*”That’s your original skin, right?” “(Cough) Hobo.” *”Just like the gypsy woman said!” “You need to quit going to her.” *”Kreiger, thank you! This is the… why do you have an erection?” “I’m happy!” *”No! No! I had Korean barbeque for lunch. *”What is that? I’ve never smelled that smell in America.” *Also, Archer’s description of said robo-vagina: “It was like a transistor radio and a veal cutlet had a baby.” You know… the same thing he used to clean plane engines during the war. In case you ever need to polish a detachable cyborg vagina, Woodhouse suggests the following: white vinegar, mineral oil, and elbow grease. *Carol’s strangling fetish rears its head again after Katya crushes an ashtray to dust with her bare hands: “Hey! Wait… or do I mean ‘sploosh’?” Also qualifying – Archer’s continuing lack of understanding exactly how night-vision goggles work. *I’ve mentioned on more than one occasion this season how much I love Archer’s running gags and that continued in “Skin Game,” this time seeing Archer repeatedly slapping Cyril’s hand any time Cyril attempts to touch Katya or say anything inappropriate about her. *Also, to the episode’s credit, there is an attempt to take a deeper look at the internal conflict of Katya dealing with what she’s become, though admittedly it’s more of a surface attempt than anything else. *The following was the only time that the unholy Archer/Pam union was referenced, when Archer re-introduces the ISIS crew to cyborg Katya: “Wait, does this mean you and me…” “PAM!!” *Kreiger is also apparently a Rush fan with a Neal Peart-esque drum set and has been trying to nail the solo in “XYZ” for years. *Anyone surprised that Kreiger’s apartment building contains a communal bathroom and that his apartment itself has scores of car air fresheners hanging from the ceiling Se7en-style? No? Good. Not a mechanical vagina reference there. No, your eyes weren’t deceiving you and yes, you read that correctly. And I have no doubt that they’ll be a fitting capper to an all-time classic season. Maybe subconsciously I’m saving them since I don’t want a season this good to come to an end, but rest assured that I’ll likely get to them in short order. Yes, I’m behind and only have the two-part finale left to watch in this exemplary third season. “Skin Game” was almost Archer on cruise control but the show has become a such a well-oiled comedic machine that even when it’s cruising it’s better than almost everything on television. Following Krieger’s suggestion to kill the lights in the ISIS office so that Katya’s and Barry’s batteries – which are apparently solar-powered – would sap causing them to lose strength, Archer walks in on Barry and Katya going at it, giving Barry the upper hand once again in his war with Sterling Malory Archer. Archer and Cyborg Katya decide to make a go of their relationship – much to Malory’s vocal dismay – only to have Barry seemingly enact Stage Two of his vengeance plan by showing up to kill Katya again as revenge against Archer except, if you’ve ever watched television before, you could see the ending coming from a mile away. You know… your average, upper-shelf Archer episode. What follows is a rumination on cyborg/human sex, detachable mechanical vaginas, and the merits of having a super-strong cyborg agent working for your spy agency. The episode is based around Kreiger’s after-hours work of restoring Archer’s previously-thought-dead fiancée Katya to fully-working cyborg form. When last we left the show, Archer had entered into a bang-buddy relationship with Pam and Barry had killed Archer’s possible biological father at the end of “Crossing Over.” “Crossing Over” ended on a solemn note, which was a bit of a jarring shift in tone for the show so it was natural to wonder if that would carry over to the show’s next episode, “Skin Game.” The answer? To quote one Lana Kane, “Nooooope.” “Skin Game” finds the show going back to the debauchery and over-the-top inappropriate comedy that it’s essentially perfected this season. Wow… been a while since I wrote about Archer. TV Diary | Archer – Episode 3.11 – “Skin Game” – Original Airdate: 3/8/12
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