At the very least, it seems like the DMV is finally listening to my cries for change. In Episode 5, "Stick Shift," Colette finally gets a much-needed break from her increasingly hopeless relationship with Noa, and it's a small but significant change that opens up space for other subplots and creates a better overall balance.
Colette's dominance is notably reduced here. We've seen her fawn over Noa and pretend to be someone she isn't, but the problem was that she was essentially acting the same in both modes. The A-plot finds Ceci calling her out on only performing acts of kindness around the office for credit, so Colette is forced to remain low-key in an attempt to prove her wrong. It's a small tweak, but it works, in the limited scope of the episode.
Colette's way of proving her sincerity is by anonymously gifting Noa a custom harmonica inscribed with his initials, which is a lovely gesture that he sincerely appreciates...even though he immediately intuits that it came from her. To test Colette's resolve, Ceci takes the credit for the gift, leading to Noa lavishing her with attention, flowers, and a song, much to Colette's annoyance. And to be fair, it's also an issue for Ceci since the gratitude makes her bristle and she's simply not into Noa in the same way Colette is. This subplot takes a funny (albeit ridiculous) turn when Ceci douses the harmonica in her homemade nail polish to stop Noa from playing it, but the cayenne pepper she uses gives him an allergic reaction that almost kills him. They manage to administer an Epi-Pen, which Ceci is happy to give Colette credit for, and Colette even gets a hug, which is progress in their relationship as far as she's concerned (naturally, she holds on a bit too long).
Elsewhere in DMV Episode 5, Vic's general unprofessionalism finally becomes a big enough issue that Barb has to step in as a manager and deal with it. Gregg, from his teaching experience, recommends she meaningfully discipline him, which she interprets as giving him a made-up promotion in order to make him feel empowered. Naturally, this goes straight to Vic's head, and he starts ordering Gregg around, leading to some of the funniest scenes of the episode (everything Gregg says is funny). But it also causes Gregg to eventually reveal that he has been placated, and in response, Vic goes rogue, giving everyone sitting their written driving exams all the answers. Barb, already being mocked by Gregg for not being stern enough in the first place, suspends Vic. But when Gregg calls him later, he's playing video games while receiving full pay.
Barb's fundamental incapability as a manager is hilarious, as is the reality that even if she weren't, it would be so difficult to suspend someone from a government position due to paperwork that she might as well not bother in the first place. These tiny details always help DMV to sell itself as a critique of state bureaucracy and not just a knockabout workplace sitcom—I find myself wishing there were more of them in each episode.
"Stick Shift" concludes with some outside-the-box thinking, at least, with Barb promoting Gregg to the same fake position as Vic, meaning he can feel empowered without leveraging the presumed power imbalance. Barb might be generally useless, but at least she seems to know her staff.
