The Heart of "Archer Part 1" SnapCap: "I am the Pirate King!"

Technically, the third season of Archer doesn't kick off until next year, but to tide fans over until then, FX is giving viewers three episodes starting this week. It's a three parter is titled "Heart of Archness" and picks up with Archer missing after his fiancee was murdered. Malory might often have all the mothering instincts of a migrating salmon, but in her own warped way, she does care about Archer and usually pulls out all of the stops to help him out.

With him missing for three months, that involves hiring adventurer Rick Riley (Patrick Warburton), who thinks he's Indiana Jones,  to track Archer down after Lana, Ray and the rest of the ISIS gang fail to find him.

I have to confess that I'm surprised that I like Archer as much as I do. I usually hate shows where a wanker like Archer is the "hero" (yes he's a buffoon, but he's also still the "cool" guy) but somehow Archer makes it work. Partly it's because the show is often so freaking hilarious with one-liners flying around like a fusillade of bullets at an assassination convention, but it's also because it's got a great cast with H. Jon Benjamin as Archer, Jessica Walter as Malory, Aisha Tyler as Lana and an awesome supporting cast.

So how does "Heart of Archness: Part 1" rate? Let's take a look.

Beefcake

I'm ashamed to admit that I actually find Archer kind of hot. I'm embarrassed because A) he's a total jerkwad and B) he's an animated character. Yet there it is. When shirtless or running around in a towel, I get a little tingly in all the right places. That being said, this particular episode didn't have nearly enough of that, either with Archer, or with Riley, who isn't half-bad looking either. (Especially with Patrick Warburton's voice coming out of him!)

Not nearly enough of this!

Heart/Drama

Well, this is an animated cartoon about a spy who is an asshole with a mother who made him that way, and a supporting cast of mostly incompetent nitwits, so I'm not sure how much "heart" it's ever going to have. But Malory was willing to rescue Archer even if his absence meant that ISIS was actually turning a profit, so I guess that counts as heart. As for "drama," Riley's capture of Archer, as well as Archer's subsequent turning of the tables, was all pretty dramatic. Then there was the whole "captured by pirates" thing.

And as usual, Archer manages to somehow make things turn out right after first totally screwing them up. Call it part of his "charm." For instance, in this episode, after causing Riley's plane to crash and then getting them captured by pirates, Archer somehow ends up not just the new pirate captain, but proclaims himself the Pirate King.

AfterElton Bait

In the second season of Archer, the part of Ray Gillette (Adam Reed), ISIS' only out gay agent, was beefed up. There is a lot that's good about Ray — he's smart, he's funny, he's one of the only competent agents at ISIS. Plus, he's an Olympic Bronze Medalist in the Giant Slalom, all of which is great as that's something fresh and different. 

"And this chocolate tureen looks insannnnne! And then just send me to fatty camp."

The problem for me is that he's often portrayed as being kind of a cliche, and we hear about his being a great spy rather than seeing it as much. For instance, this episode we see him jetting off to help rescue Archer, but the only thing he does is squee over the food on the airplane and talk about being fat. Yes, the show pokes fun at everyone, but these seem like lazy gay jokes and a show this smartly written should do better with the gay character.

Humor 

Archer's humor is often offensive, gross, and wildly inappropriate — and I love it. Now plenty of shows and movies have offensive humor, but while Archer's jokes are often puerile, they are also often witty. And even when they are just flat out gross jokes, they are hysterical. For instance in this episode, when Ray and Lana are discussing Lana's feeling for Archer, Pam chimes in, "Oh, please. You're so hot for him, I could reheat this chili in your cooch. ... We gonna make some cooch chili or what?"

But the best jokes always come at the expense of Archer who mangles his one-liners, often doesn't know he's being insulted, and thinks he's brilliant when he's really just very lucky. He also says the most inappropriate things of all the characters, is often horribly sexist and reeking of sexual harassment. In fact, in this episode Pam notes that with Archer missing, she doesn't have anything to do as Human Resources manager since most of her job is dealing with complaints about him.

One thing the show doesn't usually do is go for the cheap gay jokes — with the exception of Ray's more cliche aspects.

Production Values/Acting

The animation looks great, but it's really the voice talent that shines here. There isn't a weak link among the cast, but it's Jessica Walter as Malory, Aisha Tyler as Lana and Amber Nash as Pam who really stand out for me. Tyler's Lana is smart and sexy, yet I totally buy she'd constantly be fighting an attraction to Archer. Meanwhile, Nash makes playing stupid look really easy when I'm sure it's anything but.