As Episode 4 hits screens, we find ourselves midway through the first season of Tubi’s original series, “The Z-Suite.” Monica and Doug are on the path to a great comeback, while the Gen Z team is starting to face challenges.
Feeling happy, Kriska, Elliot, and Clem have succeeded in pitching an erectile dysfunction campaign. However, they realize there is more work ahead as they have overlooked starting the big Boppin’ Burger Super Bowl ad. The team is caught off guard when they ask, “When is football?”
In an early episode, it was planned for Olivia Rodrigo to feature in the Boppin’ Burger commercial with a stadium concert. Plans have changed, and now one of the Gen Zers will stand in, resembling Olivia Rodrigo. The team skips the step of trying to book the pop star, assuming the client won’t notice the switch. Some may argue that confirming talent availability before pitching is crucial, but well, who are we to judge?
Kriska and Elliot audition to see who is most…qualified to act as Olivia in the commercial. Elliot wins thanks to his drag experience, and by outing Kriska as being out of fashion– she still has a Facebook account. Elliot’s drag Olivia look is quickly deemed too promiscuous, and Kriska replaces him.
“I’ve performed off-Broadway, so I’m very qualified to play Olivia.”
“Okay, you did not perform off-Broadway, you performed drag at a bar called Off-Broadway.”
It’s a bit unclear how the Z team thought they were going to convince millions of Super Bowl watchers that one of them is Olivia Rodrigo, especially since they go to absolutely no lengths at all to make it believable. I guess deepfaking wasn’t an option. They film a very bad, low-budget mock commercial with Kriska in purple clothing, the singer’s signature color, complete with stickers on her face and tongue as an ode to the real life Grammy-winning album.
George, Mr. Boppin’ Burger, hates it. He’s not at all concerned with the fact he was promised a global superstar and instead presented with some rando girl posing as a global superstar for his multi million dollar commercial. Or that it was filmed on an iPhone, in an office. Most egregiously, in a massive moment of oversight, the team did not feature the real star of the show– the burger. The trio are dismayed and for the first time, seem to be concerned about their jobs. Kriska already has one strike against her after the office revamp gone wrong, I don’t think Oliver will be happy that she’s upset one of the biggest clients.
On the other hand, things are shaping up for the Gen X team. Thanks to Buffy, the obnoxious advertising executive we met at the end of episode 3, Monica and Doug acquire the first client of their new agency– Pig Feed International– they sell all types of feed, the family last name just happens to be Pig. Mr. Pig divulges to the pair he tried doing business at Atelier, but none other than Minnesota Matt’s agitating manner drove him away. Monica deduces with the office goofball handling accounts so poorly, she can steal some clients back.
Team Moug (that’s team Monica and Doug, respectively) track Matt down at a cycling class and coax him into discussing the state of Atelier under the new regime. The gullible Minnesota native is sabotaged into ruining the company’s relationship with Nom Nom Almonds. Thus, Monica’s new unnamed agency gains another client. Dejected at the loss of the nut company, Matt comes back for more advice, leading him to host a video call with all of his clients and heinously perform a rap and dance combo. “If you need a spanking, I’m your ad daddy.” The clients validly go running to Monica. The poor boy is actually able to comprehend he’s been played, and Team Moug revels in a restored sense of success.
Minnesota Matt finally gets a bit of a storyline besides being the token millennial side character in this pivotal episode. Now that Monica has seemingly killed whatever remained of his loyalty to her, you’d want to think he’ll now help the Gen Z kids succeed– except he’s proven horrible at his job, and may get fired for driving so many clients into the claws of competitors. We’ll have to see what role Matt assumes in the next 4 episodes.
Clem’s immaturity isn’t a zesty character trait anymore as much as it is a nuisance to endure. Though, their laziness is beginning to subside, even though Clem’s only function almost the entire episode is to repeat everything Kriska says. It’s looking like the characteristics of the Z team that are the worst to watch– the apathy towards actually working– are receding, and more development is on the way for each of them. We leave Kriska, Elliot and Clem actually stressed over their job performance– now that we’re halfway through the season, the zoomers will take their jobs more seriously, eventually leading to a Gen Z and former C-suite team up.
New episodes of The Z-Suite debut every Thursday on Tubi.
Claire Waheed is a recently graduated freelance writer currently based in Texas. She loves all things pop culture and new adventures.
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