“Yeah, sorry, I had to ditch it.”
“Well, yeah, who needs a first aid kit
when you’ve got 10 gallons of booze?”
“Three and three-fifths gallons, Cyril. And I counted them, so keep your mitts off. Except to pass me one up here, but…since I have zero experience skippering submersibles I should probably have something light. So, Cyril, I’m thinking, um, coffee liqueur?”
For the fourth season of Archer, all of our favorite spy characters are back—the egotistical and sexist Sterling Archer, his tough ex-girlfriend/partner Lana, nervous field agent Cyril and the openly gay (and constantly unlucky with his legs) field agent Ray. Back at the ISIS headquarters are Archer’s overbearing and controlling mother Mallory, the hilariously idiotic Cheryl, the usually-disgusting and perverse Pam, and mad scientist Krieger, who always had some crazy plan in motion. Joining the gang this season is Mallory’s new husband Ron Cadillac; and Archer’s nemesis Barry makes a return.
Archer Season 4 brings 13 hilarious new episodes:
- “Fugue and Riffs” – Sterling Archer has been missing for two months—he is in a fugue state and believes he is a married fry-cook named Bob. The ISIS gang must ease Archer back to reality before the KGB kills him.
- “The Wind Cries Mary” – Archer’s old partner/best friend is believed to be guilty of treason, murder and faking his own death. When Archer goes rogue to prove his friend’s innocence, it’s up to Lana and Cyril to stop him.
- “Legs” – While the rest of the ISIS crew heads to Rome on a mission, Ray is left behind due to his wheelchair—until Dr. Krieger offers to give him bionic legs.
- “Midnight Ron” – Ron smuggles Archer out of Montreal after he loses his airport, but Ron’s sordid past soon catches up to them on their road trip back to New York.
- “Viscous Coupling” – Upset that everyone else has dates, Archer tries to get back together with Katya, but she needs to break up with Barry first—and he’s still trapped in outer space.
- “Once Bitten” – Archer is bitten in the privates by a poisonous state while taking a “bathroom” break during a mission in the Turkmenistan desert. While Cyril and Ray try to get him help, Archer falls into a dream state and confronts his past.
- “Live and Let Dine” – Archer, Lana and Cyril go undercover at the exclusive restaurant where reality series Bastard Chef is being filmed. Meanwhile Cheryl and Pam struggle to get Mallory a dinner reservation.
- “Coyote Lovely” – ISIS heads to South Texas to capture the most notorious coyote/people smuggler Moreno. However, when she ends up being a hot young woman, Archer goes rogue.
- “The Honeymooners” – Archer and Lana pose as newlyweds to stop the North Koreans from buying uranium. However, a jealous Cyril is joined by Pam and Cheryl as they secretly watch the “couple’s” every move.
- “Un Chien Tangerine” – Lana and Archer head to Morocco to extract an agent named Kazak, only to discover that he’s actually a dog.
- “The Papal Chase” – When a radical faction of the Swiss Guard plans to assassinate the pope, the Vatican calls ISIS in to go undercover to protect the pontiff.
- “Sea Tunt” (Parts 1 & 2) – ISIS heads to the Bermuda Triangle to recover a lost B-52 bomb from the bottom of the ocean before the Russians can get to it. Lucky for them, Cheryl’s bother happens to have a deep water submersible at his disposal.
This season is a lot of fun. The writing is as witty as ever, and the humor is a great mix of puns, sarcasm and physical humor. The writers make great use of the mechanism where a sentence is started in one scene but ended in another scene where those final words have a completely different context. I also love all of the random pop culture references Archer is constantly throwing out and how he is both shocked and upset by the fact that none of his coworkers get them.
There are so many great episodes this season. I always enjoy the undercover missions, and so “The Papal Chase” and “Live and Let Dine” were two of my favorites not only of the season, but of the series as a whole. And being a fan of Bob’s Burgers, I loved how they accepted and embraced the fact the H. Jon Benjamin’s voice is exactly the same on both shows, and even wrote that into the season premiere.
There are some great guest stars this season, including Timothy Olyphant, Jon Hamm, Anthony Bourdain, Bob’s Burgers stars John Roberts, Eugene Mirman and Kristen Schaal, and Jessica Walter’s real-life husband Ron Leibman playing her on-screen husband Ron Cadillac.
The series looks and sounds better than ever on this Blu-ray set! However, while a sticker on the front of the packaging boasts “Bulging With Extras”, there are just two items included. The first is a fun (but totally inappropriate) 3 minute anime adaptation of Krieger’s “Fisherman’s Daughter” hentai story from the season. The other item is 20 minutes of footage from the Archer Live! comedy event. While these were entertaining, I wish more bonus features had been included, such as audio commentaries, deleted scenes or other behind-the-scenes footage.
What’s Included:
Episodes:
- All 13 episodes of the Fourth Season (4:30:37)
“Fugue and Riffs”, “The Wind Cries Mary”, “Legs”, “Midnight Ron”, “Viscous Coupling”, “Once Bitten”, “Live and Let Dine”, “Coyote Lovely”, “The Honeymooners”, “Un Chien Tangerine”, “The Papal Chase”, “Sea Tunt” (Parts 1 & 2) - 1080p / Widescreen 1.78:1
- Audio: English DTS-HD-MA 5.1
- Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish, French
- Fisherman’s Daughter (3:28)
The ISIS crew gets an anime treatment in these disturbingly hilarious clips from Krieger’s “Fisherman’s Daughter” hentai film. - Archer Live! (20:03)
Footage from the Archer Live! comedy event that took place January 12, 2013 at Irving Plaza in New York. The cast recreate scenes from the show on stage and answer questions from the audience. Also includes interviews with the cast and the fans. Those present include stars H. Jon Benjamin, Jessica Walter, Aisha Tyler, Amber Nash, and Lucky Yates, and executive producer Matt Thompson.
Extras:
Final Thoughts:
Archer Season 4 gives viewers 13 more hilarious episodes. The series continues to deliver well-written stories with humor that works on multiple levels, making the series highly re-watchable. The fourth season looks and sounds excellent on this Blu-ray release. While I still think this series is a must own, due to the minimal amount of bonus features included, I had to give it just a Recommended instead of Highly Recommended.
