‘Monsters At Work’ S1, EP5 review: Who stay close when trouble ensues?

Personal commitment means the chirpy supervisor—Fritz (voice by Henry Winkler)—in the MIFT department of Monsters Inc. must spend the next two weeks under the strict, and at times conniving, watch of his temp replacement, Duncan (voice by Lucas Neff). 

The team falters under his guidance and there’s a blackout, prompting MERF—a regulatory body—employee Mr. Blinks has come for a thorough inspection: shut down or management change? What will his report say? 

Called ‘The Cover Up’, the tone of this fifth episode is more along series (corporate-y) lines and all the fun and games one gets to experience in the first four parts, suddenly vanishes. Val (voice by Mindy Kaling), Tyler (voice by Ben Feldman) and even Duncan mean business and do everything in their capacity to keep the inspector from calling their mistakes out. 

Frankly, the episode is a complete U Turn from its feel-good predecessors and provides very minimal visual relief as far as lightening the mood goes—the whole episode is based out of a dingy office floor.

However, Pixar’s done one lesson right through ‘The Cover Up’—teach kids the value of team spirit and how not to be a snitch. Just come to work, mingle and ‘cha-cha the night away!’ 

'Monsters At Work' episode 5 is streaming on Disney + Hotstar.