'Jury Duty Presents: Company Retreat' Almost Makes Corporate Culture Seem Fun

Anthony Norman is your typical Gen Z worker: 25, a little wayward, and struggling to find a full time job. You can’t exactly fault him for the position he’s in. Unemployment rates are high. AI is creating a crisis for young people trying to enter the workforce. Hiring has slowed. And several companies—including Amazon, Block, and Meta—have embraced tech’s latest era of layoffmaxxing, with some cutting their staff by 20 percent.

So when Anthony lands a temp position at Rockin’ Grandma’s Hot Sauce, a small business in Southern California, he’s just happy for what he assumes is a regular gig: assisting with odd jobs and helping plan the annual retreat. What Anthony doesn’t know is that he is actually the mark of Jury Duty Presents: Company Retreat, the second season of Prime Video’s experimental docu-comedy where one person unwittingly participates in a staged sitcom. Everyone is an actor except for him.

Anthony joins the team during a moment of transition. The founder, Doug Womack, is preparing to step down. His son, Dougie Jr, is next in line, and because not everyone thinks he’s fit to run the family business, he wants to prove that he’s more than an unqualified nepo baby. The season trades in the monotony of cubicles and watercooler talk for Oak Canyon Ranch, where the staff convenes for various activities: team building, a client cookout, motivational speakers, and a talent contest.

Like all offices, Rockin’ Grandma’s is a circus of eccentricity and ego. Accountant and bourbon enthusiast Helen Schaffer has been “cooking the books for 26 years.” Receptionist PJ Green has dreams of being a snack influencer. Kevin Gomez, head of HR, has flashes of Michael Scott: He’s an overeager, comically delusional, hopeless romantic who loves his job.

But with Jury Duty—despite the entire premise being an elaborate ruse—there’s something genuine on display about having a fair, decently paid, and fulfilling working life and community. Anthony’s constantly tested by his colleagues’s shenanigans. But for all the talk about Gen Z resisting office mandates and socializing with coworkers, he actually seems to be basking in the disorder of in-person interactions. In a world where many people are going to be replaced by AI, working for AI, or simply jobless, the show is a reminder of the magic in human connection. Even in the office.