Warning: This contains spoilers for the series finale of Superstore.
The exterior Cloud 9 facade that many have driven past on Burbank’s Barham road is no longer there. After 6 seasons of being a regular feature on the Universal Studios Hollywood’s Studio Tour ride (prior to covid) at the backlot sound stages, the NBCUniversal TV show Superstore came to an end on Thursday March 25, 2021.
Superstore was a comedy show about the ins and outs of a fictional big box retail store much like Target or Wal-mart called Cloud 9 located in St. Louis Missouri (but filmed at Universal Studios Hollywood).
America Ferrera (Ugly Betty/Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants films) starred as Amy in 102 of the 113 episodes and she also directed, executive produced, produced, and co-executive produced several episodes as well. Earlier this season she departed the show while her character climbed the corporate ladder and moved to California.
In addition to Ferrera Superstore boasted a diverse cast who represented the working class comprised of Ben Feldman as Jonah, Lauren Ash as Dina, Colton Dunn as Garrett, Nico Santos as Mateo, Mark McKinney as Glenn, Nichole Sakura as Cheyenne, and Kaliko Kauahi as Sandra, as well as an extensive group of support players recurring over the years.
The success of the show can be attributed to the writing that kept the show relevant as the storylines touched on hot button issues such as healthcare, immigration, workers rights, cultural appropriation, sexism, ableism, just to name a few.
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In addition to the hot button issues facing our nation today, the show also crafted deep relationships between the characters who dealt with interpersonal relationships such as rivalry, adoption, romantic relationships, platonic relationships, surrogacy, marriage, pregnancy, among others.
In the series finale, Superstore wraps up almost all of their ongoing storylines. Last week we were left with a cliffhanger and a surprise appearance by America Ferrera promising Cheyenne (Nichole Sakura) that she would find out if the store was in danger of closing.
Amy rushes back to St. Louis to help her work family get the store in order in an attempt to save the store from closure. The corporate rep tells Amy that the store will be converted into an online distribution center and assures her that while most of her friends will be losing their jobs, hers is safe. She then quit on the spot.
Dina (Lauren Ash) is awarded the job of manager of the distribution center and is tasked with picking 5 of her coworkers to work for her. Struggling with the decision, Sandra (Kaliko Kauahi) steps in and makes the choice for her as she guns for the assistant manager position.
After denying her feelings for Garrett (Colton Dunn) for quite some time, Dina finally asks Garrett if they can be exclusive and official, to which he emphatically agrees.
Glenn (Mark McKinney) spent the entire finale complaining about not wanting to retire but then decided to reopen his father’s hardware store and asks Mateo (Nico Santos), who is absolutely desperate to keep a job for his immigration status, to work for him. In the show’s flash-forward we are shown that Cheyenne also joins the team.
Since 2015 Superstore fans have been watching Jonah (Ben Feldman) and Amy (America Ferrera) on again, off again relationship blossom all the way to a marriage proposal.
Amy ended up turning Jonah down and ran off to California to pursue her career goals, but in the season finale, after an apparent tribute to the film 10 Things I Hate About You Jonah kisses Amy and it seems that they will end up together after all and in the flash-forward montage we’re shown they live happily ever after with an additional child of their own.
Superstore’s series finale was sweet, sentimental, and satisfying. Aside from never finding out if the person responsible for leaving severed feet in the store over the years will ever face consequences for his actions, everyone’s stories seemed to be nicely wrapped up in a feel good ending.
Joia DaVida reports on the entertainment industry in both Chicago and Los Angeles.
