There's a question as to whether or not Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: Kimmy vs. the Reverend, the new interactive special launching on Netflix May 12, is strictly necessary. After all, the series finale did a beautiful job of wrapping up the narrative and giving Kimmy arguably the perfect ending: After years spent trying to conquer her own trauma, she becomes a famous author, whose books help others heal.

But creators Tina Fey and Robert Carlock have embraced the challenge of not just following up on their original happy ending, but doing so using a format which might be vulnerable to gimmickry. "Kimmy vs. the Reverend" is a far simpler narrative than predecessors like Black Mirror: Bandersnatch, but that feels appropriate given the difference between those shows' core audiences. (Not that there isn't overlap, of course, but Kimmy has always deliberately skewed towards a younger family-friendly audience.)

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Image via Netflix

The general narrative runs in a pretty linear fashion: It's a few days before Kimmy's (Ellie Kemper) wedding to Frederick (Daniel Radcliffe), but just as she's dealing with the final preparations, she comes across evidence that the Reverend Richard Wayne Gary Wayne (Jon Hamm) may have had another bunker of women in captivity. Her determination to find those women takes her on a cross-country journey to solve the mystery, while back in New York Lillian (Carol Kane) and Cyndee (Sara Chase) try to keep the wedding on track, and Jacqueline (Jane Krakowski) does her best to keep Titus (Tituss Burgess) from being fired from his first big action movie.

And of course, it's all guided by the choices you, the viewer at home, are making (the interactive technology still isn't compatible with Apple TV, but in a computer browser, the interactivity and user experience is pretty sold). That said, it's hard to deviate too much from the broader path, as most bad decisions are pretty quickly reversed and bring you back to the core storyline.

I played through "Kimmy vs. the Reverend" three times — the first time, I achieved happy endings for almost all of the characters, and by rethinking a few choices during the second play, I was able to "win." The third time, then, I deliberately picked the worst possible/least responsible choices available, though at times there was a randomness to the logic which didn't quite make sense. One consistent point, though, is the idea that Kimmy is a good, moral person, and any option which contradicts that idea is likely the wrong one.

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Image via Netflix

Even though the outcomes were different, all three experiences were a lot of fun — you could spend hours replaying all the different options and tracking down the most obscure Easter eggs buried in these decision trees. (I know this, because that's what I did.)

When it comes to the cast, it's worth calling out Radcliffe for how flawlessly he slides into the show's ensemble, as if he's always been a series regular. Frederick as a character is a perfect match for Kimmy, embodying both the show's essential weirdness and kindness; if Netflix were to bring back Kimmy Schmidt for additional specials down the line, hopefully Radcliffe would be involved.

As for the regular cast, everyone gets the opportunity to stretch and try new things: Burgess gets to deliver some weird physical bits, Krakowski leans hard into the duplicitous aspects of life as an agent, and Kane gets to play a dual role that's too funny to spoil. There are a few clunky moments, such as an extended Chris Parnell cameo riffing on Fyre Fest that is more weird than funny, but they're by and large outweighed by a lot of joy.

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Image via Netflix

Fun fact: Hamm was actually Kemper's high school drama teacher, and you can sense their years of connection at times during their scenes. In fact, the best thing about the special is that not only is Jon Hamm a prominent presence, but nearly all his scenes are with Kemper, and the tension between them is truly electric, especially in Kimmy's darkest moments.

Finding the balance between Richard Wayne Gary Wayne's whackadoo quirks and the fact that he is an evil man who literally tortured women for fun for years has always been the show's trickiest material, but giving Kimmy a new opportunity to confront the man who scarred her in so many ways lets the show really explore this dichotomy, and Kemper remains extraordinary at making sure we're always looking at him through Kimmy's eyes.

Even when you reach the mega-happy ending of "Kimmy vs. the Reverend," that remains the case. After all, one enduring theme of Kimmy Schmidt is that there is no cure for trauma — healing is a lifelong process. So, while the original ending for the series remains a perfect coda, it's still nice to see Kimmy take yet another step forward on her journey, one which remains (as the theme songs says) a fascinating transition.

Grade: B+

Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: Kimmy vs. the Reverend premieres Tuesday, May 12 on Netflix.