Thursday, January 27, 2011

Archer: "Swiss Miss"

A review of the Archer season premiere, coming up after the jump.... 

So the good news is the Archer's back! Yay!

But the bad news is that someone obviously told Adam Reed to make this first episode accessible as possible to a new audience. Boo.

Look, Archer never tries to reach for anything other than being absolutely fucking funny. And I am okay with that, I really am, especially considering that this show bring as big of laughs as it does. However, the best jokes (and by extension, the best episodes) manage to evolve from everything we learn about the characters. This means that last season, as the character relationships piled on top of one another, each episode became more bugfuck crazy than the last. (I mean this in a good way.)

Nor did I notice any neat instances of pacing, or intercutting between stories, or the show just generally toying around with episode structure, something that usually helps Archer in piling on the jokes and selling its over-the-top nature. I believe there is something key in those character-based jokes give the show a kind of shorthand it can use, so it can spend less time setting up jokes and more time telling them.

Instead, tonight we were subjected to sex jokes that could have fit in just about anywhere. (Though 'just about anywhere' would be lucky to have sex jokes so good.) These jokes were well told, and very funny, but there weren't enough of them, and not enough craziness either.

I also felt that Archer's characterization was a bit off, as he seems like the kind of horny bastard who only appear to care about a sex partner's age in relation to another country's laws. According to Wikipedia, the age of consent in Switzerland is 16. I just feel like this is something Archer would know, or at least ask about.

What did everybody else think?


Additional Thoughts: 

“You will not touch a single hair on that girl.” “See how I just let that one go? Perfect gentleman.”

“Thanks a lot, Bitch & Sundance.”

“What is it, The Alabama of Europe?”

“So, does this look as bad as it looks.”

“It's something a grownup does when he loves another grownup.”

“I can't be alone. That's when she attacks like a slutty little ninja.”

“Oooooh. Pink Floyd show....Oh, I am going to be in so much trouble. Triple dukes.”

“I know, right? Totally McQueen.”

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