The Franchise season 1 episode 5 ending explained: Was Tecto sponsored by a tractor?

The latest episode of the HBO original series The Franchise season 1 episode 5 was released on November 3, 2024. The show follows the production crew of Maximum Studios and their tentpole superhero franchise.

The main cast is the hapless crew of Tecto: Eye of the Storm, who are often sidelined in favor of the more lucrative Centurios films. In episode 5, their latest funding trick involves penning a product placement deal with none other than a Chinese tractor.

The Franchise season 1, episode 5 is titled Scene 16: Eric's Hospital Scene. It showcases the prima donna director going to any lengths necessary to ensure his dramatic hospital scene makes it into Tecto: Eye of the Storm. However, even this attempt at product placement isn't safe from the specter of studio politics.

When the Centurios 2 crew tries to co-opt the tractor stunt for their own purposes, Eric nearly causes a diplomatic incident by going on a public tirade against China in anger.

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The Franchise season 1 episode 5 features Chinese product placement

The Franchise season 1 episode 5 begins with Pat retaliating against Eric's golf cart mishap on the Centurios 2 set by Eric earlier. Centurios 2 is facing a continuity problem that Pat has decided to resolve by shooting a scene with Peter where his character, Eye, will see the future.

By this point, Anita is already on thin ice with both Pat and Shane, and Pat pressures her to appease the Chinese market by agreeing to a product placement deal. This deal would involve featuring a farming tractor in Tecto: Eye of the Storm and sending the message that Chinese tractors are the best.

Later in The Franchise season 1 episode 5, Adam films the dramatic hospital scene Eric wants to portray so badly. Crew members such as Daniel and Dag are well aware that Maximum Studios will likely edit the scene out from the final cut and are mainly just playing along to massage Eric's ego.

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The crew struggles to fit the tractor in

The product placement of the tractor proves troublesome (Image via HBO)

While agreeing to the product placement was one thing, The Franchise season 1 episode 5 shows that incorporating it into the film is another matter entirely. The crew looks at the mirror-like realm from Lilac Ghost and drives the tractor across it. The result proves unsatisfactory.

They then put it onto the spaceship cargo bay, which fails to impress Eric. The propagandistic nature of the product placement also proves very hard to hide. After all, the deal stipulates that the tractor be described as "Reliable, buyable, undeniable - It's the best tractor in the galaxy!"

However, the director gets an idea when Daniel tells Eric about the likelihood of the hospital scene getting cut. If they place the tractor in that scene, the studio will have no choice but to leave it intact.

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Success is a double-edged sword

The crew eventually incorporates the tractor into the hospital scene by having the blinds of the hospital window open just as the tractor rolls behind Adam. However, the success of this endeavor ends up having unintended consequences.

The crew behind Centurios 2 noticed how the crew of Tecto managed to incorporate the tractor and seemingly believed that two tractors were better than one. This prompts Eric to have both tractors sent back to the Centurios set.

He subsequently gets tipped off about the Centurios 2 director about to make share his negative opinion on China. Eric's ego won't let him be upstaged, so he shows defiance by grabbing the microphone and going on an anti-China tirade. The rant goes viral and is interpreted as an act of war.

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China's propaganda arm demands its retribution

The crew appease the Chinese by advertising a scandal-ridden baby formula (Image via HBO)

Ultimately, what saves the production of Tecto: Eye of the Storm from going completely off the rails is another product placement deal. The Franchise season 1 episode 5 has the crew of Tecto capitulate to China's propaganda arm.

This time, the crew will be advertising a made-in-China baby formula because the baby formula has undergone a media scandal thanks to allegations of mercury poisoning.

Pat spearheads the commercial production and offers Rufus a part in it. The advertisement has Rufus dressed as an alien as he extolls the virtues of the baby formula. He's visibly afraid of quaffing it down out of fear of being tainted.

With the day saved, the show rolls to credits, and Eric apologizes to the Chinese for his ill-advised rant.

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The Franchise season 1 is available for streaming on HBO Max.