21 pop culture moments in 2017 that spoke to the zeitgeist

SUPERSTORE — “Viral Video” Episode 308 — Pictured: America Ferrera as Amy — (Photo by: Jordin Althaus/NBC)

Superstore

Season 1 of Superstore ended with the employees of a big-box store called Cloud 9 organizing a walkout. Although I enjoyed NBC’s blue-collar sitcom since the beginning, “Labor” was the moment I fell in love with it. In addition to being genuinely moving (a few tears were shed), the walkout serves as a kind of mission statement: this show will be political — and proudly so.

To be clear, it’s hardly unusual for a sitcom to take on serious topics. Norman Lear essentially built his career on social issue comedies, from All in the Family in the ‘70s to Netflix’s One Day at a Time reboot. But Superstore feels unique in its approach. Created by Justin Spitzer, a writer on the American version of The Office, it shares that show’s acerbic sensibility, taking care to avoid the feel-good geniality that sitcoms tend to gravitate toward. As anybody who has worked in retail will tell you, employees are typically more preoccupied with getting through the day than getting chummy with their colleagues. So, while others use “issue” episodes to offer earnest moral lessons, Superstore uses them to generate rapid-fire jokes. No one changes their opinion, and no one learns anything.

It isn’t wishy-washy, though. On the contrary, the gags and quips are often laced with satire. The show is set in St. Louis, Missouri, right in the middle of so-called flyover country. Despite rarely venturing beyond the store, it provides a strong sense of place, both through its ethnically diverse ensemble that rebukes every stereotype about “Middle America” and its general atmosphere of aimlessness. Season 2’s finale managed to surpass its season 1 counterpart, demolishing Cloud 9 with a tornado. When the storm passes, the characters emerge their hiding spots and see a gaping hole where the store’s roof used to be. Besides being an awe-inspiring scene worthy of The Leftovers, it neatly encapsulates the sensation of having your life upturned. One minute, you are going about your normal, boring routine; the next, everything is a mess and Brett might be dead.