Archer: Baby Shower Review

So on tonight’s Archer Vice, the gang got together and realized that they needed to…

Forget that. It was all about the DAAAANGGGGGER ZOOOONNE! Archer finally dared to take us to the epicenter of the where regions meet peril, and areas face menace, with what is hopefully only the first appearance of many for a Faustian Kenny Loggins, ready sing a song and barter for what can only be the soul of Marsellus Wallace’s purple raining cousin. Because in tonight’s Archer, Sterling gave Lana the greatest gift of all…..danger zone.

After what appeared to be the first prosperous week for the gang formerly known as Isis’ cocaine racket thanks in large part to Krieger’s own variation on bitcoins, it was time to move some wacky dust and put a little virtual change in their pockets. This also marked the group realizing that besides ignoring Cherlene’s perpetual need to awaken everyone with the smooth morning sounds of “Golden Hour” country, they have also been ignoring Lana’s pregnancy. So Archer, still being in love with Lana, decides to throw her a baby shower. And Archer, also still being Archer, decides that the greatest gift he could give her is getting Kenny Loggins to play at it. Makes sense.

The majority of the episode revolves around Pam and Sterling’s misbegotten efforts to court Kenny Loggins at a nearby hotel, which turns out to be far more difficult than imagined. Who’d have thought? Convinced that Archer is nothing more than a fan, or worse, an errand boy for some goon that K-Log (Kenny’s preferred handle) owes a hybrid of plutonium and the personification of Prince’s grooviest dreams to, Loggins will stop at nothing at rubbing Archer out. A shootout on Tuntmore Tower commences and a perfectly good swimming pool is ruined.

It actually turned out to be a relatively touching episode of Archer, which fits the subversive cheek of Adam Reed perfectly. Instead of writing the whole episode off as a celebrity cameo lark, Reed stings the final moment of the night by having Archer, through the unappreciated intelligence and compassion of Woodhouse, give Lana his baby crib. The palpable tenderness of both Lana and our reaction to this gesture is the biggest joke of all. Not only because Archer did not intend to give her the gift (nor gives Woodhouse any sort credit or even appreciation for it), but because we actually care. That’s the biggest punch line of all, as Archer only cares about listening to the smooth sounds K-Log dueting with Little Miss Cherlene.

And that is ultimately par for the course, because as awesome as “Danger Zone” is, this episode (save for a few great one-liners that you can read below) stayed very close to the celebrity stunt-casting formula. So much is made about the inclusion of Kenny Loggins that the B-storyline, about Krieger moving cocaine in a circle and wasting everyone’s time, never really lands, because it is so underdeveloped. Also, as fun as the mystery lavender case is, K-Log didn’t get enough time playing off Archer to really develop a rapport like the Burt Reynolds cameo did in Season 3. Our best hope is that K-Log takes Archer to the DAAAAANGER ZOOONE again. I wouldn’t mind since that duet was still perfectly Archer. And now that the series has reached the 1980s, there should be plenty of Loggins to go around.

Quotes from the DAAAAAANGGGGGGER ZOOOOOOONE:

-ARCHER: Cyril, shut your pout hole, accept the fact that Lana was so far out of your league that impregnating her would have basically been interspecies breeding, and GET ON WITH YOUR LIFE! And then go get a cake.

-ARCHER: And Wooodhouse, if you spend any of this on heroin, you better buy enough to OD on, because…

WOODHOUSE: Will do!

-KENNY LOGGINS: You think K-Log needs to pay for sex, do you?

ARCHER: No, but that being said, I do think he needs to reevaluate this whole K-Log thing.

-CHERLENE (upon seeing a missing painting on the wall): Goddammit! What’d I tell you about staying up on the wall, ghosts?

-ARCHER: And no, Kenny Loggins, there is no way to make up almost killing me for a briefcase of what I can only assume is plutonium or a human soul!

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