World News – US – ‘Superstore’ returns with ultimate 2020 episode

NBC’s workplace comedy looks back on a long year with humor, heart and satirical knives

Our miseries and transformations are not over January is in the 2020s, is material artists will exploit until the end of civilization, next week And, on Thursday night, Superstore returned The wonderful premiere Season 6 has done a solid job of squeezing the last seven months or so into half an hour with commercials, with the characters having experienced multiple eras of viral terror and the nation’s unfinished count with institutional racism « Essential » is a instant story with big laughs, leaning slightly in its focus on ordinary people caught in the maelstrom It’s a high for the series and a good entry point for any new viewer looking for a cathartic comedy Sometimes you just needed a TV episode, and I definitely needed this one

Last season hit a COVID wall in the middle of a departure Amy (America Ferrera) got a fancy promotion, requiring a move west Jonah (Ben Feldman), her work crush turned boyfriend , said he would move with her Viewers knew Ferrera was leaving but Feldman wasn’t « Essential » necessarily interrupts all plans It starts in March, with Cloud 9 employees expressing vague concern about « this deal on the coronavirus « Panic strikes Customers flood toilet paper Amy quotes official parent company words that workers are » the real heroes « 

By now, it’s familiar trench humor to most of humanity, but Bridget Kyle and Vicky Luu’s screenplay succeeds with a particular emphasis on tidying up major chaos The Company does offers no guidelines, so safety must be improvised Everyone starts wearing makeshift masks Superstore characters are still struggling (or a lot) to get by, so some are starting to amass supplies away from customers Against All wait, there’s a good Tiger King joke « Was it, like, an early pandemic? » this is how Cheyenne (Nichole Bloom) explains the voracious fandom of Netflix’s wild cats docusoap « Nobody really cares anymore »

Superstore hit a comfortable cruising altitude last season New showrunners Gabe Miller and Jonathan Green detonated a new big plot bomb: Zephra’s purchase of Cloud 9, a rah-rah mega-cor with a Orwellian tracking tech Superstore has always been a charming sitcom about living in an inhuman consumerist dystopia, and that satirical instinct is fully displayed when the first pass in June Amy tells staff that the company has finally sent out security supplies to a box. ‘opens with a flower, revealing locks, warning tape and anti-looting procedures « If you wanted to be protected by a business, » Jonah mumbles, « you should have been merchandise »

There is also a giant poster: « ZEPHRA BELIEVES IN THE BLACK COMMUNITY » Garrett (Colton Dunn) rolls his eyes « What are we ghosts? » Exhaustion and paranoia take their toll, even on Glenn (Mark McKinney) He is initially charmed by the message from the true hero of Zephra Then a client sneezes on him It’s a wonderful visual comedy – the guy literally lowers his mask to sneeze – and the look on McKinney’s face is perfect for a horror movie In the summer, Glenn’s sunny demeanor barely quells the internal torments “It’s okay!” he swears “Actually, in my dream of panicking the last night the person who hit me to death was Topher Grace So… a little taste of Tinseltown for all of you « 

Topher Grace has certainly put a lot of us to death lately, and on some level I’m just impressed that Superstore is going on at all Network TV show has quick testing resources. way beyond all of St. Louis big box stores, but even a heavily bubbling production is only a positive outcome on closing « The only benefit of being constantly exposed to this virus is that we all do it together « Says Mateo (Nico Santos) He could almost speak for the cast and crew of Superstore – or a whole country staring at the barrel of a long winter

There are needles threaded here, real recognized horrors without deviating from the fun perspectives of our long-established characters. Loved watching Dina (Lauren Ash) spray anxious Glenn of COVID with a hose – and j loved the perfectly Dina-ish bragging about the new high-powered hose nozzle A brief sectional view reveals Glen the robot is now armed with a disinfectant spray, walking the aisles while Vanessa Carlton’s « A Thousand Miles » plays in the background Customer buys beer for everyone which leads to a good after-hours hangout « We celebrate or numb the pain, » Jonah says, « I can’t really say which one » It’s a loving work-family moment Then Sandra (Kaliko Kauahi) declares, hilariously and without too much context: “Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night, and I think I see my bus driver crouching over our door. reads « 

« Essential » climaxes when Amy joins a call with Kira (Jee Young Han), CEO of Zephra Kira zooms into a well-furnished house that, from what we can see, looks as big as a supermarket. at the head of the great Cloud 9 revenue apocalypse: « Great job, guys, how to kill! » Through a hazy-frozen connection, Amy begs to defer « Sales are up, but morale is very low, » she explains, earning a nice promise of masks and gloves. Ferrera will really be leaving in next week’s episode, and one of the positives of the dark cloud engulfing the planet of 2020 is that “Essential” provides an unforeseen bonus showcase for his comedic exasperation Amy is being dragged all over the place, stapling pandemic protocols on the fly even as the company drags her into one video conference after another She has no time for nothing It takes its toll « I’m a terrible girlfriend too and a terrible mother », she moaned, even before noticing the giant hole in the ceiling of her store

« You’re in an impossible situation », said Jonah « We’re all I don’t know Something needs to change » I don’t know either, but something has changed Superstore is back It’s something to celebrate, and a little less pain to numbNote: A

Superstore, NBC, America Ferrera, Jonah, Ben Feldman