-Ladies Lunch indulges in the tried-and-true sitcom staple of dividing the cast up along gender lines and sending them off for some bonding/adventures. The result is maybe one of the best episodes of Superstore yet, a fun episode where not a whole lot happens but the journey is full of great jokes, character beats, and wrapped-up muffins.
-The episode starts with a great cold open that immediately sets up the two driving forces of the episode's action: Cloud Nine having to go Cash Only for the day due to a down computer system and Glenn accidentally letting it slip that Amy is in marriage counselling, after everyone keeps speculating about her tardiness every Monday and Thursday. The first one gives the show an excuse to keep the store empty enough that it can justify the ladies going out for a long lunch and the men playing Muffin Ball, while the second one gives the proceedings a bit of weight.
-Since Superstore is essentially set exclusively during the working hours at Cloud Nine, we don't get a lot about Amy's marital situation beyond what spills into her work life, which isn't a whole lot. That's completely understandable and it makes sense that Amy wants to keep things to herself and is resistant to Dina's efforts to take her out for a ladies lunch. She doesn't want everyone making a big deal about it. Once Dina abducts her (And Sandra because of course Dina's plan also involves abducting Sandra) and forces her to do it though, it turns out that Amy needed this a lot more than she realized. The chance to just cut loose for once and relax results in her being happier than we've ever seen her during the run of the show and it's nice to see.
-The weird friendship between Amy and Dina hasn't been on display as much this season (The strike probably strained it), but it was nice to see it return here and Dina's motivations for wanting to have this ladies lunch make a lot of sense. She's throwing it because she wants to be a good friend to Amy but it's also because she doesn't have a whole lot of female friends and she wants to take part in that kind of companionship. This of course starts off awkwardly with Dina establishing strict rules for conversation (The best being not to talk about music because "that's just a bunch of sounds and I can hear that anywhere") while also not knowing how to start a good conversation (She tries to start one about the best part of the penis. Hers is the bottom). Once Amy decides to help Dina out and fully commit though, things become a lot livelier. Again it's nice to see all these women just hanging out and being friends and their drunken sing-along to Don't You Forget About Me is both funny and sweet.
-The invention of Muffin Ball and it's slow escalation from a small goofing off game Jonah and Garrett play to a massive sports sensation that ropes in all of the male employees, disrupts the one actual customer and causes property damage is the kind of joke that keeps getting better and better every time the show cuts to the latest iteration of the game. That some of the rules were definitely made up to keep Glenn and Mateo from shutting the whole thing down make it even better. It's the kind of fun messing around story that a show can only do when the ensemble is as well developed and comfortable with each other as this one is.
-Jonah's confused feelings about Amy are brought back with the new revelations about her marriage counselling and are poked and prodded at by Marcus, who has also developed feelings for Amy and has no qualms about calling dibs. Of course calling dibs on a human being is all kinds of gross and Marcus is an oblivious joke (The way Amy reacts in disgust when Cheyenne says she would sleep with him during Bang, Marry, Kill may have been the episode's best joke). Nevertheless the more Jonah keeps insisting that he's not going to try to call dibs on Amy or challenge Marcus in muffin ball for Amy, the more Marcus keeps poking and prodding until Jonah finally blows up in a way that makes it look like he was the one who was trying to win Amy. So even though Jonah is making all the good points, now he looks like a total jackass. It's a classic sitcom story executed greatly here and the follow-up scene where a nervous Jonah tries to explain what happened to a drunken Amy who isn't following what he's saying at all is great. Oh, Jonah. One day you'll figure out what you want and hopefully when you do Marcus won't be there to stop you (Not that it's up to him).
-The scene where an incredibly drunk Dina and a concussed Glenn interact, both trying to keep their impairment hidden from the other is comedy gold. "How far would I have to drive to see a prairie?" "I'm on it. I'll look it up right now".
-I always forget how young Cheyenne is supposed to be. Her delight at not getting carded and being able to order four beers was adorable though.
-I was surprised at how Rebranding let Sandra get away with letting everyone think she was dating Jeff, but it turns out her fake relationship and Mateo's jealousy of it is going to be an ongoing storyline. As long as Sandra keeps getting to deliver long monologues about the imaginary details of her relationship with Jeff, I am totally on board with this. Kaliko Kauahi continues to turn Sandra into a fleshed-out human being and as she continues to go on about Jeff ("He says I'm prettier than my sister".), you begin to understand why she would go along with this ridiculous lie in the first place. She's sad and lonely and will take validation from where she can get it, even if she has to make it up. Of course this week her efforts backfire on her when she meets a guy who likes her and seems perfect for her, only to be forced to let Carol swoop in and snatch him away with a reminder of "Jeff". Poor Sandra.
-Superstore has been taking a slow-burn approach to fleshing out its staple of recurring Cloud Nine employees to good effect. It started out small with people like Mertle, Sandra, and Tate (Plus a couple of people like Brett and Elias where the joke is how impressive they apparently are even though we never hear them speak) and has expanded this season with employees like Marcus and Carol who both made minor appearances before getting more and more to do. Carol really comes into her own this week as she keeps calling Adam to basically try to steal him from Amy to hilarious effect. The employee who passes herself off as a major drinker but secretly orders diet coke is also great and I'm hoping I'll remember her name next time she comes around.
-Best interstitial: No customers mean no interstitial scenes so we'll give this one to Carol's very one-sided calls to Adam. "Hey, Adam. It's Carol. I had a missed call from an unknown caller. I thought maybe that was you. Haha. Anyways, I'm at lunch with you know who. Awkward!" Oh Carol.
-Brett is apparently an MMA fighter which might be the best revelation about Brett's colourful life yet.
-Mertle ordering a steak at the restaurant is a nice, subtle Mertle joke.
-Sandra gives details about her life with "Jeff". "We spend hours on the phone just talking. He loves my taste in music. I spend the night at his hotel when he's in town. We make love on silk sheets. Oh, God, he's... gentle and strong. Sometimes he's dark. He took me to the edge of his balcony once and he asked, "Are you afraid?" And I said, "Yes." And he said, "Good." That's how I feel with you." And then we made love. And then we ate dinner... It was fancy."
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