Archer 5.2, Archer Vice - A Kiss While Dying Review

rating: 4

Now that the ISIS team has been kicked out of their old headquarters and forbidden from functioning as a spy agency, Archer Vice, the next phase of the show, can begin in full force. Thankfully, A Kiss While Dying shows that the creative shift was just what Archer needed to reinvigorate itself. It isn't the most impressive episode ever, but it has a whole lot going for it, and should leave nobody pining for the espionage days of old. The characters all spend the episode acclimating to their new roles. I like Ray going for the FDR look by wearing a blanket in his wheelchair. How long he stays wheelchair-bound this time is something Vegas should post odds on, but he does just fine from its confines in this episode. Woodhouse is still as world-weary and down on his luck as ever, but I'm disappointed to say his voice has changed yet again. In the fourth season, a new actor voiced him in a higher pitch; this new actor seems to have returned the character to his original sunken, gravelly baritone, and I'm grateful for that, but why can't they hold onto an actor for him? Pam is an absolute animal, more crazed in this episode than perhaps any other so far. When Lana walks into the bathroom where Pam has just smacked Archer's head against the wall and is devouring her cocaine cast in the buff, it marks an undeniable new high point for the character. Unfortunately, she falls victim to one of the show's few shortcomings, a tendency toward beating a joke mercilessly into the ground. In this case, Pam's coke addiction provides a few laughs, but is so cartoonishly overused that it quickly becomes annoying. I know it's likely setting up a longer arc for the character, but it's so unsubtle. She's eating cocaine in nearly every scene she's in, and Lana, somewhat uncharacteristically, hardly seems miffed by it. Seeing Cheryl's country singer storyline take root in this episode relieved me of any worries I had about her character. It's going to be very interesting indeed, and the music she's making €“ sung by Jessy Lynn Martens, an up-and-comer whose role on the show is likely her biggest break €“ provides a great soundtrack to the show's whole new motif. The old scores could hardly still work with the dirtier, ground-level new work the group is involved in, but the country songs are perfect. Speaking of new motifs, the scenery is incredible. Miami has never looked better in any cartoon that I know of. The show's writers and artists don't just play make-believe with their creations; everything is rendered in outstanding realism. Storefronts look great, as does the interior of Ramon's restaurant. The menu in the background of so many scenes reminded me of Bob's Burgers, and I scanned it for any sign of a Bob's Burgers-style pun. Kind of a missed opportunity there, I think; I didn't find anything funny. Not only does Miami look great, the new headquarters does, too. Both the interior and exterior shots of the Tunt mansion are gorgeous, with intricate architecture, sculpted busts, and touches like an antique phonograph in the corner of a room giving the new headquarters even more personality than the ISIS HQ ever had. But as gorgeous as the new digs and settings may be, they haven't increased the team's competence. Archer is certainly enthusiastic, dismissing Lana's complaints about their years of unknowingly operating as rogues with one of the episode's best lines, "Potato, pa-treason." But although they may have known all there is to know about international espionage, they don't know the first thing about drug dealing. I'm actually relieved to see them so brutally fumble their first mission; they seem to be in way over their heads in a way they didn't seem to be even when fighting space pirates. However, Krieger's usefulness to the new operation has already unveiled itself in a hilarious way. In addition to wiring the whole house €“ especially the bathrooms €“ with cameras, one of Krieger's cleverest ideas yet is smuggling the cocaine on-board a plane by molding it like plaster into a full-body cast for Pam. It's interesting to note that although the change in setting was intended to give the writers a break from the tired "mission-of-the-week" formula, this episode follows the old format pretty much exactly. Malory sends the field agents away, a deal goes bad, and there is a gunfight; meanwhile, the non-field agents make snarky comments back at base and do their own thing. It's still too early to tell whether I should be disappointed or relieved by this, but the formula worked well and felt fresher than it has since the third season, so I'll stay in favor of it for now. One thing that didn't thrill me was the reappearance of Ramon, Charles and Rudy. They're good characters, and well-acted, but the best thing I can say about the decision to use Ramon as Malory's contact is to illustrate just how few contacts Malory has. Her usefulness as a leader is already beginning to wear a little thin; she may not be giving orders for long. But the heavy emphasis on Archer and Ramon's bromance is a little strange. I thought the Honeypot episode, where Ramon first appeared, was one of the clear standouts of the first season, but that he and Archer would form a long-lasting bond never occurred to me from watching it. If it felt forced to me, I can only imagine how a new viewer would feel. However, Archer granting Ramon a dying kiss was a funny moment made hilarious by the reveal that Ramon didn't actually die. All in all, this first episode of Archer Vice is a very promising start. I love the new direction, the new scenery, and the steep learning curve the team is going to have to face. Most of all, I love that despite all those changes, it's still the same Archer: hilarious, well-written, beautifully drawn and acted, inundated with references to pop culture, and solidly entertaining from cold open to end credits.