Archer
For seven seasons and 85 episode , we ’ve followed the screaming misadventures of Sterling Archer , the humankind ’s greatest hole-and-corner federal agent , and the band of misfit he works with .
Archerstarted out with a rattling , albeit unsubdivided , premise - lampooning all the dear ( and some not so beloved ) convention of the spy genre - but it was n’t long before the show begin to tweak its formula . The bunch started out at the International Secret Intelligence Service ( ISIS , before that acronym was mess up ) , then tried their luck at drug dealing , espionage ( again ) and , most of late , private investigating .
Archer himself is a bully reference , but the show has mine a net ton of comedy out of its tremendous supporting mould , from the unhinged heiress Cheryl to the brilliant and maniac Dr. Krieger .
The eighth time of year , Archer Dreamland , debuts next week . To mark the occasion , we ’re count down the15 Best Episodes Of Archer To Date .
15. Mole Hunt - Season 1, Episode 1
A lot of show stumble out of the gate , and take a slight while to happen their footing . Archerhad no such job thanks to " Mole Hunt " , a perfect unveiling to the underground agent and his universe as well as a great sequence in its own right .
With a classical spy music genre motif - a unspoilt old fashioned mole hunt - as its foundation , the series premiere dexterously enclose all of the main characters , the setting of ISIS and the power dynamics at manoeuvre there .
Like all the good pilots , this episode tell us everything we require to jazz about the cast of fibre : Archer is an arrogant womanizer , Woodhouse is his abused valet , Cyril is a socially inept geek , Malory is the aggravate gaffer , etc .
We ’re also introduced to some of the show ’s best long running gags , from Archer ’s penchant for black turtlenecks ( or " tactlenecks " ) to Brett , the billet droning who keeps getting shot .
14. The Handoff - Season 7, Episode 2
In the seventh season , our heroes have been drummed out of the intelligence business organization and are trying their luck at police detective work . In typicalArcherfashion , of class , they make a deal of thing from the start . In this installment , they are tasked with stealing back sensitive information which they themselves had just steal , and hilarity ensues .
But this episode is really on the list for one mere reason - the best voicemail ever .
One ofArcher’slongest run ( and proficient ) gags is the deed of conveyance fictitious character ’s use of memorialise elaborated voice mail pranks to trick callers ( normally his mother ) . His pranks are so infamous that when he actuallydoesanswer his phone in this episode , just before fight his way through an total biker crowd , the team back at the office listens to the ensuing battle ( ended with shrieking , biting , profanity , assorted stabbings and what go like a chainsaw ) without batting an eye .
13. A Debt of Honor - Season 5, Episode 3
The fifth season , Archer Vice , shift things up by take the work party out of ISIS and into the world of drug dealing ( and country medicine stardom ) . They ’ve get a mountain of cocaine to monetise , and no idea what to do with it .
In this episode , Pam ( well on her way to a serious cocaine addiction ) earns a place on the Yakuza ’s hit tilt by nobble them with fake money . The tough word is delivered by Mr. Moto , the Yakuza foreman played by the awesome George Takei . Not contented with just getting his drug back , he wants Pam ’s headland , and so begin the Yakuza ’s violation on Cheryl ’s mansion .
There are a passel of great gags in this sequence , like Woodhouse being forgotten in the planetary house ’s old fashioned gymnasium and Archer ’s shotgun negotiation with Moto . But Pam steals the show , from her tales of Yakuza saturnalia and the bank bill she impart the UPS guy cable at her older flat to her feverish consumption of every creative thinker altering substance in sight .
12. Drastic Voyage - Season 6, Episodes 12-13
Archerhas a tradition of ending its seasons with big , multi - part adventure : this is the first of three such entries on our listing .
A testimonial to and spoof of the classic skill fabrication filmFantastic Voyage , this tw0 - part episode finds the team shrunk down to a microscopic size and injected into the trunk of a Russian scientist . The delegacy : destroy a blood coagulum in the scientist ’s brain and save his life .
of course , they fail spectacularly ( and , when the ship reverts to its full sizing while still inside the scientist , gruesomely ) .
fly through the scientist ’s bloodstream in a futuristic ship loan itself to a issue of great jokes and references , from the obvious nods toFantastic Voyageitself toStar WarsandShazam!gags ( admit " TV ’s Michael Gray ! " ) . But the real standout of the episode is Krieger , who throw a tantrum after being left off the team and screws the whole military mission up from the exterior : and that’sbeforehe pick out a twist to a governing super electronic computer .
" Krieger , out … "
11. The Papal Chase - Season 4, Episode 11
The Pope is in risk and it ’s up to ISIS to save him .
This installment sees Archer and Pam special K off to Rome ( disguise as a priest and a conical buoy , respectively ) to protect the Vicar of Christ from an assassination try . queerly enough , it turns out that his Holiness is a dead ringer for Woodhouse , so the old pot fiend pretend the slip as well to process as a bait .
It would n’t beArcherif the missionary station did n’t immediately go incorrectly , which it does : Pam drops a giant mirror on the slumber Pope , while Archer require the Swiss Guard to brandish nothing but halberds and is aghast to find them packing guns .
It ’s a bit meta too , as the agents learn they were hire by a Cardinal who expect them to break down so he could take the Pope ’s place : ISIS , it turns out , has a reputation for not being very good at what they do .
10. Heart of Archness - Season 3, Episodes 1-3
After the death of his fiance Katya , Archer sound off the control grid and starts a new life history as a beach butt ( a twelvemonth before James Bond would do the same inSkyfall , accidentally ) .
Patrick Warburton realize a welcome launching as Rip Riley , a former ISIS agent tasked with track Archer down . But getting the miss undercover agent to return to his life and responsibilities is no easy sell , especially after he joins up with a gang of pirates and promptly becomes their leader .
" Archer as a plagiarizer Rex " is a pretty great premise , and it ’s leveraged to the hilt . Archer is in his glory lording it over his own island kingdom , sleeping with an endless supply of beautiful women and teach illiterate sea robber the finer points of lacrosse .
His quick rise to king is reversed just as quickly when his followers mutiny and shake off him in a cell . Still , they maintain their love for lacrosse !
9. Fugue and Riffs - Season 4, Episode 1
Archertook advantage of lead man H. Jon Benjamin ’s fertile articulation acting resume with this episode , which swash an unlikely but very entertaining crossover ( of sorts ) .
Benjamin voices Sterling Archer , of course of study , but he also play the role of Bob Belcher onBob ’s Burgers . The histrion does n’t alter his voice to differentiate the characters , so they go precisely the same ( and to his acknowledgment , he ’s great as both a burger - slinging family man and a frighten off secret agentive role ) . " Fugue and Riffs " has fun with that law of similarity by placing an amnesiac Archer in a new biography : run a conversant beefburger joint ( complete with " Warren Earl Burger of the day " caper ) with a wife and ( adopted ) kids !
view the " Archer - ized " variant of theBob ’s Burgerscharacters is a dainty , even though their cameo is brief . Before long , the KGB finds the forgetful Archer , and his ISI team has to save the daytime while trying to rejuvenate his memories .
8. Space Race - Season 3, Episodes 12-13
Any animated spy sitcom deserving its salt finally has to spoofMoonraker , and " Space Race " is Archer ’s answer to one of the most maligned of the Bond movies . It ’s penetrate with reference to the Roger Moore moving-picture show , most notably the villain ’s plot to create a utopia in space .
The team is draft by the ISA ( mean NASA ) to travel to a space station that is under attack by mutineers . In yet another ISIS shag - up , they arrive and subdue the ' assaulter ' , only to learn that they picked the incorrect side , helping the rogue Commander who think to colonise Mars .
This is the first of the show ’s big two - part close , and they make well usage of the extra time , cramming in a ton of gags and references to classic science fiction films likeStar WarsandTerminator 2 . Archer lead on the warpath with a power dockhand directly out ofAliens , with other weapons and outfits also referencing the James Cameron classic .
7. Swiss Miss - Season 2, Episode 1
Like another illustrious secret agent , Sterling Archer is resistless to women . He winds up complicating most of his missions with poorly - advised flirting , and " Swiss Miss " is no different : though this meter , for once , it ’s not his fault .
Sterling and the pack are sent to Switzerland to protect a billionaire , Conrad Schlotz , and his sex - crazed teenage girl , Anke . The belligerent teen like a shot sets her eyes on Archer and spends most of the episode essay to seduce him , while he at the same time fend off her rise and deals with snatcher bent on conquer her .
In true comedic style , of course of action , Archer ’s effort to keep Anke at bay are inevitably interrupted by either the kidnappers or his carbon monoxide gas - workers , unremarkably at the uncollectible possible moment . In a hilarious and action at law - tamp sequence , Archer and a bare-breasted Anke must fly from the kidnappers on a snowmobile , with the secret broker charge with keeping her both safeandwarm .
6. Sea Tunt - Season 4, Episodes 12-13
AnotherArcher"mega coda " , this one is a bit of a love letter to another one of series God Almighty Adam Reed ’s show’s , Sealab 2021 .
Cheryl ’s evenly rich brother comes calling for service whenSealab’sCaptain Murphy threatens to launch mettle - gas missile over the Eastern Seaboard . fall to the sea floor , the agents deal with the threat while back on the ship , Cheryl and her brother Cecil quarrel over their several inheritances , and whether Cheryl is mentally unfit ( which , let ’s be good , she really is ) .
There ’s deal of classicArcherhumor to go around here , but there ’s some heart too . Lana reveals that she ’s pregnant during their escape from Sealab , and when there are n’t enough scuba suit of clothes to go around , Archer sacrifices himself so Lana can get by . Of of course he outlast ( the show is calledArcherafter all ) but it ’s a big moment in their human relationship , and paves the means for their romantic reunion further down the line .
