Archer Season 6 Episode 10 Review: Reignition Sequence
Robin Harry
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It is incredibly gratifying to see Archer be the best human being he can be. On Archer Season 6 Episode 10, a hilarious yet heartwarming episode, we got exactly that.
I’ll admit, I spent most of the episode hoping and wishing that Archer wouldn’t do something bone-headed to screw things up. I mean, he does have a penchant for screwing things up.
However, this week, we got to see Archer’s heart in a way we generally haven’t seen it before. It was awesome.
Let’s start at the beginning here. To be fair, I can’t blame the gang for being sick of seeing Lana and Archer spread their PDA around. I would probably have a similar reaction to Pam’s if I had to see that at my workplace all the time.
However, it was so very fantastic to see how happy Archer was. After their tryst in the broom closet, it was obvious that both Lana and Archer were happy. Kudos to the animators; you could see it on Archer’s face.
Archer’s been showing signs of change all season. The old Archer probably wouldn’t have spent the time connecting the old Japanese man with his family, or forced Pam’s sister to help when Barry kidnapped Pam. Did that change, however, apply to his own relationships?
Cyril, Pam, Krieger, Carol and Ray all united to test this, forming “Team Breakup” in order to tear the couple apart. Most of them were just annoyed with Lana and Archer, but Cyril, however, was still in love with Lana.
I like the occasional reminder that Krieger can be brilliant. While the rest of Team Breakup were looking for hookers, Krieger had enough insight to realize that the way to bait Archer was to find someone who had a psychological hold on him. (Too bad he didn’t have insight about the ice-cream truck. Talk about rolling probable cause…)
Cue the return of Katya Kasnova. The minute I saw how Archer reacted to her, I knew he wasn’t going to fall for the bait. His reaction to her wasn’t lust or desire, but discomfort and awkwardness. Sterling Archer actually resisted a beautiful woman’s seduction!! He hasn’t done that since Swiss Miss!
With a speech that made Katya retract, made Team Breakup feel like jerks, and made me a little choked up, Archer showed the world the person he’d become. Archer was in love with his best friend, and wanted to make that relationship work.
The Sterling Archer of the previous seasons cared so little about his own mortality, he lived his life taking foolish risks and in total hedonism. However, now that he has a daughter and a love, he finally cares enough to make different choices. Slightly different, anyway. He reserves the right to fantasize about Katya.
It wasn’t all fuzzy-wuzzy heart-string pulling, though. It was also typical Archer; hilarious and packed with pop culture references. Pam was figuratively on fire with all the jokes about Ray’s hand. I about died at Stumplestiltskin.
Also, we simply must talk about the flipbook animation sequence. First of all – brilliant. Secondly, the jokes in that sequence were golden; I LOVED how flipbook Lana had gigantic hands, and that Archer blamed Lana for the kidnapping while Lana blamed herself. Typical. The Ra’s al Ghul and League of Assassins reference they threw in just made me love this show more.
There were so many other jokes: Krieger’s holographic wife that he can’t get rid of, Cheryl calling Lana “Groot”, Krieger’s phenomenal acid-solution comeback, Mallory’s torture zing, Lana’s dry rejection of Cyril. There wasn’t a wasted moment in this episode.
See below for some of the best of the running jokes and pop culture references from this week’s episode. And remember you can always watch Archer online.
RUNNING JOKES:
- Just the tip!
- The return of Stir-Friday!
- Pam and the men’s washroom.
REFERENCES:
- Easy Spirit – brand of comfortable women’s shoes. Presumably what Pam wears when kicking butt.
- Ra’s al Ghul – pretty much every superhero enthusiast knows this name.
- Le Retour de Martin Guerre – a French movie made based on the story of Martin Guerre, famous imposter.
- Somersby – the English adaptation of the above movie.
- Wendell Stamps – a character from Frisky Dingo (Adam Reed’s first show).
- Jingling Baby – LL Cool J song from the 90s. Hence Archer’s surprise that Katya liked crossover rap.
- Old Mr Boston Official Bartender’s Guide – basically the Bible of booze. The first edition dates back to prohibition.
- Scent of a Woman – “Out of order? I’ll show you out of order.”
What did you think? Are you on board with Archer’s evolving maturity? What will happen when Malory finds out? Will the Ray-lost-a-hand jokes ever get old?
