Cloud 9 is under new management. And, by new management, I don't really mean new management so much as I mean mean old management, but also more management. Ach, nevermind - read on for my review of “Biscuit”:
Glenn is back from quarantine, but after his two-week absence, he finds that everyone in the store now defers to Dina’s authority. Dina, for her part, has gotten a taste of power and is not totally stepping down from managerial duties, inadvertently threatening Glenn’s authority. After Dina sends Nia home sick without checking with him - although, to be fair, she really was sick - Glenn decides it’s time to knock Dina down a peg (or more accurately, just to her original role as assistant manager).
Meanwhile, Sandra comes to several co-workers including Mateo, Justine, Sayid, Carol and Jonah, telling them that her cat Biscuit needs life-saving surgery, but she can’t afford it. While they’re initially hesitant to donate to the cause, a guilt-tripping, slightly threatening speech from Carol convinces them, and they all put a bit of money in the pot.
Glenn first tries to get Dina to stop doing his job by trying to get her worked up about a perceived security threat, but she sees through the vaguely threatening “cut-up-magazine-serial-killer” letter he left in the bathroom. Upping his game, Glenn recruits Bo and his friends to see what kind of mischief they can get up to in the name of “testing the security of the store.”
Later that day, Sandra informs everyone in the breakroom that Biscuit passed away before she could get the surgery. All the employees who gave her money agree among themselves that they want their donations back, but Jonah and Mateo find out that Sandra spent it on a necklace made of Biscuit’s ashes. The rest of their day is spent trying to figure out a way to get their money back without seeming insensitive, but with poor results.
Bo’s friends Titus and Frisco do a great job of distracting Dina from the manager job, getting caught after pasting print-outs of the Babadook all over the store. However, Glenn’s plan soon turns sour when Bo tells Glenn that Titus and Frisco told all their friends about the “security test,” and invited the likes of “Straight Josh” (“I don’t even mess with that guy! He once killed an ice cream man in the daytime!”) to come and wreak havoc in the store.
Chaos ensues as Bo’s friends’ friends destroy the store. Dina, thinking that the vandals are actors hired by Glenn, doesn’t do anything to stop the destruction (and in fact helps some of them carry items out!). Additionally, in the mania, the Biscuit necklace is stolen right off of Sandra’s neck.
There’s also a C-Story about Garrett wrestling with a new Cloud 9 policy that allows customers to return any Zephra product at Cloud 9, even though the Cloud 9 system has no way to accept the return. After hours of hammering at the problem, Garrett finally returns various equipment items in the system as several hundred bunches of green grapes, telling the customers that it’s “just internal tech jargon.”
Dina and Glenn, realizing two heads are better than one, agree to settle their pseudo-feud and become co-managers of the store. It’s just in time, too, because on the same day that they make their grand breakroom entrance as co-leads, they both literally get served: Carol’s suing the store! (“Oh, right, we did electrocute her. That makes sense”).
In all, this was definitely a fluff episode. I love manager Dina and the new co-managing deal might be a fun dynamic to play with, but overall, this episode kind of felt like filler. I am wondering if Dina’s vacant Assistant Manager spot is the reason Kelly will return next week... My guess was manager, but if that’s the case, I was definitely close enough for kudos, right?
One troubling thing I'm noticing - and I’m not sure if it’s due to America Ferrera’s departure, the difficulty of production during COVID, or just a normal mid-season slump - the past few episodes have been funny, but still slow and somewhat underwhelming overall. Hopefully, the upcoming storylines will inject some adrenaline back into the show and get it back to its usual quality?
What did you think of “Biscuit?” And how are you liking the hierarchy changes in Store 1217 this season (Cheyenne as floor manager, and now Dina and Glenn as co-managers)? Let me know in the comments!
