As the first episode of American Auto begins, the new CEO of Payne Motors, Katherine Hastings (Ana Gasteyer), learns more about the company from Sadie (Harriet Dyer). Katherine will be the first woman to run the company although Wesley (Jon Barinholtz) suggests she is only getting the position because he didn’t want it. Dori (X Mayo) reminds Wesley he wasn’t offered the job. He responds they knew he didn’t want it. Cyrus (Michael Benjamin Washington) stands up and begins telling Katherine about their first self-driving car called Ponderosa. Katherine quickly stops him to ridicule the name which sounds dull. They argue about it a bit before Elliot (Humphrey Ker) agrees that the name is crap.

As for Wesley, he somehow imagines a big, pink vagina on wheels when thinking about the self-driving car’s name. Cyrus tries to change the subject by telling them more about the car’s innovative features until Katherine asks about another car name that was something bad in Spanish. After the brief intro, Wesley says his great-grandfather would be rolling over in his grave if he knew Katherine was running the company because she knows nothing about the auto industry. When Elliot mentions she ran a drug company, Wesley calls her a drug dealer. Dori reveals she has never worked for a woman before. Dori discusses the possibility of flirting with her if she gets into trouble. Elliot and Cyrus believe one of them will get fired first.

Katherine works with Sadie to prepare for her upcoming product unveiling in front of the press. Sadie encourages her to say a few words about her reason behind moving to Payne Motors. Katherine admits it was all about the money although there were stock options too. She goes on to say she isn’t into cars all that much and finds it weird that people fetishize transportation. Sadie agrees and reveals she isn’t a big car enthusiast either. She spots Jack (Tye White) in another room and becomes speechless. It gets awkward when Katherine tells Sadie it seems he wants to talk to her. She pretends she doesn’t know who he is before walking over to talk to him. Once they move to a private room, Sadie says what they did was a mistake and it’d look back if she was with anyone from the factory.

He wants to know if she tried to get him transferred to the Westland facility. Although she denies it, Jack knows otherwise since his supervisor said it was Sadie. When he presses her on that, she claims she recommended him because he is the best. Wesley tries to convince Dori he didn’t want the CEO position. Katherine interrupts and puts Dori in charge of all the AV stuff for the presentation. After that, Katherine and Sadie join Cyrus for a demonstration of the self-driving car which happens to be voice controlled. Elliot is with them too and he quickly complains about Cyrus calling the vehicle baby. They’re surprised when the vehicle identifies a cardboard pedestrian and stops to avoid hitting it. Wesley asks Jack about their new overload. He asks if the factory guys are going to be on Team Wesley if there is a power struggle.

Jack tells him they really don’t get into that. Before long, Jack steps out in front of the self-driving car and it crashes right into him without stopping. Cyrus explains the vehicle still identifies dark tones as shadows so it believes some dark objects aren’t there. He lists several dark objects including a black cat, a dark blue car, and darker brown skin. Although the others believe they’ve created the world’s first racist car, Cyrus says otherwise since it’ll hit Indian people too. Katherine reminds them the products should be tested before they’re announced to the media. As for Dori, she believes it has something to do with white privilege. She also argues that the soap dispensers don’t work for her because she is black. Sadie quickly tells her that you have to press the button on them because they’re not automatic.

Wesley believes they can lessen the blowback by painting the car black since it would be worse to have a white, racist car. Elliot and Jack talk about black lives matter. Katherine realizes the big reveal is the self-driving feature. She wants to avoid showing off that feature and instead focus on other features during the product presentation. Jack is told to come with them since they just hit him with the car in what could be considered a hate crime. When Dori learns the car would also hit a white person in blackface, she suggests they lead with that.

As Sadie and Cyrus go back inside, he quickly blames everyone on systemic racism while Sadie complains about juggling her new boss and the subordinate she just had sex with. She tells Cyrus about making a mistake one time and sleeping with Jack. Now, she is stuck with it like herpes. After that, Dori pitches the idea to have several horns. They don’t like her idea so they try to find other ways to impress the media. During the meeting, they learn Katherine isn’t a big fan of automobiles. Cyrus says a car can be a status symbol, Dori says it gives her freedom, and Elliot tells her about the things you should consider when buying a car. Once Jack stands up, he says he likes cars because they’re cool. Since he has fun driving, he doesn’t understand why anyone would want a self-driving car.

Sadie laughs at him until he reminds her that she has Ferrari sheets and a showerhead shaped like a fuel nozzle. The others quickly realize that they had sex and Wesley begins calling her Sexy Sadie. Katherine tells them how big pharma companies would mix multiple medications when their patents were going to expire. She wants to combine all the best parts of automobiles. They head out to the employee parking lot so they can begin stealing parts from the cars. While Jack pieces the car together and Dori sets up the presentation, the others collect as many cool car parts as possible. Elliot finds a kid sleeping in a car and Wesley steals a coat. Sadie takes a few items to the garage before she is stopped by Jack who asks for assistance.

As they work together, Jack admits it was a mistake to talk about her bedsheets in front of the others. He apologizes and she says it is okay. When Katherine enters, she catches them off-guard. She asks them not to bang in there Then, we jump forward to the presentation as Wesley talks to the audience. In the back, the others agree that the car doesn’t look great. Katherine looks on the bright side by saying it isn’t racist. She takes the stage and says the vehicle was developed before she started at the company. Nobody is impressed with the hastily assembled car. Jack is just happy he got to design his own car. Sadie knows Katherine is bombing so she decides to go out and help her. Katherine hands her the microphone. She says the vehicle can be customized so the buyer gets to choose every part.

Katherine grabs the microphone again and says their cars will reflect the diversity that is the American melting pot. Later that night, everyone sits around and watches the company’s stock price. When Sadie sees Jack carrying a box, she decides to approach and tell him he doesn’t have to go to Westland after all. She denies that she would miss him though. Katherine interrupts and surprises Sadie by telling Jack to take any desk because she promoted him. Katherine leaves when her Uber arrives. Jack tells Sadie they’ll see one another occasionally.

 

American Auto Review

Since this is the pilot episode and there is still time to improve, it would be unfair to throw American Auto under the bus right now. It is basically a reproduction of The Office with the same quirky humor and atmosphere. Although I may be one of the few, I never got into the American version of The Office so my preferences may be different than others.

Still, The Office had laughable moments while American Auto’s pilot episode did not. It will be difficult to develop relationships with the characters because they’re so unrealistic and unhinged. Most of the jokes relied solely on political commentary that was neither funny nor original. Sometimes, you have to wonder how shows got approval with the big networks. Didn’t anyone watch American Auto and realize it just wasn’t going to work?

Again, there is still time for the show to right the ship and win over viewers. If this doesn’t happen, it would likely be better for everyone involved if the show quietly disappeared. The show’s intro video and song were good though. The first episode scores a 5 out of 10. American Auto recaps can be found on Reel Mockery here.