Superstore season 2's random Olympics episode, explained
Superstore has been airing on ITV2 in the UK, but the workplace comedy has started to gain a bigger following after the five seasons to date were added to Netflix last week.
If you're new to the sitcom about a group of employees working at Cloud 9, a fictional big-box store (think stores like Walmart and Best Buy), then you might have been a bit confused during your bingewatch by the first episode of season two.
The first season ends with the cliffhanger that sees the employees stage a walkout after their manager Glenn (Mark McKinney) is fired. However, if you've been watching in order on Netflix, season two doesn't pick up from this ending.
Instead, it seems to have reset the clock as everyone's back in store, Dina (Lauren Ash) is assistant manager and Cheyenne (Nichole Bloom) is still pregnant, despite giving birth in the season one finale.
There's a good reason for it though as this particular episode 'Olympics' was actually originally aired in the US during the break between season one and two.
In order to give the fledgling sitcom a promotional boost ahead of the season two premiere, NBC decided to air a new episode of Superstore during one of the final days of the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio on August 19, 2016.
The episode features guest appearances from real-life Olympians Tara Lipinski, Apolo Ohno and McKayla Maroney, as well as Saturday Night Live star Cecily Strong as a fictional Olympic medallist who inspires Amy (America Ferrera).
As for why everything seems to have been reset within Superstore's world, executive producer Justin Spitzer confirmed before its airing that the special Olympic-themed episode would be set in the first season's timeline at an unspecified point.
"The Olympics episode is this bonus stand-alone episode that takes place at some point before the walk-out," he explained, before reassuring fans that the official season two premiere would "pick up almost after the events of the finale".
Season two debuted properly on September 22, 2016 and did pick up from the dramatic cliffhanger, as promised by Spitzer.
While the Olympics episode was largely standalone and could be enjoyed by anybody new to the show, one particular aspect does end up becoming important for the show. It's revealed in the episode that Mateo (Nico Santos) is an undocumented immigrant, but he was initially unaware of it.
The storyline is revisited throughout season two and later on in the show's run, but we'll keep this spoiler-free in case you haven't reached that stage in your bingewatch yet.
Superstore seasons 1-5 are available to watch now on Netflix, while season 6 is currently airing on NBC in the US. A UK air date has yet to be confirmed.
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