Some Remarks On Cannibalism

Template:Episode infobox 2"Danger Island: Some Remarks on Cannibalism" is the sixth episode of Season 9, and the ninety-ninth episode overall.

Synopsis

Archer and Pam request help from a newcomer but he refuses to lend them a hand.

Plot

Back at Princess Lanaluakalani's mansion, her father discovered that the map to the Tupua is missing, and angrily summons her to the den. While Lanaluakalani tried to pretend that she doesn't know what her father is talking about, he realized that she made a deal with Fuchs to take the idol for the Germans, so she can get enough money to go back to the States for her art career (which, according to her mother, went poorly). After Lanaluakalani's father berates that because of her ignorance, she led Fuchs to the idol, and he will leave the island immediately when he acquires it. Realizing her mistake, along with the realization that she did not get paid in advance by Fuchs, Lanaluakalani drives off to find the idol herself and stop Fuchs, only to run into Malory, Charlotte, and Reynaud, who are also looking for the Tupua. Just before Lanaluakalani could drive off, Reynaud holds her at gunpoint to commandeer her car as Crackers arrives to tell them about Archer and Pam's quicksand situation. Despite Malory and Lanaluakalani's reluctance, Crackers convinces them to follow him to the quicksand so they could rescue the two.

Meanwhile, Archer and Pam, having been caught by a tribe of cannibals, are stripped naked and tied to log posts. A white person, Noah, reveals himself to the duo and reveals to have been living with the tribe for the past four years. He was doing a doctoral dissertation on the tribe, now known as the Mua Mua, but lost his left arm during one of their eating habits, but was not eaten all the way due to tasting like chicken (which to the tribe, is the worst). Not wanting to become the Mua Mua's next meal, Archer frees himself and Pam.

Meanwhile, Malory's group gets to the quicksand, only to find Archer and Pam gone, leaving Malory to accuse Crackers of making it all up to give Archer a head start. However, Charlotte finds footprints leading out of the quicksand and into another direction, and despite Lanaluakalani's desire to get the idol, Malory convinces the group to go to the cannibal tribe and rescue Archer and Pam. At the Mua Mua camp, Archer and Pam wear coconut shells at makeshift clothing, but Noah notices them trying to escape and tries to stop them, only for them to spill out the Tupua's location. Knowing that it would be the greatest archaeological find in the past few years, Noah convinces them to let him join due to his knowledge. Suddenly, a conch sound alerts of German soldiers coming near the camp, only for the trio to be attacked by the Mua Mua for trying to escape. However, the two groups come across a German soldier taking a piss, but before the soldier could attack, Archer kills him with his spear to protect the warriors. Returning to the camp, Archer and Pam are made friends of the Mua Mua, and agree to a plan to defeat the German soldiers.

Cast

• Starring :
  • H. Jon Benjamin as Sterling Archer / Archer (Dream Persona)
  • Judy Greer as Cheryl Tunt / Charlotte Stratton (Dream Persona)
  • Amber Nash as Pam Poovey / Pam Poovey (Dream Persona)
  • Chris Parnell as Cyril Figgis / Siegbert Fuchs (Dream Persona)
  • Aisha Tyler as Lana Kane / Princess Lanaluakalani (Dream Persona)
  • Lucky Yates as Dr. Krieger / Crackers (Dream Persona)
  • Jessica Walter as Malory Archer / Malory Archer (Dream Persona)

• Co-Starring :
  • Adam Reed as Ray Gillette / Capitaine Reynaud ( Dream Persona )
  • David Cross as Noah ( Dream Persona )
  • Keone Young as King ? / voice ( Dream Persona )
  • Kelly Hu as Queen ? / voice ( Dream Persona )
  • Hans Schoeber as German Soldiers ( Dream Persona )

Cultural References

• The Donner Party (1846): Pam references the group of American pioneers who, through a series of mishaps and mistakes, spent the winter of 1846-7 snowbound in the Sierra Nevada.  Some resorted to cannibalism to survive.
• Of Mice and Men: While arguing over whom is the sidekick, Archer makes reference to the 1937 novella when he calls Pam "such a Lennie".  The implication is as she is a big dumb idiot who doesn't know her own strength, like Lennie in the story.  To solidify the reference, he tells Noah that "she will kill you like an innocent baby rabbit", something which Lennie is prone to doing.
• Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare: When Lana pulls princess rank on the rest of the party to get them to leave Archer and Pam to the cannibals they dismiss her by remarking "Whose princess?".  Lana gasps and points to Doudou who is an island native and asks "et tu, Dudu?", referring to the famous line from Julius Caesar,  "Et tu, Brute?", at his surprise betrayal.
• Lady Baltimore / Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969): when Malory called Charlotte 'Lady Baltimore' this is most likely a clever combined reference to:
  • Charlotte Lee, an English noblewoman who was titled Lady Baltimore after marrying Lord Baltimore, and
  • the tracker "Lord Baltimore" from Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.  
    • Lady Baltimore's name was Charlotte; Lord Baltimore was a tracker.
• Tracking: in hunting and ecology is the science and art of observing animal tracks and other signs, with the goal of gaining an understanding of the landscape and the animal being tracked (quarry).  Charlotte has the gift.
• Frisky Dingo (2006): When Archer covers his Junk with a coconut shell Pam mocks him by calling him "Master Coconut". ( Video Ref )  This references Adam Reed's previous show, Frisky Dingo, where characters regularly covered their genitals with a metal cylinder and shouted "Master Cylinder!".
  • Archer saying "Nobody gets that" is a technique called "lampshade hanging," which acts to draw attention to this otherwise obscure reference. By breaking the fourth wall it draws more attention than simply conjuring the reference then ignoring it (which would be pointless).
  • Perhaps a sad self jab by Adam Reed for the lack of success Frisky Dingo had, or an acknowledgment that it was a 'cult' cartoon, rather than a hit. Either way, attention is drawn towards the reference.
• Dutch Masters: refers to the Golden Age of Dutch painting, during a period in Dutch history roughly spanning the 17th century.  Not to be confused with the American branded cigars of the same name, as Lanaluakalani is alleged to have done.
• The Great Depression (1929-39): a difficult time to start an art gallery in New York, even if you are a Polynesian princess.
• Behaviourism:  Archer's defense that he is merely responding to the stimulus of a naked Pam conjures the ideas of behaviorism.  Influential behaviorist B.F. Skinner believed free will to be an illusion.

Running Gags

• Eat a dick!  Archer tells the cannibals to eat a dick.
• Over-packed crates mostly filled with Gin and Vermouth.
• Dying for a drink Malory's alcoholism makes itself known.
• Expensive Tastes Charlotte's desire for oysters is incessant.
• Goose Bumps Noah mentions them this time.
• Tipperary Nazis enjoying a good old Allied war song.

Continuity

• Reality (Non-Dream):
  • (Unseen) Archer remains in a coma brought upon by the events of Deadly Velvet: Part II (s7e10).
• Dream / Reality Crossover:
  • (Dream) Archer suggests sarcastically that he and Pam should start a detective agency if they don't get eaten by cannibals / (Dream) In season 8, Archer and Woodhouse run a PI business / (Reality) In season 7, Archer and his co-workers worked for the Figgis Detective Agency.
  • (Dream) "...but only because I choose to..." / (Reality) ... is a frequent retort when Archer et al are forced to do something they would otherwise be unwilling to do. 
  • (Dream) Lanaluakalani says "Et tu, Brute?" to Doudou /  (Reality) Boris utters a variation of the same line - "Et me, buddy" - to Jakov in Crossing Over (s3e10).
  • (Dream) Malory says if the savages don't have a bar she "will literally die." / (Reality) In The Rock (s1e8), she says if Archer and Lana don't steal the big diamond that she "will literally die."
  • (Dream)... / (Reality) ...
• Dream / Reality Discontinuity:
  • (Dream) Pam has no back tattoo / (Reality) Pam has a large tattoo on her back with a quote from Byron.
    • this discontinuity highlights the fact the Archer is still dreaming, and this is just a dream persona.
• Dream (Non-Reality):
  • The events in this episode are a continuation of the previous episode.
  • 'Scrooch' is a verb Archer uses in Dreamland.
  • When Archer asks of the loud conch sound "What was that?", Noah replies "Nothing".  Pam says "I think it was something."
    • In Waxing Gibbous (s8e6), Krieger appears from his trap door behind the bar with a syringe of blue serum.  When Mother asks "What do you have?" he answers "Nothing" before disappearing again. Mother says "I think it was something".  (Waxing Gibbous is the sixth episode in season 8; this is the sixth episode in season 9.)  These are implausible denials of an underlying or looming threat.

Trivia

• Title Explained:  The title is written in a style similar to anthropological documents written around the turn of the 20th century; it's a running gag that each episode is a journal entry for Archer following his unwitting encounters with the various strata of human beings on a remote island.
• Savages was a term widely used by European explorers to describe non-western or indigenous peoples. The history of anthropology (and to a large extent history itself) is written from a Euro-centric perspective. (That is to say, ethnocentrism where the group (ethno-) at the centre is European). Malory uses the word ironically, as you would describe anyone who didn't have a bar, not just a group of so-called savages. Her wit is as savage as ever.
• Stimulii / Stimulus - there is no opposite of stimulus, only absence of stimulus or an unobserved stimulus. The coconut clothes aren't meant to be sexy, they are intended to dial the sexy back by removing the overt stimuli (nudity) thus blocking Archer's physiological response (phrasing?).  (See here for more on this).
• Pamazon - Pam is looking more like a warrior woman of Greek mythology - an Amazon - every episode.
• Archaeological Discovery of the... early 20th century saw the (re)discovery of Machu Picchu (1911), Tutankhamen's tomb (1922), the cemetery at Ur and Peking Man (1927), so perhaps Noah was right about the idol not being a very big discovery. 
• Tracking - Charlotte's gift for it is savant-like.
• Some Remarks on Pam - when musing on whether she would voluntarily "eat a person" as if they were just "damned dinner", Pam expresses what is perhaps the most unspoken of taboos: that cannibalism in survival (starvation-type) situations 'goes without saying'. (For some remarks on the title and meaning, see here).
• Vehicles
  • Lanaluakalani's car is a 1935 Auburn Speedster.

Enhanced

For dialog translations, fictional product placement and interpretations see:

• Some Remarks on Cannibalism/Enhanced

Locations

• Mitimotu, French Polynesia ( Dream Location )

• • Royal Palace
  • Jungle
  • Native village

Quotes

Archer: "Goddammit!  Eat a dick cannibals!"

Noah: "It's funny you say that.  Actually- "

Archer: "It's a figure of speech Noah!"

Pam: "No - let him finish!"

Noah: "I was gonna say that they don't eat the penis.  The testicles though..."

─────────────────────────

Malory: "I swear to God if those cannibals don't have a bar I may literally die"

Charlotte: "Oh my God!  And an oyster bar!"

Crackers: "I can pretty much guarantee they don't have either of those things"

Malory:  "...savages."

─────────────────────────

Archer: "Don't flatter yourself, it was just a reflex."

Pam: "Uh huh"

Archer: "An involuntary biological response to physical and visual stimuli"

Pam: "Then I hope to God this helps - ka-kaw!"

Archer: "Yeah that's, what, what's the opposite of stimuli?"

Pam: "That" [points to coconut]

Archer: "It's not supposed to be sexy, it's protective in case there're thorns"

Pam: "OK, Master Coconut"

Archer: "Nobody gets that."

─────────────────────────

Person 1: "Quote Here"

Person 2: "Quote Here"

Person 1: "Quote Here"

Gallery of Images

There are 3 screenshots and images from "Some Remarks On Cannibalism" on this Wiki, visit the category page for a complete gallery.

External links

• "Danger Island: Some Remarks on Cannibalism" on IMDB