"Dough, Ray, and Me" is the eighth episode of the thirteenth season of Archer, being the one-hundred and thirty-fourth episode overall.
Plot[]
Synopsis[]
Archer and the gang need proof to temper expectations and ice the mission.
Summary[]
Having joined forces with Slater to take down Fabian, the Agency is at Manatina posing as pastry chefs at the former’s patisserie. After three weeks of working and screwing up, Slater announces that Fabian will be out in public thanks to a mole inside the IIA and explains the mission to the Agency. They are to assassinate Fabian and Ray at a nearby plaza so he can stop blackmailing Lucero, the progressive reformer and President of Manatina. The group is reluctant to kill Fabian despite the fact he manipulated events so they would take the blame, and even Ray because, despite betraying them, they still see him as a friend. Still, Slater reminds them that their only option is to go back home and get arrested. Also, Slater reveals he has no care for the President because, as Lana figures out, he is hoping that she will get deposed and the CIA will replace her with a right-wing dictator.
The Agency reluctantly goes ahead with the mission, and Archer takes the lead. Under Archer’s orders, Cheryl leaves a bag of explosives at a nearby statue while Lana is up on the roof doing lookout. Lana spots an alleyway that was not on the map, but Archer shoots down her suggestion of adjusting the plan. The motorcade arrives, but the plan goes awry when they do not find Fabian in one of the cars. Fabian and Ray sneak into the alleyway, but Archer corners them at the exit. Ray puts his body in front of Fabian’s, saying he made his choice after all the punishments he got from the Agency over the past year. Fabian offers Archer a chance to switch sides as, thanks to an earlier mission the Agency did, he managed to rediscover a rare Earth material and plans on using it to keep Manatina under his thumb. Archer tries to sway Ray back over to the Agency, but the attempt is interrupted when Fabian pushes the latter out of the way out of self-preservation. After Fabian runs away, Ray berates Archer for ruining his plan, revealing that he was the CIA’s mole. Ray said he planned to take Fabian alive as arresting the latter would clear their names, knowing very well that Slater would not do it. But thanks to the Agency, they lost Fabian, and the plan became more difficult.
Back at Slater’s patisserie, the former berates the Agency for screwing up his plan and letting Fabian loose. Slater demotes the group into doing nothing while he hires a CIA kill squad to kill Fabian. As the group debates whether they should trust Ray after he backstabbed them multiple times, Cyril wonders if they should let the CIA do the job for them so they can go home. However, Lana decides that the only way to get out of this mess is to take control and organizes a new plan: pretend to do their assigned jobs, grab Fabian, and use him to clear their names.
The Agency arrives at the Presidential house as Slater leaves them in the van to do nothing. With time limited, the group immediately gets to work. Ray stays in the van to do coms for the group, even though everyone is still distrustful of him, while Pam, Cheryl, and Cyril go out as pastry chefs to deliver the baked goods. Simultaneously, Archer and Lana sneak into the house through the sewers and enter it through the bathroom. Both groups get confronted by the presidential guards, but they manage to overtake them. Once Archer and Lana reach the office doors, Cheryl uses explosives to get Lucero out of her office and into the kitchen. Archer and Lana confront Fabian, and after the former shoots the latter in the arm after he tries to make another monologue, they take him away before the kill squad kills him.
The group gets Fabian and Lucero out of the house, only to be stuck in traffic due to a citizen’s riot. Knowing that Fabian is the most valuable target, Lana tells the group to scatter as Cyril gives Lucero a quick disguise so no one recognizes her. Archer and Lana take Fabian out of the city on a motorcycle, dodging CIA agents along the way. Through Ray’s instructions, they drive to the rally point, a bridge, and jump off onto a banana boat. Slater calls the group and angrily berates them for ruining his plan. Although Slater threatens to take out the Agency for this, Archer is not moved and blows up his patisserie with explosives Cheryl left behind. Once the group docks outside the city, they hand Fabian over to Interpol, who promise to clear their names now that they have the latter in captivity. Fabian yells that the Agency has not seen the last of him, but his monologue is interrupted when a spider bites him and he passes out.
With Fabian arrested, the group is exonerated from being framed, and they are back to working at the Agency as an independent group. However, there is still the matter of who will lead the Agency moving forward. Archer decides Lana should become the leader, citing that it was thanks to her strategy that saved them in the end. Touched by Archer’s humble speech, Lana sits at Mallory’s old desk and begins planning for the new era of the Agency.
Cast[]
- Starring
- H. Jon Benjamin as Sterling Archer
- Judy Greer as Cheryl Tunt
- Amber Nash as Pam Poovey
- Chris Parnell as Cyril Figgis
- Aisha Tyler as Lana Kane
- Lucky Yates as Dr. Krieger
- Adam Reed as Ray Gillette
- Roxana Orgeta as President Lucero
- Guest Starring :
Cultural References[]
Archer asks Lana if she is Laszlo Toth as she is "despoiling a perfect work of art" ie his plan. Toth was a Hungarian-born Australian geologist. He achieved worldwide notoriety when he vandalized Michelangelo's Pietà statue on 21 May 1972.
Slater states that Fabian is leaving his hideout soon and will pass by them "here at the Confectionery Institute of America" a fictitious institute based on the Culinary Institute of America, both with the acronym "CIA". While he is saying this, on the board behind him, is a poster with the watermark of said "Confectionery Institute of America"
After finishing up their plan on taking out Fabian, Slater finishes with an interrogative "touché", in response to this Archer says "I think it's pronounced "Pinochet". This is in reference to Augusto Pinochet, military dictator of Chile from 1973-1981. Who, according to Peter Winn, was helped by the CIA.
While packing for the mission the "gang" teams up on Archer about his alcoholism and Cheryl's insult is "easy 007 and seven" 007 is obviously referring to James Bond and 7 and seven is a cocktail.
Running Gags / Callbacks[]
Fruit in the Wheel Lana jams a motorcycle wheel with a pineapple. Like Pam with a coconut in Laws of Attraction.
Archer makes a "good" pastry, Lana agrees, call back to Live and Let Dine where we find out archer is a good cook and that is what he would do if he didn't become a spy.
Archer puts his fake moustache on again for their assassination attempt .
Early in the episode, on the peg board behind Slater, there is a bulletin which includes a picture of Román Calzado along with a sticky note stating "Who are these people?"
Continuity[]
Slater refers to Archers child, Seamus, who he had with Trinette in Blood Test. Cyril is indifferent, implying Cyril has still not been told about his son.
While planning to continue with the job after being sidelined by Slater, Cyril and Pam dress as waiters and carry food into the event, they did this same thing back in the Season 7 episodes Bel Panto.
Continuity Error: The hole opened in the bottom of the teams van to get into where Fabian was staying seems to have disappeared in the scene where everyone is running back to the van to escape.
Trivia[]
Locations[]
First Appearances[]
Quotes[]
Gallery of Images[]
