Recap: DMV Season 1 Episode 8 Turns Holiday Sweaters Into Workplace Warfare
- Je-Ree
- 18 hours ago
- 3 min read
Holiday cheer hasn’t officially hit DMV yet, but Episode 8, “Splash Mountain,” works as the chaotic prelude. The show leans into its signature mix of workplace pettiness, accidental emotional breakthroughs and deadpan absurdity. This time sparked by something as harmless (and hideous) as matching holiday sweaters. It’s a deceptively silly setup that ends up delivering one of the most honest, surprisingly heartfelt episodes of the season.
The premise kicks off when Barb assembles the staff to announce they’ve received a $500 refund, already a dangerous amount of responsibility for this crew. Colette and Ceci immediately campaign for a very practical investment: a new coffee maker, the true lifeblood of any underfunded government workplace. Barb, however, has bigger, bolder, more polyester-blended dreams. She wants matching holiday sweaters for the DMV’s first-ever holiday card, an idea so aggressively wholesome that it’s almost threatening.
Ceci’s plan is simple: bully Barb into choosing caffeine over couture. Colette, ever the optimist, attempts something bolder, ecoming Barb’s friend and gently steering her toward the coffee maker idea. The strategy makes sense until it doesn’t. Within hours, Barb is sending her cat memes, oversharing and inviting her to hang out after work. What Colette envisioned as strategic friendliness quickly turns into a full-time social commitment she never asked for.
The breaking point and the comedic centerpiece is the pair getting trapped in a self-driving car that refuses to let them out. Confined together, the truth spills fast. Barb reveals she’s already bought the sweaters and Colette blurts out that she only spent time with Barb to manipulate her. It’s harsh, petty and deeply human. Barb fires back with a reality check so sharp you can practically hear Colette’s ego deflate. She lists Colette’s past humiliations with the astonishing accuracy of someone who has been taking notes. It’s cutting, but not cruel, more of a wake-up call wrapped in holiday colors.
It’s one of the season’s most grounded exchanges, reminding us that DMV, under the jokes, isn’t afraid to poke at the uncomfortable truths its characters avoid. Colette’s forced humility lands effectively and the moment feels earned rather than preachy. And yes, I personally loved this scene, sometimes the clown needs to hear the circus music, and Colette finally did.
Meanwhile, in the B-plot, Gregg attempts to upgrade his atrocious office chair by calling Employee Services. There, he meets Kevin, a representative who actually seems to care. Their blossoming phone friendship becomes so intense that Vic grows jealous and attempts to spark a matching bond with Noa. It goes about as well as you’d expect: Vic sweating through trying to convince Noa that other people's pain is funny while Noa stares through him like a man begging for escape. Ceci eventually reveals that Kevin is AI, but when Vic goes to break the news, he realizes Gregg is happier believing his new “friend” is real. It’s a sweet, slightly tragic beat that fits DMV’s knack for packaging loneliness in comedic wrapping paper.
“Splash Mountain” is one of the show’s strongest episodes so far, blending holiday chaos with character depth and workplace absurdity in exactly the right proportions. The sweaters symbolize forced festivity, but the emotional unraveling underneath is what makes the installment resonate. Colette learns something, Gregg gets connection (even if it’s artificial), and Vic proves jealousy is an underrated motivator.
If this is the warm-up to the official holiday episode, DMV fans are in for a treat. The show continues to be a snarky, sharp, relatable gem, one that finds humanity in bureaucracy and comedy in emotional messes. And honestly? More sitcoms should use ugly sweaters as tools of psychological warfare.
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