‘American Auto’ Recap: ‘Crisis’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

AMERICAN AUTO -- "Crisis" Episode 201 -- Pictured: (l-r) Harriet Dyer as Sadie -- (Photo by: Ron Batzdorff/NBC)

Caution: This article contains spoilers for the season two premiere of ‘American Auto’.
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It is definitely safe to say, that corporate America is a place where mistakes are often made. Some of them are small in nature. Such as when someone has a bad day on social media and makes the company go viral for something quite silly in nature. Or when someone doesn’t speak up in a meeting regarding how a product or service’s name will be utterly roasted by the internet. And sometimes, those mistakes are quite large in nature, such as when an executive does something stupid in the public eye or when a company’s product, isn’t finished and bad things happen when it hits the shelves. Yes, one way or another, mistakes will be made and we the public, just sit back and watch the fallout unfold and ponder upon an important question.
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Specifically… how exactly do people at a corporate office, handle such matters on a personal level? Because they are encased in a special world that no one is privy to, one that is insulated as well. So, do they worry? Do they panic? Do they even care? Well, those are questions and that is a moment, that the season two premiere of American Auto on NBC works to answer and explore. For when we catch up with the C-Suite staff at Payne Motors in ‘Crisis’, they are in fact… in the midst of a major crisis. Because one of their prized vehicles that initially passed safety inspections and seemed to be fine, was in fact, not fine. Because one of its parts shipped faulty and the office was in scramble mode to get ahead of a disaster and uh, they didn’t.

Because the part failed in one car in the mountains near the factory, and that sparked a fire that went on for weeks and well… that helped us to learn just how a crisis is handled in a corporate office and well… it turns out the answer to all off those burning questions is… yes. Because this shook the Payne Motors team to their core and they absolutely panicked, well everyone but Katherine, and they did their best to smooth over the situation to no avail. Simply because, Sadie struggled to soothe the press when she stood up in front of them to assuage their fears, and others worried about blowback and even the crisis manager the company hired, couldn’t make this right and this was… a wonderfully satirical inside look at such a crisis, one that added a real human element to the whole thing.

For everyone’s fears and doubts and worries, felt real here, and their actions reflected real fear and real concern for a disaster that could have cost them their jobs. And it was nice to see this show once again, humanize the C-Suite at Payne Motors and remind us that while corporate American is oft vilified and sometimes rightfully so, there are people in these jobs, some of whom might be out of touch with the world, but people, nonetheless. But the humanity in this episode didn’t end with the general response to the crisis at hand… but through how the crisis ended. Because the Board wanted someone to take the fall for this and the falling stock prices, and Katherine was happy to fall upon that sword. In part because the payout was so huge that she wouldn’t need to work for ages on end and could just enjoy life’s little spoils.

But the fact that everyone under her was going to be wiped out as well, didn’t sit right with Katherine. She thought it should only be her to take the heat for a mistake that a CEO basically made, and that prompted her to do the right thing, and find a way to stay, and tie her future to her team’s future. So that they had a fighting chance to redeem themselves and this was just… wonderful. Since it spoke to Katherine’s growth as a CEO and how the team has jelled and how much they meant to her and that… sets the stage for a big second season. One that will force this team to do their best and probably indulge in their worst now and again, to bring Payne Motors back from a critical mistake and in the end, this was just an amazing series premiere. One that reminded us, that this really is a different kind of corporate America show. Since it can both lampoon and humanize a part of the world we are indeed detached from, and it will be interesting to see what wonderful acts the team conducts, and what hilarious shenanigans they get into as well, as season two of this wonderful comedy, continues along. Until next time.  

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