Debuting in 2015, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt was Netflix's first hit streaming sitcom and garnered universal critical acclaim. Kimmy's irreverent and zany sense of humor is balanced with sharp social satire and at the center of the show are the titular Kimmy and her roommate/best friend Titus. They juggle Kimmy's past traumas, Titus' dealings as a gay Black man, and navigating life in modern-day New York City.
Their dynamic is sweet, strange, and wildly entertaining, with both taking on the most outrageous situations to help one another. Kimmy and Titus are there for each other unconditionally, and these moments just prove why their friendship is enviable.
Protecting Kimmy's Innocence
After being held in an underground bunker against her will for 15 years, Kimmy missed out on countless pop culture and historical events, one of which is the attack on the Twin Towers in September 2001. When Lillian, Titus and Kimmy's friend and landlady, brings up the fact that Titus has never let Kimmy find out about 9/11, he distracts her with a ridiculous song.
"That's how you count to fifteen! By skipping ten and starting with nine," he sings on the spot. Titus knows Kimmy's psyche is badly damaged from her time in the bunker and wants to protect her from information she can't yet process.
Introduction To Streaming
One night, Titus and Kimmy spend a night doing what many friends do, which is watching hours of content on streaming services. Kimmy is first discovering what this means and is truly amazed. With a treasure trove of film and television now at her fingertips, Kimmy becomes overwhelmed and entranced with the new service.
Titus tells her how content can be tailored to her with the famous "Al Gore rhythm" line. "You know how Al Gore invented the internet? Well, he also invented a rhythm for it. It's a very powerful rhythm. It's called the 'Al Gore rhythm,'" Titus says. Kimmy then spends the entire night binging content which makes for another meta-joke, as Kimmy is released on Netflix.
Eating Dionne Warwick
Titus had been keeping a dark secret ever since he had gotten back from a job on a cruise ship. While working as a performer on the ship, he had to fill in for music icon, Dionne Warwick and was eventually taken under her wing. But his ego gets the better of him and he starts making Warwick sick on purpose, so she has no choice but to let him take over.
He eventually causes the entire ship to sink while he escapes on a lifeboat, and hallucinates that he had to eat Warwick to survive. This piece of information, while false, causes Kimmy to question their friendship which could be seen as a bad thing, but in the end, it only makes their trust and bond stronger.
Eavesdropping
Early in their friendship, Kimmy did not want to tell Titus too much about her time in the bunker. She didn't want him, or anyone else to judge her for things that she had no control over and was embarrassed to have been a part of. So when her fellow Mole Woman, Cyndee, arrives for a visit, Titus is hellbent on getting some sort of information about the bunker.
He hilariously pretends not to hear their conversation and mixes an empty jug of lemonade before eventually getting frustrated at the lack of juicy information. Ironically, this lets Kimmy know Titus just wants to help and lets her open up to him in the future.
Cosmopolitan Brunch
In season 1, Kimmy and Titus are having brunch together but acknowledge they do not fit in amongst the wealthier clientele. To blend in, Titus brings a "laptop" made of cardboard with cutouts from popular tabloids glued to the "screen" and Kimmy uses her banana as a smartphone.
Titus speaks to the waitress in French-sounding gibberish, while Kimmy uses some of the only French she knows: Beauty and The Beast character names. The crowning moment is when Kimmy is trying to say "thank you" the to waitress and says "Beyoncé." This scene is the epitome of Kimmy and Titus making do with what they have and having a ball doing it.
Tape Tower
Titus is determined to find a tape tower to hold both his and Kimmy's cassette tapes in this episode, and it makes for not only a hilarious subplot but a great example of how far Titus is willing to go to help his friend. He goes "back in time" by digging through a local dump, finding items from the 2010s, 2000s, and finally, the 1990's.
The cassette tapes they have are mostly knock-off versions of actual hit songs such as "Hiking on Sunlight," but this doesn't stop Titus from getting his hands dirty for his and Kimmy's benefit. Seeing how Titus has never been one for physical movement, let alone labor, this act speaks volumes about his love for Kimmy.
Gas Station Heist
Kimmy's love for Titus is tested and proven in this episode from season 3, where Kimmy has to continually distract a gas station attendant in order for Titus to sneak in and use the station's bathroom. Kimmy is pure, naive, innocent, and almost always transparent when it comes to her emotions, so this behavior is definitely out of character.
Lying to the gas station attendant repeatedly, even going so far as to help Titus make a copy of the bathroom key, shows how far Kimmy is willing to go to help Titus in a meta episode spoofing crime and heist films.
Kimmy Vs Ms. Clara
Kimmy decides to go to church to prove to herself that not all reverends are evil, unlike the one who kidnapped her all those years ago. There, she meets Ms. Clara, whose gossiping ways make Kimmy think she is a bad person, and recruits Titus to help expose her to the church.
Kimmy discovers that her clear-cut, black and white view of human nature is flawed as Ms. Clara recognizes her gossiping ways and is trying to change. Titus not only helped Kimmy with her pathetic scheme to expose Ms. Clara but was there to comfort and advise her when it went wrong and celebrate her newfound wisdom.
School Drop-Off
Early in season 1, Kimmy decides she should finish high school and get her GED. Titus accompanies her to the front of the school and acts like a typical, doting mother dropping her children off. When Kimmy takes on the role of an annoyed teenager, Titus gives the hilarious line "I hope someday when you're a gay Black man, you have a Titus that treats you like this!"
This prompts Kimmy to realize her errors and hug Titus before walking into the building. This early moment of love between the two established the weird and unique relationship they kept growing, with Titus ending the scene by saying "I love you! Don't get lice!"
Kimmy's Cinderella Makeover
Jacqueline's husband is in town and she intends to throw a party to prove he has been unfaithful, but she needs Kimmy there. So, Titus gets Kimmy ready for this fancy occasion by making do with what they have. This includes putting her in a stylish mini-dress out of a pair of men's basketball shorts, crafting glimmering bracelets made out of empty soup cans, and using a perfume that is actually just olive juice.
This hysterical sequence showed Titus' creativity mixed with Kimmy's enthusiasm is the perfect combination. This situation proved their off-kilter and wacky dynamic is just what the other needs whenever they're in doubt.