Recapturing the definition of funny
9.0
"Superb"
Well into it's third season, and coming off of a really strong second one, it's can be easy to think Archer passed it's prime. The three-part season opener, Heart of Archness, followed by the Man from Jupiter had a few pretty awesome action scenes and a few funny moments, but they were more instances rather then a pulled-together episode. "El Contador" shows us that Archer hasn't lost it's touch, and still knows how to pull out a really good episode.
In the beginning, Ray, who has been crippled following Heart of Archness, is being taken out of the field and replaced with ISIS comptroller Cyril, to his surprise and Archer's and Lana's dismissal. They are being sent to assassinate Ramon Calzado, a Columbian drug lord, in order to take the DEA up on a bounty. We fully expect Cyril's incompetence, and, from nearly getting blown up by a claymore, not knowing what a "klick" was, and thinking "watch your six" was a term about a gun, it's pretty obvious he'll suck. He disappears immediately. Archer and Lana continue their mission, only to get caught by the guards, due to the classic arguments between the two, this time about Predator and whether or not tigers live in South America.
Cyril, however, has bluffed his way into the bad guy's compound with an incredible, and entirely believable story, pretending to be an accountant, and surreptitiously plans an escape with Lana, with cheesy nose touching signals and all. Of course, Cyril's ego gets to him when Lana praises him, and, just like every other mission at ISIS, missions end up screwed up because the agents fight with each other, and manage to pull through at the very end after they get horribly beaten up.
In the B-plot, Malory's instituted a drug test, and Pam is not going to pass. Neither will Cheryl, whose a fascination with "groovy bears", or Ray. Kreiger gives them an herbal tea to detoxify them, and they promptly trip out and Kreiger has to hunt Pam across the office with a tranquilizer gun. A normal day at ISIS.
What makes this episode work is all the little banter. We still have classic "yeti hands" jokes, and the teeth-clenched teamwork that Archer and Lana are great for, they both have with Cyril. Coupled with Cheryl's hilarious moments tripping out ("I'm going to die in a toilet stall, just like the gypsy said!")
Cyril was not demoted back to comptroller at the end of the episode, so who knows, we may have more of his hilarious bluffs and tension with Archer in the field. And keep it coming, because I laughed a lot.moreless