Archer: Swiss Miss

August 3, 2016 5:29 PM - Season 2, Episode 1

The ISIS team is tapped to protect a billionaire's daughter as a hook to land a new investor but it soon becomes apparent that she isn't the only one who needs protecting.
posted by Mitheral (10 comments total)

"That's when she strikes -- like a slutty little ninja."
posted by Mitheral at 5:29 PM on August 3, 2016

Trivia

• After calling on ISIS to cut back on expenses and salaries, Malory receives a call from her furrier and requests the gray fox. Archer expresses anger that she's "buying new horse shoes", mistaking the word for Farrier, an expert in equine hoof care.
• The crotch shot photo of Anke Schlotz exiting the limo is a reference to Paris Hilton.
• Pam is wearing a Jayne Cobb hat from "Firefly."
• A large element of the plot in the episode centers around the illegality of Archer having sexual relations with a 16 year old girl. This is, however, not illegal in Switzerland (or anywhere in Europe other than Turkey and Malta), where the age of consent is 16; though it might still be considered taboo by many, given the age gap, it is not something Archer could find himself in legal trouble for.
• The photo Malory shows of El Frente Rojo, (the group attempting to kidnap Anke). Is identical to the famous photo clippings of the SLA, robbing a San Francisco bank in 1974.
• Ray mistakes the laser sights from the snowmobiles as a Pink Floyd show, referencing the English rock band's elaborate stage show effects.
• On the wall in the bar of the resort there's a picture of Ray on the Olympic podium in 3rd place. (Behind Ray when he says "Raus you Maus".)
• This is the first episode to feature Amber Nash in the opening title sequence.

posted by Brandon Blatcher at 6:03 PM on August 3, 2016 [1 favorite]

"Videotex? Wow, growth industry."

I do love the inscrutable Archer timeline.
posted by figurant at 6:55 PM on August 3, 2016 [3 favorites]

"Pam is wearing a Jayne Cobb hat from "Firefly.""

I saw this earlier but not so much, the colours are all off and the workmanship is significantly better.
posted by Mitheral at 7:11 PM on August 3, 2016

I dunno, guys, this was my least favorite episode of the series. I thought the focus on the weird underage plot was kinda gross. (There's a lot of borderline stuff in Archer, I know, but for whatever reason I just can't get past this one.) /wompwomp
posted by mochapickle at 11:14 PM on August 3, 2016

Although I did like the farrier gag.
posted by mochapickle at 11:15 PM on August 3, 2016

Interesting because this is one of my favorites. The underage plot was weird but Archer wasn't into it so that was ok for me. I thought this episode really brought forth how much of a total badass he is even when he's not paying attention. I don't feel like we really see highlighted like that again until Blood Test, which is another of my favorites. I also liked him going on about his childhood. I find his sad childhood funnier than I probably should.
posted by LizBoBiz at 6:47 AM on August 4, 2016

"Fuck you Switzerland."

I wonder what kind of razor Archer keeps in his toiletries kit - straight, safety, or disposable?
posted by porpoise at 1:47 PM on August 5, 2016 [1 favorite]

I did like the Ray at the Olympics stuff.
posted by Chrysostom at 9:10 PM on August 6, 2016

I thought the focus on the weird underage plot was kinda gross.

Same here. That turned out to be the point since it's a satire of the incredibly gross subplot of For Your Eyes Only, in which virginal Bond Girl Bibi Dahl, played by twenty-one-year-old ice skater Lynn-Holly Johnson, throws herself at 007 - who, as played by a distinctly aging Roger Moore, is about thirty years her senior.

Be that as it may, here's a series of Archer quotes superimposed on James Bond pictures. (It's far too easy to imagine Sean Connery saying "All I've had today is like six gummy bears and some scotch", whether or not he's playing James Bond.)
posted by Doktor Zed at 12:37 PM on August 11, 2016 [3 favorites]