Hi folks! Welcome the very first recap of Archer on the Multiversity Summer TV Binge 2019. This is a show that I have been wanting to review/recap since I ever started making contributions to this page, so I’m really excited to finally do it. Let’s dive right in, this week’s episode is named “Mole Hunt” and it’s the fourth time I see it, oh I missed it!
(By the way, this show is obviously for adults, it is heavy on sexual imagery and dialogue, take that in mind if you haven’t ever seen an episode)
1. The animation
This show is special, from the comic-inspired designs, to the thick lines contrasting with classical animation and the painted sets that set up the series somewhere between the 50’s and the 80’s, it looks wonderful. Of course, it’s been ten years since they started doing the show, naturally some of the movements on the freshmen season look bulky, but nothing that could dissuade me of enjoying it.
2. The writing
Of course the best part of the show is the writing, if slapstick comedy is your jam, you will have a lot of moments like that, but the written comedy is the main course here, with heavy and often really obscure references, and fast paced dialogue with constant quirky comebacks, you just can’t get all the jokes at the first watch, that’s why I keep coming back to binge every season, I find new stuff every time.
3. The characters
This episode introduce us to almost every main character of the series, Sterling Archer codename Duchess, a Bond-like spy that behaves like a man-child, have serious drinking and authority problems; her mother Malory, with which he has a oedipal relationship; Lana Kane his ex, another super-spy; Cyril, her boyfriend that is a complete nerd but also has a sever addiction to sex, Cheryl the mentally unstable, attention-seeker secretary of Malory; Pam, the bullied overweighed H.R. director; and Krieger the… lunch-rapist scientist?
4. Operations Account
This episode plays lightly, we are introduced to the characters and the fast paced dialogue of the show, the story is simple, but often ignored on spy related media: this is an expensive business, and people like Bond or Archer enjoy over spending money on unnecessary shit, so, he tries a plan to break in the ISIS mainframe to fix his spending reports. (Hey, by the way, remember when we did not have the real-life ISIS? Everything was easier, at least for this show).
5. The Mole
While trying to enter the mainframe, Archer tells Pam that there’s a mole in the agency, she then spreads the rumor and Krenshaw/Kreminski admits to being the mole that Archer invented, while doing some hijinks, he died after criticizing Archer for getting an erection thinking about his dead mother. And that’s the show for today, a fast, simple premise to begin this show.
Joke of the week: the Greek joke, I was looking for answers to that joke, because I did not understand it, turns out that there’s a scholar called Abelard like the dog, and studied Greek culture, while “Greek” is slang for anal sex. That’s why the dog “got it”.
And that’s it for this episode, overall, it’s a great introduction to the characters and to the premise of the show: a workplace comedy… with spies! What did you think of this episode? Leave your comments below and join us next week for our take on episode 102, “Training Day”.
And remember! Season 10, Archer: 1999 is airing right now on FXX, the second one is airing today! Go watch it!
