Archer: Skytanic

July 6, 2016 7:52 AM - Season 1, Episode 7

The team is hired to thwart a bomb threat on a blimp rigid airship.
posted by Mitheral (14 comments total)

IMO one of the best episodes of the first season.
posted by Mitheral at 7:57 AM on July 6, 2016 [4 favorites]

Nice read, Velma.
posted by bondcliff at 8:02 AM on July 6, 2016 [5 favorites]

This is where the show really starts firing on all cylinders.
posted by Chrysostom at 8:37 AM on July 6, 2016

I'm kind of amazed that this was first-season. I remember it as being much later, possibly because everyone seemed so fully formed already.
posted by Etrigan at 8:38 AM on July 6, 2016 [2 favorites]

If I ever change my online handle, it will be "M as in Mancy"
posted by MCMikeNamara at 8:44 AM on July 6, 2016 [5 favorites]

God, I love this episode. It ties into my love of airships in general.

In addition to things like "M as in Mancy," and "nice read, Velma," I also appreciate the way Archer loses his shit every time he sees a cigarette, no matter how many times people tell him the ship uses helium and not hydrogen.
posted by Naberius at 9:21 AM on July 6, 2016 [2 favorites]

Wasn't this Ray's first appearance? Or first extended appearance? He was great, with his crisis vest, which was probably based on Gene Kranz's, the legendary Apollo flight controller, who had a habit of wearing vests during missions.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 9:21 AM on July 6, 2016 [1 favorite]

I drew the exact same connection, Brandon. It's Ray's second appearance, he was also in Honeypot, albeit briefly.
posted by axiom at 5:51 PM on July 6, 2016

This was the very first episode of Archer I ever saw, on the recommendation of mefites. It was good advice.
posted by traveler_ at 6:11 PM on July 6, 2016

Yeah, I remember him being a background character earlier, but then kind of laughed when I realized Adam Reed was writing himself back into a new show, since HJB is much better at the Xander/Archer role. He wrote himself into a couple of decent Sealab episodes, too. He went from background, to support to field-agent to well, what he is by the latest season, but whatever, its his show, and I've loved his stuff for a very long time now.

And I'm sure its been said before, but if you like archer, you should really check the first 2-1/2 seasons of Sealab 2021 and the whole run of Frisky Dingo (2 seasons). Callbacks and Easter Eggs abound!
posted by lkc at 12:28 AM on July 7, 2016

Frisky Dingo is such an underrated show. If you like Archer, give Frisky Dingo a try. It's a lot more free form and absurd, but very funny.
posted by Pendragon at 4:29 AM on July 7, 2016 [1 favorite]

My favorite episode.

And I love Mallory's scheming and jealousy of Trudy Beekman. That is just so classic her.
posted by mochapickle at 7:19 AM on July 7, 2016 [3 favorites]

Another YES for Frisky Dingo.
posted by porpoise at 11:35 AM on July 7, 2016 [2 favorites]

Frisky Dingo is super fucked-up and one of the very few shows I found myself accidentally bingeing all the way through (as in, got home from some taxing weekend-morning activity to flop onto the couch, and before I knew it I'd already seen the whole first season).

I also appreciate the way Archer loses his shit every time he sees a cigarette, no matter how many times people tell him the ship uses helium and not hydrogen.

...which leads to the priceless, ageless exchange:

LANA [exasperated]: What exactly are you not getting about this?
ARCHER [shouting, defensive]: Well, obviously, the core concept!

posted by psoas at 3:44 PM on August 1, 2016 [1 favorite]