It's funny how the quality of individual episodes of this show are very representative of F/X programming as a whole. There are some classics, and there are some that fall flat, but even the duds are more entertaining than what most cable networks offer up. There's definitely a lot more fun to be had with Krieger, given that he's now been morphed into the mad-scientist-slash-genius-of-all-trades.
Zima in the IV bag had me laughing so hard I had to pause my DVR, and the entire rampage was unmitigated awesome.
Best episode of the year, hands down. Watching at work, I literally fell off the side of my chair, I was laughing so hard. "SURVEY SAYS!?!"
The "Survey Says" Part with the Irish Mobsters may have been one of the best things I've seen in this show so far. I also liked the little stuff about Kreiger being a Nazi that they worked in, Kreiger just cracks me up every time he's on screen. I was a little afraid that they were writing themselves into a corner with Archer having cancer, and I was really afraid I was going to have to deal with it over the course of 3+ episodes, so I liked the way they ended it. "Terms of Enrampagement". Awesome.
Pretty good episode; not that many actual jokes, but the scenes flowed well, there were some nice twists, and it had a satisfying ending. The "rampage" theme was great, and the more I watch, the more I appreciate Archer's voice actor. On the other hand, the revelation about Krieger being a genetic clone of Hitler? Dumb and unnecessary, especially since he was even cooler without any definite backstory.
It'd be interesting to see how many people even got the Boys from Brazil Reference... it's an old movie.
The obscure references are one of the best parts of the series. My favorite so far was in "Scorpio" when Archer found a grenade hanging from a lampshade.
I understood it alright, but as you mentioned, they didn't go anywhere with it, nor was it that funny to begin with. I love references, but they're better as cheap, throwaway gags, not an entire backstory on a character. The Archer series is usually quite good about this, in fact.
In the same episode: Lana - "They have everything here" Sterling - "Even Ski?" Most of you never noticed it and its not some humorous or esoteric reference, just a nod to a local (to me) soda that can notoriously hard to find outside of southwestern Indiana. The writers really throw some rare oddities out there.
"Seriously, you should get him something to play with. It's like......Meowschwitz in there." Great episode once again. Pam talking shit to the kidnappers, Brett slowly bleeding dry and Archer being afraid of the 'cyborgs'. But the most satisfying thing was Malory finally getting what she deserves. Pam went from fat and pathetic to downright scary. Even scarier than Sheryl/Carol/whatever. The show has really been on a roll lately. I wasn't a big fan of the Swamp- and Woodhouse-episodes, but everything before those were really good and everything since then has been fucking awesome.
(Spoilered for size) Spoiler It's from The Destruction of Sennacherib, a poem written by Lord Byron in 1815.
Very good episode. Loved the part where Archer hangs up on the kidnappers, believing them to be "cyborgs". That kind of random character stupidity is something they used to have much more of in the first season, but have gotten away from recently. Cyril during the shoot-out in the fetal position, with his arm stretched backwards shooting a tiny gun was also a hilarious touch. Edit- A good decision to make this particular episode funny, but a poor choice long-term. It will make it harder for Pam to be humorous, since I don't know if she is supposed to be the touchy feely bitch that cried for mercy when Archer beat her with a stuffed dolphin, the calm, undersexed, office gossiper, or a tough, maniac badass.
I feel like this has got to become a problem sooner or later because the show tends to do this a lot where they introduce a surprising character trait/backstory/etc. that works to make an episode funnier, but is hard to imagine some of the facts they introduced not being a burden in future episodes. They haven't run into any problems yet, but I feel like they have to at some point or another.
I think it'll work. Everyone has some uncharacteristic behaviour that will surface when they've hit their breaking point, and I think we just see a repressed trait in Pam that only came about because she was pushed into it. It doesn't mean that her character will now be acting like that all the time, I'd say.