Minor spoilers ahead for Season 3 of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.
With shared universes and serialized storytelling becoming standard practice thanks to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the hunger for crossovers has never been more real. TV and film audiences feel acknowledged and validated by crossover events, as their hours of patronage pay off in a big way. And now even Netflix's campy comedy Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt has stepped into the crossover game, with one Season 3 episode containing a fantastic shared scene with the massively popular dramedy Orange is the New Black.
Season 3's fifth episode "Kimmy Steps on a Crack!" reintroduces Kimmy's friend and fellow kidnappee Gretchen, as she once again attempts to navigate the real world. This unfortunately lands Gretchen in prison, but not just any prison: Litchfield Correctional Facility to be exact. And when we see her entering Litchfield for the first time, she's joined by none other than Black Cindy (Adrienne C. Moore). The two share a brief moment, and its now clear that OITNB and Kimmy Schmidt are actually set within the same universe. Holy wow.
Obviously this is more of a funny hat tip than anything else, but fans are sure to freak out when they see Litchfield's finest cross over into Tina Fey's cartoonish and ridiculous creation. In fact, Unbreakable's co-creator Robert Carlock recently spoke to EW about how the scene came to be, saying:
Well, once we went down that road with that story, which we wanted to tell, we knew that Gretchen either had to go to jail or get blown up. We didn't want to blow up Gretchen or any of the people around her, so we knew she was going to jail. I think [the OITNB scene] was just half a joke pitch and half we felt we could somehow save money, and that turned out not to be true. And, it turned into purely a joke that I think was Tina [Fey]'s. We thought it was funny to suggest we lived in that same world as Orange Is the New Black, and of course, we're always looking for Netflix synergies.
It looks like Tina Fey has read The Secret, because she willed this fantastic crossover into existence. The scene was a button at the end of the episode, but it will surely go down as one of the most unexpected and memorable moments of Season 3. After all, who doesn't love a crossover?
Black Cindy actually isn't the only familiar Litchfield face that makes a brief appearance. We also see another tertiary inmate show up through recycling footage from OITNB's first episode. Gretchen really likes her hair.
How can you not love this?
Season 3 of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt is currently streaming on Netflix, and Orange is the New Black will return on June 9, 2017.
