American Auto Season 2 Episode 8 Review: Hack

American Auto Season 2 Episode 8, “Hack,” finds Team Payne falling victim to a company-wide hacking while Sadie and Jack are trapped in Payne’s automotive test chamber. Naturally, chaos that only this show can generate ensues. 

“Hack” is undoubtedly a stronger entry than its predecessor as it experiments with new character dynamics to triumphant results. Notably, pairing Katherine and Elliot together while Cyrus, Dori, and Wesley embark on a password-retrieving quest that involves failed hypnosis. These pairings allow the actors to shine in new ways. 

CYRUS: I do this funny thing where I write playful, sarcastic emails about how awful my coworkers are. And, again, tongue is firmly planted in cheek, but out of context, it might seem hurtful. 

Of course, we can’t omit Sadie and Jack’s steamy horizontal tangoing in the automotive test chamber. American Auto has done a brilliant job of carefully cultivating Jack and Sadie’s chemistry. Kudos to Harriet Dyer and Tye White for contributing to that chemistry. 

While it’s not necessarily a sizzling, sexual tension type of chemistry, their attraction boasts a sweetness to it that’s lovely to watch onscreen. “Hack” plays with a familiar sitcom and rom-com trope, but it never crosses into uninteresting territory. The buildup to Sadie and Jack having sex feels natural. Watching the outcome of their coupling in the coming episodes will be fun. 

Ana Gasteyer and Humphrey Ker are a delight together. We’ve never had one-on-one scenes with Katherine and Elliot. Their significantly different personalities mesh well, as do Gasteyer and Ker’s varied comedy approaches. 

KATHERINE: We’re the victims here. However we choose to process our own trauma is inherently right. 

Some of their hilarious highlights include Elliot pretending to resign to get Katherine to stop being mean to him and Katherine retaliating by pretending to fire him. The underhandedness and insincerity of these characters should deem them unlovable, yet the actors and writers inject enough humanity into them to make us root for them. 

Cyrus and Wesley’s hypnosis scene also combines the hysterical comedic stylings of Michael Benjamin Washington and Jon Barinholtz. Washington’s dryness, coupled with Barinholtz’s “bull in a china shop” approach to Wesley, makes for entertaining scenes aplenty. 

JACK: You can’t give an invisibility cloak to a boy that age. They’re gonna use it for sex stuff. And Harry did it, too. It was just offscreen. 

“Hack” is another delightful outing in the American Auto canon, with stellar performances from our strong comedic cast across the board. It’s sitcom mayhem and cheeky humor at its finest.

Stray Observations: 

• “Don’t Go, Jason Waterfalls” is now the name of a song (or novel) wherein the protagonist begs Jason Waterfalls not to, you know, go. Commas make a big difference, folks. Or this could be TLC’s first draft of “Waterfalls.” 
• Someone on the world wide web needs to compile a collage of all the dry-erase board gags in this show. Wesley’s potential passwords for his “decentralized” stash are hilarious. Some of my favorites are the variations on “This is Sparta!” and “Cloud 69,” which feels like a nod to Superstore‘s Cloud 9 (Jon Barinholtz also starred in that). The name passwords, i.e., Meredith and Sheila, are also interesting. Hopefully, we’ll dig into the history behind those at some point. 
• It isn’t an American Auto episode without Katherine erupting into a screaming fit. 
• Sadie and Jack’s Clifford the Big Red Dog discussion feels ripe for a potential horror spin on that IP. Could you imagine a horror flick wherein Clifford tramples on people? 
• Cyrus’s sarcasm profoundly resonates with a fellow sarcasm user like me. We are the same person. 

What did you think of this episode of American Auto? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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American Auto airs Tuesdays at 8:30/7:30c on NBC, with next-day streaming on Peacock.

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