Superstore: Ben Feldman on Directing "Carol's Back," Jonah and Amy's Relationship & What's Next for the Show

After another successful year, Superstore Season 5 is drawing to a close.

With big changes on the way, TV Fanatic was able to speak with Ben Feldman, who plays the role of Jonah Simms.

Feldman discussed what it was like directing an upcoming episode of the show, and gave a few hints of what to look forward to during the remainder of the season.

After directing "Lottery" on Superstore Season 3, a fan-favorite episode that ended with Jonah and Amy golfing in a typical rom-com style, Ben Feldman was back in the director's chair for Superstore Season 5 Episode 19.

"Carol's Back," Superstore's newest installment airing Thursday, March 26, was Feldman's favorite to direct out of the two.

But there was a bit of a time crunch, and all the scenes between Jonah and Cheyenne for viewers to look forward to were shot in the same day.

"We were racing against the sunlight," Feldman said. "We had nine pages to shoot, which is a lot in a day. We barely had any time."

He also admitted that it was the same day that America's Ferrera's exit from the series was publicly announced.

"I watched the whole crew find out in real-time that that was happening," Feldman said. "So, it was a pretty intense day."

Despite everyone being a bit thrown during the busy day of shooting, Feldman was happy with the final product saying, "It was fun, I was lucky. It's a really good episode, anyway."

Directing something that you're also a lead actor in is a complicated task. Feldman agreed that it was harder to direct his own scenes than those involving only his castmates.

"I didn't have time to watch the scene after we taped it to make sure I didn't screw it up in any way," he said.

"But you rely on the writer of the episode, usually. You've got your writer sitting next to you. So, you can kind of rely on them and the other people to make sure that the scene went the way you wanted it to go."

When it comes to America Ferrera's exit from the series, we inquired about what it would mean for fans of Amy and Jonah's romance.

Feldman commented that, "What's great about our show is that we're not a typical, predictable, rom-com show. It's not a rom-com. It's an ensemble. And that was one of the main reasons that I agreed to do it, in the first place.

"I wanted to be on a show where anyone of us could leave and the show is just as funny and fun, and watchable as it was when we were on it.

"It doesn't rest on anybody's shoulders and it doesn't rest on the shoulders of a relationship."

"That said," Feldman continued, "you don't get to see the episode that we were going to shoot last. We just didn't get to shoot it.

"But, I think, knowing that there are people who are really looking for something from Amy and Jonah, knowing that we didn't get to give them what we wanted to give them at the end, they get at least something from the final episode we shot.

"There are a couple Amy and Jonah scenes in the second to last episode where, once we shot them, the writers, and America and I, and the producers, kind of breathed a sigh of relief.

"Because we knew there was at least something to give people who were looking for something from that relationship.

"Whether it's terrible and it's a huge screaming awful breakup, or whether it's, like, a proposal, or whatever it is, it's something.

"I think we just got lucky because we could've saved every bit of dramatic relationship stuff for the final episode and just never did any of it in the second to last one.

"So, at least there's something. I guess what I'm saying is, 'You're welcome, there's at least a tiny little scrap of something to watch.'"

However, Feldman wasn't sure whether or not the final episode will end up in the sixth season.

"We're trying to figure that out," he admitted.

Feldman continued on to say that he thinks the story they're trying to tell will stay intact one way or the other, even if the construct has to change.

"There's also scheduling," he said. "If [Ferrera] is indeed coming back we're going to have to figure it out then. That's the big question. How do we take what we were going to do and still tell that story?"

Thankfully, there are still a couple of episodes left before the Superstore Season 5 finale. According to the official synopsis, an upcoming installment titled "Customer Safari" will feature Jonah's brother, for the first time.

Feldman was excited about the casting choice saying, "I really badgered casting when it came to my brother. It was like a dream pick because Jason Ritter is playing my brother, who I love and who's insanely funny."

And Amy won't be the only guest in attendance. Jonah's brother will be bringing his own girlfriend along.

"Everybody in the scenes are really funny," Feldman said. "We're in a restaurant the whole time and it's a really great episode.

"But no interesting teases other than that it's really good! Watch it. Everybody's awesome in it."

Superstore has always been talanted at incorporating every day issues into the series.

When asked what he would like to see tackled next, Feldman said, "It's hard to think of anything else right now other than, not only just the pandemic that's happening, but how it relates to stores like Cloud 9.

"I don't know if it'll be funny or worth exploring by the time we come back to shoot, but I really wish I could watch episodes right now about what's happening to Cloud 9 during the corona virus.

"So, who knows? Perhaps there's something about how they're considered essential workers.

"We all kind of abandoned ship towards the end of our season and went home to hide from this virus and kind of ditched this fake grocery store," he elaborated.

"But real grocery store people are still out there every single day braving this horryfing situation that we're all living in. It's impossible to not think about that right now.

"It's impossible to watch anything right now, without seeing it in the context of what's going on, right now.

"So it would be interesting to see how people who work in actual brick and mortar stores are considered essential workers. It's the only time a brick and mortar grocery is suddenly really important."