'Superstore' Alum America Ferrera to Return After Leaving Series at Start of Season 6

Cloud 9 Store 1217 is getting its floor supervisor Amy Sosa back! Actress America Ferrera left the cast of Superstore earlier this season, but on Wednesday, Variety reported that she will be back for the series finale. That bittersweet ending comes on Thursday, March 25 on NBC.

Ferrera has played Amy on Superstore since it began, but last year she announced her departure from the show. Her last appearance was in Season 6, Episode 2, and at the time it seemed like the sitcom would carry on without her. Since then, NBC has canceled the show, announcing that the end of Season 6 would be the end of the series as a whole. Ferrera will be back with the rest of the cast for that send-off, which many fans feel comes far too soon.

Superstore is a workplace comedy set in a fictional big box store called Cloud 9. It stars Ben Feldman as Jonah Simms, a college graduate who struggles to find his place in the retail world, and initially gravitates towards Amy. For the majority of the show, Jonah and Amy's will-they-won't-they dynamic teased viewers, and her departure from the cast broke many hearts.

However, the ensemble is full of beloved characters, and there was no doubt that they could carry the series without Ferrera. Nico Santos plays Mateo Liwanag, Colton Dunn plays Garrett McNeil, Nichole Sakura plays Cheyenne Thompson, Lauren Ash plays Dina Fox, Kaliko Kauahi plays Sandra Kaluiokalani and Mark McKinney plays Glenn Sturgis.

Ferrera first left the cast in February of 2020, shortly after NBC had announced the Season 6 renewal. At the time, she said that she wanted to spend more time with her family and to set some time aside for other projects. She was originally supposed to leave at the end of Season 5, though the storyline of her departure ran into Season 6 because of the production delays and complications caused by COVID-19.

Superstore has been lauded for its bitingly accurate, cathartic expressions of the reality of retail work in the U.S. Over the years the show has also championed workers' rights and has grown naturally into a political forum in some ways. It is one of the few sitcoms to adopt the coronavirus pandemic into its storyline in real-time, and not shy away from it.

As sad as the series' impending ending is, fans are looking forward to Ferrera's return and the culmination of her character's arc. Superstore airs on Thursday nights at 8:30 p.m. ET on NBC. Its special one-hour finale premieres on March 25.