SUPERSTORE Post-Mortem: Did ‘Customer Safari’ Set Up Amy’s Exit?

[Warning: This post contains spoilers for the Thursday, April 2 episode of SUPERSTORE.]

After a fairly disastrous lunch with Jonah’s (Ben Feldman) family—which included his parents splitting up—SUPERSTORE’s Amy (America Ferrera) returned to work and was surprised to get a call from the big bosses at Zephra.

As it turns out, the reporter wasn’t the only one impressed with her: Partially based off a glowing recommendation from Maya (Justina Machado), corporate wanted Amy to interview for the Director of Customer Experience at Cloud 9—stationed at their headquarters in Palo Alto, CA.

Off-screen, SUPERSTORE was supposed to be heading into the final two episodes of the season…and Ferrera’s final two installments with the series. But due to the coronavirus, the comedy was only able to wrap up its penultimate episode, which will now air the show’s finale on Thursday, April 23.

“A lot of it feels like another episode,” Feldman says, noting the cast originally thought they might be able to wrap up the season, before it became rapidly very apparent the finale wouldn’t be filmed in time. “But fortunately, the way it was written, we got really lucky. We even had an alt of one of the scenes to change part of an Amy-Jonah storyline that we shot, but ended up—and hopefully I won’t eat my words—[feeling that] everyone’s in agreement that we didn’t need the alt.”

“The way it was written, it sets up the finale,” he continues. “There are two Amy and Jonah scenes that we shot on the same day, like one of the last days of that [shoot], and everybody kind of watched, discussed and everybody was really happy, because we felt like we’re giving everybody something.”

Since SUPERSTORE is known for its very big finales, “it feels like a finale if you watch it knowing that we actually had a finale that we didn’t get to shoot,” Feldman admits of the episode, entitled “California.” “If you’re watching it and you had no idea that we had to shut down, you’ll probably be like, ‘This is not enough.’ But there’s a satisfying element at least to Amy and Jonah.”

And the Amy and Jonah of it does appear to be a big question mark. The duo appear to be strong, but as of now, it seems like she’s considering applying for a job in a different part of the country. So what does this mean for them?

“In the final episode of this particular season, we’re ending on an idea that can maybe feel like the end of this particular chapter in their lives, in this chapter of them being boyfriend-girlfriend, working at Cloud 9 together,” Feldman teases. “You’re going to get an idea of what the future is going to look like for them. Whether that idea is what ultimately will end up happening for them or not, who knows? And I do believe that the plan is, as of now, to have America come back [for a final episode] to put a real kind of button on to her storyline, at least as far as we’ve known it.”

Off-screen, Feldman admits he’s going to miss Ferrera at work. “There’s real-life, which is that America has contributed a massive amount to the show,” he says. “She is an incredible executive producer. She’s vigilant about protecting storylines, and she’s got an incredible brain. Whereas a lot of us can sort of be short-sighted, America’s incredible at taking a step back and saying, ‘Yeah, I understand that that’s what you want to do in the scene. But overall, what’s the story we’re telling here? Does that make sense for these characters?’ She’s got a really good producer brain. And I’ve learned a lot from her in that regard.”

“I’ve learned a lot from her as far as fighting for the things you believe, in story-wise or acting-wise, for that matter,” he continues. “On the show, she’s been a really good teacher, a Mr. Miyagi. She’ll be missed, at least to me, in that regard. She’s a great friend of everybody, and she’s still on our group [text] chain. But she’ll be missed. I mean, she’s not going anywhere: We’re also still friends with her. And her kid and [my son] Charlie are buddies; she’s not leaving our lives.”

But Feldman is hopeful the show can survive post-Amy. “On a show level, one of the very first conversations I ever had with [creator] Justin Spitzer about the show, before I decided that I wanted to be on it, was that I had just come from [A TO Z], which ultimately didn’t work,” he says. “And I think it really focused so much on [the relationship]. It was fully one hundred percent on the shoulders of this particular relationship. And what bummed me out was the characters surrounding us were there sort of to facilitate our relationship. We never had a chance to get into their world on that particular show.”

“So one of the first things I said about the show [before I signed on was] I want to be on an ensemble,” he continues. “I love the idea of being on a show with America Ferrera, but I don’t want to be on the America Ferrera show. Just like I don’t want to be on the Ben Feldman show or the anybody else show; I want it to be an ensemble. I want this I want to be on the kind of show that doesn’t die if a character does, that is just as compelling and funny and watchable if one of us leaves.”

“Listen, we’ll see if I’m right or wrong next year, but I believe that I’m right,” he concludes. “One of the things I love about this show is if Amy’s gone or if even if she had stayed and Amy and Jonah weren’t in a relationship and went on to be with other people, I don’t think that would spoil the show in any way. As a fan I have plenty of hope for this show.”

SUPERSTORE, Thursdays, 8/7c, NBC

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