Superstore

After a lukewarm start, Superstore has generally grown on me. America Ferrera helps ground what could have been an otherwise overly wacky and absurdist take on big-chain retail, whilst the core cast of secondary characters at least feel like an unusual group of characters. Whilst it rarely detours too wildly from the kind of hand-cam sitcom that shows like The Office really popularised, the creators have at least run with the setting, providing a surprisingly diverse cast from a number of perspectives. They're also happy to break out of their own comedy stereotypes a little from time to time, with Mateo and Cheyenne, in particular, having some nice moments that allows them to be more than simply the catty gay one and the dumb young one, respectively, as the season develops.

That said, I'm not wholly sold on the whole Amy/Jonah set-up, and was happy to see the initial "love triangle" with Dina was firmly shoved to one side; her character has really begun to feel a lot more enjoyable once we got past that point. I'll give them credit for the reveal that Amy is married, though: it's an unusual twist on the standard Ross and Rachel dynamic, so I'm interested to see where it goes/how they deal, and whether it ends up bringing a slightly darker subtext to proceedings.

On a more positive note, I think the show has some really fun (and surprisingly/worryingly realistic) cutaway gags and cold opens. We're not talking Brooklyn 99 here, but still better than they need to be as quick fillers to transition between scenes. And then there's Garrett. I was initially a little unsure about the character, as they felt a little like a discount Chandler with some disability jokes sprinkled on top. However, by the season end, I'm a full convert! They've written someone who isn't just mean or uncaring or desperate to seem cool; he's more of a trickster type, a literal embodiment of the chaotic neutral personality type. Any opportunity is exploited to fuck with somebody and no one is safe, but they're totally happy for Garrett to also be emotional, vulnerable, shocked etc. It's a surprisingly fun dynamic and easily my highlight of the show.

The weird (and deeply confusing) "opening" Olympic-special episode aside, I thought the second season of Superstore really took things up a notch. It's still pretty generic, but I feel like they're starting to get a bit more comfortable with their setting and characters. The opening gambit (following on from the previous season's cliffhanger) was an interesting side to take around workers rights, the evils of capitalism, parental leave, and just how truly messed up the US is for those working minimum wage jobs. (I mean, retail is messed up everywhere, but the US has made a sort of perverted art out of it)

I wasn't really expecting that level of progressive thought from the show, even with a character like Jonah knocking around to be a stereotypical progressive intellectual middle-class voice of "reason"/privilege, but I'm glad they did and I thought the ensuing plot was well handled. I thought that follow-up plots on drug testing and gun control were a little less nuanced, but interesting nonetheless, whilst Mateo's whole long-arc subplot about being an illegal immigrant was handled surprisingly well and continues to make for entertaining TV, plus I'm still rooting for Mateo and Jeff 🤞, who was a fun new character to bring in.

The characters are generally feeling a lot more fleshed out too, and I enjoyed the whole Garrett x Dina plot, whilst also liking that they seem to have parked Jonah x Amy for a little bit, even if the tornado brings it back full circle. I also didn't mind Bo taking a bit more of a backseat role for the season; he's a fun character but was wearing a little thin.

Overall, then, its improvements all around and the tornado finale left things on an interesting note that I'm excited to pick back up. The characters are feeling a lot more nuanced, the humour is generally strengthening episode-to-episode, Garret remains brilliantly funny, and many of the side characters are starting to have some really enjoyable moments (Sandra in particular). I hope season three doesn't go too hard on the will-they-won't-they of Amy and Jonah, but otherwise Superstore is feeling like a show that's really found its feet.

Three seasons in and Superstore is beginning to feel very comfortable with its storytelling. The brief flirtation with social commentary in season two has been largely thrown away, to be replaced by increasingly ridiculous sketch-comedy like stories, but given the stereotype-filled cast, this works largely to the show's favour. I was glad to see that they've kept Mateo's whole "illegal immigrant" angle running, as it grounds the show and provides some slightly higher stakes, particularly as they continue to soften the character's edges.

There aren't a huge number of truly stand-out moments, but the overarching plots around Mateo x Jeff, Dina's pregnancy, and the whole Amy x Jonah x Kelly triangle were well done and entertaining. I thought Kelly was a generally solid addition to the cast, though I wonder if she'll be rapidly sidelined or even leave the show now that her fling with Jonah is over. I've also enjoyed Dina's broadening into more of a friend rather than purely being involved through her own stubborn blunt will, and Garrett continues to be a whole lot of fun (though arguably less so than in the previous season).

I'm also finding Glenn to be better balanced. I like that he's now stepping outside of the goodie-two-shoes role a little, particularly when his wife is involved (she's a fun new side character 😂), and largely serves as a good focal point for several of the plots.

Overall, I think Superstore is beginning to feel a lot more comfortable with where it wants to be, but that also makes for a slightly less interesting end result. It's done taking risks or making political comedy and whilst it doesn't feel as much like a cookie-cutter sitcom formula as the first season, it's definitely marked out a distinct path and is happy to just retread it each episode. That's okay, it's still plenty enjoyable, but I imagine it means that season two will remain the high point moving forward.

My predictions from the last season were largely played out: Kelly is sidelined (though not immediately, and I enjoyed her closing arc so it's a better end to that character than I would have guessed); Amy and Jonah are officially an item (and the show has some great fun with them trying to keep this secret at first, including at the expense of the audience for an episode or two); Glenn is increasingly a richer, more nuanced, and more ridiculous character (his arc is starting to mirror Holt from Brooklyn 99 in some ways as result) and I think his demotion was a solid shout; and the show is largely done with deeply meaningful social commentary.

It still manages to squeeze it in there a little bit. I thought the episode highlighting the disparities between Amy and Dina's hospital options was particularly well done, as was the follow-up insanity around maternity leave rights in the US (I mean... Jesus wept 😲), and of course, the finale around ICE and Matteo is both harrowing and deftly handled.

But the main focus here is Jonah and Amy's relationship, and that serves the overall story well. The whole plot thread around Jonah's parents thinking he's pre-med made me laugh a lot, whilst also advancing all of their characters nicely, and I'm generally pleased to see that we're getting a fairly mature and realistic portrayal of their relationship, including some hilarity-inducing awkwardness from Jonah around Amy's daughter 😂 Plus, Amy's promotion arc was done really well and sets us up for some new and different plot threads as we move forward, particularly around class struggles and worker pay/benefits disparity.

I'm also, unfortunately, a little right about Garrett. He continues to be my favourite character, and both the Halloween episode (where he's driven insane by the same song playing over and over) and his "smile off" with Dina are highlights of the season. But, overall, he'd taken a bit of a backseat and then, ultimately, ends up on a much darker storyline when he accidentally loses Dina's birds.

The loss of Garrett as the strong comedy core is largely okay, though, as the show is beginning to shine best when the comedy is a group affair. Episodes like the blizzard lock-in and step counting competition allow for lots of quick, funny non-sequiturs and character moments that prove that the writers now have a good handle on who these people are, which seems to particularly benefit Dina and Cheyenne, both of whom get much more interesting comedy arcs in the season. Plus, they really lean hard into Sandra, who is continually evolving into an excellent character. Overall, this results in a season that may not be as clever as season two, but is definitely as funny and has some new, interesting ideas which step it up a notch once again.

Season five has ups and downs. After such a dark ending to the previous season, the almost mocking way they approach the utterly inhumane treatment Matteo is receiving comes across as a bit tone-deaf. I get that they've dug a pretty big, serious hole here for a sitcom to deal with, but it still feels a little shallow. Plus, it gets a bit dull. Because they just reset him to working in the opticians it doesn't feel as impactful as before the ICE raid. On the other hand, the whole "using immigration as a union-busting tactic" angle was fairly bold and actually quite progressive, particularly for an American show, and the modern slavery angle was weak but at least unexpected, so I guess pros and cons.

Elsewhere, Sandra's wedding arc was just brilliant. Everything from her delusional "surprise wedding shower", to her becoming a TikTok discovery by local teens, to Garrett becoming best man, and of course, the grand finale ceremony itself, it's just great. Even when Carol returns, it keeps buzzing in the background nicely. There are sinister moments, hilarious ones, and a payoff that hits. Unfortunately, the rest of the gang feel like they're in holding patterns for most of the season. Amy and Jonah fall out over silly things, and I'm not a huge fan of how they're moving Garett and Jonah's relationship into weirdly clingy. Sure, Garett was always the cool one, but it's almost slapstick and cringey at this point.

Amy's position at the top continues to afford her the greatest character development and most interesting storylines, which is fitting, and I did enjoy the power vacuum between Dina and Glenn, but even this wore a little thin. I did like how they approached Glenn's Christianity in this season, now that he's not bound by his managerial position, but it could have been deeper. The theft of charity bags for employees was a nice morality play, but the conman pastor was a bit meh.

That said, I did enjoy the customer safari episode, and I was not expecting the ending that we got. I'll be interested to see how they manage another season now that Amy and Jonah are leaving, but perhaps it will just be a split storyline? At least it'll break those holding patterns I mentioned.

A fitting ending, though I'm not entirely sure why they removed one of the main characters only to shoehorn her back in during the finale? And I think they missed some tricks around the pandemic in terms of comedy, but still, it had a very nice, feel-good ending that wrapped it all together well.