Archer The Chef

Archer, S04E07

ISIS was employed to work undercover at Seize restaurant, but they had no idea what kind of threat they were supposed to be watching for.  Their cover was also compromised by the filming of the reality show Bastard Chef.  Archer began to follow the example of Chef Casteau, and thought that his true calling might have been cooking instead of spying.  Lana tried to bite her tongue at the chef's harsh treatment of her and kept investigating why they had been tasked to do security on the restaurant, while the others fumbled around in the kitchen.  Mallory bullied Carol and Pam into getting her a reservation at Seize and took Pam's fish hostage until they got her what she wanted.

I think my favorite thing about this story was that Archer was starting to fit in really nicely at Seize and cooking food that the hardass Casteau seemd to approve of.  It's always interesting to see Archer exhibit skills outside of his spy set.  I wouldn't have guessed that someone who probably has little experience cooking would be able to make anything remotely delicious, but Archer could.  Plus, his tendency to order people around and be a general bastard suited well for a sous chef who has to keep on top of others in the kitchen to get dishes out quickly and correctly.  The ambassador of Albania even complimented him on the dish he made from his home country before he died, making Archer's role look less like a cover and more like his true calling.  However, thanks to Castuea being in league with the KGB, he took away Archer's confidence as quickly as he had gained it.  Guess Archer will still remain a spy.

I also liked that the fake threat that Mallory had used to get them inside of Seize turned out to be real and Casteau was the culprit.  I didn't expect to see Barry and Katya in this story, so that was a nice suprise at the end.  I'm really starting to like Katya because she has Barry on lock and key now.  One little comment from her and she can shut his mouth and ruin his fun.  Plus, she threw Casteau out of the helicopter without thinking twice.  Once again, it's really fortune for Archer that she's not out to kill him because she's just as ruthless as Barry is.

It was messed up that Mallory made them waste their time at Seize under the pretenses of a security threat and a possible future employment with the government.  Forget that KGB wanted them to look foolish--Mallory's doing a great job of that on her own.  It makes me wonder what the hell she's trying to do.  She makes her employees look more like her personal assistants rather than talented and dangerous spies.  I'm just glad Lana figured it out because Mallory might have gotten away with it.

I didn't like that Carol had to give Rodney a hand job to find out the number for Seize.  Not really because it was beneath her (she has some twisted sexual preferences), but because it was just a gross exchange in general.  We didn't get to see everything she did, but we had to hear Rodney enjoying it and see his face.  Eww.  And Pam was just standing there watching.  Geez.  At least give them some privacy while you whore out your coworker.

I liked this episode.  It was a nice change of pace to see Archer cooking skillfully instead of murdering people with ease.  Someone did end up dying, but that was just thanks to Katya's excellent plan to use Casteau for her own purposes.  I just wish that Archer could continue to pursue this hidden talent of his.  Even an asshole like him could be beloved if he could compensate for his personality by making delicious food.  Mallory, as the owner of ISIS, needs to get it together.  Either she's going to employ her spies to do something they've been trained to do or she should demote them to being her gophers.  If she's not careful enough they'll probably get destroyed by the KGB before they even know it.   I'd almost like to see that if it'll encourage them to get back to a semi-legit organization again.

Getting Katya Back Back-Fires

Archer, S04E05

Archer ran at the chance to hook up with Katya, who begged him to help her find Barry.  Archer pretended to want to rescue him and asked Krieger, Pam, and Cheryl to help him.  Although, Archer's plan was to fool Katya into thinking Barry was cheating on her to win her back, Katya was playing him for her own purpose.

I didn't like too much seeing Lana back with Cyrill, even if it was just for sex, but I liked that Archer seemed to be the only one around the office who didn't have a date.  He made a pathetic attempt to get Lana back, but forgot about her in a second when Katya called him.  It's like he was from low to lower.  He really has no shame.  I guess, though, it's not completely pathetic that he ran to Katya because he does generally love her.  Not enough to bring back Barry just for her sake.  Luckily, with all of his scheming and creating that fake tape of Barry's confession to cheating, Katya was just using him to get Barry back from the beginning.  That was pretty smart because I don't know how Barry would have made it back the way he kept killing the scientist who were trying to help him.  I just wonder if Katya is going to help out Archer and keep Barry from murdering him the second he lands on Earth.

It was kind of disturbing the way everyone was reading these like octopus/sea-life porn throughout the episode.  Not only that, but Ray and Cyrill woke up from being knocked up and found themselves naked and with an octopus.  Since Pam was also in that bathroom with a camera, I can only assume she violated them somehow with that thing while they were out and filmed it.  Man, they are into some gross stuff at ISIS.  I wouldn't dare go into a bathroom around there.

I liked this episode, mainly because Archer was acting so desperate at the slim chance of getting back with Katya.   Also, I liked that Barry managed to get off the space station and is heading for Archer's location.  It ups the excitement in this show because it's well-known that Barry is crazy as hell and murderously hates Archer.  I don't know how Archer will manage to stay alive.  His only hope might be that Katya seems to have taken Barry's place as the head of the KGB.  I'm eager to see what she'll do while in power and what Barry's reaction will be to her taking his place.

Archer Does Bob's Burgers

Archer, S04E01

The team at ISIS found Archer, but due to his memory loss, they tried to gradually remind himself of his spy life by staging a fake attack on his life.  When the fake attack turned into a real attack by the KBG agents after Archer, Lana and Archer had to work together to hold them off.

It feels like it's been forever since the season finale.  I didn't remember at all where we had left off, so I didn't know what to expect.  However, I was absolutely thrilled when I saw it started at Bob's Burger shop.  Freaking awesome!  I mean, I don't like that show so much, but to see that Archer was going to parody it when Archer is voiced by the same guy as Bob (H. Jon Benjamin is such a good actor), was amazing!  Archer had this mustache that oddly suited him as he flipped burgers in Bob's outfit and was talking to Louise, Gene, and Tina drawn in this show's style.  It got even better when Linda popped up and she was the same voice as from Bob's Burgers.  The kids didn't talk at all, but I sort of liked that (because you know those kids have never been quiet for that long in their whole lives).  I absolutely loved the way the were drawn too--the art style on Archer is really pleasing to the eye, so it was interesting to see Linda actually attractive.  Like, in this universe, I could see how Archer might marry her even with three kids attached.  Haha.  Another thing that was funny was that he was talking about the kids and he couldn't remember Tina's name.  That was on point.

I think I forgot how violent this show is.  It has to have been a while.  Watching Archer as Bob murder four guys with a spatula and coffee pot was great.  It made me think if they did this on Bob's Burgers, I might like it tons more than I do right now.  I just wonder since Archer did marry Linda is he just going to leave her forever or is he going to stay with her (at least on paper?).  Probably not, now that I think about Archer.  He's not the type to do the decent thing.  Unless he was just thinking about their safety in general because Archer is a magnet for death and destruction.  Oh, and it was funny how after Archer had killed all those guys you saw a slight smile on Louise's face.  Now that is really like her character--the real Louise would have been praising Archer up and down and asking him to teach her those moves.

I was so impressed by the beginning that I didn't really care too much what happened in the rest of the episode.  I sort of hoped that Archer wouldn't remember because he's an asshole.  Not that he wasn't a bit of a jerk as Bob, but he wasn't as bad.  But I couldn't imagine how the show would work with him continuing to think he needed to go shopping for cheese and stuff.

The only thing I liked was that Barry was shown.  I forgot how much I like him.  He's freaking crazy and apparently still stalking Archer from outer space.  Damn, when he gets down finally, Archer's going to get his ass kicked again.  Hopefully, they'll realize that Barry is monitoring their movements before it's too late.

Um, got to say I loved this episode because of the parody.  I watched it for a second time and I was still laughing and enjoying the cross-over.  I think this was really necessary to get me invested in the show again because I'm still having trouble remember what happened last season.  But right now if they keep doing cool surprises like they did in this premiere, I think I can still go along with this show no matter if I'm not quite up to speed yet.

Archer Thinks Of Others! ...Just Kidding

Archer, S03E10

Yesterday we got to see the season finale of Archer.  Since they don't have that many episodes to begin with, it seems to have gone by really quickly.  I think that it ended pretty well with ISIS managing to take down the traitor faction, get a little revenge on Barry, and return home alive (I emphasize "alive" and not "unharmed").  For a moment, I thought that Archer had seen the light, if not only for an appropriate time (the time being until they were back to Earth in one piece), but Archer remains Archer in the end.

Despite that Archer resisted against their captors (his best being when he attacked Wu while shouting "Woo!"), it was pretty clear that if Drake had offered Archer an alcoholic drink, he might have easily joined their side.  When they didn't seem to be offering him anything tempting, he first suggested that since they only wanted Lana (apparently they looked up all her information and thought she would make the best babies for Mars), he asked for the men to be let go and then just himself (of course).  I hadn't thought that they specifically wanted Lana to be "The Mother of Mars," but thought that they just happened to hire ISIS and figured that a spy female was the best they were going to get for their re-population schemes.  As creepy as their plan was, Lana had to be a little flattered that they thought her DNA was the best stuff around.

I didn't appreciate that Lana had to be nearly naked for most of the episode, but I liked that she was so vain about her boobs.  When Archer suggested that they were getting saggy, she just couldn't let it go, even in the midst of a fight.  The ISIS crew managed to get away from their captors to only be captured once again.  They were pretty unimpressive in their escape attempt.

I think the badass medal for this episode should go to Pam who was not only smart enough to prepare to attack if Drake and his men tried to get on the ship, but also managed to sneak up on Drake and get him at gunpoint while Carol was busy being a "whordiot," letting the enemies into the ship.  That stupid little bitch.  Pam should have been made an operative instead of freaking Cyrill.  At least she increased the chance that they would return to Earth, while Cyrill, shooting off madly after Drake blasted off his own head, killed Kellogg, the only other person who was unquestionably qualified to fly them back home.  After Cyrill screwed up right after Pam had saved the day, I didn't easily see how they would make it back home.

When Barry started approaching them on a space ship, I was really thinking that he might be the one to "save" them, even though there was no doubt he came to space to kill Archer again.  I'm not sure why he needed to do so when he already stole his fiancee, but I guess when Archer is concerned, he can't suffer enough (at least while he is alive).  Barry was pretty funny in the way he kept taunting Archer to come play with him, but Archer held back his pride and refused to open the doors.  It was really amazing for him.  I also wondered that if somehow Barry's revenge had turned into a necessity for him, in the sense that he would never kill Archer for real because then he would have no one to chase after anymore.  I mean, he followed him off the planet--is it really that serious?

Archer's seemingly change of heart paid off when he cheered Cyrill on to land them safely home; Cyrill turned the ship around so that the fire from the engine would destroy Barry's ship.  Ooo...  How is he going to get home?  I don't worry too much about him because he's sneaky, a cyborg, and there are many, many people around on Horizon that they will probably find a way for him to return to Earth.  After all, if Barry's not around, who is going to be Archer's annoyingly persistent arch-enemy? (Archer-enemy, if you will allow a bad pun)

I felt a bit of relief when Archer stopped acting so unselfishly and nearly killed them all when Cyrill was just about to land the ship safely to Earth.  I'm not sure how Archer managed to get off without a scratch on him!  Lana was using crutches, someone had an eye patch, and Ray was back in his wheelchair (for real this time, I'm sure).  I liked that the episode ended with him acting like an ass because that's what this show is all about.  I wouldn't have minded a little cliffhanger to make us anticipate the next season (I hope there will be one, FX!), but this ending is just as well.

The sky is really the limit for next season, and I can't wait to see what ISIS is up to next time.  I wonder if Lana and Archer would ever get back together.  They seem to hate each other, but I feel like deep down, they still protect each other in non-obvious ways.  I'd like to see less of Mallory's attempts to get laid, and less of Pam's naked body.  The thing I'd most like to see is the return of Barry and a more equal fight between he and Archer.  They have to make a really epic (although Archer hates that word) battle between them soon.  Guess I just have to be patient and see if that happens next year.

Damnit, That Is A Scary-Ass Robot!

Family Guy, S10E16

This episode was mostly about Peter and Chris going to a fat camp where some of the boys were strangled to death by a mysterious killer, but the Stewie and Brian sidestory was the stronger of the two for me.  Although, unlike most episodes lately, I thought this one was funny overall.  And best of all, the end sort of tied the two stories together.  I don't mind if these kinds of stories run parallel to each other without intersecting, but I like them better when the writers think of a way they can connect in some way.

I didn't expect Peter to make Chris enter the hot dog contest (nor for him to win--I mean, they didn't really train or anything), but I guess a story with Chris in it was overdue.  The best thing is that they addressed that Peter was just as overweight as his son, and he joined Chris at the fat camp for teenagers.  But did anyone else notice that Barry from American Dad was there too?  I asked my sister if that was him, and she just thought it was my imagination, but if you listen to the voice, it's the same guy.

I don't know how I felt about Patrick coming back.  Since this wasn't the first time I have ever watched this show, I knew it couldn't be that easy that he was the killer they were looking for.  It was funny that when Peter was suggesting Patrick might be the killer, he mentioned his role in some musicals, and they showed how bad he was at patter singing (which I didn't know what that style was called--I always learn things from this show).  Even though the murders had nothing to do with Patrick, he disappears at the end for some reason.  Did he run off to kill more fat guys?  Will he show up in another episode?  Hopefully his next appearance will more exciting than last Sunday's.

I didn't have a clue who the killer was until they noticed that the kids getting killed looked like Chris.  I guess I totally forgot about Yamamoto, the only person it could be.  Glad it wasn't someone random, but not someone so obvious that they were practically yelling it (like him leaving hotdogs behind each time he killed--that would have been cheesy).

Now, about Stewie's very rational fear of the Queen album cover.  Oh, my God!  That is one freaky robot!!  I'm not a fan of Queen, so it was the first time I was seeing it too.  I'm sure if that album was laying around somewhere, I would turn it over so I wouldn't have to look at it.  This made the fact that Stewie nearly crapping his diaper each time Brian brought it out even funnier because I understood his fear.  Apparently, Seth MacFarlane had been disturbed by this robot back in the day (according to his twitter).  I can't believe how far Brian went to scare Stewie, though.  I never thought he would manage to get the image inside of the lotto ticket.  Man, those writers are clever.  The jack-in-the-box one was a little more predictable because there was no way those writers were going to do what you expected (thus the lotto ticket) and have the scary thing inside of the box.  That would be too easy.  Overall, I thought Brian did an excellent job of screwing around with Stewie.

I even thought it was funny that Stewie was almost going to kill himself because he was so afraid of that robot coming to get him.  Luckily, Brian stopped him before we had to see baby brains on the walls and gets Stewie to realize that it's just some art, not some kind of message of the future.  Finally, things came full circle when Stewie was able to use the album cover to give Yamamoto a heart attack and save Chris.  However, I didn't like how the actual robot gave Stewie a thumbs up.  Eww--that thing is so unsettling!  But I applaud Family Guy for recognizing this and exaggerating it in a humorous way.

Oh, yeah.  I almost forgot about my favorite cutaway.  Peter was talking about understanding scary teens.  At first it looks like he might reveal that scary teens just want love, but once the boy shows his vulnerable side, Peter beats the crap out of him.  Whatever I might say about this show, it is genius in throwing out violence when I least expect it.

This might be my favorite episode yet this season.  Although, I can't remember all of the others, so I might have to contradict myself later if I take the time to look at the older ones.

Katya And Karma Are A Bitch

Archer, S03E08

After losing his maybe daddy in the last episode, Archer gains his only true love we've seen so far, Katya in return.  Krieger, through a convenient yet believable plot hole, took her body to his home lab and has been working on her ever since to make her a cyborg.  Great news for Archer, for the most part.

Archer doesn't deserve someone who can look past all of his flaws and simply love him, but somehow I want to see him happy with Katya anyway.  He has a lot of issues, but maybe if someone cared about him in the right way (not like his mother who is smothering at best), he might be a fraction less of an asshole.  I mean, someone as selfish as Archer could eventually look past the disgusting fact that his beloved could detach her vagina and put it in the sink and ask her to marry him.  I would have really liked to see him married and have Katya stay on as a regular character.  My favorite line of their short reunion is when Archer asks her to close her eyes because it felt like he was "banging taillights on a country road."

The almost wedding is interrupted when Barry crashes in to effortlessly beat the crap out of Archer with a bottle.  I hoped for a fight that Archer could actually have a chance, but with Barry made of metal, it didn't look like he could do anything.  However, Katya came to her man's rescue, and the two cyborgs started to have a pretty cool fight (cool for this show that hasn't seen much action).  We didn't get to see much of the fight because they turned off the lights so that the cyborgs would lose most of their power, and Archer could beat Barry in a more even playing field.  As he is looking for Barry, he has another dirty joke that I would have missed if not for the "phrasing" gag.

[Archer] Oh, Barry, I am coming for you.

[Guy on floor] Phrasing.

I'm really enjoying that joke now.  More than I would have thought.  I might have to use that on someone, but I doubt they will get it (if they are anything like me at first).  

Sadly, when Archer does find Barry, he is banging Katya over a desk.  I did not see that coming, but I should have.  Barry really got his revenge good, without having to necessarily kill anyone again.  Not the titillating conclusion I was hoping for, but all right, I guess.  I couldn't help but feel bad for Archer, especially because even someone like him couldn't refuse to accept Katya's happiness (she assumes she'll have it with her own kind).  As much as I liked Barry in the previous episode and he made me laugh, I didn't care for him much in this one.

At the very end, after Mallory was lording over being right and ignoring Archer's heartbreak, we see that the cyborgs hopped happily on a bus together.  But they stopped smiling and then looked awkward and possibly regretful?  Not sure how I feel about it not being the love connection that the two claimed it would be.  Even if Katya realized that she had made a mistake, I wouldn't want her to come back to Archer.  Possibly a fight between them would be cool, but no more romance.  Barry's always welcome to come back, and I'm sure he will as he is the new head of the KGB.

In the end Barry won his revenge, and Archer ended up back where he started--alone and right where Mallory predicted.  At least balance has been restored, and we can expect the same ol' Archer that love to hate.

Prelude To A Revenge Episode? Let's Hope

Archer, S03E07

This time Archer does something unexpected.  It's not that he got a hangover or seemed to have spent a night with a random stripper.  I anticipated that when he opened the bathroom door to reveal the rumored stripper that she might be dead.  That would have been an extremely unoriginal event and thankfully I was wrong.  Unfortunately, it turned out that he had slept with Pam.  Um, gross!!  I might have pretended to overlook their hookup if Pam's first scene wasn't her crapping out the contents of her stomach.  Ugh.  She's is so disgusting!  I'm done talking about this weird development.

What I did like was the return of Barry, who is voiced by Dave Willis.  I'm a huge fan of his ever since I got hooked into Aqua Teen Hunger Force.  Now anytime I hear his voice, I can't help but laugh.  He's a genius at sounding like a jerk.  Also, I like that Barry is sort of an archenemy of Archer's.  I'm sure that Archer doesn't quite consider Barry's existence for the most part, but perhaps after this episode he will.  After all, while Archer was getting his last Pam fix, his possible father was murdered.

I'm not all that convinced that Nikolai is Archer's father, though.  It's possible, but I think it's more likely it's someone else who resembles Archer more.  It was nice to see Archer and Nikolai semi-bonding for a few minutes before Archer abandoned him.  I rather like that Barry had a fork frozen in a block of ice and popped it in the microwave so that the sparks would set off a gas explosion.  It was so odd that it was interesting.  Also, I like that Barry was simply doing a "goof" and didn't take killing Nikolai too seriously; it seemed it wasn't intended to be the ultimate payback for Archer.

Barry's planning something else, but we just don't know what yet.  I'm looking forward to it.  I hate to root for Archer, but of course, if he died, there would be no show.  That's an inescapable truth.  However, I don't have to hope for Barry to be destroyed.  He may very well be my favorite character (although I'm biased with my love of Dave Willis), but he surely shakes things up.  And this show has needed a little kick for a while.

Besides the battle between Archer and Barry, I wonder if we will ever see Seamus again?  He's Cyril's kid, but Archer seems to love him.  That story wouldn't be relevant for next week's episode, but I just wanted to throw it out there.  If anything, I'd love to get a little more closure upon the mystery of Archer father.  Even if they just want to pretend it was Nikolai out of respect for the dead, I'd be satisfied.