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In an unexpected twist, Jeff returns as Store 1217’s district manager on Superstore Season 6 Episode 12.
Corporate reinstated Jeff as the district manager, prompting chaotic events on “Customer Satisfaction.”
Among these events includes one last glimpse of Jeff and Mateo’s former relationship, providing closure for them, as well as for us.
But first, Jeff’s return prompts Cloud 9 employees to encourage customers to fill out their customer satisfaction surveys. At first, these surveys do not seem like a big deal. However, according to Jeff, Store 1217 is not doing so hot, which brings up the possibility of getting fired.
These co-managers waste no time jumping into action, so they hatch a plan to raise their ratings. And in classic Superstore style, things go well at first, but soon enough, chaos infiltrates Cloud 9.
Honestly, would an episode of Superstore truly be Superstore without plans going haywire and employees unintentionally causing mayhem?
Dina’s plan may have included purposeful trouble, but it was not supposed to clog toilets, flood stores, or damaged products. She planned to provide incentives for customers to request help from employees to deliver and promise high customer satisfaction ratings.
But do Dina and Glenn not know by now if you do not precisely explain what you are asking for, things are bound to go awry? Especially when Marcus is involved.
Of course, Marcus would take Dina and Glenn’s instructions entirely out of context and to the next level — it is what he does. If you tell him to cause problems in the customer bathroom, he will not put an “out of order” sign on the door.
He will go full out and stuff salami and shot glasses down the toilet until it clogged.
We almost feel sorry for Store 1217. It is no surprise Zephra considers them to be a “problem child” store, considering all the chaos and disorder they endure. Jeff was not wrong.
Nobody bothers with the surveys. People only use receipts to spit out gum and for murder alibis.
Dina
But Jeff — and Zephra, for the matter — do not realize that Store 1217’s employees grow stronger because of everything they endure.
Store 1217’s employees — from the co-managers down to the newest floor workers — encounter crazy obstacles all the time. The flood is undoubtedly different, but the chaos was nothing they had not seen before.
Anyone remember Superstore Season 6 Episode 6, when Bo’s friends brought literal criminals to destroy the store? Or when the local mall closed and suddenly teenagers looking to hang out filled Cloud 9 to the brim with teenagers on Superstore Season 5 Episode 4?
Dina, Glenn, Cheyenne — they have all seen this type of mayhem before. They learn and grow from it. Maybe Marcus will not ever learn because that is just who he is, but his co-workers will. And they will not only grow stronger, but they will grow closer together in their own little Cloud 9 family.
Despite all the trouble Store 1217 causes, Zephra should not underestimate these employees. They have faced just about every single situation and survived. Can Cloud 9’s Fenton location say that? Can they endure what these guys have?
Doubtful.
Jonah was not a part of this mess, though. He received one too many negative customer satisfaction reviews, and as a result, Cheyenne placed him in the back, much to his chagrin.
He may have spent the day demeaning Cheyenne’s authority and borderline belittling his co-workers, but he ends up learning from the experience.
Sandra: Hey. Don’t get down on yourself. So, we got put in the back. It doesn’t mean we’re worthless.
Jonah: No, I know, you’re right, I just —
Sandra: It just means we’re back-of-house people. Strong, silent, shadow people. The rejects. The freaks.
Not everybody should interact with customers, and not everyone has strong interpersonal skills. Jonah may be charismatic and helpful, but he sometimes overdoes it, as we see when he interacts with customers on “Customer Satisfaction.”
And just because someone is assigned to work in the back does not mean their work is worth any less, or that the employees on the floor are worth more than they are.
If Jonah had not felt so insecure about doing busywork, maybe they could have saved all the new Zephra products. But Jonah was too proud to complete his task, and he even convinced his co-workers not to do anything either.
Now, most of the products from the boxes are damaged since no one placed them safely on the shelves. Jonah displayed a poor work ethic, and we know he can do better because we have seen him at his best.
Jonah was not at his best on “Customer Satisfaction.” We hope he has learned from this mishap and turns himself around for the final few episodes of Superstore.
Jeff: Well, Zephra’s looking at the scores and the comments, so it’s important that you get positive feedback, especially this store.
Dina: What’s that supposed to mean?
Jeff: There’s been some chatter that 1217 is a “problem child” store.
Glenn: What?!
Jeff: I mean, you did damage the store’s servers, there’s the raccoon infestation, there’s Carol’s lawsuit, not to mention the multiple attempts at unionizing —
Dina: Well, yeah, of course, it’s gonna sound bad when you just rattle them off in a row like that! But if you intersperse them with good things we’ve done, or just, you know, random trivia.
Finally, Jeff’s return poses a new issue for Mateo. Although Jeff learned of Mateo’s relationship with Eric on Superstore Season 5 Episode 17, it was still early in the relationship.
Now, the stakes have changed since Mateo and Eric began talking about marriage. Considering how badly Jeff reacted to Mateo’s new relationship, how would he respond to an impending engagement?
Mateo does not owe Jeff a single thing, but Mateo also does not want to start unnecessary drama. He knows that Jeff might become upset if he found out about Mateo and Eric’s relationship status, so Mateo chooses to avoid the subject altogether.
Mateo even forces Garrett to pretend to be engaged to avoid telling Jeff. But jealousy gets the best of Mateo when Jeff starts talking about his new boyfriend, Trevor — prompting Mateo to tell Jeff the truth about his relationship.
Of course, it turns out Trevor was a lie, making Jeff miserable. And Mateo knows he does not owe Jeff anything, but he is so happy in his own relationship that he feels sorry for Jeff not finding similar happiness.
Ever since Jeff betrayed Store 1217 on Superstore Season 3 Episode 22, we knew Mateo inevitably break up with Jeff was the right thing to do. “Customer Satisfaction” only solidifies that fact, and so does Mateo’s relationship with Eric.
But that does not mean Mateo wishes ill will on Jeff, which is why he reassures him that he was a good boyfriend when they were together. And we know Jeff was — he even quit his job to be with Mateo. But his betrayal crossed a line, and Mateo was right to break up with him.
However, “Customer Satisfaction” provided much-needed closure for their relationship since we never actually saw them break up on our screens. By the time Superstore Season 4 had begun, they had already broken up.
We are thankful for this final goodbye to Mateo and Jeff’s romance, especially since Superstore continues to hint that Mateo and Eric might get married on the series finale.
Cheyenne: Wait, so what kind of problems are we supposed to be making for the customers? Like, you guys are out of cheese problems, or, oh my god, my baby was stolen problems?
Mateo: So we’re supposed to stash a bunch of stolen babies in the back? Gross. Well, actually, I don’t think it’s that gross. Wait, do I want kids?
Over to you, Fanatics!
What did you think of Superstore Season 6 Episode 12? How did you feel about Jeff coming back? Were you happy to see both him and Mateo gain closure on their relationship? Do you think the flood will have serious repercussions for Store 1217?
Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
You can always watch Superstore online right here, at TV Fanatic!
Sarah Novack is a staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow her on Twitter.