Superstore Season 5: Ben Feldman Talks Cloud 9's Possible Union, "Simmosa," & Jonah's Storyline

It's almost time! The wait is coming to an end, and Superstore finally returns to NBC in a matter of weeks.

With the premiere so close, TV Fanatic talked with Ben Feldman about what to expect when we catch up with our favorite Cloud 9 Employees on Superstore Season 5.

Ben Feldman isn't just hilarious onscreen as Jonah Simms, but he's funny in person, too.

Amidst all the laughing, I asked about that giant cliffhanger at the end of Superstore Season 4 -- Mateo's storyline as an undocumented immigrant finally came to a head when he was carted off by ICE in front of all his co-workers, despite their best efforts to hide him.

"The union thing is very much explored," Ben said. "It is a major theme for a least the beginning of the season for a while.

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"Something that's really great about our show is that a lot of shows, traditionally, would kind of hit you with some giant cliffhanger and pick up the next season and everything's kind of neatly packed back up again and put away, everyone's back together, and whatever the issue was is settled. That is not the case here."

But talk of a union isn't the only thing going down when Superstore returns. In a "First Look" promo recently released by NBC, it's revealed that Mateo's storyline won't be the only driving force of the new season. As Ben says himself, "the robots are taking over."

When the Superstore Season 5 poster was released, it featured Amy, Jonah, and the rest of the employees gearing up to take down a Cloud 9 robot.

When asked about it, Ben answered that the whole season is a lot of "rage against the machine."

"I think it's kind of an exciting story to be telling," he said. "I mean, also depressing and sad for the American worker, of course. But at the same time, we're telling the story of retail, in general, in America, and in a metaphorical way, so many other industries as well."

Ben went on to say that the robot is going to be the "tremor before the earthquake," and its introduction to the show happens right away.

Of course, we couldn't talked with Ben without asking for details about Amy and Jonah. And for fans of the ship name, "Simmosa," Have we finally brought him over to our side?

After explaining that "Jamy" was a bit generic and could also apply to the main pairing on NBC's Brooklyn Nine-Nine (although their official ship name is Peraltiago), he seemed to be onboard!

"I'll take Simmosa," he conceded. "You know what? I'm happier with the stranger name, anyway."

Simmosa fans, we can finally rejoice!

When speaking of their relationship, Ben said, "At the end of last season they were kind of at odds with each other."

He went on to say that, "There's nothing crazy. What's interesting, and what's fun about this, I think, is that we come right out of the gate with much bigger issues.

"And it's funny because I kind of think about, the whole Amy/Jonah situation, at least, right at the beginning, kind of feels like besides the point since there's so much else going on. I mean, literally our family member, our team member, has been carted off by ICE, so there's bigger things getting explored there."

Speaking of things getting explored, Ben weighen in on whether Superstore would explore Jonah's financial struggles concerning his student loan dept.

"I think money, in general, and Jonah's access to it are things that are going to be explored," Ben replied.

"I think you're going to learn more about Jonah this season than we have in the past. At times, I think Jonah can be a little underexplored because there's a lot more interesting things going on with some of the other characters, but I think this is going to be a cool Jonah season."

Ben had to know how beloved his character was and how excited fans would be to hear that Jonah would have a much bigger storyline, but he jokingly insisted, "That's just because I make out with the fans' number one favorite. Or have sex videos with her."

Yup, Ben Feldman is simultaneously comedic and humble.

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We went on to talk about Superstore Season 4 Episode 17, "Quinceañera," and how it had quickly become a fan-favorite. Everyone loved watching Jonah interact with Amy's daughter, Emma. He had good news for those who hope the two will be sharing any more scenes.

"Yeah!" Ben answered. "We haven't shot it yet. I think we're about to. But she is a part of, so far, my favorite script. And it has to do with malls."

Malls are definitely something Superstore hasn't explored yetand when asked about it, Ben said that it's, "part of the bigger theme of robots, and where the industry is going, and what's happening to big box stores and malls and all that kind of stuff."

"And, of course," he added, "when you explore malls you have to explore teenagers, and that's where Emma comes in."

Ben went on to say how great of an addition Isabella Day is to the cast and how lucky they are to have such a talented and funny actress on set.

On the topic of "Quinceañera," Ben loved shooting that episode, in particular.

"There's so many ridiculous people in the cast, and as characters as well, and a lot of times Jonah is sort of the straight man. He's just reacting to whoever else is being ridiculous.

"And I get to have the most fun when Jonah's got his foot in his mouth because that's kind of his huge issue and his character flaw [laughs].

"And the entire episode was just like the most awkward I could possibly be in front of the most people in a room. For me, it was a dream. If every episode was just me making a complete ass of myself in front of an audience while holding a microphone, I'd be in heaven."

When it comes to Jonah's missing brothers, something many fans have asked about, Ben said that Jonah has, "at least two."

Although they've been referenced throughout the series, they've never made an actual appearance on the show. Ben said that he goes into the writers' office every year and asks, "Is this the year I get to have my brothers show up?"

While he's not sure one way or the other, Ben offered a "maybe." "We've got plenty of episodes ahead," he assured, "so maybe you'll meet them this year."

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Twitter user @d0ntfreakout had offered a great question that Ben answered. Are Connie and Jonah still Facebook friends after the Quinceañera disaster?

"Connie? Her mom?!" Ben laughed. "Yes. [Laughs]. I don't know much about Facebook; I'm not on Facebook, but I can't imagine Connie knows how to like, block me?

"Based on what I know about moms, she is incapable of unfriending me. So I imagine, even if she wanted to, we would still remain friends."

Out of all of Ben's hilarious answers, that one is the favorite.

When asked if there was anything that he hoped the writers would explore with his character on Superstore Season 5 or in future seasons, in general, Ben had a lot to say.

"Yeah, there is!" he replied. "Without giving away too much, there's personal things about Jonah that I think a lot of people have wondered about him from the beginning, even from the very beginning, from the Pilot episode, that haven't fully been done yet on the show.

"And that's another thing that I've talked to the writers a whole bunch about, and I think we're moving towards doing a whole bunch of those things.

"I mean, this is such a boring answer because I can't tell you exactly what they are, just because what if they do it, and it's different from what I say, and it sounds like my idea was bad or sounds like they ignored me [laughs].

"But, definitely, there's some personal things about Jonah that I've been thinking about before we even knew if this show was going to get picked up, that are still yet to be dealt with."

"The writers just seem to get funnier and better, and that continues this year." Ben said when asked to tease the upcoming season some more.

Although many shows tend to peak and eventually go downhill, Ben said he doesn't feel that way about the NBC sitcom.

"I feel like we can finally all sit back and relax and say 'this show's just going to be funny forever,'" he admitted. "The scripts are so good. I watched a few cuts of the first couple episodes and they're so good. It's just constant peaks of the story.

"And I think the thing that people get really interested about, especially in the past, is big issues and the things that America talks about on a day-to-day basis and in real life.

"Things like the union, and immigration, and all that kind of stuff get dealt with in really respectful and big, smart ways on the show. All the things that everybody loves about Superstore continue to get better."