Leslie and Carl are setting up for tomorrow’s big promotion in which Greens & Grains customers can go into one of those money booths for a minute and grab all the flying cash they can. Amy from Super Value Mart storms into Greens & Grains wondering why there are “Free Money!” banners all over her parking lot. As a gesture of goodwill, Leslie lets Amy into the booth to grab a little cash for herself. (Amy loves money. And Leslie loves Amy loving money.) But the booth is filled with $5,000 in silver dollar coins that Leslie’s father stashed away in the store for years. Amy grabs handfuls and shoefuls of the coins, which, much to Leslie and Carl’s surprise, don’t fly anywhere. But the booth has a sticky lock, and Amy can’t get out. She panics, drops all her coins, and leaves with nothing. Leslie sends Carl and Buck to the bank to change the silver dollars into bills.
Meanwhile, Yolanda is making out with Jim, a produce guy from Super Value Mart. Leslie protests, claiming that Yolanda’s sleeping with the enemy and could divulge company produce secrets — like that Leslie buys the bananas from the weird guy in the van out back.
Suddenly two men with guns wearing pantyhose on their heads bust into Greens & Grains and hold the crew and customers hostage. One of them (Leslie will just call him “Pantyhose Man”) demands cash from the register, but all he gets is a coupon for 40 cents off popsicles. Pantyhose Man lets the customers go, but he keeps the crew at gunpoint.
The other gunman (Leslie just calls him Bad Guy No. 2) goes for the cash in the money booth. Leslie closes the door behind him and the booth locks. The lock sticks, and Bad Guy No. 2 panics, taking off his pantyhose to reveal that he’s Jim from Super Value Mart. It seems Jim was just making out with Yolanda so he could case the joint for the heist. So now that the Greens & Grains crew knows the true identity of Guy No. 2, they fear that they’re going to be killed. Leslie panics and pulls the fire alarm, which we’re pretty sure is not the smartest thing to do when you’re being held at gunpoint.
The store is soon surrounded by police, media and onlookers. Leslie, still at gunpoint, gives an interview to a TV reporter about how he was “scared like a little ninny” and in his head he was “a little girl peeing with fright” … before, you know, becoming all brave and manly and stuff. Leslie tells the reporter that the robber works for Super Value Mart, and that SVM’s poor treatment of its employees has led them to armed larceny. Amy hears this and runs over to protect her company’s image and disown Jim, who says he was desperate for money to pay for his mother’s heart transplant. Leslie says he’ll give him the silver dollars in the office.
Jim takes Leslie, Buck and Yolanda with him to the office upstairs, where Leslie pulls out the bags of silver dollars. But Leslie explains to Jim that $5,000 won’t even cover the anesthesia for a heart transplant operation, and suggests that Jim try something cheaper — like getting a book on heart transplants from the library and performing the surgery on his own. Jim has a breakdown (his mom’s going to be so mad at him tonight!) and Buck seizes the moment to steal Jim’s gun away from him. Leslie, now suddenly emboldened, rips his shirt off and vows to free his crew any way he can. And that way is by crawling into an air duct.
Meanwhile, Pantyhose Man has the rest of the G&G crew held hostage. Todd the butcher notices a tattoo on Pantyhose Man’s arm, signifying that he’s also a butcher. Todd realizes that it’s Zach, the butcher from SVM, and claims that robbing another butcher is in violation of the Butcher’s Code … or something. The Butcher’s Code must also stipulate that all butchers must have similar hair and mustaches.
Ingrid has serious Stockholm Syndrome. She is not only sympathizing with her captors, but she’s starting to act like them, too. She brings “snacks for Zachs” and bullies her coworkers. That kind of behavior will get you banned from Decoupage Night at Richard’s house.
Leslie, Yolanda and Buck fall through the air duct and land right in the middle of the hostage situation below. (Has anyone on TV crawled into an air duct without falling through?) Ingrid takes the gun from Leslie and kicks him in the ribs, taking command of the situation. Then Amy comes to the door and sees that Zach, her ex-boyfriend, is one of the robbers. She freaks out, causing Zach to freak out and threaten to kill the hostages. Leslie makes a move for Zach’s gun, and the gun goes off. The bullet ricochets off items in the store, and hits a sign on the wall. The sign falls off the wall, hits Ingrid in the head and causes her gun to go off. Ingrid shoots Leslie in the buttocks … and the hostage situation defuses itself somehow.
Everything’s back to normal at the G&G. Leslie’s butt is sore. It seems he has “so many holes in his butt, he could lace it up like a tennis shoe.” The crew even pooled their money together to buy Leslie a padded ring to sit on.
Not a bad start to Season 2. As John Lehr told us, they’re not going to take a huge departure from what they started in Season 1. And like Season 1, so much of the show’s humor doesn’t come from the story (which is usually pretty absurd), but in the subtle quirks of the characters. Like Leslie welcoming the guys with pantyhose on their heads to the store like they were normal customers. Or the look on Ingrid’s face when she starts finding Pantyhose Man attractive. Or Carl just pretending to know how to fix the wiring on the money booth. I realized that here’s so much good stuff that a show recap won’t be able to convey.
Best Moment: When the customers are set free, Leslie’s upset that they’re taking all their merchandise with them without paying for it. “Come on! At least do a quick checkout!”
Employee of the Week: Buck. He’s coolheaded during the whole ordeal, and is unusually confident with firearms for a grocery bagger.
Product Placements: Surprisingly none. There was a commercial for Herpecin-L during the show. Couldn’t they have figured a way to work that in somehow?
Photo: ™ & © Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. A Time Warner Company. All Rights Reserved. Credit: Art Strieber
