Season 3, Episodes 9-10
One of the pressures that most comedies face as they grow on in years – especially those comedies that have one bombastic personality in the center, with a lot of secondary and tertiary characters to fill in the background – is to give those second- and third-tier characters stories of their own. It's usually a move that's brought about by both creative and artistic needs, as writers search for new stories to tell, and/or actors buck for more screen time. It's something that Archer's done in the past, and given how poorly it worked in the first two seasons, it's surprising that the show would try again. Yet that Mallory-centric episode was actually pretty solid, so maybe there's something there. Yet when you take “Bloody Ferlin” and “Crossing Over” as a pair, it's clear that the show still has some work to do.
Regardless of the fact that “Bloody Ferlin” is either a spoof of or a cross-network promotion for Justified, it's a damn good episode, for the simple fact that it finds a way to get Ray involved in the action, by simply having Ray lying about his handicap. It's a bit of a cheap move, or least it would be if it didn't exist within the madcap world of Archer, but considering that it allows Ray to have a bigger part of an episode, it's one that becomes accessible. Ray has long been one of my favorite characters, because as one of the most sensible yet sarcastic ISIS employees, he gets to exist in that comedic sweet spot where he gets to make hilarious quips about the insane actions going on around him, even if he sometimes gets pulled into himself.
That the action that he got pulled into tonight involved his bass-ackward family out in Kentucky may not be the most original idea (ooh, a gay man came from a conservative family!), but like with many unoriginal ideas, Archer manages to make it its own by cover the original premise in it's own over the top action and comedy. In that respect, seeing the insane place from which Ray comes from tells us a lot about the character, about the life he had to leave and the strength he must have not to have been driven crazy years ago. It also helps to explain why he's able to take most of what happens at ISIS in stride.
Yet if Ray's episode was a highlight for both the character and the show, Pam's turn in “Crossing Over” was a third in a series of disappointment, starting with “El Secuestro” and continuing with “Drift Problem”. On the whole, I enjoy Pam when she's on the edges of episode being gross and/or weird, so given this show's deft hand when it comes to the weird and surreal, an episode with Pam in the center seems like it should be a comedic slam dunk. Yet when I think about it, Pam's never really been the center of any episode, even when the premise (or part of it) revolves around her. In “El Secuestro” she was kidnapped and thus off-screen for a large portion of the time, and whatever we learned about her in “Drift Problem” was an aside to the actual plot, which wasn't that great to begin with.
So to say that her presence didn't work in “Crossing Over” didn't work isn't exactly correct. Giving her a plot that allows to her to bounce directly off of Archer for the majority of her screentime is a good idea, and I appreciate how the show actually turned her sexual encounter into a good thing, by having her sexual prowess be good enough that Archer would keep to returning to her. The show could have settled for a slew of lazy and ugly fat jokes, but it rose above that to a more progressive viewpoint in regard to sexual tastes. In fact, Pam here was crackling, playing well off of Archer and delivering the best lines of the episode.
The problem then is that the show didn't take this plotline to the most logical extreme, and make it the focus of the episode. I'll admit that in the previous two “Pam-centric” episodes didn't show us the best side of Pam, instead trying (unsuccessfully) to mine some uncomfortable laughs from her darkest behaviors. Thus the fact that the show didn't make full use of Pam while they had her operating in a more “normal” and thus funnier vein seems like a waste.
It's especially a waste considering that the rest of the episode came off so poorly, even though it had some winning elements. Nikola Jakov? Yeah, he's funny. Bionic Barry? Quite enjoyable, given the right circumstances. Burt Reynolds jokes? Golden, always. The real problem is that all of these things were crammed into the episode, and no single element was given enough room to breathe. The same can be said of Pam's story, which definitely should have gotten more screentime. Nor did the extremely dark ending help anything, since I couldn't determine whether we were supposed to be laughing or moved by Jakov's death.
The real problem it is that Archer can't always quite figure out how to properly used its side characters, and until it does manage to get this down to a science, we're going to get varying quality of episodes.
Quotes and Other Thoughts:
“With all we know, they're building a Gundam suit with bazookas for hands.”
“That was sarcasm, since we were apparently saying that all the time now.”
“He's not a drug dealer! He's a drug dealer.”
“What are you, insane? Hey ya'll, here's my great big ol' black wife!” “Yeah, com'n, you're gigantic.”
“I swear if Kreiger was doing more of his awful – what's his new thing?” “Ultimate bum shocks fights, and no.”
“I'll drive if you want to hop back there and...enter her.”
“Jesus, what's my dowry, tetanus?”
“It would be rude not to eat her pie, which I assume is not only hot, but moist.”
“A New York City interior decorator? I'' bet you're up to your eyes in poon tang.”
“How do you afford this?” “Farm subsidy.”
“It's either roll over like a dog, or fight...like a better dog.”
“Fourth thoughts!”
“So is there like special chick shaving cream, or what?”
“Don't judge me...food.”
“OUR MARRAIGE WAS NEVER CONSUMATED! And I think I we know why...”
“Bronze medal is not losing!”
“I dunno, 'sundown' sound more colloquial than...”
“Yeah, I'm pretty furious about not getting to bang Janelle. Plus, I want to experience the power of moonshine.”
“E.Z., don't shoot, I'm coming out.” “Hahaha, phrasing.”
“Well that's just great. Everybody gets laid in the Holler except for me. And you I guess...since I ate your husband.”
************
“Bloody Mary, full of vodka, blessed are you amongst cocktails.”
“Hold on, wait! Let me see some hands! Who wants chicken 'n' waffles.”
“That's 150 gallons of Pam's hot, dirty, ball-slappin'....” “AYYYYYY!” “Come at me, bro!.”
“How did she know about the elevator? Burt made sure I erased the security tape.”
“Who hunts dogs?” “Orientals, duh.”
“Wow! That is big dog!”
“You make me sound like some kind of chupacabra – except for dicks.”
“Well, I wouldn't say amazing. What? Come on! You were pushing rope!”
That the action that he got pulled into tonight involved his bass-ackward family out in Kentucky may not be the most original idea (ooh, a gay man came from a conservative family!), but like with many unoriginal ideas, Archer manages to make it its own by cover the original premise in it's own over the top action and comedy. In that respect, seeing the insane place from which Ray comes from tells us a lot about the character, about the life he had to leave and the strength he must have not to have been driven crazy years ago. It also helps to explain why he's able to take most of what happens at ISIS in stride.
Yet if Ray's episode was a highlight for both the character and the show, Pam's turn in “Crossing Over” was a third in a series of disappointment, starting with “El Secuestro” and continuing with “Drift Problem”. On the whole, I enjoy Pam when she's on the edges of episode being gross and/or weird, so given this show's deft hand when it comes to the weird and surreal, an episode with Pam in the center seems like it should be a comedic slam dunk. Yet when I think about it, Pam's never really been the center of any episode, even when the premise (or part of it) revolves around her. In “El Secuestro” she was kidnapped and thus off-screen for a large portion of the time, and whatever we learned about her in “Drift Problem” was an aside to the actual plot, which wasn't that great to begin with.
So to say that her presence didn't work in “Crossing Over” didn't work isn't exactly correct. Giving her a plot that allows to her to bounce directly off of Archer for the majority of her screentime is a good idea, and I appreciate how the show actually turned her sexual encounter into a good thing, by having her sexual prowess be good enough that Archer would keep to returning to her. The show could have settled for a slew of lazy and ugly fat jokes, but it rose above that to a more progressive viewpoint in regard to sexual tastes. In fact, Pam here was crackling, playing well off of Archer and delivering the best lines of the episode.
The problem then is that the show didn't take this plotline to the most logical extreme, and make it the focus of the episode. I'll admit that in the previous two “Pam-centric” episodes didn't show us the best side of Pam, instead trying (unsuccessfully) to mine some uncomfortable laughs from her darkest behaviors. Thus the fact that the show didn't make full use of Pam while they had her operating in a more “normal” and thus funnier vein seems like a waste.
It's especially a waste considering that the rest of the episode came off so poorly, even though it had some winning elements. Nikola Jakov? Yeah, he's funny. Bionic Barry? Quite enjoyable, given the right circumstances. Burt Reynolds jokes? Golden, always. The real problem is that all of these things were crammed into the episode, and no single element was given enough room to breathe. The same can be said of Pam's story, which definitely should have gotten more screentime. Nor did the extremely dark ending help anything, since I couldn't determine whether we were supposed to be laughing or moved by Jakov's death.
The real problem it is that Archer can't always quite figure out how to properly used its side characters, and until it does manage to get this down to a science, we're going to get varying quality of episodes.
Quotes and Other Thoughts:
“With all we know, they're building a Gundam suit with bazookas for hands.”
“That was sarcasm, since we were apparently saying that all the time now.”
“He's not a drug dealer! He's a drug dealer.”
“What are you, insane? Hey ya'll, here's my great big ol' black wife!” “Yeah, com'n, you're gigantic.”
“I swear if Kreiger was doing more of his awful – what's his new thing?” “Ultimate bum shocks fights, and no.”
“I'll drive if you want to hop back there and...enter her.”
“Jesus, what's my dowry, tetanus?”
“It would be rude not to eat her pie, which I assume is not only hot, but moist.”
“A New York City interior decorator? I'' bet you're up to your eyes in poon tang.”
“How do you afford this?” “Farm subsidy.”
“It's either roll over like a dog, or fight...like a better dog.”
“Fourth thoughts!”
“So is there like special chick shaving cream, or what?”
“Don't judge me...food.”
“OUR MARRAIGE WAS NEVER CONSUMATED! And I think I we know why...”
“Bronze medal is not losing!”
“I dunno, 'sundown' sound more colloquial than...”
“Yeah, I'm pretty furious about not getting to bang Janelle. Plus, I want to experience the power of moonshine.”
“E.Z., don't shoot, I'm coming out.” “Hahaha, phrasing.”
“Well that's just great. Everybody gets laid in the Holler except for me. And you I guess...since I ate your husband.”
************
“Bloody Mary, full of vodka, blessed are you amongst cocktails.”
“Hold on, wait! Let me see some hands! Who wants chicken 'n' waffles.”
“That's 150 gallons of Pam's hot, dirty, ball-slappin'....” “AYYYYYY!” “Come at me, bro!.”
“How did she know about the elevator? Burt made sure I erased the security tape.”
“Who hunts dogs?” “Orientals, duh.”
“Wow! That is big dog!”
“You make me sound like some kind of chupacabra – except for dicks.”
“Well, I wouldn't say amazing. What? Come on! You were pushing rope!”
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