S04.E21: Sandra's Fight/S04.E22: Employee Appreciation Day

[joanne3482]

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Amy and Dina visit Cloud 9 corporate to fix problems caused by Sandra's misguided activism. Jonah tries to sabotage an employee meeting. Garrett tries to prove to his co-workers that he's a good person

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Amy and Jonah find themselves on opposing sides as corporate tries to win over employees by showering them with treats. When the company's tactics grow more extreme, everyone must band together to save one of their own

I wasn't expecting that at all. It is perhaps because I'm already having feelings about Project Runway, but the second episode made me really sad and I don't even like Mateo that much. 

[Irlandesa]

I had heard that the season finale was going to go dark but I didn't expect that.  I was thinking more along the lines of what we get in the penultimate episode with Jonah and Amy growing apart because of Amy's new position/unionizing. 

I do like that Jeff made it a priority to warn Mateo about ICE.

One trick I don't like in TV is their obsession with the silly filters.  Yes, they exist.  I imagine it'd be kind of funny if that happened in real life but it's not really that funny on TV.

[rhys]

Oh man, Mateo shackled on that bus? My living room got dusty, not gonna lie. I did love how Dina, Cheyenne & Amy were trying so hard to get him out of the store.

[pivot]

I have not been liking this season at all. The show has seemed really mean spirited  but I loved this season finale. I like when they all work together to defeat the man. And ICE is fucking evil. I am up for any show that highlights that.

[vibeology]

On one hand, I’m so impressed with how the season all tied together but on the other, I was sobbing at the end. 

Little things from Dina with the cameras, Mateo’s fake promotion, Marcus living in the store and the way the cut hours rolled into the twitter investigation to Sandra wanting to unionize to corporate pushing back. It’s incredibly well-crafted.

But also, it’s heartbreaking. Everyone came together. Kelly brought her whole store. Bo meant well. Everyone tried. And it didn’t matter. ICE won. Heartbreaking. 

[JenLily]

Guys? I know Mateo's been beyond annoying this season but I did not expect this to happen. My cold, withered heart grew a couple of sizes watching everyone band together trying to save him and then shrunk right back down again seeing him zip-tied in the van. I got a little teary-eyed, I have to admit.

[Boofish]

I feel so relieved. I was crying but glad I'm not alone. Mateo can be annoying but I love the way over the years the show has highlighted how hard he is willing to work, always impeccably dressed and how much those employee of the month awards meant to him. In other words a hard working immigrant. That was heartbreaking. 

I also love how much Dina loves Amy and always has her back. 

[chocolatine]

Mateo being hunted down and the one ICE agent smirking while telling Amy that "illegals" tend to look like her was very hard for me to watch. I was a legal immigrant (work visa) for several years and am now a permanent resident, but I still have to deal with condescending treatment and sometimes downright disdain from immigration officials nearly every time I come back from a trip abroad. One time, when an agent asked me what I was going to do in the US and I said I was going home, he looked me straight in the eye and said "this isn't your home". I'll never forget the fear that interaction instilled in me.

While, like @pivot, I also feel it's important to highlight the cruelty of ICE, I'm worried that the show has painted itself into a corner with this storyline. There is no realistic way to have Mateo come back from this, and if he does it will cheapen the impact of those scenes (unless Nico Santos is actually leaving the show and Mateo isn't coming back).

On a lighter note, I loved Amy blackmailing her "coke fiend" boss into closing the other store. Also loved Sandra and Jerry getting engaged, not least because it'll piss off Carol to no end. Finally, loved Ana Ortiz as another cameo from Ugly Betty. Now we just need Becki Newton and Michael Urie to show up as temp workers next season.

Edited May 17, 2019 by chocolatine

[rhys]

I'm sorry you have to go through that, chocolatine. That must be frustrating and scary at times. I don't see a way out of this for Mateo either. There's no way for him to become "legal" is there? Sniff.

[tennisgurl]

That seriously took a dark turn at the end, I really thought Mateo would get out of there through some last minute save at the end, but...it didnt happen. They came together even after all the crap that has happened between them, even if its breaking the law, and it still didnt work. It was so heartwarming seeing everyone working together to save him, with even Kelly coming back to help along with her new store, but heartbreaking when it ended with him being cuffed in the back of an ICE van while everyone just watched in shock. 

Its actually impressive how much this has been set up through various plots throughout the season, with the tweets, Amy and Jonah dealing with her promotion, the coke fiend boss, Jeff (it was great that he tried to warn Mateo), Sandra going all Norma Ray, Marcus living in the store, Mateos fake employee picture, it all came together to this moment. I have complained about this show being more mean than fun this season, but this was really well crafted and emotionally effecting in ways a lot of shows, let alone half hour workplace sitcoms, cant pull off. Really hard to watch, but really well done. 

Edited May 17, 2019 by tennisgurl

[calguy]

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While, like @PIVOT, I also feel it's important to highlight the cruelty of ICE, I'm worried that the show has painted itself into a corner with this storyline. There is no realistic way to have Mateo come back from this, and if he does it will cheapen the impact of those scenes (unless Nico Santos is actually leaving the show and Mateo isn't coming back).

The non-profit Dream American which consulted on this episode was founded by Jose Antonio Vargas who like Mateo is a undocumented immigrant from the Philippines who arrived in the US as child so it's not completely hopeless for Mateo. One plausible path is a bona fide  marriage to a US citizen and request an adjustment to his immigration status.

[Aulty]

That was a well executed wrap up of the season. I guess that the story will now focus on the fight between employess and coorporate with the ultimate goal of creating a better work environment.

It was funny when they called Laurie at coorporate and Amy blackmailing her over the phone.

Unionizing will not help with Mateo's case, so I'm curious how they're gonna solve that. The shock of this might make Dina and Garrett put their issues aside.

[ApathyMonger]

Loved how the finale tied all the recent storylines together. The picture on the wall was a real "Oh shit" moment.

Great to see Kelly and Bo again.

Interview with Spitzer:

https://www.vox.com/culture/2019/5/16/18628224/superstore-season-4-finale-employee-appreciation-day-recap-mateo

[kelslamu]

Don't like my sitcoms going dark.  I'll be alone in this, but I just want to laugh.

[SmithW6079]

21 minutes ago, kelslamu said:

Don't like my sitcoms going dark.  I'll be alone in this, but I just want to laugh.

No, you're not alone. I want to laugh too. That's why I watch sitcoms.

[Empress1]

9 hours ago, vibeology said:

But also, it’s heartbreaking. Everyone came together. Kelly brought her whole store. Bo meant well. Everyone tried. And it didn’t matter. ICE won. Heartbreaking. 

When Dina was like "I don't know! They're everywhere! I'm sorry!" and was so defeated, it was heartbreaking. It reminded me of Murphy Brown when a character's parents were deported on Thanksgiving. Murphy gives a teary update on her show and says she called in every favor, she called every lawyer she knew, and it still didn't help. And like Mateo, the parents were like "It's OK. We'll go."

Is the actor leaving? I hope not, I love him. 

6 hours ago, Aulty said:

It was funny when they called Laurie at coorporate and Amy blackmailing her over the phone.

I laughed. She was like "Oh, close [Amy's store], I can't stand that mana -" Amy: "COKE FIEND." Laurie: " ... Close the other one." The other funny moment for me was the "word chain" they were doing when the union organizer was there.

Funny but also really gross: the shopper perusing the "healthy living" aisle with blood dripping from his hand.

[Melina22]

2 hours ago, ApathyMonger said:

Interview with Spitzer:

https://www.vox.com/culture/2019/5/16/18628224/superstore-season-4-finale-employee-appreciation-day-recap-mateo

That was actually a really good, informative article. I'm happy to hear Mateo isn't leaving the show. I worried he would after his success in Crazy Rich Asians. He's one of my favourite cast members. He always makes me laugh. 

I enjoyed seeing Bo and Kelly again. Actually, I thought this was the best episode of the season. 

[Skyfall]

If Mateo had only picked up one of Jeff’s calls he might’ve gotten out.

[gesundheit]

1 hour ago, Empress1 said:

When Dina was like "I don't know! They're everywhere! I'm sorry!" and was so defeated, it was heartbreaking.

Lauren Ash was so freaking good in that moment. So was Nico Santos -- that expression on his face in the back of the car. Cripey, I'm getting misty-eyed at work just remembering it. And Mateo's my favorite character so it was particularly gut-wrenching. Really well done. They do tend to end seasons by getting very serious, but I did not anticipate this serious. 

On the upside: return of the service goat! It'll never get old.

Now I'm going to go cry in the ladies' room for a minute....

Also, Santos talked about his own relationship with the episode: https://ew.com/tv/2019/05/16/nico-santos-blog-superstore-season-5-finale-mateo/

Edited May 17, 2019 by gesundheit

[biakbiak]

20 minutes ago, Skyfall said:

If Mateo had only picked up one of Jeff’s calls he might’ve gotten out.

If only Jeff has heard of text messaging.

[Guest]

Well, that was unexpectedly depressing as hell. And here I thought the biggest drama in the finale would be the continuing fallout from Garrett and the birds! I had to fast forward through them being cornered by the ice agents because it was too heartbreaking – you can only imagine what families in real life must feel. I cosign the general consensus that Mateo has been unfathomably, almost unconscionably annoying this season, but obviously no one deserves to be deported for having a shitty personality. It will be interesting to see where they go with his character from here, since they already pointed out that he wouldn't be able to come back to work even if he wasn't deported. Maybe a quickie marriage to Jeff? I wonder if Amy, Jonah, and maybe even Sandra (unlikely) will feel some measure of guilt for indirectly starting the snowball effect that led to Mateo getting deported.

24 minutes ago, Skyfall said:

If Mateo had only picked up one of Jeff’s calls he might’ve gotten out.

In fairness, Jeff has been a rather clingy sad sack of an ex-boyfriend, so I don't blame Mateo for ignoring him and not necessarily picking up the fact that something was wrong. But then they tried to turn it into some weird joke about how millennials don't like taking phone calls and played into the "Mateo is a vapid oblivious person" theme that this season just couldn't seem to get enough of, which was tonally awkward given that ICE was en route to arrest him. I did enjoy the fact that Jeff was willing to pretend that he had diarrhea to go warn Mateo. True love indeed.

Other miscellaneous thoughts:

• Seeing Kelly made me wish that they had kept her on as a series regular and resent the stupid love triangle for eliminating her from the show. She's a wholesome breath of fresh air in a cast full of unapologetically terrible characters. I thought it was douchey of Amy to be hung up on the fact that Jonah still had her number given the urgency of the situation and the fact that she was helping her with zero pettiness whatsoever even after she stole her boyfriend!
• I was even happy to see Bo, and his character has never been funny to me. What's that actor doing now? Didn't the show that he left Superstore for get canceled? They might as well bring him back too.
• I can't express how much I love the evolution of Dina. She's become the most loyal friend on the show and you can tell she genuinely loves her coworkers, even though she acts annoyed with some of them. Her character has come a long way from S1 where she basically existed to sexually harass Jonah. Sure, Lauren Ash is good at cringe comedy, but this season in particular has really shown that she can sell deeper emotional beats.
• On the opposite end of the spectrum, the writers need to remember that Sandra is best in small doses. She's been teetering on caricature lately. I personally found her kind of obnoxious in the union episode. Don't get me wrong, I know she was technically on the right side of the issue, but it was irritating that she knew nothing about the cause and jeopardized everyone else's jobs to get some fleeting attention. I know her desperation is supposed to be funny, and it works in her rivalry with Carol, but let's keep it there please. She continues to be adorable with Jerry, however.
• Amy and Jonah continue to have zero chemistry or believable emotion since they've gotten together. All of their scenes have the exact same flat affect, whether it's telling each other that they're in love or the half-baked conflict we got during these episodes. Flirting? It's monotone! Angry? It's monotone!
• I like Myrtle.

[BuckeyeLou]

I, too, admit to getting teary-eyed at the end, seeing Mateo in the back of the van seeing all his Co-workers watching him.  This show always has the laughs, I admit to bursting out-loud laughing last night, but then emotional moments too.  As mentioned by others, Lauren Ash(DIna) can act funny, and then can do emotional scenes too, and she does care about her Co-workers. Amy trying to be the 'Boss" is proving to be harder than she thought it would be.  

[Melina22]

2 hours ago, gesundheit said:

, Santos talked about his own relationship with the episode: https://ew.com/tv/2019/05/16/nico-santos-blog-superstore-season-5-finale-mateo/

Wow! Shocking, eye-opening article! 

[Suzysite]

13 hours ago, pivot said:

And ICE is ***ing evil. I am up for any show that highlights that.

What?  Not a chance.   They are brave men and women who put their lives on the line every day to uphold the laws of the land.  A fictional character getting hauled off by law enforcement dosn't change that.   He did wrong and will probably get a slap on the wrist, but ICE is in no way "evil". 

These double episodes have hit a season low in the ratings.  The season has been pretty awful as a whole, but this poor Mateo and fight-the-man union stuff is going the be the final nail in the show's coffin for me.

[iMonrey]

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no one deserves to be deported for having a shitty personality.

Don't they though?

I did like how everyone came together to try to help him escape, but at the end of the day he's a pretty horrible person so it wouldn't make me all that sad if he was deported. 

It was a pretty effective season finale though and I liked how they managed to tie everything together, even a follow-up to Marcus's hilarious back tattoo. 

[MakeMeLaugh]

4 hours ago, gesundheit said:

Lauren Ash was so freaking good in that moment. ...

5 hours ago, Empress1 said:

When Dina was like "I don't know! They're everywhere! I'm sorry!" and was so defeated, it was heartbreaking....

Her growing desperation as Dina was directing them to get Mateo out of the store to her hopelessness at the end was one of the most moving things I’ve seen on TV this year. You can even see the color in her face change. I hope Lauren Ash reads these boards so she knows we are bowing to her.  

I thought the ICE was portrayed pretty well, actually—surely they could have taken Amy and Cheyenne in too for obstructing their efforts, but they only took Mateo. Show could have made them clowns. Some funny bits of them getting ice cream and looking at sale merchandise bins, but not over the top.

Edited May 17, 2019 by MakeMeLaugh

[MakeMeLaugh]

3 hours ago, SnarkEnthusiast said:

...

Sandra is best in small doses. ...

Amy and Jonah continue to have zero chemistry or believable emotion since they've gotten together. All of their scenes have the exact same flat affect, whether it's telling each other that they're in love or the half-baked conflict we got during these episodes. Flirting? It's monotone! Angry? It's monotone!

....

Yes and yes. The character of annoying Amy weakens this show, and there's no comic backstory or shtick to her.

[gesundheit]

I forgot to mention how great the running gag was with Justine constantly mentioning how all her friends "live in Manhattan" and "work in fashion." Poor Justine. Always trying and failing to sound cool. 

[ClareWalks]

1 hour ago, MakeMeLaugh said:

Her growing desperation as Dina was directing them to get Mateo out of the store to her hopelessness at the end was one of the most moving things I’ve seen on TV this year. You can even see the color in her face change. I hope Lauren Ash reads these boards so she knows we are bowing to her.  

I hope so too. I had a tiny interaction with Lauren Ash on Twitter years ago. She was on Conan and I tweeted her that she looked AMAZING in her dress and asked her what kind it was. She was so sweet with her reply. Everything I've seen her in, she has been my favorite part of that thing.

[RoadFullOfPromise]

50 minutes ago, gesundheit said:

I forgot to mention how great the running gag was with Justine constantly mentioning how all her friends "live in Manhattan" and "work in fashion." Poor Justine. Always trying and failing to sound cool. 

It’s also her weirdly smug (but somehow not too smirky) facial expressions that crack me up when she’s saying things like this. I’m glad I don’t know a Justine-type in real life, because she would bug the shit out of me in about 5 minutes, but they use her in perfectly small doses, and she’s pretty hilarious.

[RoadFullOfPromise]

2 hours ago, Suzysite said:

What?  Not a chance.   They are brave men and women who put their lives on the line every day to uphold the laws of the land.  A fictional character getting hauled off by law enforcement dosn't change that.   He did wrong and will probably get a slap on the wrist, but ICE is in no way "evil".

In the interest of keeping it vaguely civil, I will only say that to me, regardless of your feelings on immigration, etc. it seems inhumane to put nonviolent criminals in zip ties. I understand that that’s likely a matter of logistics and resources, but Jesus. What a horrible visual that is.

[Melina22]

2 hours ago, Suzysite said:

women who put their lives on the line every day to uphold the laws of the land.  A fictional character getting hauled off by law enforcement dosn't change that.   He did wrong and will probably get a slap on the wrist, but ICE is in no way "evil". 

To be fair to the show, one of the characters did point out that Mateo had broken the law (and unlike the man from Syria, he wasn't a refugee or running for his life). She made a funny analogy as well, which unfortunately escapes me. Does anyone remember? 

Also, I was glad to see that the ICE people (that sounds like something from science fiction!) weren't portrayed as villains or monsters. Their portrayal was sort of neutral. 

I'm not American, so have no personal experience with ICE. And I'm the child of (legal) immigrants, as so many people are, so I have lots of empathy and sympathy for immigrants. On the other hand, things aren't black & white. People need refuge, but laws need to be obeyed to avoid chaos. It's so complex. 

Obviously this can't be fully addressed in a sitcom episode but I always like to see both sides of something presented. I loved the episode, but I did find it a little one-sided. 

[gesundheit]

1 hour ago, MakeMeLaugh said:

Her growing desperation as Dina was directing them to get Mateo out of the store to her hopelessness at the end was one of the most moving things I’ve seen on TV this year. You can even see the color in her face change. I hope Lauren Ash reads these boards so she knows we are bowing to her.  

I've noticed if you @ her in a tweet she usually at least gives it a "like," so at least you know if you're throwing love her way, she's receiving it!

[krankydoodle]

13 minutes ago, Melina22 said:

To be fair to the show, one of the characters did point out that Mateo had broken the law (and unlike the man from Syria, he wasn't a refugee or running for his life). She made a funny analogy as well, which unfortunately escapes me. Does anyone remember?  

I think it was Dina comparing it to how if someone was found out after sneaking into a theater, they wouldn't be allowed to stay and watch the rest of the movie. Then a few of the others jumped in: What if you were born in the theater, what if your parents brought you to the theater when you were little, etc.

These episodes were definitely a step up from some of the more recent ones. Having been forced to endure something similar, I enjoyed the anti-union video Amy made them watch and everyone getting weirded out by the cloud and its pregnant partner. And the moment afterwards when Amy blurted out that she wasn't planning to have any more kids followed by Jonah's surprise and the stammering back-and-forth between them felt painfully real.

[pagooey]

2 hours ago, MakeMeLaugh said:

Lauren Ash was so freaking good in that moment. ...

7 hours ago, Empress1 said:

When Dina was like "I don't know! They're everywhere! I'm sorry!" and was so defeated, it was heartbreaking....

Put me on this bandwagon too. I was goofily thrilled when she jumped on the radio and started using her surveillance panopticon for good...and then as panicked and crushed as all the characters when it didn't work. It's a sitcom, how could it NOT WORK? 

I worked retail for years--in a mall, if not a big box store--and this series is a truly underrated gem.

[Skyfall]

4 hours ago, Suzysite said:

What?  Not a chance.   They are brave men and women who put their lives on the line every day to uphold the laws of the land.  A fictional character getting hauled off by law enforcement dosn't change that.   He did wrong and will probably get a slap on the wrist, but ICE is in no way "evil". 

These double episodes have hit a season low in the ratings.  The season has been pretty awful as a whole, but this poor Mateo and fight-the-man union stuff is going the be the final nail in the show's coffin for me.

You do realize that outside of a few instances the finales will always be low? Nice weather and sun being out longer means more people out of their homes.

[nasir jones]

I thought Employee Appreciation Day was a great episode.  It reminded me of Scrubs in that it was funny, dramatic, and sad.  That's not easy to pull that off in a sitcom.  As plenty of others have already mentioned, the writers did a terrific job of tying up all of the stories from the season.  I also seemed to get the weird dust in my eye watching the shot of Mateo zip-tied in the van.

The Sayid character has been a terrific addition.  "(Jerry)'s not trying to be sexy and that's what makes him sexy." 

[HeySandyStrange]

I think I have sympathy for Mateo's situation because he didn't knowingly, at least until a few years ago, know that he was doing anything illegal. It wasn't his fault for coming the the US illegally as a child, and I can't blame him for not wanting to come forward as an adult, after years of assimilating and building a life here. So I can't get to mad at him for breaking a law, and yes, there doesn't seem to be a reason to haul off a nonviolent offender in zip ties like they caught him holding up Cloud 9 at gunpoint.

Sayid was so funny, showing the officer not only all of his papers, but a whole photo album lol.

I for one am glad that Superstore is back to mixing absurdity with more realistic stories, as well. 

[AnimeMania]

1 hour ago, HeySandyStrange said:

Sayid was so funny, showing the officer not only all of his papers, but a whole photo album lol.

The fact that Sayid seemed to have all that documentation ready without any preparation also speaks volumes.

[ljenkins782]

8 hours ago, SnarkEnthusiast said:

Other miscellaneous thoughts:

• Seeing Kelly made me wish that they had kept her on as a series regular and resent the stupid love triangle for eliminating her from the show. She's a wholesome breath of fresh air in a cast full of unapologetically terrible characters. I thought it was douchey of Amy to be hung up on the fact that Jonah still had her number given the urgency of the situation and the fact that she was helping her with zero pettiness whatsoever even after she stole her boyfriend!
• I was even happy to see Bo, and his character has never been funny to me. What's that actor doing now? Didn't the show that he left Superstore for get canceled? They might as well bring him back too.
• I can't express how much I love the evolution of Dina. She's become the most loyal friend on the show and you can tell she genuinely loves her coworkers, even though she acts annoyed with some of them. Her character has come a long way from S1 where she basically existed to sexually harass Jonah. Sure, Lauren Ash is good at cringe comedy, but this season in particular has really shown that she can sell deeper emotional beats.
• On the opposite end of the spectrum, the writers need to remember that Sandra is best in small doses. She's been teetering on caricature lately. I personally found her kind of obnoxious in the union episode. Don't get me wrong, I know she was technically on the right side of the issue, but it was irritating that she knew nothing about the cause and jeopardized everyone else's jobs to get some fleeting attention. I know her desperation is supposed to be funny, and it works in her rivalry with Carol, but let's keep it there please. She continues to be adorable with Jerry, however.
• Amy and Jonah continue to have zero chemistry or believable emotion since they've gotten together. All of their scenes have the exact same flat affect, whether it's telling each other that they're in love or the half-baked conflict we got during these episodes. Flirting? It's monotone! Angry? It's monotone!

Agreed on all counts. Kelly's sweet nature was a good counterpoint to the rest of the cast and she can be very funny. Her attempt at distracting the ICE guy reminded me of her role in the episode where they were trying to not to become a Quad A store and they stuck her on register with no training. She was so cheerfully inept, it was hilarious. "Ooh, it's beeping like it's mad at me..." 

I've also always hated Bo, but I liked him here. For once, his ridiculousness was useful.

Sandra is definitely a background character, the union episode was way too much Sandra. 

And yeah, Jonah and Amy have fallen into the classic sitcom cliche of the deflation of chemistry once the "will they/won't they" couple finally gets together. 

Quote

I think I have sympathy for Mateo's situation because he didn't knowingly, at least until a few years ago, know that he was doing anything illegal. It wasn't his fault for coming the the US illegally as a child, and I can't blame him for not wanting to come forward as an adult, after years of assimilating and building a life here. So I can't get to mad at him for breaking a law, and yes, there doesn't seem to be a reason to haul off a nonviolent offender in zip ties like they caught him holding up Cloud 9 at gunpoint.

Yeah, it's not his fault and I can't really blame him for not jumping up to volunteer that info with all the uncertainty around the system. Also, it hardly seems like a valuable use of resources to send an entire squad of people hunt down one guy who's just working at his job. 

[chaifan]

I was really expecting the very last shot to be Jeff in the driver's seat with an ICE jacket and cap on.  Otherwise, I don't see how a sitcom is moving forward with this plot line.

As for why didn't Jeff text Mateo, I'd assume he didn't want a paper trail of any communication along the lines of "Get out!  ICE is coming!"

Edited May 18, 2019 by chaifan

[biakbiak]

44 minutes ago, chaifan said:

As for why didn't Jeff text Mateo, I'd assume he didn't want a paper trail of any communication along the lines of "Get out!  ICE is coming!"

Seven phone calls in quick succession right after he found out looks just as bad.

3 hours ago, HeySandyStrange said:

Sayid was so funny, showing the officer not only all of his papers, but a whole photo album lol.

Unfortunately it’s a necessary pro caution that a lot of people take only slightly heightened so I didn’t find the humor.

[memememe76]

This was an excellent episode, that redeemed pretty much everyone. Sometimes you read about shows redeeming themed after a strong finale, but it's usually reserved for dramas. But it applies here. 

I have been enjoying Amy and Jonah much more together than their off and on pattern. And their conflict is much more sensible and ties in with the show's themes. 

I am so looking forward to Sandra and Jerry's wedding. 

I have no idea what will happen to Mateo. 

With Whiskey Cavalier cancelled (I am sad about that), can Ana Ortiz do more episodes? As Amy tries to unionize the show, Ana can play the antagonist. 

Edited May 18, 2019 by memememe76

[Court]

I loved seeing Anna Ortiz. 

I legit cracked up at the Jeff and corporate scene. 

Sayid has slowly become one of my favorite characters. 

[EtheltoTillie]

Never liked Kelly, but her pageant shtick was hilarious. San Salvador, El Salvador, Panama, Panama. . .

[lefawn]

Re: Sayid’s notebook.

I know legal immigrants who have taken to carrying around copies of all their papers so if (when) they get hasseled they’ll have everything ready and can, hopefully, just walk/ drive away. 

My former roommate includes a picture of him with my mom and her pastor at her church’s Interfaith Fellowship luncheon. A sorta “ yeah, I’m Muslim but I love Christians and hang out with them all the time!”  The idea is to humanize him and seem less “scary”.  So the pictures weren’t that much of a stretch to me either. 

It was a funny bit but absolutely horrifying if you know anyone this could actually happen to. 

I like my comedies to be comedies 90% of the time.  But if a comedy wants to make a social or political or serious statement, and does it well, I’m in.  Sometimes we learn and relate more through humor than the nightly news or an op-ed in the paper.  

[fishcakes]

I watched this last night and ... damn. They made me cry for Mateo and I've never liked that guy.

Jeff: It's diarrhea so I'm probably going to be gone for a while.
CEO: ... He makes me uncomfortable.

Realistically, I think Mateo could have pretended to be a customer and walked out of the store. They made a point of saying that ICE was checking the IDs of all the customers before they could leave, and I'm sure they were, but they don't have the authority to do that. I believe that everyone would go along with it because people generally submit to the perceived authority of law enforcement, but they can't create immigration checkpoints -- which is essentially what they did -- unless they are within 100 miles of a U.S. border and this show is set in St. Louis. They could lock down the store and detain the employees because they had Corporate's permission, but they couldn't detain the customers. As for whether they would do it, of course they would. Anyone who reads the news knows that ICE is doing this kind of thing all the time, showing up at businesses frequented by immigrants, boarding Greyhound buses, etc. and randomly checking IDs. But often when people object to this and refuse and cite the law, ICE will leave (people have posted video or audio of interactions like this on social media, as examples of what to do if you're stopped -- of course, this is only when ICE follows the law; if they don't, those phones are confiscated anyway, so no idea how often it goes bad for the person); the problem is that most people don't know their rights and they're understandably afraid of what will will happen if they don't cooperate. In any case, the show runners did consult with immigration advocacy groups and with ICE, so I have no doubt this was a realistic depiction of how things could go in the real world, regardless of the the legality of it.

I did love Kelly trying to distract one agent with pageant talk and Bo trying to bro down with another and asking if he could shoot his gun. Also, the agents lining up for free ice cream cones.

Best comedic moment: Store Raccoon and Service Goat finally meet.

[RoadFullOfPromise]

41 minutes ago, fishcakes said:

Realistically, I think Mateo could have pretended to be a customer and walked out of the store. They made a point of saying that ICE was checking the IDs of all the customers before they could leave, and I'm sure they were, but they don't have the authority to do that. I believe that everyone would go along with it because people generally submit to the perceived authority of law enforcement, but they can't create immigration checkpoints -- which is essentially what they did -- unless they are within 100 miles of a U.S. border and this show is set in St. Louis. They could lock down the store and detain the employees because they had Corporate's permission, but they couldn't detain the customers. As for whether they would do it, of course they would. 

I think they were trying to sneak Mateo out with a large group of customers so that his ID couldn’t be checked, right? Because even if he got into a customer check line, they would’ve grabbed him as soon as they saw his name on his ID. I think?

thank you for the info about the logistics of it. I agree with you 100% that people often don’t know their rights and/or are too scared to assert them in a sweep like this. And orgs like ICE know that and take advantage.

[theatremouse]

I think initially they were trying to get him out with customers BEFORE the guy who was checking the employee list had determined if any of their SS#s were invalid. Once the staff knew the officers' knew exactly who they were looking for, the plan was less clear and more of a "panic and avoid" thing, and then once his picture was seen, they were really just flailing. 

I really appreciated the conversation in the warehouse about "making walls irrelevant" because up to that point I had been thinking "there are hidden passages in the store!" I thought that was a less-clunky-than-I-expected way of explaining why they didn't try to hide him in one of those secret corridors.

[RoadFullOfPromise]

1 hour ago, theatremouse said:

I think initially they were trying to get him out with customers BEFORE the guy who was checking the employee list had determined if any of their SS#s were invalid. Once the staff knew the officers' knew exactly who they were looking for, the plan was less clear and more of a "panic and avoid" thing, and then once his picture was seen, they were really just flailing. 

I really appreciated the conversation in the warehouse about "making walls irrelevant" because up to that point I had been thinking "there are hidden passages in the store!" I thought that was a less-clunky-than-I-expected way of explaining why they didn't try to hide him in one of those secret corridors.

Ah - that’s right. I was so nervous throughout that whole plot line that I think I lost track of the timeline. I think I started tearing up when the ICE agents saw the Employee of the Month photo, because that sure seemed to be the beginning of the end. And I agree completely that Lauren Ash was amazing as Dina felt more and more helpless, and it felt so alarmingly real.

Agree totally about the walls, because...NOPE.