Superstore Review: Self-Care (Season 5 Episode 5)

Superstore rarely ever dips in quality. Even when it does, it pops right back up to where it was before.

Superstore Season 5 Episode 5, “Self-Care,” does exactly this. An exploration of working hard and exhaustion, and the self-care needed to repair that, is exactly what Superstore needed to get back in the game.

Amy has a tough job and a small child, so she’s obviously exhausted sometimes. The comedy of the entire episode is based on Jonah and Cheyenne believing they can handle her responsibilities for a few hours. Clearly, they cannot.

The main message here is even though a manager may make things look easy, or spend a lot of time in their office, their work is still essential. Someone’s job may not be as easy as it looks. But trying to have Jonah and Cheyenne run things in Amy’s brief absence creates sheer chaos, and a hilarious episode.

One of the primary highlights, though, is Amy and Jonah’s relationship coming back to the forefront. They’ve largely taken a backseat to the other goings on of Season 5, centered around mostly other characters. But “Self-Care” returns their relationship to the main stage to adorable and hilarious end. 

Jonah’s concern for Amy comes off as sweet and innocent, and his attempts to cover for her spiral increasingly out of control. It’s filled with laughs.

Including Cheyenne in this story works well, too. Jonah and Cheyenne are two of Amy’s closest relationships on the show, but rarely get any stories together. So it makes sense that a story technically centered on Amy would bring the two together.

Nichole Bloom and Ben Feldman really use the opportunity to shine, too. The chaos created by Amy’s lengthy self-care nap gets funnier as it goes along, but wouldn’t work nearly as well without Bloom or Feldman reacting to it. 

Their cleanup of the store during the inspection is masterful.

Amy’s extended nap is easily the best story of “Self-Care,” but the others still present some funny/sweet moments. 

Mateo gets hired on at the Vision Center in the store, but Dan (the optometrist) seems to misunderstand the nature of their relationship. I don’t think Dan is intentionally taking advantage of Mateo, but is still a cautionary tale for people in positions of power that could easily be abused. 

But the sweet nature of Dina and Glenn’s exchanges re: diabetes warm the heart. She cares about him! 

Really, all three of these stories vary in comedic strength, but all remind viewers of the sweet nature of Superstore. The ensemble and the love they share is the best part about the show!

A few stray thoughts:

• Sandra calls Jerry from the storm shelter because their conversations get a bit NSFW. I wonder if Sandra knows what that means.
• Glenn announces he’s now diabetic by saying he’s “no longer pre-diabetic.” Gold.
• “James Corden in Cats”
• The hot sauce display catching fire is my absolute favorite thing.

What did you think of this episode of Superstore? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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Superstore airs Thursdays at 8/7c on NBC

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