Superstore Fights The Power On Strike

Superstore ended a first season that started out good and kept getting better as it went along with a powerful sequence that was the culmination of where the season has taken these characters. Amy (America Ferrara) and Jonah (Ben Feldman) leading a walk-out to protest the firing of Glenn (Mark McKinney) for giving Cheyenne (Nichole Bloom) paid maternity leave, only for Dina (Lauren Ash) to fire them and declare the store would be fine without them was a strong ending that raised plenty of questions of where the show would pick up when it returned and where the characters would go from there. As it turns out the characters also have plenty of questions about where they go from there and Strike picks up immediately where we left off with everyone unsure what they're doing or if they're even on strike (Amy says they aren't, but Jonah disagrees, which becomes a running gag throughout the episode). It then proceeds to write itself out of the corner Labour left Superstore in in a way that's funny and disheartening and true to the world of the show, while promising interesting things to come in Superstore's second season.

Helping things out is Jeff (guest star Michael Bunin), the district manager Cloud Nine Corporate has sent to diffuse the situation. Bunin is sent to recur throughout the season, which is good because Jeff provides an excellent foil for the rest of the cast. He's not some soulless corporate monster, he's a regular guy who just wants to resolve the situation peacefully and calmly so he can get out of the motel he's been put in. At the same time, he represents corporate interests and certainly isn't going to cede the moral high ground to the employees. He offers to rehire Glenn and give everyone else their jobs back if they sign an apology letter and that's it. He's perfectly willing to bring in scabs and cut out the employees if they won't sign the letter but he would prefer not to have to. It makes him a complex antagonist and it should be interesting to see how he plays off of everyone else in future episodes with the status quo restored

The most interesting journey of the episode as usual belongs to Amy. She starts off the episode adamant that the workers are not on strike and that all they want is Glenn's job back. When Jeff brings up the apology letter though, that's when she snaps and decides to go on (or continue on if you ask Jonah) strike because she can't stand the way Cloud Nine stomps on the rights of their workers and her pride is hurt when Jeff suggests they're in over their heads. Making real change is a lot harder than her and Jonah anticipated though, and once the strike becomes a reality things start OK quickly deteriorate. The episode's best scene has Amy go on local news to talk about the strike, only for that to be hijacked when other protesters (who have shown up thanks to a vague #protestcloudnine tweet from Jonah) announce they're there to protest Transgender Bathroom rights. It's excellent commentary on how protests can grow out of hand and become about things they were never meant to be about, while getting solid comedy about a contentious subject. Amy soon leads the striking employees into the store to try and drive customers away but is only able to convince one person to stop shopping and leave through her argument and not the other's disruptive ploys. As Jeff brings in employees from Kirkland scabs and gives an end-of-day ultimatum for signing the letter, interest in the strike quickly fades. It's poignant watching everyone slowly cave in, even with great jokes like Amy and Dina fighting over Sandra like a dog having to pick between owners. Eventually we're down to Amy and Jonah who finally give up the 1-day (2 if you ask Jonah) strike and let corporate win but resolve this was the only beginning. Hopefully they mean that because there is a lot to mine from Amy and Jonah trying to fight for worker's rights through other means. In the meantime it's a slightly downer beat to end on and a great choice for the show.

The other characters are mostly relegated to the background in Strike, but they're all given something funny to do in the background. Most substantially, Garrett (Colton Dunn) meets Nikki, a protester who's perfect for him, at least until he realises she's also against Trans rights. It's a slight, but funny storyline and it has a good pay-off when Garrett decides to sleep with her anyways even though she's a bigot. It's a funny beat that feels true to Garrett's character. Mateo (Nico Santos) gets an even slighter storyline where he keeps sneaking away from the strike to work and try to impress Jeff. It's more of a running gag than a story and there's basically no pay-off or ending beyond Amy thinking he was one of the strong ones when he wasn't, but it highlights Mateo's ambitiousness and hopefully is setting up things for down the line. The only story that didn't really work for me was Dina's efforts to break the strike and regain her old job. It had funny moments (Dina accidentally breaking all the windows on Glenn's car with the power washer chief among them) but kept Dina overly broad without the subtle characterization that Ash brought last season. Also restoring Dina to her old position this early is a bit disappointing, seeing as the show had only begun to explore the idea of Amy as assistant manager last season. Hopefully there's better things ahead for Dina as the season goes on that allow her to feel more human.

Overall there, Strike is a strong return for Superstore, serving as a great re-introduction to the characters and resolving last season's cliffhanger in a way that was entertaining and didn't feel like too much of a cop-out. Superstore has a lot of potential to be one of the best comedies on TV and hopefully this is the start of it realising that potential.

Memorable Moments

-The show continues fleshing out their side characters by introducing Dougie, who seems like a loveable wreck.

-Mertle has some reasonable demands. "I want Cloud Nine to be closer to my house".

-Jonah and Amy raid Cloud Nine's business wear before their meeting with Jeff, leading to a great sight gag of Amy in a pink suit and Jonah with a dumb fedora he won't take off.

-Jeff is not that happy with the motel he's been put in. "It says continental breakfast but it's like cereal and toast, and I'm like I can make that at home".

-Jonah's efforts to quote Dr. Martin Luther King are quickly and rightfully shut down by Garrett.

-"I just want you to know that not all Christians are bigots, OK? Well that one is. That's Maggie. She goes to my church. She thinks she's sooo great because she has a karaoke machine". Mark McKinney's delivery can make anything funny.

-"We are down to only one raccoon in the store. Unfortunately that raccoon has grown powerful beyond our wildest fears".

-Jonah tries to dumb himself down for the shoppers. "I don't know about youze guys but this broad's making some good sense, huh".

-Jeff mistakenly assumes Brett is Glenn, because "he just has an air of authority about him".

-Amy tries to rally the troops. "What are they gonna do? Find someone who stocks go-backs like Mateo or who works the cash register like Elias?" "Yes. Those are both very easy things to do".

-"This is what Martin Luther King would do"- Garrett on his plan to sleep with Nikki a time or six and then withhold sex until she takes a look at who she is as a person and make some serious changes.

-Best Interstitial: A boy with his head caught in a chair quietly struggles as everyone ignores him.