S04.E18: Cloud Green

[fishcakes]

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Despite Dina's protests, Amy lets Glenn's pastor host an Earth Day booth at the store, but things quickly unravel when Glenn won't recognize Amy's authority. Jonah spearheads Cloud 9's green initiative, but is met with apathy from his coworkers.

Air date: May 2, 2019

[rhys]

Hoo, boy, lots of wrong going on tonight. As much as Glenn was out of line, Amy was too with bothering the group during their break. 

[ClareWalks]

Amy was threatening to write Glenn up when she SHOULD have been ACTIVELY FIRING HIM. 

[TheInstigation]

I don’t know who I hated more? Mateo with his “I’m better than everybody” attitude, or Glenn being a whiny little bitch? And as funny as Marcus is, I sure do miss Tate! ☹️ 

[Commando Cody]

I don't know what's going on with the writing of this show.  This has to be at least three in a row of not very good episodes.  

[Melina22]

For me, this was the best episode in a really long time. I laughed out loud so many times during the first half. I have to admit Mateo cracks me up most of the time. I enjoy him in the show as much as I did in Crazy Rich Asians. His comic delivery is so good. 

I also thought the actor playing the pastor was hysterical. I suspect a comedy/improv background. 

For once, I enjoyed Amy and didn't find her irritable and grouchy. I'm liking her character better as a manager for some reason. 

[riprock]

Glenn has always been a child, but here he was such a baby. I cringed while he was telling Amy she couldn’t be manager anymore. It felt like bad writing.

The pastor wins the night for best comedic timing. 

Dina's smiles while she tried to rile up Glenn were everything. 

[festivus]

Good LORD I hate Glenn. This episode sucked, the only time I laughed was when Sandra said they could teach dumb kids to read. I think I'm getting close to being done with this show.

[Ms Lark]

Ack! This was the weakest episode since the Mannequin ep in season 1. The writing was abysmal. The only part I actually enjoyed was Glenn and Amy working together at the end. None of it was funny. So many characters have become caricatures of themselves. They all used to be likable and now they're just annoying. Hopefully, this will not continue in a downward spiral. 

[possibilities]

So Dina wants Amy and Glenn to hate each  other? I thought she genuinely liked Amy, but it seemed tonight like she was bent on sabotage and unhappy when things worked out well.

I do agree the writing has been off. Did they have a staff change this season?

I'm also getting tired of the one note Garrett-Jonah dynamic.

Like I said last week: this show was better when the people were not trying to destroy each  other. There was always tension and awkwardness, but it didn't used to be so weird. It was more like people were frustrated with their lives and a little bit off balance, not that they actually hated each other.

[MakeMeLaugh]

This episode didn’t work for me.

[LadyintheLoop]

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So Dina wants Amy and Glenn to hate each  other?

Yes, what's with her "let's you and him fight" shtick? Is Dina heading for some kind of a crash, triggered by the loss of her birds (and, possibly, undiagnosed PPD)?

Between Sandra and Marcus, lots of TMI tonight.

[theatremouse]

I think Dina wants Glenn fired and thought she was setting him up for that. I don't think she relishes Amy being frustrated. It was all about Glenn.

[AnimeMania]

How come I knew Dina was going to snap the pastor in half over her knee and then punch him in the face, knocking his block off.

[Aulty]

Dina was in full Garrett mode today and that in addition with real-Garrett and his Bono schtick it made for a tiring episode.

Glenn should have been fired. For someone who used to be such a stickler for rules, he was way out of line even before Amy kicked the pastor out and he went on an angry child rant.

[Suzysite]

These recent episodes have been awkward and unfunny, and the only common denominator I can see is Amy being manager.   Clearly that was a terrible idea.   Everyone's worst side is coming out and it's not fun to watch.   Maybe in real life this is why people are transferred to a new store when they're made manager.

[kelslamu]

Only thing I laughed at was Mateo saying, "It's a button.  Calm down."

[SnarkEnthusiast]

Is Mark Mckinney a writer/producer/banging a writer? Nothing Glenn ever does or says is funny, but the show acts like he's always knee-slappingly hilarious. I'll never understand why him and his stupid baby voice are allowed to take up so much oxygen every episode. So they're all allowed to be dicks to Amy because they're "family"? I wish they had saved Amy being promoted to manager for the series finale, because this new work dynamic sucks and is not a good look for any of the characters.

Jonah was, yes, smug, meddling, and insufferable, but at least that's closer to his original characterization than slipping on banana peels and sweatily waiting for Amy's approval. Amy has never been blander, stiffer, or more boring. Cheyenne and Mateo continue to redefine terrible. Dina apparently had a personality transplant with Garrett, and one Garrett shit-stirring plot is too many, let alone two.

Most skippable episode of the season for me. Everyone's characterization has really gone down the toilet. Apparently "Amy is manager" translates into "the cast acts like middle schoolers while Amy watches and stamps her foot."

[iMonrey]

I have to agree with the consensus that the writing for this show has been off all season. This was marginally better than last week's but only because they returned to the store. I don't think it's so much that the characters are all being pitted against each other as much as the fact that it simply isn't very funny. There are a few good one-liners here and there but that's about it.

Ironically, maybe the most important part of this episode was the social commentary on millennials and what their idea of activism means: posting selfies on Instagram. 

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As much as Glenn was out of line, Amy was too with bothering the group during their break. 

I initially wondered about that too but if you go back and look, they were not in the break room during that Bible study group. They were in the store's cafeteria area where customers go to eat (you can see the concessions behind them). So they were just sitting down for that meeting when they were supposed to be working, not when they were on a break.

[tennisgurl]

Seriously, what is going on with this show lately? When did everyone take asshole pills? And not the funny ones either! So did Dina just REALLY want to watch Amy yell at Glenn, and thats why she was playing both sides against the middle? I thought she and Amy were besties now? 

Amy can be a pain sometimes, but she was totally in the right here, she absolutely should have written Glenn up, and that was her being nice, honestly. The preacher guy was hilarious though, he was a real bright spot, no matter how much Glenn was pissing me off. "She knows not what she has done!""Actually I do."

[ClareWalks]

This whole thing strongly parallels when The Office switched up managers. Amy is like Jim being the manager. It just kind of ruins the character, who is supposed to be a bit more of a "LOL, beats workin'" type of character. They should have made Dina the manager. It would have been like when Dwight was managing. They could have taken her bossy, no-nonsense persona and gone over the top with it and it would have been FUNNY. 

[Artsda]

Glenn was beyond stupid, thinking any of that was ok. If he did, why didn't he have weekly bible class or bring his Pastor ever before? He never would have lasted as a manager this long.

[Turtle Wexler]

I don't understand:  Does Glenn not want to be regular staff anymore?  Is he not enjoying being at home with Jerusha and the baby, as wanting to be with them was the reason he stepped down in the first place?  And he's usually good about backing off when someone points out that he's bringing up something related to religion that's not appropriate for the workplace, and this just seemed so over the top. 

I found Dina's angle in it to be more fun than what was happening in the store with the pastor.  But, as possibilities said, Dina had seemed to like Amy.  Lauren Ash mentioned in her interview on Home & Family the other day that Dina thinks she can control Amy a bit, and that we'd be seeing what happened.  But, trying to control Amy doesn't automatically need to lead to sabotage, right?  I'm not sure what she gets out of Amy and Glenn fighting, as she doesn't want to be manager; she likes Amy, and I think she tolerates Glenn. 

I wonder if they are making Cheyenne nastier so that they can move the focus away from her not always being bright?  But...I prefer ditzy Cheyenne to nasty, ditzy Cheyenne.  Mateo has always been catty, but the two of them together tend toward just...being mean for the sake of being mean, and that gets annoying.     

[kelslamu]

I've always thought Dina couldn't stand Glenn and this was her chance for him to be taken down a notch.  I don't think it played out well, but thought she enjoyed seeing Glenn get so upset.

[EarlGreyTea]

I love that they brought the pastor back. I secretly hoped we'd see him again after last season. I hope he'll pop up again - in small doses, of course. When he gave the link to his church's donation page, I howled! And even the simple lines were funny. "Glenn okayed it. Hallelujah."

[Utpe]

I don't understand Amy.  She'll yell at Glenn because of the religious ongoings, but yet take crap from Mateo and Cheyenne?  At least she acted like a manager in this episode (somewhat).

I chuckled at the scene with the customer and the trash bins.  If I were in her shoes, I probably would have dumped it in any one of them and left, not set garbage on the floor, LOL!

[Turtle Wexler]

41 minutes ago, Utpe said:

I don't understand Amy.  She'll yell at Glenn because of the religious ongoings, but yet take crap from Mateo and Cheyenne?  At least she acted like a manager in this episode (somewhat).

I chuckled at the scene with the customer and the trash bins.  If I were in her shoes, I probably would have dumped it in any one of them and left, not set garbage on the floor, LOL!

Utpe, I honestly thought that that's what she was going to do, especially the longer she stood there!  (It would also be in keeping with some of the behavior of people in the random "inserts" (I don't know what they are called) that we see.

[fishcakes]

1 hour ago, Utpe said:

I chuckled at the scene with the customer and the trash bins.  If I were in her shoes, I probably would have dumped it in any one of them and left, not set garbage on the floor, LOL!

I laughed at that because I've been in places where I am that woman. Our rules here are pretty strict, so if you have a tray of, for example, fast food garbage, any leftover food, dirty napkins, and dirty paper or paper boxes go in the compost, clean paper and boxes go in recycle (unless it's smaller than 3" x 3", in which case it goes in the garbage), straws, cup lids, and paper cups that are lined with plastic go in recycle if they're clean and dry, if not they go in the garbage, condiment packets go in the garbage, and receipts go in the garbage if they're printed on thermal paper but in recycle if they're on regular paper (unless they're too small). It takes longer to throw away my tray than it does to order and eat the food.

[rhys]

15 hours ago, fishcakes said:

I laughed at that because I've been in places where I am that woman. Our rules here are pretty strict, so if you have a tray of, for example, fast food garbage, any leftover food, dirty napkins, and dirty paper or paper boxes go in the compost, clean paper and boxes go in recycle (unless it's smaller than 3" x 3", in which case it goes in the garbage), straws, cup lids, and paper cups that are lined with plastic go in recycle if they're clean and dry, if not they go in the garbage, condiment packets go in the garbage, and receipts go in the garbage if they're printed on thermal paper but in recycle if they're on regular paper (unless they're too small). It takes longer to throw away my tray than it does to order and eat the food.

Oh gosh that would drive me crazy. I'd be a bit like the woman on the show except I'd dump it all in the trash instead of leaving it on the floor. Airports seem to have a lot of those multi-bins. I do wonder if they all end up at the same land fill.

[SmithW6079]

I haven't watched the past several episodes, and it sounds like I haven't missed anything. They've been turning into very unpleasant people, and when that happens in a sitcom I watch, I bail.

[ljenkins782]

On 5/3/2019 at 3:34 PM, ClareWalks said:

This whole thing strongly parallels when The Office switched up managers. Amy is like Jim being the manager. It just kind of ruins the character, who is supposed to be a bit more of a "LOL, beats workin'" type of character. They should have made Dina the manager. It would have been like when Dwight was managing. They could have taken her bossy, no-nonsense persona and gone over the top with it and it would have been FUNNY. 

At least with The Office, Steve Carell left the show so they were forced to change managers. I don't understand the impetus to change it up on this show when Glenn isn't actually leaving. I guess they thought there was some comedy to be mined from Amy becoming manager, but it hasn't really worked out.

[aradia22]

I don't remember the pastor from past seasons. Does Glenn belong to one of those awful megachurches that preach prosperity? Because otherwise I don't understand why the pastor was as awful as the Cloud 9 characters have been lately.

As usual lately, the bits and physical humor have been better than the writing. I liked the woman holding her tray in front of all the different bins and just giving up and putting it on the floor.

I thought Glenn's whining in Amy's office was kind of funny. The bar is very low this season. The problem was him escalating to bible study and then locking himself in her office and using the PA system.