9 Most Emotional TV Moments Of 2016

7. Kimmy Finds Her Mom - Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt

Orange Is The New Black Taystee
Netflix

As well as being one of the outright funniest shows on TV, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt also manages to be incredibly poignant.

The show is centred around the oddball titular character, and wrings a lot of comedy from her discovering the world after 15 years trapped in a bunker by a crazed cult-leading Jon Hamm.

But it also shows that darker side of that, with the PTSD Kimmy suffers, and the emotional trauma of being separated from not just the world, but her family, whom she hasn't reconnected with.

Season 2 all builds to its final moments, which sees Kimmy find her mother (played, in a stroke of casting genius, by Lisa Kudrow). The entire scenario plays out in emotional fashion, managing to be both funny and sad at the same time. The pair each get to express some hard truths, and a lot of pain comes out on a literal emotional rollercoaster.

The moment that really pulls at the heartstrings, though, comes just before that. Kimmy is in the ball-pit, when her mother gets worried they'll miss the ride (she's a rollercoaster junkie). Kimmy has to put her shoes on first, but realises she can't tie them, as her mother never taught her how. She falls, scrapes her knee, and cries out for her mother

Out-of-context, to someone not invested in the show, that sounds ridiculous. But when you know the character, and care about her, it becomes incredibly emotional.

Contributor
Contributor

NCTJ-qualified journalist. Most definitely not a racing driver. Drink too much tea; eat too much peanut butter; watch too much TV. Sadly only the latter paying off so far. A mix of wise-old man in a young man's body with a child-like wonder about him and a great otherworldly sensibility.