Plot[]
Synopsis[]
Archer, Lana and Zara travel to England to stop a thief who is stealing possibly-cursed artifacts. Can Archer break the curse before it breaks him?[1].
Summary[]
We open up with Archer and Zara arguing in Lana's office about Archer's clothing, Pam eventually joins in and inadvertently insults Zara for being British, which Zara takes offence to (yeah the show's starting to go in that direction this season. Also at this point there is a lot of theorizing on whether Zara is a double agent and trying to harm the agency, why else would the writers introduce a main character after they already announced this will be the final season?). Lana then puts a stop to the three's bickering and informs them of their mission: To help protect 1 of 13 golden plaques kept in a British museum that will be getting transferred. Lana is going along this time instead of Pam as Pam has HR duties to take care of...and the museum curator is on the board of a school Lana wants to get AJ into, Abernathy.
Following the intro we cut to Archer, Lana, and Zara dressed in tactical gear and reading up on their mission's dossier. Lana says that the museum is loosing a bunch of stuff due to unknown circumstances, and Archer says that the artifact is so small he doesn't understand why they are making such a big deal out of it. The Museum curator then comes out and gives some more reasoning on why they were hired for this mission and informs them that the item is being moved off of museum property and they are fearful of the item being stolen by a smuggler named Ibadan Peters, she also mentions that the item is cursed and cannot be touched with bare hands. Zara doesn't like this and reveals that she does not like things such as ghosts and curses, she also reveals that she follows astrology and states that Archer is "such a Capricorn"[2].
After the museum curator walks away from the gang, we cut back to the office where Pam appears to be excited about starting back up her old job, this excitement is dispersed when Cheryl brings in a large stack of papers for the agencies new employees. Pam begins giving out points to these employees for mundane things and Cyril feels this is not right as the employees all deserve an honest assessment so that they can all do their best to improve, Pam gives Cyril an "F" for this.
We then cut back to Lana, Archer, and Zara driving on a windy road on the edge of a cliff during a thunderstorm. The camera pans up to show Archer flirting with the museum curator while on the phone with Lana and Zara, who are trailing the truck in motorcycles. All of the sudden a smuggler shows up on top of the truck attempting to cut a hole in the truck's roof. Lana and Zara jump onto the back of the truck and the museum curator's response to this forces Archer to climb up onto the top of the truck to flank the smuggler. We then cut to see that the smuggler is Ibadan and he has gotten the plaque. Archer is pushed through the hole in the top of the truck by Half-pint, Ibadan's sidekick. While in the back of the truck, everyone is thrown around due to the curators sub-par driving and after Archer regains his balance he punches Ibadan, takes the plaque, and sticks it in his pants. It is now too late for Ibadan and Half-pint to finish their mission, so they escape out the back after taking Archer down and dislocating his shoulder.
We now cut to Archer, Lana, Zara, and the curator in a bar discussing who Ibadan is and why he was doing what he was doing. It turns out Ibadan is from Nigeria and the artifact is as well, Ibadan is trying to return it to Nigeria. Zara does not like keeping the plaque from Ibadan as she sees Nigeria as its rightful place, and so does Lana, but Lana keeps playing along and does not show her distaste as she still wants to get AJ into Abernathy. The curator then invites Archer up to a room on top of the bar for sensual reasons and Archer is excited to find out that these types of rooms are actually real.
Quick cut back to Pam in the office lunchroom trying to convince Cyril, Cheryl, and Krieger to help her complete the office evaluations, Krieger is working on some sort of device that looks like it would go on a persons head.
We again cut back to Lana and Zara, each 3 or 4 beers deep, discussing why Lana took this missions even though she knew what it would include and how she doesn't agree with the museum's ownership of the plaque. Lana is coming to realize that she will not be able to keep her moral compass as true while spymaster, as it was during her time in the field. The curator abruptly comes down the stairs angerly and Archer follows her close behind. She is upset because Archer was having trouble getting a boner. Archer asks Lana to give the curator confirmation that this never happens to him when Zara reminds Archer of the plaque's curse. Archer immediately believes the plaque is cursed and he throws it down onto their table where it breaks into a bunch of pieces, this is not the real plaque.
After a commercial break we return to the tavern where the curator is pacing back and forth upset at how Ibadan got away with the real plaque. At this same time Archer is sitting down and consoling himself as he realized he didn't have trouble getting a boner because of the curse, because the curse could not have effected him as he didn't have the real plaque. The curator then goes over to Lana and Zara and demands they get the plaque back, Lana agrees.
We now cut to Pam in her office evaluating an employee, but Pam cannot do the job properly as she cannot stop thinking about "bashing" in peoples heads while in the field. Next we cut to Cyril interviewing another employee and after making a pun on "data" he informs the interviewee that he is the office jokester. Following this we cut to Krieger who is interviewing his employee who appears to have interests in the science division of the agency, Krieger is hooking up the helmet that he was tinkering with in the previous scene to the interviewee's head. Finally we cut to Cheryl who in interviewing another employee who she gives "a D for delicious"[2]. After this we cut back to the break room where everyone, except for Krieger as his interviewee passed out, throws their completed files on the table next to the large stack of paperwork yet to be done. Cheryl asks if she can leave.
We cut back to Lana, Zara, and Archer peeking out from behind some shipping containers at Ibadan and Half-pint. As they are boarding the ship Half-pint notices Archer, Lana, and Zara sneaking up on them and whistles. Ibadan tries to hit Archer with his bolo-ball-whip, but Archer catches it and yanks Ibadan down, thus getting the plaque back. Archer holds Ibadan and Zara holds Half-pint while Lana holds the plaque. Ibadan starts to reason with them and says if the museum keeps the plaque it would just be put away in storage, no one seems to really care about this and Archer immediately asks how the curse could be broken. Ibadan says the only way is to return the plaque to Nigeria and due to this gets Archer on his side, but Lana still has not changed her mind as she holds the plaque, claiming not to just be wasting time while sitting on the fence.
Cut back to the office where Pam informs the employees that they will now be completing their own self-evaluations, and then signing Pam's name at the bottom. The employees are visibly upset with this, but Pam announces they will all be getting a raise to get them happy again. Cyril says they cannot afford this but Pam takes out her dolphin puppet and insults Cyril about having a small dick.
Archer is now fighting Ibadan on top of a shipping crate as the UK police show up, it is a fake fight as they have come up with a plan to trick everyone. After some more fighting the team makes it look like they steal the plaque back from Ibadan. At this time Half-pint steals a police cruiser to escape with Ibadan and the real plaque. The museum curator then talks with Lana on whether they are adding capturing Ibadan to their mission, and the curator says no and agrees to let AJ into Abernathy in the Fall. As the police and the curator leave we cut to Archer, Lana, and Zara watching Ibadan and Half-pint stow away on a ship back to Nigeria. Archer says that this was all stupid and there was definitely not a curse, Lana replies to this by telling Archer that if that's true, then Archer is impotent, Archer again goes back on his stance on curses and we cut to credits.
Cast[]
- 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
- Natalie Dew as Zara Khan
- Lennie James as Ibadan Peters
Cultural References[]
Archer references "Highwaymen". Highwaymen are robbers who usually steal from travelers, they usually ride horses.
When Pam is imitating Zara she uses a lot of the usual British stereotypes, but one she uses is "Sticky Wicket". A Sticky Wicket is a metaphor used when British people are describing a difficult situation.
Zara says that she doesn't like "curses, or ghosts, or ...Hoodoo[2]". Hoodoo is an African American type of spirituality where they try to become possessed by the Holy Spirit in order to communicate with dead ancestors.
Ibadan Peters is most likely a parody of Indiana Jones.
- The first thing he says when snatching the plaque for the first time is "This does not belong in a museum" - a direct mirroring of Indy's expression regarding the Cross of Coronado in The Last Crusade.
- When leaving the truck after the truck fight he swings out of the truck using bolas in the same way Indy would swing with his whip, before reaching for the plaque and snatching it from under the closing door (in the same way Jones grabs his hat from under the door in Raiders of the lost Ark).
- Later a colony of voles runs out of a crate prompting Ibadan to say "Voles, why did it have to be voles?" - a twist on Indiana Jones quote about snakes also in Raiders.
- Lastly his sidekick, Half-pint is likely named in a similar vein to Indy's sidekick Short Round in Temple of Doom.
Running Gags / Callbacks[]
Running Gag: Archer claims that a system of measurement which uses the fact of whether or not Archer could fit something into his pants is better than the metric system, shitting on the Metric System is oft done by Archer.
Pam brings back her dolphin puppet to insult Cyril, this puppet has been in the show since episode 1, Mole Hunt.
Pam's dolphin is named for the first time in this episode, its name is Beauregard.
Continuity[]
Continuity: Lana is going on this mission because she wants AJ to get into a specific school, this is similar to how in Deadly Prep Lana tries to get AJ into a high-end school in LA.
Possible Continuity Error: Pam insults Cyril for having a small dick, this might not be that major except for the fact that no one has ever used this type of insult on Cyril before as they are all aware of Cyril's attempted "penis reduction surgery".
Trivia[]
Ibadan, is the capital city of Nigera, another parallel to Indiana Jones who used an alter-ego with a name of a place as his first name, further suggesting that Ibadan was an Indiana Jones parody.
Locations[]
- United Kingdom
- New York HQ