Season four of Archer has been a lot of fun in its own right, but something about it has been… off. Not in a bad way, but the show has showcased a very different kind of humor than in its previous seasons. Maybe that was a conscious effort to keep the show from getting stale or maybe they’ve hired new writers, but regardless the reason, season four has grown into its own beast… until last night’s episode. “Vicious Coupling” is a return to form in the best possible way for the FX series.
Source: FX
A large part of this is due to the show finally giving us a taste of its entire cast. You may have noticed, or at least I did, that the show was sort of all over the place with its characters the past few weeks. Last week, Pam and Cheryl had roughly two scenes whereas Archer had only a handful the week before, instead devoting most of “Legs” to Ray and Krieger. It’s been pretty inconsistent with screen time, but luckily, “Vicious Coupling” is here to solve allof that. This episode has some great moments from all of them, starting with Cheryl setting fires again and ending with Cyril and Ray naked and passed out. In between, the show gives some great moments to Lana and Cyril (voted “Least Likely Couple to Get Back Together,” right?) and an amazing sub-plot with the return of Katya and Barry… alongside Other Barry, of course.
There were some interesting developments with Katya this past episode, but I’ll get to that. My absolute favorite part of this episode was the re-introduction to Katya. With a title like “Vicious Coupling”, I was afraid even my beloved Archer was going to subject me to the “couple’s treatment” of a Valentine’s Day episode. I guess, in a way… it did, but not in the way that you’d think. The best gag of the show is when Archer is going around ISIS and seeing all of the couples, leading him to realize he is alone on Valentine’s Day. Why did I love that so much, you may ask? Well, welcome to my Valentine’s Day… Seriously, and I’m embarrassed to admit this, yesterday, I was Archer. Okay, well, maybe minus the animated six-pack, but you get what I mean. His whole exchange about “Seriously? Even that guy has someone to spend Valentine’s Day with?” I may have caught myself saying that the other day. Keyword being “may.” Okay, who are we kidding? I totally did. I felt really bad afterwards… but anyways, getting off track here. Archer tapped into that “only single person in the world” vibe in what is, probably, one of Sterling Archer’s more relatable moments.
Source: FX
Of course, that moment wasjust set-up so the show could re-introduce Archer’s cyborg ex-fiancée… and relatable moment over. Still, Katya was a nice addition to the episode in a surprising twist. I always felt like Katya was underused, even as a joke, but I’m excited to see what the show does with her. It took them a while to deliver on the Barry tag from the season premiere, so here’s hoping that they feature the Katya storyline a little more consistently, but all in all, “Vicious Coupling” reminded me why I fell in love with this show in the first place with its quick humor and surprisingly engaging storylines.
What did you think of this week’s episode?
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Calhoun Kersten is unofficially over-educated and unemployable. he is currently finishing up his Masters thesis on horror films from DePaul University, but now resides in Hell on earth aka Los Angeles. When he’s not writing, he enjoys being a grown man who still watches Arthur on PBS, singing along loudly to Three 6 Mafia, and spending time with his dog, Karl Marx.