Archer: ARCHER 1999: Dining With The Zarglorp

June 21, 2019 7:34 AM - Season 10, Episode 4

Deep in space, Archer and the crew encounter a terrifying cosmic beast. Even deeper, they encounter a self-aggrandizing life coach.
posted by mikepop (4 comments total)

The Archer crew goes "Dining With The Zarglorp," but forgets to order enough jokes for the table (William Hughes for TV/AV Club)

In last week’s review of “The Leftovers,” I spilled quite a bit of space-ink on the idea that Archer: 1999—which will likely be Adam Reed’s last season on Archer, whether the show gets miraculously renewed when its latest order runs out this year or not—represents something of a potential changing of the guard. That episode, like this one (and like three others this season, taking us all the way up to the Reed-penned finale) was written by a newcomer to the show, a rarity for a series that has so consistently arrived in the comedic voice of a single creator/writer/executive producer/star. “The Leftovers,” I argued, was a clear sign that Archer could possibly survive Reed’s departure; that it might even benefit from having new writers come in to reinvigorate a series that has sometimes felt like it was thrashing around to find something, anything, to maintain its creator’s flagging interest in spy comedy bullshit.

This one, not so much.

Rated: C

My rating: B-, but I'm an easy grader. OK, maybe C+ for the non sequitur of Krieger's energy-hungry head/clone that went nowhere ... at least, for now. He/it seemed pretty dead/ destroyed. Was it all for a joke about Krieger is the self-focused one, more so than Sterling?

Hughes: "Hey, you know who never endangered the entire crew in a weird, tonally-off sideplot about building a clone of himself? Crackers."
posted by filthy light thief at 8:47 AM on June 21, 2019

This one, not so much.

Agreed. I couldn't even finish this episode which is a first for Archer. I found it incredibly dull. Had to go watch a Venture Brothers season 7 episode to feel animated joy.
posted by juiceCake at 6:23 PM on June 21, 2019

The overall arc resembles a classic Archer, though. Yeah, not a lot of laughs.

In a way, Archer gave people-eating-lady a better ending than if he had actually recorded her speech. People would have asked questions and the crew would let everyone know that she went space crazy. At least there's some ambiguity and no tarnishing of reputation.

The space Nautiloid reminded me of Spelljammer. Probably not intended.

I think Krieger just spedrun one of his "pet projects"/ paternalistic riffs.
posted by porpoise at 2:42 PM on June 22, 2019

Notice the sly "To Serve Man" joke there in Price's speech.
posted by Chrysostom at 8:30 PM on June 24, 2019 [2 favorites]