You said "yeah, they added a window in the hood to show off the cheap plastic engine cover."
So, you didn't say it wasn't an intercooler? but you did said it was a cheap platic engine cover? So, technically you did say it wasn't an intercooler, but a plastic cover.
The black and blue you can see is plastic, but the center part is the actual core of the intercooler. They added the window to show off the supercharger/intercooler, not a piece of plastic.
you could say the same about mid engine ferraris. they all have polycarbonate windows now to "show off their cheap plastic engine covers." Or, show off their cheap cast intake manifolds or whatever.