Nathan For You
“Liquor Store/Exterminator/Car Wash”
Season 2, Episode 4
Chad White
Tonight’s episode of Nathan For You is quieter than this seasons’ previous efforts. Fielder tackles three separate businesses with varying degrees of success. But I noticed something: all of the business owners were of Hispanic descent. Was there a theme going on throughout or am I reading into this way too hard? I’d like to believe that an underlying element of this episode was about the opportunities that can be presented to immigrant workers so I’ll stick with that.
The first stop for Fielder is a liquor store that is having trouble pouring up customers (shut up; I tried). Here, he introduces an idea that I would think to be pretty ballsy. Fielder suggested the owner sell alcohol to minors but they can only take it home once they’re 21. If this idea was misinterpreted in the wrong way, things could have gone south quick. A defining aspect of the plan involved sending a child actor to a local high school to spread the word about the “legalized” alcohol sales. Speaking in broken English and looking cool with a backwards hat and sunglasses, the teen’s addition may or may not have worked but it was just as funny. But this idea seemed more illegal than it put off. Wouldn’t hanging a sign out in front of the store stating you sell to minors be bad for business? Moreover, do these teens who sign vouchers saying they’ve purchased the alcohol actually believe they’re getting their money back or picking up the drinks in however many years?
Next on Fielder’s list was an exterminator’s hope to land a contract with a hotel. This was the biggest scheme of the episode. Fielder and the exterminator Javier Arteaga “presented” the hotel with an award that was too suspicious (Least Amount Of Bed Bugs “So there’s still a chance of some bed bugs?”). All of their equipment was stuffed into the hollowed out award and accompanying cart. Both of those then transformed into a maid cart that hid Arteaga as Fielder pushed him up to the infested room dressed as a maid. There are so many layers to the plan that many of them come off as needless but they’re still funny nevertheless. Fielder has proven that he can be tricky when it comes to planning. His aptitude for finishing the job shows when he tricks the hotel’s hesitant manager into signing the contract for Arteaga to continue his business there.
Fielder’s final stop is at a car wash that needs more cars to wash. The solution: bird poop. We’ve seen the lengths that Fielder will go to in order to complete the job. Whether it’s changing a coffee shop into a parody of a larger chain or creating a petting zoo hero, he has been known to reach for the stars with his attempts at attracting customers. But how far is too far? Fielder recruited the help of multiple bird wranglers to dirty up the cars of potential car wash clients. Pigeons, chickens, and a peacock are all enlisted to aid Fielder with his duty. Yes, both a pun and a sense of work, these birds are tasked with defecating on cars that Fielder stops in the middle of the road. Nathan seems to carry most of this act as he suggests that he be made employee of the month to the car wash’s owner. There’s even a mini celebration that is absolutely forced but still kind of worthwhile.
Should you watch Nathan For You “Liquor Store/Exterminator/Car Wash?”
Maybe. It doesn’t have defining mainstay’s or big enough ideas but it does present a few novel ways to attract viewers. There’s no real sense of “will they get the job done” when watching this episode. But we may not need that feeling every single time.