Now that we know that America Ferrera is leaving Superstore soon I couldn't help but read probably a little too much into what was going on during this episode. The main focus was on Amy having to bring in her kid, Parker, to the store due to child care issues. The Cloud Niners all have different reactions to having Parker around, from Justine's ovaries bursting into scrambled eggs because of his cuteness to Sayid criticizing the way Amy was holding him. Mateo, unsurprisingly, is not very fond of babies and their "wet faces," and I have to agree with him on that point. They're just nasty. But when Amy mentions that she'd like to be able to say home with Parker I immediately thought, "that's how they'll write her out!" Guess we'll have to wait and see how the show handles the exit of their star, either at the end of this season or the beginning of next with all the pandemic related push backs.
With Amy and Jonah having trouble juggling, sometimes literally, Parker and their work, Glenn offers up Jurusha as a babysitter. She's home with their kid Rose all day anyway. The rest of the story line compares and contrasts "full-time" mothers like Jurusha, who don't work outside of the home, to mothers like Amy, who have outside employment. There's a definite snobbery on the part of Glenn and Jurusha, who view themselves as the superior parents, and I'm right there with Amy and Jonah in being insulted on their behalf. But then Amy and Jonah start to act all crazy and I lose a little of the sympathy I had for them.
It feels this season that Superstore is ratcheting up the cringe comedy, where characters act so embarrassing you can't help but cringe away from the screen. Think of scenes of The Office with Michael doing pretty much anything. There are a couple of cringe comedy scenes in this episode, one where Amy and Jonah are trying to make Parker give a high five in some sort of effort to show up Rose, and another that has Jonah trying to spy on Glenn to see if Rose really is potty trained, which would developmentally put her way ahead of Parker. Cringe comedy is not my favorite, so I didn't really find these scenes funny. The entire story line was a bit of a dud for me until the Cloud Niners decide to pit Parker and Rose against each other in an obstacle course to see which baby is best. Enter the Baby Dome!
The cutest, more boring sport ever.Unfortunately the babies refuse to do their part and the race is a dud. With no resolution to the Rose vs. Parker question we'll just have to guess which baby is better. My guess: Cheyenne's kid will rule them all.
In the secondary story line we have Dina getting very worked up about her new boyfriend the veterinarian. They've been dating for a couple of weeks and it's his birthday, so of course she has to go all out for their next date. Which is why she stole his license to Photoshop their pictures together and tracked down his mother on social media. So basically Dina has gone off the deep end. Mateo, who is helping her with her outlandish plans, is too afraid to tell her she's taking things too far, so it falls on Garrett to be honest with her. Dina thinks he's being jealous, but he insists he's just being her friend. Dina does not respond well.
Dina ends up panicking about whether or not a good date includes hot soup followed by cold soup, so Garrett talks some sense into her. She admits that she's never been in a relationship before with someone who she wants to stick around. That's a bit of an ouch for Garrett, since he and Dina used to hook up. Garrett does help Dina plan a nice date with the veterinarian, but it's really obvious that Garrett is indeed jealous of the new man in Dina's life. It's love triangle time!
I know what I'm getting my girlfriend for our anniversary.Finally, we have Sandra metaphorically falling down a conspiracy theory hole, with her theorizing that Jonah is Parker's biological father instead of Adam. Definitely not my favorite Sandra plot. I did enjoy the character continuity with Sandra being the #1 Amy and Jonah shipper, though. But when Cheyenne is the voice of reason you know things have gone off the rails. Sandra wanting to send Jonah's and Parker's DNA off to a lab for testing is definitely off the rails.
Odds and ends:
Favorite quote: Jurusha about sugar: "Don't care for it, I'm a baking soda gal."
Favorite running gag: Cheyenne and Sandra are putting out green food for St. Patrick's Day, and there are glimpses of them throughout the entire episode, culminating in Cheyenne moping up glitter vomit. Nice payoff at the end.
Favorite coincidence: I also recap Bob's Burgers and last episode had a side character wanting to become a beekeeper. We find out this episode that Amy's ex Adam also wants to join the beekeeping profession. Is this a sign that I should become a beekeeper?
Thoughts or comments on the episode go below! And remember to be safe and self-isolate!
