FX's Archer is back for its second season, and it gives me both great joy and a certain degree of mortification to say that it is even more delightfully twisted than it was the first time. "Swiss Miss" is a perfect example of what makes this show so great: it's a cocktail of humor that's so funny it physically hurts, mixed with a blatant inappropriateness that inspires just a dash of self-loathing.
Malory pulls the ISIS team into a meeting, telling them that not only do they have to bring their own paper towels, but they're also having to take pay cuts because the agency is short on funds. (When she tells them to "put a lid on it," her son responds, "Do we have to bring our own lids?") Malory has a plan to fix their money woes: go to the Swiss resort of Gstaad and get a rich German tech magnate to invest in the company, by protecting his party-girl daughter from a kidnap attempt.
Archer is intent on sleeping with Anka until he's told that she's underage. For once, he's trying not to be a man-whore, which makes it completely unsurprising that she happens to be a teenaged nymphomaniac determined to bed him. The one time Archer tries to actually behave, no one believes him. The episode milks this irony for all it's worth, and that results in the majority of the episode's highly inappropriate laughs. There's an early scene where Anka lets herself into Archer's room as he's just out of the shower and tries to come on to him, leading to this classic line:
Anka: The age of consent is 14.
Archer: What is it, the Alabama of Europe?
As if that wasn't enough, moments later a would-be kidnapper busts into the room and Archer sets him on fire. Once he's been reamed by both Anka's father and his own mother, Archer makes the mistake of trying to conceal his exposed anatomy with his shaving kit, and injures a very tender region with his razor in the process. This all happens in the space of four minutes, and honestly caused me to laugh all the way through the ensuing commercial break. It's one of the most hilarious sequences of jokes I've ever seen in any comedy, animated or not.
Anka continues to chase after Archer despite his best efforts (and after he's had to have a few stitches in the worst possible place), always saying something horribly inappropriate right as someone else appears to take it the wrong way. He decides he's had enough of everyone not believing him, and steals one of Lana's guns to deal with the kidnappers - except for that the gun has no bullets. With an icepack in one hand and an empty gun in the other, he's left to protect Anka from a whole army of would-be kidnappers. This involves some very creative high-speed snowmobile driving (and I have no idea what the "Lars Larsson Snowmobiling Experience" is, but it sounds like fun).
Anka: Are you insane?
Archer: No, just incredibly pissed off. You can't believe what this is doing to my stitches.
While trying to escape from their pursuers, Archer finally calls Anka out on her bad behavior and the two have an argument that leads to them bonding over their similarly miserable upbringings. They're both unwanted children shipped off by their parents who act out to get attention. Just as you think this new understanding might mean she'll relax and Archer might actually escape unscathed, she convinces Archer to protect her breasts with his hands. There's nobody for miles, so he agrees (as long as she doesn't enjoy it), so of course, he pulls his stitches and Lana appears just in time to mock him.
Meanwhile, Malory ends up naked in bed with Anka's father and Pam. Heaven only knows what they did, but I don't think any of us want to know.
"Swiss Miss" works so well because it makes fun of everything that the character of Sterling Archer is, at the same time showing us why he could never be any other way. Yes, Archer is an oversexed, egocentric, sometimes purely insane guy, but can you blame him when the one time he tries not to be that, no one takes him seriously? Yes, spies get cool weapons, so let's take them out of the equation. It's as if Adam Reed and company are having fun laughing at themselves, and they've let us all in on the joke. Frankly, I'm glad to be in the know, because I haven't enjoyed any animated series the way I love Archer. This is one of those shows you have to see to believe. All I can say is that this is the only show that's ever made me hurt myself laughing, and it was so worth it.
For more Archer, check out the show category at my blog, DigitalAirwaves.net.
Brittany Frederick
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Twitter: @tvbrittanyf
