15 best moments from Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt season 3

Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt season 3 production still. Image: Eric Liebowitz / Netflix (via Netflix PR).

Episode 9: Kimmy’s testimony

The choice to have Kimmy explore actual, communal religion (as opposed to the stuff the Reverend was selling) was an interesting one, and one that piqued my interest especially due to my own reservations about faith in general. The moral of Kimmy’s testimony at the end of the episode is not a new revelation, nor should it shock anyone who has ever stepped foot in a church that was genuinely trying to do good for the world. Rather, Kimmy’s realization that most religion is made up of inherently flawed human beings, all doing the best they can to help themselves and one another was a comforting reminder that, well, it’s true.

And it often takes a huge mess-up on your own part to realize it, as occurred with Kimmy’s suspicions about the individuals in the church. From the outside looking in, Kimmy’s mistake wasn’t a big one — it had a happy ending, after all. But it’s one of the first times we’ve seen Kimmy deliberately find the bad in someone rather than the good, which seems contrary to her incessantly sweet and trusting nature. It’s another relic of her scars from the bunker, but also an example of how she, too, is flawed. Sure, her experiences in church don’t really go anywhere this season (as she doesn’t truly reconcile with Perry, not for long), but her coming to terms with her own struggles was a recurring theme this season, and one that set her up for her ultimate success at the end of it.