Does he know? Jury Duty viewers ‘convinced’ Company Retreat’s Anthony is ‘in on it’
"It's just a feeling"
Jury Duty: Company Retreat just dropped two more chaotic episodes. However, there’s something that keeps bothering viewers: is Anthony actually “in on it”?
To be fair, the show’s premise is designed to stretch believability. The first season followed Ronald Gladden as he became a juror – except everyone and everything around him was fake (including James Marsden, who played a fictional version of himself).
Company Retreat focuses on Anthony Norman, a newly hired temp at Rockin’ Grandma’s Hot Sauce (which isn’t real), as he accompanies its staff on a work trip.
Whether it’s the CEO’s son hiding in a mountain, the “Dougcathalon”, or an embarrassing evening with a hypnotist, Anthony is unfazed… but always amused. It begs the question, does he know?
***Warning: spoilers for Jury Duty: Company Retreat ahead***
Jury Duty viewers think Anthony knows the truth about his Company Retreat
Think about everything Anthony has seen. In the first episode, he filmed Kevin proposing to Amy. Not only did it go disastrously wrong, but he was asked to step in as “Captain Fun”.
He’s also led a rescue effort up a nearby mountain to recover Dougie Jr., watched one of the employees smack another CEO in the face, and stood onstage as Jimmy confessed an outrageous secret to a room full of people.
It’s arguably even more absurd than the first season of Jury Duty, and some viewers can’t help but think he might know what’s going on.
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“Anyone else kind of get the feeling Anthony lowkey knows?” one viewer asked on Reddit.
“I’m not saying they purposefully let him in on it, I’m saying I think he might have an inkling that he’s actually on a TV show,” another speculated.
“He knows. That’s why this season feels ‘faker’ than last season. It’s just a feeling,” a third wrote.
“He could totally just be that charismatic and game for anything in real life, but as we got into episodes two and three, I just started to feel like he was leaning into the absurdity of it all, as opposed to Ron, who was just genuinely shocked from beginning to end,” a fourth pointed out.
“I don’t think Anthony Norman is his real name. I believe he is also an actor,” a fifth theorised.
Viewers say “you can really tell” Anthony doesn’t know
Not everyone is so sceptical. Anthony’s reactions to all of the Company Retreat’s hijinks may be different from how Ronald would have acted – but that doesn’t mean he’s in on it.
“Nah, they wouldn’t shoot themselves in the foot by cheating on this! It’s too popular of a show, and it’s way too funny the way it is,” one fan argued.
“The way you can REALLY tell is by Anthony’s reactions to everything happening and especially his micro-expressions while trying no to laugh at everyone,” they added.
“Anthony’s reactions are perfect so far… I think he thinks this is real,” another wrote.
“We’re really only seeing the scripted and manufactured parts of the show. Outside of that, Anthony is probably having lots of normal, relaxed conversations with most of these people where they aren’t so ‘on’ the whole time,” a third speculated.
Read more: Jury Duty season 2: The full ‘Company Retreat’ release schedule explained
