Aahana Swrup
The Spanish comedy film ‘Go Team!’ presents a story about a workplace competition where the prize is continued employment. Olga is a new mother who is just returning to work after her months-long maternity leave. Naturally, she expects it to take some time for her to settle back into her professional role. However, she and the rest of the employees at Uncle Mochales are in for an unpleasant surprise. As it turns out, this year, instead of a normal team-building exercise, the company is planning a weekend getaway to the cheese farm that is the brand’s birthplace. Not only that, but the itinerary lined up for the retreat is actually a contest designed to weed out the weakest links in the group in preparation for the upcoming mass layoffs. Consequently, as the stakes get higher, so does the employees’ ruthlessness in beating out the competition to secure their own futures by any means necessary. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Go Team! Plot Synopsis
After six months of maternity leave, Olga prepares to return to work while her husband uses his own days off to be with their newborn twins. Naturally, the long separation from the workplace makes her anxious about her return. As such, she’s pleasantly surprised when she walks in on what seems to be a surprise party that her co-workers have put together. Unfortunately, her assumption that the party is for her turns out to be untrue. In fact, her co-workers had entirely forgotten the date of her expected return. Instead, they’re celebrating the bittersweet departure of Padilla, the employee who joined as her replacement. Thus, Olga fears her worst nightmare of being perceived as a mother rather than a ruthless businesswoman is starting to come true.
For the same reason, when the CEO, Pepa, announces the annual team retreat and shares that attendance, though not mandatory, would be beneficial, the new mother has no choice but to pack her bags for the trip. In a clear attempt to save a quick buck, the company has set this year’s retreat in its own cheese-making village, home to its founder, Aldo Mochales. As part of the team-building exercise, the employees are sorted into department-based teams, which will participate in competitions against one another throughout the weekend. Unsurprisingly, the entire workforce proves its incompetence in the first round of speed cow-milking. This forces Pepa to hold a meeting, where she makes a startling announcement. Apparently, due to low market value, Uncle Mochales has been sold to a French company known for making pet food. While this means pay bumps in the future, it also means severe staff cutbacks even sooner.
Pepa reveals that the French company has a long history of conducting such layoffs through unorthodox, but legal, methods. The upcoming weekend, which will involve cutthroat competition, is a part of the same process. Initially, Domingo, one of the oldest employees, remains carefree about the contest, asserting that he would prefer to get laid off so he can retire with his pension. On the other hand, Marco, who is in a managerial position, tries to cozy up to Pepa. This helps him learn that after the sale goes through, the CEO will be moving to France, leaving her position open for takeover. Yet, she also reveals that she’s actually planning on suggesting Olga as her replacement. On the other hand, Domingo learns that his pension isn’t actually a sure deal. As such, he realizes he must start participating in the competition with the intention of winning.
As such, a cold-blooded rivalry breaks out between Olga, Marco, and Domingo. Instead of simply focusing on winning the competition, they also start trying to sabotage one another. Domingo leaks Olga’s recent pay bump, which turns her own department against her. In retaliation, she drugs the older man’s water, which results in him ending up at the bottom of the leaderboard. In an attempt to catch up, Domingo snitches about Marco’s affair with his subordinate, Sergio, and secretly airs out every employee’s dirty laundry in front of Pepa. Yet Olga’s sabotage of Marco, which involves a fake job offer, causes the most damage as it compels him to stand up to Pepa and boldly resign. On the third day, the final round of the competition begins, pitting all the employees against each other in a triathlon-style race involving biking, kayaking, and running. As this race begins, Marco, on his way back home, runs into Aldo Mochales, who laments the sale of his company.
Go Team Ending: Who Becomes the Next CEO?
At first, the biggest consequence of the team-building competition is expected to be the layoffs that will be influenced. Since the company is eyeing around 30 to 40 percent of the workforce to cut down, anyone who isn’t in the top half of the leaderboard can say goodbye to their jobs. However, halfway through the weekend, another discovery is made: The CEO’s job is up for grabs. Pepa is planning on moving after the sale between Uncle Mochales and Royal Pet goes through. Although Marco is eyeing the position, the boss actually wants Olga to be her successor. Thus, when the latter considers quitting entirely, she lets her in on the secret to offer motivation. Despite the other employees and even Olga doubting her ability to stay ruthless when she returns to work after becoming a mother, Pepa believes that she has what it takes to be a leader. Yet, in order to earn that title, she must fight for it.
As a result, Olga goes entirely off the reservation, remorselessly backstabbing Marco, her closest friend. Furthermore, in the triathlon round, she actively tries to sabotage the other racers. Even so, her lack of kayaking skills inevitably spells out her doom. In the end, it’s Domingo who miraculously wins the race. As such, this leaves the question of the next CEO wide open. Olga, the leading contender, fails to prove herself in the final round. Marco, the next-best contender, has already been fired. Lastly, despite winning the race, Domingo was never actually in the running anyway. For a minute, it seems like an unexpected solution has arrived when Marco returns with Alfo Mochales. He’s hoping that the founder can stop the upcoming sale of the company entirely and change the blueprint of Uncle Mochales entirely.
Nonetheless, Marco’s faith is misplaced. He realizes the same when Pepa reveals that Aldo actually sold all his shares a long time ago. Afterward, the CEO, drunk on power and annoyed at all her employees, tries to fire everyone. Yet, she’s stopped by Laura, the HR. Thus comes the unforeseen revelation: Laura has actually managed to take over the position of the CEO overnight. Pepa’s brand of leadership has been toxic and exploitative for some time now. Just over the course of this weekend, she has put her employees in danger and consistently neglected their health and safety. Consequently, exhausted by her unfit management, Laura has been documenting everything to share with the company’s board of directors. The night before the final race, they had unanimously decided to fire Pepa and hire a more competent replacement in her place: Laura.
Do Olga, Marco, and Domingo Lose Their Jobs?
For much of the story, the employees’ jobs on the line remain the source of much of the conflict. Before the retreat, Olga, Marco, and Domingo are shown to be close friends. They enjoy each other’s company and have real friendships. In theory, this should line up perfectly with Pepa’s management style, where she insists the employees treat the company like a second family. Nevertheless, it’s her own design that pushes these three people against each other. Both Marco and Olga are desperate for the promotion, which makes them betray one another in the most brutal ways. On the other hand, withholding Domingo’s pension makes him desperate to keep his job because he’s convinced no other company would want ot hire someone of his age.
Eventually, the rivalry that is born out of this competition even costs Marco his job. Nonetheless, his unemployment, alongside the threat to everyone else’s jobs, only lasts for so long. Once Laura reveals the ace up her sleeve and gets Pepa fired, Uncle Mochales stands on the precipice of a new beginning. While the sale might still go through, leading to a merger with Royal Fish, Laura has no plans of complying with any mass layoffs. Instead, she wants everyone to keep their jobs and thrive in their positions. Moreover, unlike Pepa, she wants the workplace to feel like a professional setting. She encourages her employees to have a work-life balance without the expectation of treating the office like a “second home.” As such, in the end, everyone gets to keep their jobs, this time with a much better boss at the helm of the ship.
Do Marco and Sergio End Up Together?
Marco and Sergio’s workplace romance unravels over the course of the film. Although their chemistry remains evident from the beginning, they only remain friends at first. This is largely because Marco is scared of losing his job by entering into a relationship with someone who works under him. Nonetheless, when Sergio makes the first move at the team-building retreat, the manager ends up playing along. The two begin to secretly hook up over the course of the weekend. That is, until Domingo discovers their affair and reports them to Laura in a last-ditch attempt to save his own standing in the competition.
In the aftermath, the duo’s relationship begins to go downhill. Marco’s competitiveness finds him sabotaging even Sergio at one point to secure his own win. For the same reason, the Pink Lady job offer comes as a saving grace for Marco. Once the manager starts to believe that he can pivot to another company with better opportunities and a more lucrative package, he ceases his attempts to impress Pepa. In fact, he confronts her in front of the other employees, pointing out her flaws before announcing his own resignation. He even attempts to convince Sergio to quit his job so they can escape the company together.
Once he finds out the job offer has been a part of Olga’s plot all along, things quickly devolve into chaos for him. Alongside losing his job, he also grows disillusioned with Sergio, holding him accountable for being unwilling to run away with him. However, the truth remains that, unlike Marco, who has a degree, experience, and family wealth to fall back on, things aren’t that simple for the other man. Fortunately, in the end, a lot of the complications standing in the duo’s way clear themselves up. Once Laura becomes the new CEO, Marco asks her for a demotion. He has realized that a managerial position isn’t currently ideal for his mental health, as it only adds stress to his life. Additionally, the demotion also has the benefit of finally putting him and Sergio on even footing, allowing the two to enter a relationship.
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