A Journey Through Archer's Past

Archer, S04E06

Archer's snakebite caused him to have a dream where he was ushered through his memories by James Mason.  While Roy and Cyril were trying their best to get to safety and get him an antidote, Archer drew closer and closer to uncovering the mystery of who his father was.  Back at ISIS, Lana kept pestering Mallory about her being left out of the mission the boys were on.  Lana was taken back when Carol accurately diagnosed the reason why Lana chooses to stay with ISIS, despite all of her moral issues with their missions.

With the way Archer had prepared for their mission, like wanting to use the map as toilet paper and leaving behind a compass, I don't think that they would have succeeded even if Archer hadn't gotten bit by a snake.  It was sort of poetic justice that he did because he kept doing things to screw over Cyril and Ray at every turn, while not doing anything to improve their situation.  The snake's poison just did what his teammates were thinking every second they were with him.

It's interesting to note that Archer has killing Cyril on his bucket list of things.  Of all things he wants to do before he dies, his second most wanted thing is to see Cyril end his life.  I didn't know that he hated him so much.  Cyril and Archer might not be besties, but does he really have to wish him dead?  I wonder if it's just about how he came between him and Lana (not really because Archer screwed that up pretty badly himself).

The dream that Archer experienced while slowly heading toward death was the most interesting part of the story.  He met James Mason in this smoky place that seemed to be limbo, essentially, and he showed Archer a pivotal point in his life where a stalker shot him and cost him his future as a college lacrosse player.  That was a pretty disturbing scene seeing Archer getting shot by this demented woman.  It was really unexplainable and looked traumatic.  I wonder if there was ever a moment in Archer's life that was pleasant.  No wonder he didn't want Mason to show him anything about himself.

What I really loved was when Archer had to relive the moment where he was shot as teenager and he reminded Mason that he hadn't signed up for this journey through his past:

Yeah, so, I don't know if you're deaf or an asshole or both, but I'm pretty sure I said I didn't want to see this.

I liked that Mason didn't seem to listen to any of Archer's objections, nor really be listening to him in general.  I really wonder what part of Archer's mind created him as a guide.

I also liked when Archer saw himself as a little boy, who still loved alligators (that's a little shocking).  He was alone on his birthday and a strange man brought him a stuffed alligator.  Apparently it was his father!  We didn't get to see his face, nor did Archer remember him once he awoke, but it brought us closer to that mystery than we have been before.  Archer might be able to rack his brain and recall that memory once again.  After all, he has to have it somewhere in his subconscious.

Besides Archer's death visions, I liked when Cyril was trying to communicate that Archer had been bitten by a snake.  However, the word for "snake" was the same for a few other words that the soldiers (or whatever they were) kept mistaking it for.  Ray's frustration at this gave me a good laugh:

How's it the same word for bread and snake and Friday and that damn dog?!

Sounds like a pretty damn confusing language, if you ask me.  Then again, if you learn any language long enough, you'll find something that doesn't quite make sense to you.

I didn't really like what was going on back at ISIS.  I felt kind of bad that Carol (or whatever her name is) could see right through Lana like that.  And what she saw was pretty depressing.  I can't disagree with her analysis, though.  Lana does raise a lot of objections, but she ends up doing things she doesn't agree with all the time.  I think that her love for espionage will tether her to ISIS no matter what sort of horrible things they get involved with.  Lana will hate herself for it, but she won't be able to walk away either.  That's just like Carol to see the darkest part of someone's soul.  She's so damn twisted.

This was a pretty good episode.  I really like seeing into Archer's past, even though it wasn't anything pleasant.  I don't ever expect to see anything good concerning how he became the Archer he is today, anyway.  There's no way he could have had a great childhood with the way his mother is and how he turned out to be.  I just wonder if he'll try to figure out who his father is again, knowing that he had that memory in his head.  I don't know how important that still is to Archer.  As far as Lana is concerned, I wonder if she'll try to find something beyond her job to fill her life.  It'd be really sad if she ended up in such a depressing fate as Carol had predicted.

Rodney Rules The Armory

Archer, S04E03

Krieger offered to fix Ray's legs with bionics and when Archer learned of this, he took drastic measures to put a stop to it.  Lana and Cyrill, in turn tried to stop Archer before he ended up killing Ray out of fear of robots.  Mallory was annoyed at Ron for giving her unwated advice on how to run ISIS.

I felt pretty bad for Ray who has it tough for an injury that Archer caused.  On top of the struggles of daily life, he has little sympathy for his handicap from his coworkers and boss.  Not that any of them would give anyone special treatment because of a disability, but it still sucks because it's obvious that Ray wanted desperately to get back to being more useful.  However, I would have probably never taken Krieger's help, knowing how he rolls.

All the gore aside of the operation, it was really gross to think of Pam assisting in that surgery when she was drinking beers and eating tacos.  I't's a miracle that Pam didn't help Ray to die in the end, as talented as Krieger is.  I have to admit that while Krieger is shady as hell, it's undeniable that he's a bit of a genius.  He doesn't even know the name of bones, nor where they are supposed to be placed without the help of a picture from his phone.  Krieger has the resume of some kind of ghetto, psuedo doctor, yet performs unbelievable medical feats.  I like Ray, so I couldn't help but be worried that he was going to be dead in the end.  Thank goodness he was fine and could walk again (although Mallory certainly didn't give a damn).

I'm now noticing that a lot of stories involve Archer doing whatever the hell he pleases and Lana and someone else going to clean up his mess (or stop him from making a mess).  It's pretty dumb I haven't mentioned that before.  Anyway, the best part of Archer going after Ray was him being held back by Rodney in the armory.  Now that Mallory has put someone in charge of the weapons, there's a lot more opportunities for Rodney to give Archer and the others a hard time.  It's no wonder that Archer was still a jerk to him even when he finally got the gun or whatever he had wanted to shoot down Krieger's door:

[Archer] Thank you--uh, sorry, what was your name again?

[Rodney] Rodney.

[Archer] Thank you...asshole.

I know Rodney is just doing his job, but I still liked that Archer got a second to rub his victory in Rodney's face.  In the end, I still think Rodney got the best of him because he locked Archer in the armory and Archer couldn't blast his way out.  I mean, Archer did escape through the vent, but that ended up just being a hot prisoner for him over the weekend.

I'm surprised that after spending a weekend in an air vent with no food, clothes, or cool air that Archer would be able to parody The Terminator for even a second.  He should have been too delirious to even remember that movie.  Then again, maybe that was him being delirious.  Even in an exhausted state, Archer can still manage to take a jab at someone.

It's nice to see that Ron actually does get on Mallory's nerves sometimes.  I couldn't believe that she would have a marriage where it was all rainbows and smiles.  That would be hard to swallow, knowing Mallory's personality.  I see, though, how they make a good match for each other.  They both are so prone to say racist things that they're not even really aware of (or maybe care about).  At least the two of them can laugh about those sort of horrible things together.

This episode was all right.  It was a little gross with the surgery thing, but Ray being able to walk again made that worthwhile.  I'm starting to like the new situation with the armory.  There are a lot of opportunities for Rodney to make the agents of ISIS unhappy with his strict policies.  Just hope that Archer or someone else doesn't manage to get past the glass and doors protecting him.  Wouldn't want Rodney to get killed before he can stir up some more amusing trouble.

Ray Takes A Wife And I Take A Nap

Archer, S03E06

I was happy this week to see that Ray was no longer confined to his wheelchair, and it was going to be an episode centered around him.  I was disappointed that I did not enjoy the story as much as I thought I would.  Not only was the story set in Ray's hometown in Virgina, but his brother Randy was voiced by 30 Rock's Jack McBrayer.  Somehow the focus became Randy and his wife wanting to sleep around with Carol (Ray's fake wife) and Archer, respectively, and less about the sheriff of the town out to get Ray's drug "farming" brother.  I was hoping for more about Ray's background or him getting harassed further by the sheriff.  However, the sheriff had a small role, and Ray and Randy's squabble didn't get that intense.  Dang.  What was the point of showing his brother in the first place?

When things start to pick up action-wise after everyone is so distracted trying to have sex, the shoot-off with the sheriff is cut short after Randy admits that he lied about the reasons why the sheriff was after him.  Dunno how I feel about that "twist."  The only thing that I really liked about this scene was that Archer pointed out a potentially dirty joke that I wouldn't have noticed without him:

[Ray] Easy, don't shoot!  I'm coming out!

[Archer] Haha.  Phrasing.

 That must have been the only time I laughed, except I might have when Ray admitted to having a Miss Piggy diary that would have revealed his homosexuality.  His brother had been spared reading it, thanks to their father burning it.

Archer and Carol were free from police persecution by pretending to be hostages, but it was unclear to me at first why Ray, who had clearly been shooting at them, wasn't handcuffed like his brother.  When the sheriff comes on to Ray in a not so subtle, but surprising manner, it was no longer a question.  That twist might have been funnier if the sheriff had more screen time.  All we had to go upon, really, was Ray's word that he had been an asshole as a kid.  Meh.

I'm not sure what is going this season that I'm not enjoying it as much as I have previous ones.  I think perhaps it's because they don't have any significant adventures.  I'm not sure.  But if things keep going in this direction, I don't think that I need to keep this show in my primary section for much longer.