Superstore Review: Scanners / #Cloud9Fail (Season 4 Episodes 19 and 20)
As the 2018-2019 television season winds down, that comes with a double dose of Superstore
Superstore Season 4 Episode 19, “Scanners,” uses a modern retail convention like self-scanning to create several hilarious gags, both physical and otherwise, on one of the best episodes of the year.
Then, Superstore Season 4 Episode 20, “#Cloud9Fail,” has a slightly more serious bent. “#Cloud9Fail” plays on the modern impact of social media in the workplace and creates some big problems for the team.
Both “Scanners” and “#Cloud9Fail” are connected by the Cloud 9 corporate office cutting hours and making things harder on its employees.
“Scanners” shows Cloud 9 cutting hours in favor of using self-scanning technology, which hilariously turns into a laser-tag game between the employees.
The laser tag game is a catalyst for one of the funniest episodes Superstore has done this year. Not only the physical elements (which Superstore always does extremely well) but setting up the elaborate gags about “white people” make “Scanners” one of the season’s best and funniest.
Cheyenne: There’s a bunch of white people over there and I don’t wanna get shot
“Scanners” and “#Cloud9Fail” both work as funny episodes, but also as strong character pieces. Dina, in particular, goes on a really extraordinary journey through the two episodes.
First, Dina is willing to take the blame for cutting hours until some of the sob stories get the better of her, which shows some serious growth. Then, of course, there’s the payoff to the bird escaping incident from earlier in the season (that tosses in some growth for Garrett, too).
You really get to see every side of Dina through the double-dose of episodes, and Lauren Ash gives us some of her best work here as a slowly more empathetic and then raging Dina.
I spent most of “#Cloud9Fail” worrying that Amy and Jonah’s relationship was going to be a bigger issue for the Cloud 9 HR rep (guest star Chrissy Metz), but instead that story took a far more interesting turn with Sandra getting blamed for the inflammatory tweets and then becoming a martyr.
It’s SOO fitting that Jonah wouldn’t get credit for a thing that everyone actually liked, too.
Sandra being received as a hero even though she didn’t do anything not only fits, but sets up an interesting story for the last couple episodes of the season.
Though extremely funny, both “Scanners” and “#Cloud9Fail” address larger issues in the retail industry.
The dwindling hours of workers and favoring self-service is a major issue that affects real workers, like the now-homeless Marcus. Since this is a many-faceted issue, Superstore does a good job of not bombarding you with a political stance, but instead mirrors lives of real workers.
The balance of comedy, character work, and real-world issues is delicate between “Scanners” and “#Cloud9Fail,” but the result is two fantastic installments.
A few stray thoughts:
- Among the big character moments is a big Jonah/Amy moment – they’re moving in together! Hopefully this doesn’t mean something worse is going to happen to them.
- In case anyone was wondering, STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math.
- Glenn getting in on the floor worker shenanigans might be my favorite thing.
- I’m SO glad that being a horrible human being isn’t working out for Carol. She’s the worst.
- This is the second time in the last year that TV shows someone flippantly discarding a Mickey Mantle rookie card and it causes me physical pain. They need to stop.
What did you think of these episodes of Superstore? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
Critic Rating:
User Rating:
Superstore airs Thursdays at 8/7c on NBC.
Want more from Tell-Tale TV? Subscribe to our newsletter here!
Nick Hogan
Nick Hogan is an experienced podcaster and writer (particularly on media topics), who loves discussion and analysis of TV and is always looking for new shows to watch. He is also a parent who loves buffalo wings, blowing raspberries, and his beloved Cincinnati Reds.