Archer is Mildly Satisfying, Still Manages to Leave Much to be Desired

After such a hectic week, Sundays are a time to get caught up with the television shows from DVR or Hulu. I finally caught up on the latest episode of Archer.

Season two has been a bit of a mixed bag for the suave spy agent Sterling Archer and the gang at ISIS. Most of the storylines have been lackluster by skipping out on the hilarious dialogue and amping up language from season one. This time around the storylines closely examine the central characters and their background by giving the audience a more in-depth look. What is frustrating is that the writers threw a curve ball of making Archer a father. Although we haven’t seen our hero playing Mr. Mom too much, I hope snag won’t be the heart of the stories that is yet to come. Bringing a baby into the mix is a classic sitcom staple I wish had never happened to our beloved crude womanizer and booze hound.

I am glad the baby stayed with his mother this episode. This week, Archer got to hang loose and drink plenty, but we also got to see Cyril in action.

The episode titled “Tragical History” starts with a game of darts, and itʻs men versus women. The game ends up going to the women, because Cyril lacks sportsmanship and finesse. He is left alone at the bar, wallowing in self-pity, because he constantly lets everyone down. Soon he meets a British man named George Spelvin, voiced by Peter Serafinowicz. Spelvin gives him a computer virus and advises Cyril that could be the hero of the day, by putting the virus into the ISIS system, and then fixing it himself. But what our one-day-hero doesn’t know, is that Spelvin is really trying to steal a list of all the ISIS secret agents and sell the information to highest bidder.

Cyril goes into plan, messing with the main frame and the rest of the ISIS system. However, the part where he is supposed to play hero backfires. The virus grows and the list of agents is quickly about to be released. No one will let him pitch in to solve this nightmare.

Feeling guilty, Cyril confides in Archer and tells him the truth, and they both set off to stop Spelvin. As most confrontations usually happen between secret spy agent and villain, Archer is the combat guru who cannot always fight against one evil man and his two female ninjas. Cyril is then able to redeem himself once more. He stops the bad guy and shuts down – or rather – shoots down the virus once and for all.

As much as I love the loud, abrasive tomfoolery of Archer, the drones back at the ISIS Headquarters have become the best stars of the show and have kept my attention at best. This episode was no different.

Krieger, who is a doctor (though not the medical kind), keeps me laughing with his experimental side jobs. This week, we see him wanting love, with a virtual anime girlfriend. Due to the virus, however, Lana smashes his computer and crushes his heart. By now, he disregards the urgent issue at hand and just works on creating a new one, as this is more important. Pam and Carol, as always, continue to squabble at each other and poke fun at the otherʻs expense. Pam calling out Carol’s stupidity or Carol calling out Pam’s enormous weight. My favorite character of all, Roy (otherwise known as Ms. Gillette), had one of the toughest jobs this week. Because the virus is causing the main frame to act up, his tech team is not quite sure if there are nuclear missiles outside as a threat to the US or not. He then advises everyone not to be near any windows, just in case.

What did you think of the latest episode?

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