Superstore (2015)

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1. 

   Siskoid

   Took me 5 or 6 episodes (over the last few months) of Superstore to start binging it like popcorn, but here I am, reporting in, at the end of Season 2. It's a workplace comedy set in a faux Wal-Mart, often at its best when it attacks mega-retail (the satire about these corporations' attitude towards unions is devilishly on point), and going to the trouble of shooting cute visual gags as transitions between scenes. At first, I wasn't too sure of some of the broad performances meant to make America Ferrara (recently in Barbie) and to a point Ben Feldman as the new guy stand out as the two real people - which meant everyone else wasn't, so why should I care about them? - especially Kid in the Hall Mark McKinney doing a froggy voice as the foolish well-meaning store manager. But it soon becomes pretty normal, and you care about the personal lives of the characters, not just the principals, but the extremely diverse cast of lesser lights, quickly built up so that within a dozen episodes or so, the place feels lived-in and former near-extras start to get storylines. But already - and this is common of modern sitcoms - while the weirdos are being humanized, the more real audience identification figures are becoming more ridiculous as the writers lean into the characters' comic flaws...
   
   Seasons 3-6: There seems to be a point in any fairly long-running sitcom where even the "normal" characters become parodies of themselves. Superstore follows the trend with Amy, Jonah and Garrett becoming extra neurotic by season 4. I've seen worse, honestly. The show has been good about allowing characters to stretch and grow according to their ambitions, shuffling them around managerial positions and moving romances along, but also dealing with consequences, of Mateo's undocumented status, for example, and with some courage, the COVID crisis that hits the last season. If there's one workplace comedy that could keep going and address it, it's one set in the retail business. And so we have characters very often interacting in masks (the looping is unfortunately obvious), and at once mocking the lukewarm response to COVID and nevertheless heralding the workers who put themselves at riks through the period. It's a shared trauma that lends a poignancy to a season in addition to the usual feelings one gets when characters you've gotten to know take their last bows. The finale is a bit cursory for some characters, but works thanks to a sincere montage. I was happy to spend time at Cloud 9, which is ironic because actual big box stores make my anxiety spike considerably and I've been known to put back items and run home. 7 months 1 week ago
2. 

   moviesmylife875

   I absolutely love this show <3 How the hell will I get by when it goes away!?! This is the damn last season! 3 years 3 months ago

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