‘American Auto’ Recap: ‘Going Green’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

AMERICAN AUTO -- "Going Green" Episode 204 -- Pictured: (l-r) Michael Benjamin Washington as Cyrus, Harriet Dyer as Sadie, Jon Barinholtz as Wesley, Ana Gasteyer as Katherine, Tye White as Jack -- (Photo by: Ron Batzdorff/NBC)

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode 205 of ‘American Auto’. To revisit the previous episode, click here.
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Now and then, we hear about how there’s just… the next great thing coming from the technology sector. Something that is revolutionary and powerful and will change the world as we know it, and we also hear… that someone has taken the time to invest in it… so it has to be legit. And we course, perk up and listen because that usually means good news for the world, only to learn… it wasn’t that great. Or it was a hoax and then of course… there’s the ugliness that comes with that. Such as hearings and trials and everything in between, since someone lost a lot of money on that. Which does leave one to wonder, how such an investment comes to life. Because if other people sniffed out the false platitude of it, how did the investor miss on that?
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Well, since American Auto is the quintessential satire on the mistakes that corporations often make, this week’s episode served as the perfect place to answer that question. A feat that ‘Going Green’ accomplished by taking us back into the C-Suite at Payne Motors where the team was pondering upon green initiatives to make investors happy and pump up that stock price. Because Jack came to learn that Payne was one of the few companies out there to not be investing in such technologies and well, that prompted Katherine to say yes to going green and the subsequent announcements and stock jump that came from them… put the team on the road.

So, they could indeed find, the next great green product to add to their vehicle lineup. Which led to some solid pitches, and some boring ones, and some investments along the way. But of the many places they visited, there was one that Wesley absolutely believed they had to check out. A battery company run by his old buddy Chase. For he really believed that Chase was onto something big for green car manufacturing and after some pressing, Katherine relented and took a meeting with him and instantly harbored regret. Because Chase somehow believed that sand, could be used to power batteries. And of course, there was no science to back that theory up, nor were there any tangible results that this kind of battery would work. Prompting Katherine to speak her mind and leave this charade behind.

But when one of the employees at Chase’s company, mentioned that Tesla had shown interest… things quickly changed. Because now, it seemed as though there was real demand for this product and in doing their due diligence to see if by chance Tesla knew something they didn’t… a buzz was created. One that was so strong and so powerful that Katherine… had to have those sand batteries. So, she did her best to smooth things over with Chase and asked for Wesley’s help in the matter to close the deal and get Payne’s hands… on an ungodly amount of sand. Sand that did nothing but be sand, really. All of which helped us to understand how these investments are made and how they’ll stick around until fundamental change comes into play.

Because in essence, hype products and solutions such as these are created… by hype. Where someone gets a buzz going and those that hear about the hype and want to be in on the next hot thing, get suckered into something silly and stupid. Like sand batteries. Which informs us, that the hype train is the problem, and that real due diligence needs to come into play to examine what the next great thing looks like and until that happens, mistakes like this one will be made. But all commentary and satire aside, make no mistake about it, this was a hilarious episode. One that did a wonderful job of lampooning the hype train and featured a Superstore reunion. Since Ben Feldman played Chase and well, now that this delightful journey has come to a close, the time has come to wait once again for more brilliance from one of the smartest comedies on the airwaves. Until next time.

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