History Headscratchers / Archer

* I always wonder to myself, If Lana wanted A.J. to go to that boarding school so bad and she knew that she have enough money for her daughter tuition/donation, why didn't she ask her parents for help with A.J. education? I mean in "The Kanes" Mr. and Mrs. Kane see very well off and now Lemuel is getting paid a lot of money by the C.I.A. I know could at least chip in as well for A.J. education.

* Lana ignores Archer's warnings about boarding school and chooses to enroll AJ in one (or at least a day school that comes from the same environment.) Even though a) it's been made very clear how horrible it was for him growing up, b) Archer must have some rights as a father, and would be enrolling AJ behind his back, and c) AJ's biracial, which would likely make her a pretty good target for bullying in an extremely elitist and cruel environment. I get Lana wanting AJ to ave a good future, but there was a whole episode on why this was bad for her daughter.

** Or that Archer just found it [[YouKeepUsingThatWord inconceivable]] that Lana would want his sperm, but not via "[[UnusualEuphamism direct deposit.]]"

* Lana ignores Archer's warnings about boarding school and chooses to enroll AJ in one. Even though a) it's been made very clear how horrible it was for him growing up, b) Archer must have some rights as a father, and would be enrolling AJ behind his back, and c) AJ's biracial, which would likely make her a pretty good target for bullying in an extremely elitist and cruel environment. I get Lana wanting AJ to ave a good future, but there was a whole episode on why this was bad for her daughter.

* Given Archer's narcissism and self-centeredness, it seems that if he had knowingly donated sperm, and Lana said she used a donor to become pregnant, he would immediately assume the baby was his.

** She could hire a cleaning company, and not have any servants living with her. Or, to quote Barry, her house could be so large that she "won't see [her] line-in servants unless [she] really wants to."

**** What fraud? It was Ray, not Archer, who was defrauding ISIS. Without his expense account, Archer was broke and just getting by tending bar in French Polnesia.

** This troper always thought that Archer was essentially calling karate "average" or commonplace: i.e., both get the job done (Dane can make you laugh, practicing karate can help you defend yourself) but there are other options out there that achieve the goal better/faster/more efficiently/whatever. Some martial artists (in my experience) are very derisive of styles they don't practice. Archer seems like that kind of guy.

** This troper always felt that Archer, for all his flaws and shortcomings, does have a few redeeming features. He is apparently someone who, once a concept comes into his head, goes full force into it. This is shown by his extensive research into his fears, his extreme rampages in the name of cancer and car theft, and becoming a midwife when Lana becomes pregnant. He also has moments of sincere kindness, most noticeably with Ruth (again from cancer), letting Katya be with Barry (at first anyways, despite everything), and of course, with Lana. At one point, he probably had one of the following moments: 1) he receives kindness from a minority against sterotypes, and begins researching extensively into it, 2) he realized he had disdain for everyone equally, despite skin color, 3) He didn't get a chance to develop his mother's racism due to 13 or 15 years at a boarding school, and his overall friendless existence meant he was treated poorly by all ethnicities, leading to point 2), or 4) he wanted/needed to have a trait that made him better than his mother.

** That's sort of the point, I think, just to be a foil to Archer. Several characters have pointed out her similiarities to Mallory, as well, most famously Cheryl's breaking speech about her knowing she'll follow in her footsteps and is too bitter to work anywhere else.

* In Drastic Voyage, Part I, it is stated that the ISIS crew failed ever assignment given to them, but in reality, they were flawless until Pocket Listing, completing two assignment near flawlessly(The Holdout and Three To Tango), and one with a very high likelyhood of success(The Archer Sanction), was failing on Pocket Listing, which was a failure mostly because of Slater's overcomplicated plan, that meaningful? even the failure in the Drastic Voyage wasn't entirely their fault, as they performed the best given the circunstances.