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Breaking Fabian is the eighth episode of the fourteenth season of Archer and the 142nd episode overall. It premiered on October 11, 2023 on FXX.

Plot[]

Synopsis[]

A former adversary lends a hand as Archer and the gang bond together to try and stop a fleet of killer drones.[1]

Summary[]

The episode opens up with a video of a killer drone taking out an ex-IIA agent at his job as a barista. We pan out from this video to see the gang all watching this from Lana's office in The Agency's HQ. Lana points out that recently there had been a lot of ex-IIA agents dying under mysterious circumstances, and the gang are all also ex-employees of IIA. Lana says that this is a terrible time for this to happen as she has to go to a hearing on whether private spy organizations should be allowed to continue existing later that day. Ray then chimes in and informs the gang that while he was working for Fabian, he had ordered 5,000 weaponized drones for him. Lana, visibly upset, realizes that there's only one thing they can do; contact Fabian for help.

We cut to talking with Fabian who is playing squash at a Swiss prison. He informs the gang that the drones are coming after them due to a "no-fault severance"[2] policy that IIA had in place so that if they needed to cut ties with an employee they could just check a box and a killer drone would fly out and take care of them. They deduce that this system must have been hacked by someone trying to end private spy organizations and so they need to stop the drones from the source. Fabian then informs them that the only way to stop them is by accessing a database in Liechtenstein, for which they will need Fabian to get into.

The gang, minus Cyril and Lana, are next shown on a train. On one side of the booth is Zara and Ray, and on the other is Archer, Fabian, and Pam who are all handcuffed together, courtesy of Archer to ensure Fabian doesn't escape. Pam asks for a key as she needs to use the bathroom, but Archer says he doesn't have keys. They all go to the bathroom together.

Cutting back to Lana and Cyril, they are currently walking into the UN hearing. While getting mic-ed up Lana, accidentally insults the UN over her mic as she didn't realize it was already on.

While trying to use the bathroom, Pam is having trouble as the bathroom is too small for 3, and too big for Pam to close the door without having Fabian inside. While bickering about this, 3 ex-IIA agents disconnect the bathroom cart and begin to shoot at the group. Fabian thinks they're there to help him, but Archer and Pam know otherwise. They all jump out of the moving train and once situated on the ground, Pam brings up the fact that they will now have to be extra careful about the drones that are trying to kill them.

We are then quickly shown Ray and Zara drinking on the train as some train employees run past them ignoring their calls for orders. After this we cut back to Pam, Fabian, and Archer walking through the woods after deciding that they will just have to walk to Liechtenstein. As they are walking, a swarm of drones begin to follow and shoot at them causing the group to jump off of a cliff. After hitting the ground they are covered in mud and Fabian makes inner peace with himself as he says the drones are top of the line and being covered in mud will not stop them from finishing their mission. It turns out Fabian was wrong. When buying them, Ray cheapened out and kept the extra money to spend on his apartment. After this we are again shown Ray and Zara on the cart, both of whom are starting to get impatient on how long the others have been gone.

Back at UN headquarters, Lana and Cyril sit in front of the panel who tell them that this is not just a talk, but rather a disciplinary hearing whose outcome will be decided there. Lana is outraged as she was not told about this, but the UN council says that they told her secretary. Lana is visibly upset as it turns out that Cheryl is in the courtroom behind them. She defends herself by saying that she isn't a secretary, and then proceeds to tell Lana that she was less than truthful with her, due to the UN offering her immunity if she testified against The Agency.

Back in the woods, Pam, Archer, and Fabian are still covered in mud for camouflage and wading through a river. As they come across an overpass, the trio who tried to kill them earlier on the train come out on bikes and point their guns at them. The leader of the trio, Carlotta, says that they are here to kill Fabian because he was a bad boss. Archer informs them that if they kill Fabian the drones will kill them but they say they don't care. As they begin shooting Archer, Pam, and Fabian run under the waterfall, which inadvertently cleans the mud from them, as the drones appear and try to kill Carlotta's trio. While this is happening Archer, Pam, and Fabian run away and are again chased by drones, but due to moderate tree cover, they are safe for now.

At the UN headquarters its time for Cheryl to testify against The Agency. Lana and Cyril are scared, but after refusing to give her name and a little more arguing with the UN board, they begin to worry less about what Cheryl might tell them. At this time Lana is trying to call the office to get in contact with anyone there, but no one answers the phone. At the same time, the board begins to shift towards showing evidence, all of which is corroborated for by Cheryl.

Back in the woods, Archer, Pam, and Fabian are busy taking a 3-way piss break on a cliff close to the border of Liechtenstein. After finishing, Fabian refuses to walk as he has given up on life, and only comes back around when Archer says he respects him. After a little more walking they come across some more of Fabians ex-employees and they manage to behead one and take his motorcycle. While driving away on the bike, we cut back to Zara and Ray who still believe that the rest of the gang is in the bathroom. After arriving in Liechtenstein, they walk off of the train with complementary champagne, and then realize that the bathroom cart was disconnected. Back on the bikes Archer, Pam, and Fabian are being chased by more ex-employees. After some compelling back and forth trauma letting between Archer and Fabian, Archer throws Fabian his gun and Fabian manages to take out the drones and all but one biker. This last biker is again taken out by beheading and when he dies they can see the bunker where they need to get to to turn the drones off. Before they can get in, some of the higher quality drones bought by Ray show up with knives on them and begin to attack Pam, Archer, and Fabian. Right when all seems to be lost, Ray and Zara show up and take them out, and tell Fabian, Archer, and Pam to get into the bunker and turn the drones off.

Back at the UN hearing, Cyril realizes that their done for and so decides to make an inspirational speech about the importance of private spy agencies. While doing this, the camera plays his speech in the background while showing the rest of the gang fighting against the drones at the bunker. All of the sudden, the drones enter into the UN hearing room and begin to attack everyone. At the same time Archer, Pam, and Fabian get to the final security layer of the bunker and Archer goes in first. A small problem with this is that only one person can get in at a time and to shut off the drones they need Fabian's hand. To resolve this, Archer takes one of the drones knifes and cuts off Fabian's hand. This hand is then used to unlock the computer and shut off all the drones, thus completing the mission.

Back at the office, Archer is upset Fabian no longer wants to be friends after cutting off his hand and giving Fabian the middle finger with it before returning it. Lana says to them "No more cutting off hands and taunting people with them." Because they saved the UN council from the drones, she thinks they will not vote to get rid of them. However, Lana's hopes are dashed when Cyril puts on the news where Hernandez says "In light of recent events, it is with overwhelming support from our member nations that this council votes to declare all private independent spy agencies illegal. They will be given 30 days to disband." As they gasp, Archer asks Lana "Is that 30 calendar days or business days?" much to her, and the rest of the office staff's, annoyance and ending the episode on a cliffhanger.

Cast[]

Cultural References[]

  • Fabian's line "Make peace with the god you choose, for the day of judgement is at hand."[2] is a possible reference to Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None line "Watch and pray. The day of judgement is at hand."[3]
  • When discussing the mathematical lingo on what having to save Fabian to save themselves would be called, Fabian calls this condition transitive (i.e. if a=b and b=c, than a=c) this is false. A clearer way of looking at this is: if keeping Fabian alive=a, the drones being stopped=b, and Pam and Archer surviving=c, this would not work as Pam and Archer surviving is not equal to the drones being stopped as c is not equal to b unless a also exists. On the other hand, Archer is correct in calling this dilemma a contrapositive. A contrapositive is when one condition rests on another in totality (a=b -> -a=-b). Or: If the drones stop, Archer and Pam survive, if the drones do not stop, Archer and Pam die, but at the same time this situation is situated on Fabian surviving. So: "Archer and Pam will die to the drones if Fabian dies" would be a positive, and "Archer and Pam will not die to the drones if Fabian does not die" would be the contrapositive.

Running Gags/Callbacks[]

  • When walking into the UN after Lana's hot mic incident, Cyril says "Hello!" like he does in similar scenes where he is in an embarrassing situation.
  • Falling down the hill after jumping out of the plane shows a similar series of events to when they do the same in Archer Vice: Smugglers' Blues.
  • Fabian says that to get into the database they need his fingerprints for some locks and his retinas for others. Archer says that they can cut them off instead of taking him. This is similar to El Secuestro when Pam is kidnapped and then tells her kidnappers that to get in they will need her retinas and her fingerprints.
  • Running Gag: Episode ends on silence until Archer says a dry pun and we cut to credits.
  • In the flashback to what Ray did with the extra drone money, Ray is wearing a bathrobe almost identical to the one he wore throughout Season 10.
  • Fabian loses his hand in a similar fashion to how Conway Stern loses his hand in Diversity Hire and how Ray looses his hand in Pocket Listing.

Continuity[]

Locations[]

Navigation[]

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