The series is still sophisticated and yet super absurd, but it also tackles topics like sexual harassment, employee rights, abortion, gender dynamics, and even the incel community. Yet the season still has time to poke fun at less important areas like the tech boom or method acting. It’s nice that Kimmy Schmidt won’t overstay its welcome, but I’ll miss the layered, forward-thinking storylines that the show could turn out. This season also broaches the #MeToo movement in an interesting, unexpected manner. This sort of progressive subject matter has always been on the show’s mind, but it comes to the forefront more than ever this year. But then the show will throw you off balance with some Klumps style jokes that are effectively thrown in for good measure, too

Kimmy and the rest of the show’s characters are left to pick up the pieces from last year and make some big decisions that will drive them forward through the show’s final season and hopefully leave them in a comfortable place. Everyone struggles with new responsibilities, both of the real and imaginary nature (Titus and Jacqueline create a fake show called The Capist, for instance), and they all feel significant. The tough aspects of work life quickly burst the cushy bubble that Kimmy wants her job to be. It’s a bummer, but it does help Kimmy grow up and become more of a well-rounded person instead of a caricature of a caricature. Some of Kimmy’s disastrous attempts to be a serious boss go so poorly that it makes for a welcome new playground to insert Kimmy into after her efforts in school last season. She also toys with the idea of putting all of her thoughts and efforts about her unusual past into a book that can help others.

Another character who is both important to the series and Kimmy’s overall arc is Jon Hamm’s Reverend Wayne. Naturally it feels like their toxic relationship is the last remaining area that needs to get wrapped up in order for Kimmy to move on and this season does not disappoint in that regard. Reverend Wayne returns in a big, different way this year. In fact the third episode of the season is perhaps the most ambitious installment that the show has ever done. The format shifts to a documentary in order to illuminate some details on Wayne’s past during his days before he was the infamous reverend. It makes for a creative, effective satire of documentaries, too.

Stylistic departures like this show that clearly there is still plenty of steam left in the show, but unfortunately there’s not more time left for the series to take risks like this one. Episodes like this make it seem like a fifth season (or at least an extended fourth) wouldn’t have been a bad idea. The best thing about all of this is that this documentary detour actually serves a real purpose, rather than just being a fun distraction. Hamm also plays Wayne with a Hunter S. Thompson-like intensity this time that really works.

On the topic of the season being split in half, this is becoming a regrettable trend in Netflix comedies (although no fault of the shows themselves). It hardly seems necessary, but that being said, the end of the sixth episode does nicely tie back to the premiere and it goes out a reasonable cliffhanger of sorts. It does feel the end of the season’s first chapter, which does make this gap a little more logical. Hopefully this won’t continue to become the norm with Netflix comedies.