Drastic Voyage: Part 1
No stranger to the two-part cliffhanger, the penultimate Archer — titled The Drastic Voyage, Part 1 launches the entire office (the CIA has realized now that even though not all of them are certified field agents, they are going to make their way into the assignment) into uncharted territory, having already ventured to both sea and space.
by Rob Rector
As you might have guessed from the title, the episode is a take on the 1966 film in which a group of surgeons are shrunk down and sent inside a human bloodstream. It also allows for one of the better lines of the season from Dr. Krieger and Cyril:
Dr. Krieger: “You maniacs! You stole it! You stole my idea! I’ve been working on miniaturization for years.”
Cyril: “Krieger. Those were Shrinky-Dinks.”
There is a little more mature dialogue between Lana and Sterling, but not enough to weigh down the episode. She only prods him about the fear of his own mortality now that baby AJ is in the picture. (Short answer: “no,” unless it may have something to do with bears). This being the “Archer” gang, you know that not all will go smoothly during the proceedings.
While they were able to successfully shrink, a jealous Krieger storms into the operating room and they all get injected, but far from where they should have started. That will all be resolved by next week’s finale, but in the meantime, they must put up with one another’s bickering as they manipulate their way up their host’s bloodstream. This includes the regular cast, plus Slater (a returning Christian Slater, who really nails it this episode!) who is there in a vain attempt to ensure nothing goes wrong. Gary Cole’s return as Special Agent Hawley as livens up the proceedings back in the control center, as he and Mallory (who has more than one line this week!) provide wonderfully sarcastic foils for one another.
*****
Judy Greer, as Cheryl, also gets on a science monologue that probably filled with more subject knowledge than any medical speech Krieger could give. She closes it, of course, in the darkest ways possible (involving bulldozing an orphanage).
This is not creator Adam Reed’s first foray into this turf, as his previous series, “Sealab 2021,” sent its leads into the bloodstream by way of a butt injection. And in this journey he allows each of this cast a turn at center stage, and the otherwise underwhelming episode, as a whole, is better because of it.
Favorite lines and moments:
Lana: Can you seriously not grasp the concept of your own mortality?”
Sterling: “Lana, nobody can. Except maybe bears,”
Lana: “You were saying?”
Sterling: “I don’t know. Probably something about bears.”
Ray, now identifying himself as black, since his new hand implant is from obviously another a much darker-skinned body.
Episode Rating: B
