Sensitivity Training – Episode 3 opens with Backwoods (Dan Petronijevic) complaining to Todd Stool (Robb Wells) about being assigned to train the new apprentice. The discussion reveals that Backwoods clearly sees it as a ‘those that can’t do, teach situation,’ where Todd tells him it only means he’s good at what he does. After a bit of back and forth, Backwoods is even more surprised to learn that the trainee is none other than Audrey Stool (Anastasia Phillips).

Elsewhere, Chelsea Namura’s (Jennifer Spence) quick video conference with plant owner, Charles Conch (AC Peterson), reveals that the plant is hemorrhaging money and he’s calling for its closure. Despite her pleas to be given a chance to turn things around, he orders immediate closure. There is also mention of Randy Bennett (Tom Green), who is still coma toast.

At Jimi’s (Enrico Colantoni), Tool Crib, Steph (Susan Kent) and several of the tradesmen are in a spirited conversation about the latest rounds of pranks going around the plant when a breathless and frightened Dewey (Jason Daley) races to join them. No sooner than he manages to string together an explanation, the arrival of Sensitivity Trainer, Janet (Gil Anderson), practically tells them everything they need to know. Minutes later in a separate scene, Nathaniel/Taser/Big Nate (Brandon Oakes) is revealed to be behind the pranks.

With everyone gathered for the training, Homer (Jesse Camacho) doesn’t waste a second to jump on the opportunity to spread wild conspiracy theories explaining Janet’s sudden appearance at the plant. Although Janet is more than known around the plant, she introduces herself and spends several minutes citing all the infractions she witnessed within 20 minutes of showing up. It’s not long before Todd has apparently heard enough and starts assigning real work. Chelsea joins at about the same time to override his orders and announces that inventory will be today’s focus. No one is happy about this and Todd receives a bit of a teasing after reluctantly agreeing to the change in objective.

Backwoods expresses the importance of nicknames and their origin as he shows Audrey around the plant. He introduces her to several of the tradesmen using their nicknames, including Meat (Lance Paradis) and Sticks.

Todd meets with Chelsea to encourage her to divert resources from inventory to the flare stack. He notes that every day the stack isn’t running, it’s costing the plant tons of money. She thanks him for the advice but claims that inventory is a ‘standard practice’ once corporate gets involved in a company. He then asks if it is ‘standard practice’ to bring in a sensitivity trainer as well. Much to his surprise, she informs him that the trainer is there in response to Dewey’s complaints about the offensive bathroom art.

Todd later shares his discovery with Jimi and Steph and expresses his fear about the extended inventory making them look like idiots. When Steph points out that it is Chelsea who will look like an idiot because she ordered the inventory, he switches his tactics to aid in the delay of the inventory.

Todd’s first approach to sidetrack the inventory is to introduce Janet to the men’s bathroom. With the walls littered from top to bottom with offensive drawings, slurs, and insults, she nearly has a heart attack. After that, Todd gathers his men and orders them to ramp up their offensive behavior and he’ll make sure Janet is there to witness it all.

Several minutes and offensive skits later and only halfway through the day, Todd’s crew has already managed to break the record for incident reports. Janet shares this news with Chelsea and makes an offhanded comment that leads to Chelsea realizing the guys are intentionally causing infractions. Chelsea appears to have a new plan in mind when she asks how many infractions a worker can have before they can be fired.

Audrey tries to guess the origin of Backwood’s nickname as they continue their tour around the plant. When it becomes apparent that he isn’t interested in sharing, she starts suggesting possible nicknames for herself. He finally responds to tell her not to rush the nickname process, as it could only lead to problems.

In the break room, Todd and his crew are in the middle of reveling in their success when Taser arrives with Janet to reveal he’s been fired. This leads to Todd calling a separate meeting and once again switching tactics. This time, he orders his men to take the sensitivity training seriously. As much as this surprises his crew, it surprises Janet even more when Taser and Homer visit her to request training.

Backwoods and Audrey have now made their way to the break room where he shares the origins of Steph’s nickname, ‘Solid Nine.’ More importantly, the quick encounter leads to ‘Moochie’ as a possible nickname for Audrey.

Chelsea soon learns that Todd has outmaneuvered her once again. According to Janet, any employee fired for exceeding the violation limit can protest that dismissal if they undergo the necessary training. She later strikes back by having the bathroom repainted, which nearly causes Taser to faint.

Much to Todd’s surprise, he and Chelsea finally find terms they can agree on when he confronts her about the bathroom repainting. He agrees to order his guys to get back to inventory if she won’t interfere with the bathroom graffiti.

The episode ends with Backwoods sharing the origins behind his nickname with Audrey while Janet discovers a large portion of the newly painted bathroom has been dedicated to her.

 

 The Trades Review

I really enjoyed the nickname concept of this episode. It was an incredibly smart and effective way tactic for character development. Tying that in with Todd and Chelsea’s continued debate and the sensitivity was clever as well. Although the series feels a bit childish at times with a lot of over-the-top skits, I can appreciate the creatively deep character development as well as the cleverly approached main story. Unlike a lot of comedy shows, the main story makes me feel as if I am working towards something. In addition, I like that 2 episodes are being released every week. For those reasons, I’d give the episode a solid 5 out of 10.

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