Archer, "Once Bitten"

Once again we delve into Archer's past and his psyche, this time in the form of a hallucination (or IS it?) sparked by Archer's dying mind.

The humor of the show has always been mean-spirited, and yet even so, the bit where everyone makes fun of Lana for her heavy tread somehow seems even more cruel than usual. But it does make for a nice change from mocking her "steam shovel hands." And Cheryl's impression of an AT-AT was absolutely priceless. It was mean, yes, but I laughed anyway.

Although that's nothing compared to the scene where Cheryl absolutely destroys Lana with her prediction for Lana's future. Here again, the show proves how amazing it is: Lana's wordless exit is the last thing you would expect from a show that trades on quips, but it is a perfect moment.

One of the swirling questions this season has become which side ISIS is really on. I mean, you see an organization of super spies set in America, you assume they're the good guys. Even though they may cut corners or do bad things along the way to their ultimate goal, you trust (as a viewer) that their ultimate goal is a laudable one. But this season has thrown that into question.

Who is paying ISIS to blow up a pipeline in Turkmenistan? And why? And how many orders will the ISIS employees obey, before they decide that it's one betrayal too far? It's hard to say, but it's an interesting question.

The only real complaint I have about the episode is that it continues the schtick where the editing makes it seem as though Character B in Scene B is responding to something said by Character A in Scene A. It's reminiscent of the sort of childish mock-nursery rhyme where you don't quite say "the S word" but it sounds like you might. It's gimmicky and annoying and it's really starting to wear out its welcome.

Image copyright Archer/FX Networks