Top 10 Times Superstore Tackled Serious Issues
Let's get serious for a moment. For this list, we’ll be looking at the most significant social issues NBC’s “Superstore” managed to incorporate in its episodes. In case you haven’t finished watching the show, look out for spoilers ahead.
Transcript
00:00 "Hey, they still have some!"
00:01 "Oh, um, sir, if you just want to wait, we're gonna, um..."
00:04 Welcome to Miss Mojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the top 10 times Superstore tackled serious issues.
00:11 "I'm a pharmacist. I don't know how to deliver a baby."
00:14 For this list, we'll be looking at the most significant social issues NBC's Superstore managed to incorporate into its episodes.
00:22 In case you haven't finished watching the show, look out for spoilers ahead.
00:25 Just before we get started, let us know who your favorite Superstore character is in the comments below.
00:31 Number 10, The Tornado
00:34 Severe weather feels like a weird choice on paper for a workplace comedy to tackle, but it actually works really well.
00:41 "What is that? What is going on?"
00:45 "It's like a prison escape."
00:46 "No, guys, it's color wars."
00:49 "No, it's a tornado warning!"
00:50 The plot point comes at a time where employees are fearing layoffs, and culminates in Jonah and Amy sharing their first kiss in the panic of it all.
00:59 We see these characters truly fear for their lives for the first time, and it's not just a one-off episode either.
01:05 "Yeah, so anyway, everything I own is gone, and now I'm living in a FEMA trailer."
01:09 The start of the next season showcases the devastating after-effects, including Dina's signs of PTSD,
01:16 Jonah's living conditions after he lost his home to the storm, and the belief that Brett was killed.
01:21 Of course, it's all handled with Superstore's remarkable balance of humor and grounded realism.
01:27 "Attention, all customers and employees to the storm shelter. Now, people, let's go!"
01:32 "Move, Grandpa!"
01:35 "Oh, she's picking that lady up."
01:38 Number 9, Surrogacy
01:40 "You write me a check, and I can have a baby for you in as little as a week."
01:43 "A week?"
01:44 "Oh, is that too long?"
01:45 The subject of surrogacy has quite a lot of layers to it to begin with.
01:49 It often involves surrounding discussions of infertility, the emotional and physical toll of carrying someone else's baby,
01:55 and, in this case, payout.
01:57 Dina mentions that the $20,000 Glenn's offering to pay is about what she takes home in a year,
02:04 and goes on about all the things she could do with the money.
02:07 "That's practically what I take home in a year. I could fix up my house, pay off my credit card bills."
02:12 "I could put my mom away for good with money like that."
02:15 This particular plot point fleshes out Dina's character significantly,
02:19 and also does so much to nuance Dina and Glenn's rocky work relationship.
02:24 We're not sure if it's accurate to say they come out of it as friends,
02:28 but an emotional bond seems to have formed between them by the end, whether they wanted it or not.
02:33 "I don't understand why Glenn needs the shots if you're the one carrying the baby."
02:37 "Uh, if I have to pump myself full of hormones in order to carry his child, it's only fair that he go through the same pain."
02:43 Number 8, The Pandemic
02:45 "You are essential and the true heroes during this chaotic time."
02:49 Once many TV shows returned to air after the pandemic halted production,
02:53 most decided to forego addressing the current events of the time.
02:56 We all lived through it, and it was such a visceral experience
03:00 that we were almost happy to see it didn't exist in the universe of so many of our favorite shows.
03:05 "Damn right." "Oh, you got that right." "No, Glenn, six feet!"
03:08 For Superstore, however, it would have been a missed opportunity not to delve into it.
03:14 We were already dealing with Amy leaving by the end of season 5,
03:17 so when season 6 kicked off with some familiar "March of 2020" rhetoric, we knew we were in for a ride.
03:24 It was an impactful retelling of the sheer relatability, distress, and sometimes lunacy of it all,
03:29 not to mention a stirring look at just what essential workers endured.
03:34 "Great, we've got this under control." "Oh yeah, totally. I mean, and this is just temporary, so."
03:39 "Totally. I mean, couple weeks, we'll be back to normal."
03:42 7. Gun Control
03:44 Gun ownership and gun control, while sometimes controversial, is an important topic of discussion.
03:49 Superstore tackled it by presenting different sides and people with all sorts of views.
03:54 The focus of the episode is on Jonah, who is intensely against gun ownership
03:59 and is made to work at the gun counter.
04:01 "It's just the name, and I'm even at work."
04:03 "Oh, god! Gun! Gun, gun, gun, gun, gun! Gun, gun, gun!"
04:07 He's profusely uncomfortable at first, until he realizes he has the prerogative
04:12 to deny selling to anyone he might deem as a cause for concern.
04:16 As you might guess, Jonah deems everyone who walks up to the counter as a cause for concern.
04:21 "I just got laid off." "Oh, I'm so sorry to hear that."
04:24 "Yeah, I'm pretty upset about it." "How upset are you?"
04:29 This episode also tackled contraception through the eyes of Glenn,
04:32 whose religious practices put him against methods of birth control.
04:36 Both topics, while typically heavy, were handled with grace and comedy gold.
04:41 "Do you want to see some pictures of my kids?" "No, gross. I hate kids."
04:45 "Wait till you see how cute they are. Children are such a gift."
04:50 It is frequently mentioned that the pay working at Cloud9 is less than desirable.
04:57 "52 weeks times 30 hours a week times minimum wage, 86 bucks an hour."
05:02 "No, no, no, no, no. Minimum wage is 8.60 an hour."
05:04 Even as assistant manager, Dina mentions taking home around $20,000 annually.
05:09 In the season 4 episode "Salary", after Amy's just been promoted to store manager,
05:13 we learn about how vast the pay gap is between floor workers and management.
05:18 "Do you know how expensive diapers are?" "Yeah, I do actually. I also have a baby."
05:22 "Well, you also make $109,000 a year, so you're not exactly in the same boat."
05:27 Not only is Amy's salary light years away from the $8.60 minimum wage,
05:32 she also has a number of perks that come along with her promotion,
05:36 including a company car, which is a Lexus, by the way.
05:40 Meanwhile, a few episodes later, corporate announces that they want to cut employee hours.
05:45 "Also, lastly, corporate is asking us to cut back on some hours, so maybe check the schedule.
05:50 Okay, have a nice day!" "Whoa, whoa, whoa, what?"
05:53 This isn't to say that Amy doesn't deserve her salary,
05:55 but that poor compensation and an egregious pay gap are issues that need addressing.
06:01 Number 5 - Healthcare
06:03 "Jonah, that's amazing!" "Right?"
06:07 "You just did it! You solved healthcare!"
06:11 Not only are the wages not livable, but the benefits at Cloud9 are practically non-existent.
06:17 Second-rate healthcare is a major source of distress for employees,
06:21 who have to take care of their own ailments virtually on their own,
06:24 in a healthcare system that doesn't provide particularly affordable treatment.
06:28 "I've had a cavity for over a year. I just put a little candle wax in there to hold me over until I win the lottery."
06:33 "That's horrifying." "It's not so bad once the nerve is dead."
06:37 Jonah, later aided by Amy, ambitiously works to put together a Cloud9 health fund,
06:42 which pretty much turns into a pyramid scheme.
06:45 Things get overly convoluted, just like much of the real-world healthcare systems out there,
06:50 and viewers get a sense of just how difficult the issue is to resolve.
06:54 "Okay, guys, I know it's not perfect, but we're in a rush."
06:59 "I feel like it's fun." "It's complicated!"
07:03 Number 4 - Parental Benefits
07:06 A stellar marker of Season 1 was Cheyenne's pregnancy, and her going into labour right there in the store.
07:12 "Is she having her baby?" "Yeah, I think so."
07:16 It tugs at the heart to hear her say that she'll be in the next day because she needs the money.
07:21 After just having a whole baby, Glenn has to suspend Cheyenne with pay
07:26 in order to give her some semblance of maternity leave, but is swiftly fired for his actions.
07:32 "You're suspended for four weeks with pay."
07:36 The issue is brought up again in Season 4 when it's Amy's turn to give birth,
07:40 and she's asked to return to work only two days later.
07:44 We see exactly the toll it takes on her.
07:46 "You okay?" "Yeah, I'm not trying to flatter you or anything,
07:49 but you look like the homeless lady who sleeps next to the loading dock."
07:52 "I've never been so tired."
07:54 The disdain this culture has for working mothers, as Jonah puts it,
07:58 is vital to bring to light, and Superstore does it outstandingly.
08:03 Number 3 - Racism in the Workplace
08:06 "Racism. You hear a lot about it, but what is it, really?"
08:10 Discrimination isn't a comfortable topic, and Superstore does right by leaning into the discomfort of it all.
08:16 In the episode "Haircare Products," necessary conversations are had
08:20 after Dina announces that black haircare products will no longer be locked up.
08:25 "We are here to right an injustice. Effective immediately,
08:28 Cloud9 will no longer keep black haircare products in locked cases."
08:31 Garrett points out that this small action doesn't mean racism in the store is magically gone.
08:37 He's then tasked with compiling a list of things that can be done to fight systemic racism,
08:42 and some great talking points are heard.
08:44 "But you shouldn't ignore race. You should be aware of how being black affects our daily lives."
08:49 While this happens rather late in the series, an early episode saw Amy addressing
08:54 offensive racial stereotypes and cultural appropriation in the workplace.
08:59 Number 2 - The Nuance of Undocumented Immigration
09:03 Perhaps one of the biggest twists in the series is Mateo getting arrested by ICE.
09:08 It was incredibly set up over three seasons, and yet we still didn't see it coming.
09:13 "Mateo, you're an American citizen, right?"
09:16 Early on in season 2, Mateo finds out that he's actually undocumented.
09:20 It's revealed slowly to co-workers throughout the series, and despite his best efforts
09:24 to throw suspicion off of himself, by the end of season 4, corporate finds out.
09:29 "So unless there's some reason I just can't get my-"
09:31 "I'm undocumented!"
09:34 In a brilliant effort of collaboration between all of Mateo's friends at Cloud9,
09:38 they try to sneak him out of the store, swarming with ICE agents, but there's nothing for it.
09:44 The representation here is not only grounded and respectful, but invoked empathy
09:49 for undocumented immigrants at the time, when America desperately needed the narrative.
09:54 "What do we do now?"
09:56 "I mean, we have to fight this."
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10:14 Number 1 - Corporate's abuse of power
10:17 "Have you tried the Cloud9 Corporate Sundae?"
10:21 "What it is, is they give you a very, very tiny bit of ice cream with nothing on top."
10:26 "And then, you just have to take it."
10:29 From the beginning of the series to the very end, practically every headache is caused by corporate.
10:34 The salaries are bad, the benefits are bad, the attitude and treatment of employees from the top down is abysmal.
10:41 Several times throughout the series, we see Amy and her team do their absolute best to make things better.
10:46 They stage a walkout, make efforts to form a union, and generally try to "fight the man" to make things better for the little guys.
10:53 "And after all of that, we still can't afford rent, or to go to a doctor when we're sick, or to buy a car, instead of taking five different buses to work."
11:05 And nearly every time, we see that corporate talks, but ultimately does nothing of value.
11:11 It's something we know is happening, and something many of us live through every day.
11:16 But seeing it all represented on screen is incredibly cathartic.
11:20 "Oh, no, no, you guys do not have to do this. Okay, you know what, I understand that you're upset about Glenn, I know, and I get that. No, no, come on, corporate cares."
11:29 Do you agree with our picks? Check out this other recent clip from Ms. Mojo.
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