First of all, Superstore's ratings are really hanging in there! Dare we hope that it becomes the highest rated Thursday night comedy soon?
Now on to the review of the latest episode, which finds the Cloud Niners dealing with a bit of good news: the local mall has closed. Glenn's ecstatic since in the past the mall helped destroy his family's business and also hurt Cloud Nine's bottom line. Unfortunately for Glenn that means that he's never been to the mall and missed out on food courts and movie theaters and all the other joys the mall brings. Justine's also worried about the mall closing - she'll now have to go to the airport for her Sbarros.
But for Amy and Dina that means more foot traffic for the store. Which sounds good, but that includes teens and other loiterers who aren't buying anything. They're just taking advantage of the four (!) free sample stations Amy talked corporate into approving and sitting around taking up space. Dina is all set to eject these freeloaders but there's a twist - Amy's daughter Emma is one of those teens and since Amy has been working so much she hasn't spent much time with Emma so she doesn't want to be the bad guy and kick her and her friends out of the store.
Dina, on the other hand, has no problem being the bad guy. But when the teens accuse her of age discrimination she backs down, letting those no good kids take complete control of the store, including using the microwave in the employee lounge. How dare they - that's a sacred space.
The solution comes in the form of a mother's love. Or more precisely, the smothering suffocation of a proud mom. When Amy starts to appreciate the teens and tells them (but really Emma) how much she loves them they scatter off to a nearby parking lot, not keen on suffering through the indignity of public parental praise.
Amy's not the only Niner dealing with the teens. Sandra has to kick a couple of girls out of the massage chairs but she's too intimidated by their mean girl vibes to do anything. She asks Cheyenne for help but Cheyenne soon learns that she'd not part of the cool crowd anymore. She's actually (gasp!) now an oldie. In another twist, the mean girls aren't actually mean but just snotty and they take a shine to Sandra, who they find delightful (don't we all?). Fingers crossed that Sandra's found the flower girls for her wedding!
We also learn that Mateo is struggling after being released from detention. Without the proper papers he can't get a job and he's hurting for cash. Jonah wants to lend him some money but Mateo won't take it. Jonah, because he thinks he's so smart, tries to trick Mateo into taking the money by making bets with Garrett that he has rigged. But when Mateo second guesses his Cher knowledge and Garrett makes an impossible shot with a ping pong ball it backfires and Mateo loses money.
In a last ditch attempt to at least make them even Jonah has Garrett flip a coin and that's when things get dark. Jonah's gambling issues come to the surface and he gets visibly frustrated as Mateo wins every coin flip until he bets double or nothing and ends up owing Mateo $400. Ouch. He asks Garrett not to tell Amy and I hope for her sake they haven't co-mingled their finances yet.
(At least this episode acknowledged that Amy and Jonah are a couple. They even got turned down for a double date with Garrett and Colleen.)
Odds and ends:
Favorite blink and you'll miss it scene: Glenn the Robot is back! But he's defaced by unruly teens. The indignity of it all.
Favorite quote: "I think we should drug test her." Said by Dina after Carol comes back from Sedona all peace and love. Still don't trust Carol. Watch out for the long con.
Too many mentions, now they have to show it: Tony Retundo's. Is it a streak house, an Italian bistro, a seafood palace? We gotta know!
The most complete character journey: Justine and her ear piercing adventure. It could only end one way.
Anyone else think that Carol's sunny personality change is just an act? Let me know in the comments!
