Well, so now we know there's one direction that Archer can't go.
After spending the season attempting to flesh out the supporting players, to give us a fuller picture of their quirks, the show took it a little too far, and a little too seriously. Now, some critics have expressed their opinion that the wrong move here was focusing on Cyril, but I'm not sure that that's the real problem. Admittedly, he is a sad sack, a schlub, someone without much singular screen presence, who's better for reactive comedy than for launching his own jokes. So I see where these critics are coming from.
But my problem with the episode began in the opening scene, where we saw Cyril piss his pants after disappointing his father at the regional spelling bee. While I get how this is true to the character, I wasn't sure if I was supposed to laugh at Cyril or empathize with him, and on a show like Archer, that's a problem. This show has made its mark partially by avoiding anything emotionally charged, and for a show that's all about the big laughs (and can deliver them quite often), that's okay. The show has long asked us to ignore how these characters feel, so to be given an episode that's predicated on how Cyril wishes to be seen as a hero is a bit jarring.
And of course that's not the only scene in the episode that's built on emotion. There are multiple scenes where the rest of the ISIS team just bags on Cyril, and the intensity here was so much more than we're used to when compared to the other office heckling, that again, I couldn't bring myself to laugh.
Nor could I buy the fact that Cyril's desire to be liked drove him to buy into the bullshit peddled by George Selvin (expertly voiced by Peter Serafinowicz, someone I hope the show brings back, either for this character or a completely new one). Cyril may be a nympho, but he's not an idiot. You don't get to be an accountant at a espionage agency without some brains. It's like the scene with Archer and Cyril in the car: Archer may be a narcissist and easily distracted, but as he was grilling Cyril about the layout of Selvin's place, we are once again reminded that he's actually a pretty good agent. If Archer can actual like a functional human being, why doesn't Cyril, who's far less flawed?
Add in the ending where Cyril ekes out a win of sorts by shooting up Selvin's mainframe, and well, it just ends up being a bit treacly, at least by the standards of this show. (Plus, did the show really need to have Selvin bring up Cyril's father? That opening scene made it pretty clear that Cyril has father issues. Archer isn't the most subtle show, but it didn't need to be this obvious either.) My complaints here aren't so much with the idea at play here – all comedies should explore their characters, especially when it can lead to bigger and better jokes – so much as the execution. Archer isn't a place for emotion, plain and simple.
All of that being said, the rest of the episode was fantastic, and I wish it had been reconfigured so the focus was on the ISIS team as they try to stop the worm that Cyril put on their mainframe. Krieger's virtual girlfriend was an inspired gag, and I never got tired of the employees' delight with the animated pirate. Plus, the havoc the worm wreaked, as it slowly invaded their system, screwed with their missile detectors, and downloaded their employee database, was the kind of slow-build-into-anarchy that is just classic Archer. (And I don't know about anybody else, but I'm pretty sure I would have enjoyed an episode where the mainframe became a sentient being. Just sayin'.)
The hot streak Archer was on seems to have ended, though I suppose it was only a matter of time. But tonight's side stories prove to me that show's still got it, so I have faith that it will return to form very shortly.
What did everybody else think?
Additional Thoughts:
“Bag with which one douches.”
“Come render the salad unto Caesar.”
Wouldn't Ray have insisted on being on the girl's team? He seems like that kind of gay guy.
“Oh good. For a second there I thought they brought you chicken tenders.”
“I'm kidding. There's a battery backup.”
“Well, it's mutated, and now we're on the brink of World War Two.” “Three.” “It's not a competition, Pam!”
“Look at this thing. It's like it's made of Wolverine's bones....Does nobody read X-Men?”
“Wait a damn minute, I said I was hungry.”
“Who am I, Elisha Otis?”
“Plus, now I'm going to die alone.”
“Who am I, Alan Turning?...Who's also from X-Men, remember?”
“Ninjas are sexy!” “Right?” “I think so.”
“Shoot him, Cyril. But just him. I think the twins are warming up to me. Right? Am I getting some signals?”
“Who am I, Count Bulletsula?...Dracula...That was bad. Come back to me?”
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