Archer Season 8 Episode 7 Review: Gramercy, Halberd!

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Wow, what a ride! Archer Season 8 Episode 7 was action-packed, highly energetic, and it was a hell of a lot of fun.

Also, I guess that revelation at the end shouldn't be surprising given that this was the penultimate episode of the season, but I will admit it caught me off guard.

Archer and Len Trexler Season 8 Episode 7

I loved so much about this episode. First of all, the revelation (or yet-to-be-proven allegation) that Mother killed Woodhouse was fantastic. It was surprising, but it shouldn't be in retrospect. Right??

Malory's character has always been conniving and manipulative, and homicide has been in her playbook before. The idea that Mother has been playing Archer all this time wouldn't be all that far-fetched.

She would have been manipulating Archer from the start. Killing Woodhouse would have been step one, driving Archer to find out who his killer is so that she could step in with "help" in exchange for his services taking down Trexler.

I wonder how Archer will react to finding this out. Will he confront Mother? Will he go along with this and take her down? Or will we see what I actually want to see from this flashback-having, pill-popping, erectile-dysfunctional, PTSD version of Archer? Which is, namely, RAMPAAAAGE!!

Speaking of rampages, that car chase was badass. Everything about it was awesome from Dutch's relentless pursuit of the car, all the way to Archer's trampling Dutch with his car as the punchline for a very pissed-off joke.

Archer: Okay, you know what? [swerves] Laugh it up, laughers. Since you like jokes so goddamn much...
[swerves and throws Dutch off his motorcycle]
Archer: Hahahaha. Oh hey, did you hear the one about -
[drives car over Dutch]
Everyone: Oh my God.
Lana: Archer, wait!
Archer: Or the one about -
[drives car over Dutch again]
Lana: Archer!
Archer: Or here's one! Knock knock?
[drives car over Dutch again]

Also, can we just talk a second about how they picked the PERFECT song to score the car chase? The live version of Wildest Dreams by Iron Maiden from an album called "Death on the Road." Appropriately titled AND appropriately epic.

Man, Dutch Dylan is fantastic. Dutch is so much more magnificently deranged than Barry (and other Barry) ever was. I mean, wow.

The way he staged his massacre like Da Vinci's "The Last Supper" was both impressive and horrifying. There's something about that blend of artistry and the grotesque that I find compelling and terrifying, and I absolutely loved it. It reminded me of some of the murder tableaus we used to see on Hannibal.

Dutch Dylan at The Last Supper - Archer Season 8 Episode 7

I really love how Adam Reed manages to tell such a fantastic story over this season, while never neglecting his characters. I'll sound like a broken record saying this, but I'm amazed by how these characters are so much the same in such a different world.

Even in Archer's dreamworld, Malory is a conniving, horrid woman. I wonder if this dreamworld will give us some glimpse of Malory's redeeming qualities. In the real world, she does sincerely worry when Archer is in danger.

Archer in Dreamland has an incredible level of self-awareness that's only hinted at in the real world. He's never quite kept his eye off of his goal, even as he's gotten dragged deeper and deeper into the Trexler-Mother mess.

More importantly, though, he's aware and resentful of his propensity to get into trouble. He has the same propensity in the real world but usually is quite flippant about it. Not so much so in Dreamland, though.

Archer: Typical! Typical typical typical typical!
Lana: What could possibly have been typical about that?!
Archer: ME! I always do shit like this.
Poovey: Like what?
Archer: All I wanted to do was find out who killed my partner Woodhouse, and the next thing I know I've disappeared up my own asshole, and I'm manumitting sex slaves and grossly abusing corpses and trying to source a finger for some weird psychosexual kidnapping, and then, to top off all the bullshit, getting chased by GODDAMN ROBOTS!! I mean, [beep] halberts, Jesus Christ!!

I honestly can't wait to see how Archer handles Mother. An angry Sterling/Seamus Archer is a very, very fun Archer.

OTHER NOTES:

  • It is fascinating how, every time Poovey is confronted about the Asian women, she imagines them as family.
  • Awwwww, Zerk has a thing for Charlotte! (sigh) Don't bother, Zerk. She'll break you, and she'll enjoy it. A bit too much.

RUNNING JOKES:

  • Suppressing fire - somehow Cyril looked even more idiotic than usual with his ridiculous waste of bullets.
     
  • It seems we've found a new bullet magnet in Cecil. RIP Brett.
     
  • The slap sequences will always be funny. Even more so when you add steak.
     
  • Lana being mistaken for a man will also always be funny. Because, you know, large hands.
Cyril Suppressing Fire Season 8 Episode 7

CULTURAL REFERENCES:

  • Halberd: a pole weapon with a battleaxe at one end and spike/spear at the other. Dutch's weapon of choice. Also part of the title of the episode.
     
  • Robert Ripley: the creator of "Ripley's Believe It Or Not."
     
  • Brazilian Wandering Spider: a venomous spider from South America, whose toxins can cause a prolonged, painful erection in men. I mean...
     
  • Did anyone else get Wonder Woman flashbacks as Dutch deflected those bullets?
     
  • The Wizard of Oz: You know, I've never actually thought about whether the Tin Man was a robot or not. I'll have to agree with Archer on this one.

Also, my favorite quotes were Archer's rants and his terrible awesome joke, but this sharp retort to Trexler was a close third:

Trexler: Get me out of here alive, and the ransom money and we'll call it even, okay?
Archer: Uh, we're way more than even.
Trexler: How do you figure?
Archer: Because your final thought on this Earth wasn't about how my gun tasted!
Trexler: Fair enough.
Archer: Right?

What did you think? Did you think that Mother was Woodhouse's killer? Are you looking forward to the finale? Also, do you think the Tin Man is a robot or a magical being? Let me know in the comments!

Also, remember you can always watch Archer online.

Archer Dreamland: Gramercy, Halberd! Review

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Archer Season 8 Episode 7 Quotes

Trexler: Get me out of here alive, and the ransom money and we'll call it even, okay?
Archer: Uh, we're way more than even.
Trexler: How do you figure?
Archer: Because your final thought on this Earth wasn't about how my gun tasted!
Trexler: Fair enough.
Archer: Right?

Archer: Okay. A. ,The Tin Man is not a robot.
Trexler: The Tin Man is -
Archer: A magical being, like a leprechaun, Pinocchio, an enchanted Nutcracker.
Trexler: Whatever! He doesn't have a heart!