Hi folks! Welcome to our weekly recap of Archer’s third season, on the Multiversity Summer TV Binge 2021. This week’s episode is named “Skin Game” and Archer’s long lost love, Katya Kazanova is back from the dead! Let’s dive right in.
1. Katya’s back, (and Krieger’s living conditions)
We begin the episode at Krieger’s… transitional neighborhood, he has a surprise for Archer but he is doing it at his apartment’s lab, Archer is very wary of the situation, what Krieger calls home is worrying, there are references to Se7en and Buffalo Bill, but they eventually get to where the gift is and it is:
Katya! Krieger took her body when she died and he has been working on her since then, she is not human now, she is an android, but she is still Katya and Archer is happy to have her in his life again, surely, everything is going to go back to normal, right?
2. Fill her W-9
Archer’s first intention is to get Katya hired at ISIS, first of all, because he could go on missions with her and also because he could bang her everywhere, but also, given that she is an android, she can be of help on hard missions, especially now that Barry is the leader of the KGB.
Of course, Malory is NOT on board with Archer’s idea/order, but Lana reluctantly convinces her, because the idea of having an android coworker, although scary, is going to come in handy eventually.
3. Vagina on the Sink
And so, Archer restarts his new life with Katya by pushing rope having sex with her. As we know, he is scared of robots but he is making an effort with his girlfriend, on one side she has glowing red eyes, but on the other side she has “vibrating insides.” It’s a complex relationship.
And he is about to let go the fact that she is an android, after all, sex is great, but then she discovers that Katya left her detachable vagina on the sink to be cleaned by Woodhouse, and this is something that Archer was not prepared for.
4. Archer’s robophobia
Archer has a very rational fear of Robots, I mean, an android has been torturing him for the last couple of seasons, and Barry is not done yet, at all. And I understand it, we have seen in science fiction what machines can do, we have seen it in comics, movies and television, and yet, we still are building stronger and more “efficient” machines.
Efficient at what, Boston Dynamics? Killing us? Why would MIT create a “psychopath AI”? Seriously, why do you exist? You are designing fascist pieces of robotics to be used against people, how long until it’s too late? …well, I just discovered that I am also scared of robots, but I’m not the only one.
In truth, Archer’s fear of robots has a… simpler origin, discovering his sexuality as a young man, he used an Electrolux vacuum cleaner to masturbate, but it probably hurt and left some damage, so he is distrustful of machine from then on.
5. Betrayal
Archer tries to deal with his cognitive dissonance, he hates androids but he loves Katya, so he is convinced by Cyril to marry her, and he proposes, but then, Barry attacks ISIS’ offices, thankfully, they now have someone that can have an equal fight with him.
They turn off the lights to try to deplete both androids’ batteries and Archer discovers Barry and Katya having sex with Barry, absolute treason! Just when Archer was opening to the idea of having a robot in his life, she betrays him not only with another guy, but with his robotic arch nemesis!
At the end of the day, Archer is still right on not trusting androids, nothing good has ever came from that.
Today I learned: That the Form W-9 exists.
Joke of the week:
Malory: Oh Sterling, you’ve just had your heart broken, you don’t need a smug “I told you so” from me. And smug it would be, because tell you I most certainly did… just like that Electrolux all over again.
Lana: Sooo, I know that sucked…
Archer: Vacuum cleaner puns, now? Really?!
Lana: No idea, thankfully, about any of that…
And that’s it for this episode, overall, a surprising story with a lot of twists that made it hilarious, also, I loved the last scene, a reference to The Graduate. What did you think of this episode? Leave your comments below and join us next week for our take on episode 312, “Space Race: Part 1.”
