Spiderman musical song plays over the closing credits and it's pretty incredible.
- However, it is very realistic that Titus' goals aren't suddenly coming true just because he's reinvigorated about being a star. Even though he doesn't get this role, he gets to see that his rival didn't get as big a break as he thought he did.
- It was so much fun seeing Kimmy help Titus use a photo-booth to make new headshots and get a new agent.
- The Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy categories here seem highly satirical but Lillian sure did have a lot of fun watching and playing along.
- Lillian likes Titus because he reminds her of her late husband - who was also Black and who she shot in the middle of the night because it was the 1970s and she saw a Black man in her house.
- Titus: "And we still don't know why you're afraid of velcro."
- Kimmy: "Smile until you feel better. I call it Kimmying."
- Kimmy: "Is that what my face looks like now?" Jacqueline: "That's what I say when I look in the mirror every morning."
- Titus: "When I first moved here, they were doing an all-Black production of Oklahoma titled Alabama."
