Having the scandal be the set-up for the two main stories tonight instead of being a major story itself is a smart call. The crimes of Kyle the Cloud (portrayed by Nate Torrence who is unnerving enough to be believable as both a superstore spokesman and an unhinged serial killer cannibal in his brief screentime) are awful and are depicted as such. It doesn't stop the characters from making morbid jokes about the situation as people are prone to do in real life, but it's something that could make Superstore seem callous and cruel if the whole episode was about the characters making light of these crimes. It also could've given the episode an overly wacky detached feel by focusing on a character we've never seen or heard of before tonight instead of our regulars. Instead Kyle and the scandal fade into the background after the first act, letting the show get in a bunch of dark jokes before letting the character stories take over.
Glenn gets a chance to take the lead tonight as the person most shaken by the revelations about Kyle the Cloud (who is actually named Daniel, but gets referred to as Kyle by all the characters so that's what we're going with here). Glenn is convinced the allegations against him can't be true because he met Kyle once and he seemed like a good guy. Glenn, like most of us, wants to trust in his instincts and believe he'd be able to tell if someone was a terrible person. Unfortunately his confidence in Kyle's innocence is shattered when a dungeon where Kyle videotaped his crimes is found. The discovery of bags of marijuana at the scene gives Glenn new faith though and he convinces himself that Kyle wasn't really a cannibal and that he only did those things because he was on marijuana. It's a very misguided and uneducated perception of how marijuana works that feels like it was ripped from Reefer Madness but it feels very in-character that Glenn would latch onto this idea rather than admit he was wrong about Kyle. When Amy and Jonah inform him that's not how it works though and that they'd be surrounded by killers otherwise, Glenn becomes horrified at the idea that he can't even trust his feelings about his own employees and authorises Dina to conduct drug testing, despite having always been against it. It's an extreme decision and one Glenn is uneasy about making, but if he was that wrong about Kyle, what does he really know about his employees? It's a much more nuanced, effective story for Glenn than his morning after pill dilemma last week and Mark Mckinney portrays every step of Glenn's crisis of confidence expertly and humorously. Ultimately, Amy is able to convince him through a very analogy-filled speech that he knows the things that matter about his employees and it restores confidence in him to the point where he halts the testing and pours all the urine down the sink where Sandra's coffee mug is. It's a funny conclusion that ties in Glenn's story with the much goofier Amy/Jonah story in a great way.
Amy gets to cut loose and have some fun this week in a way she hasn't been able to do since sometime in season 1 and it's delightful, especially after all she's had to deal with in the first three episodes. America Ferrara is great at playing the sadness and anger at the core of Amy, but she's also great at playing the mischievous, playful side who lets herself get sucked into a dare war with Jonah instead of doing the tedious work of removing Kyle's visage from the store. Feldman and Ferrara have a natural easy-flowing chemistry and it helps make the escalating series of dares charming and delightful. The dares are also quite funny with Amy singing the theme song to Charles in Charge over the store intercom being the highlight (Although the two of them passing off their kayaking on wheels through the store to Jeff as product testing comes close to topping it). They even tie into Glenn's story in hilarious fashion when Amy's inspiring speech is dependant on metaphors and similes chosen by Jonah who's in the background lifting up objects for her to incorporate into her speech. There's an unspoken flirtiness at the heart of these dares though that lies dormant until the end when Jonah strolls through the store wearing only an apron and comes face to face with Adam, who is picking Amy up to go home for the day. Adam isn't angry about a basically naked Jonah talking to his wife (Though he thinks Jonah is gay, which probably explains his response being more confusion than anything else.), but his appearance is a reminder that the Will They/Won't They between Amy and Jonah is still heavily on the Won't They side. The show handles this well too. There's no melodramatic look of longing from Amy or Jonah as they go their separate ways and no real indication that they have actual feelings for each other, just the presence of Adam (who is actually able to show a bit of a softer side this time rather than the inconsiderateness that's marked his last two appearances) to remind us that as much fun as Amy and Jonah have at work, at the end of the day Amy is still married.
Amy and Jonah might still have a long way to go before possibly finding love with each other, but Mateo's love life is on much better ground after this week. The scandal allows for the return of Jeff, as delightfully normal as ever and follows up on his possible pass at Mateo a couple weeks back. It follows a familiar pattern as Mateo attempts to prove to Garrett and the rest that he isn't imagining things and that Jeff is interested in him but his efforts prove for naught (save for a commendation for cleaning up lots of vomit that's going in the wrong file when Mateo mistakes a request for his employee number as a request for his phone number). At least until the end when Jeff asks him out on a date and Mateo turns out to have been right all along. He can't say anything about it to Garrett (Jeff swears him to secrecy since a manager shouldn't be dating an employee), but he has a date for the night. It's a small story, but an amusing one and the beat at the end where Mateo actually has to think before saying yes because he hasn't thought about if he likes Jeff is a welcome one.
Ultimately Spokesman Scandal is such a success because it focuses not on the lurid details of Kyle the Cloud's murder spree (although the details we do get are appropriately horrifying), but on the characters and how they try to get through a normal day that happens to feature news of a serial killer very connected to the company they work for. It allows the darkness to be funny and gives the characters a chance to just have fun after the turmoil and issues of the first few episodes, while advancing their arcs ever so slightly. In the end, it's another promising sign that early in this second season, Superstore has found it's stride.
Memorable Moments
-Garrett, Sandra, and Cheyenne also had a really slight story that I didn't find the space for in the main review. Basically Cheyenne is talking about her baby too much, Garrett and Sandra get sick of it and Cheyenne understands when they tell her. Garrett is less understanding when he hears he talks about his new sneakers too much though. It's funny enough and notable for letting Sandra be part of a story for once, which makes sense because she's probably the first supporting player to get bumped up to regular if Superstore lasts long enough to do that.
-Best Interstitial: I didn't really notice any interstitial scenes this episode, so I'm giving this to the beat of the customer who takes a urine sample and keeps walking when Dina informs them they've taken urine.
-"We pretty much still have the market cornered on serial killing. It's one of the last non-integrated industries."- Jonah explains white person craziness to Garrett.
-The opening sequence of everyone trying to turn off the TV telling the news of Kyle the Cloud's crimes only to spread it to every TV in the store and have the audio play over the speakers is a great example of comic escalation and Glenn leading a sing-along of "Cry, Ezekiel Cry" was equally great.
-Jeff addresses the situation to the staff. "As most of you may have heard, our company spokesman has been accused of some improprieties." "By improprieties, you mean killing and eating people, right? Or is there a tax evasion thing going on as well?" "The killing and eating. I can't speak to his tax situation."
-Jeff's terrible experience in the hotel Corporate has put him in continues to be a great running gag. "Hi, yes, while I have you on the phone, I wanted to ask you why the curtains were gone when I got back last night. I'd prefer to have them."
-Garrett doesn't like baby or dog photos but he can't resist pictures of Sandra's dogs dressed like Ewoks.
-Dina notices Glenn smelling employees. "If you're smelling the workers, you gotta smell Elias. On Thursdays he smells like ham. It's hilarious."
-Also Dina humming the Charles in Charge theme is a good callback to Amy's performance (which she also does in Spanish).
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