Archer is head over heels for his new valet, Aleister. Will Archer do Aleister's recommended rehabilitation exercises or just eat himself to death?
Episode Tropes
- Battle Butler: Aleister has been able to be at Archer's beck and call, and does much better than his previous valets (all whom he have fired on the first day). However, his skills are on par with Archer for a reason, as is why he became the new valet in the first place.
- The Bus Came Back: Ray returns after being absent since the first episode of the season.
- The Butler Did It: Cheryl entirely believes this, completely pegging Aleister as an assassin, though Pam dismisses her as believing every butler is an assassin.
- Cassandra Truth: Cheryl completely pegged Aleister as an assassin, but she gets laughed off by everyone.
- Comedic Sociopathy: Archer is more upset that Aleister's mission is to assassinate Cyril rather than him. Archer's solution to this offense? Try to murder Cyril himself so that Aleister will want to kill him too.
- Everybody Knew Already: Lana is well aware that Ray's "mission" was just an excuse for a vacation from the agency, while everyone else is worried he might be in trouble. The rest of the gang (excluding Archer and Cyril) eventually find out the truth.
- Apparently, Malory is also well aware, or has caught on, of Ray's true intentions and makes herself at home in the vacation spot.
- Foreshadowing: One of the chairs in Archer's new office is rigged to fall out of the window when he sits on it. One of the guest chairs, which wouldn't make sense unless Archer wasn't Aleister's target.
- I Never Said It Was Poison: After the sniping incident at the haberdashery, Archer finally becomes suspicious about Aleister. The valet exposed himself because he expressed his concern about what happened at that place, only Archer never mentioned it.
- Imagined Innuendo: While in the office break room, Krieger overhears Aleister offer to clean Malory's refrigerator. He responds, "Um...phrasing?"
- Insane Troll Logic: Archer, all over the place. He's so outraged Aleister wants to kill Cyril that he thinks the only way to handle this is to kill Cyril and supplant him as the number one spy, thus being worthy of Aleister's assassination.
- Archer also invokes it when trying to shoot Cyril, saying if he doesn't, Aleister will and "don't you think it's better to be shot by someone you know?"
- Laser-Guided Karma: Ray, Lana, Krieger, and soon Pam and Cheryl, all try to get out of work for a vacation, under the guise of it being a rescue operation for Ray... only to be outfoxed by Malory, who got there first and has taken their rooms.
- Mars and Venus Gender Contrast: Contrary to her insistence to Archer, Lana's relationship with Robert is apparently not going much better than any of her other relationships with men. Among other things, he keeps trying to offer her advice about how to deal with Archer, rather than simply listening to her complain. She also insists that she already knows how to handle Archer and does not need advice. Which is actually laughable to viewers that have watched their interactions throughout the series. But it is very much in line with the Trope Namer self-help book.
- The Mole: An unidentified party hired Aleister to infiltrate the agency by posing as the perfect valet for Archer. Nobody even suspects that he is anything other than a really good valet until a suspicious number of murder attempts, seemingly targeted at Archer, occur.
- Noodle Incident: Cyril's accomplishments as an active agent during Archer's three-year coma were enough to hire someone to kill him. We never know what those accomplishments were.
- Playing Sick: Cyril claims to have suffered an injury from a recent mission, though he was never specific, and Lana wasn't buying it as they were together. It turns out he was faking it the entire time to avoid dangerous work.
- Running Gagged: Since the start of the season, Archer has frequently fired each new valet in less than a day. With Aleister gone, he vows not to hire any more, ending the gag.
- Sequel Episode: The side story of the previous episode focused on Malory finding a valet that her son will actually keep. Aleister made the cut and impressed Archer in this episode.
- Sympathy for the Devil: Despite Aleister's true intentions, Archer still found him to be a worthy valet. As he finishes him off, Archer vows not to hire another valet because he was that good.
- The Unreveal: We never know who hired Aleister for going after Cyril.
- This Is Unforgivable!: Archer is offended that Aleister is attempting to assassinate Cyril instead of him. He's even more offended when he's made bait for Cyril, and he's completely outraged that he was made bait because Aleister believes them to be best friends.
- Worthy Opponent: To Archer's shock and annoyance, Aleister considers Cyril this over him, as he has avoided all of his attempts to kill him, not to mention he is Aleister's intended target. Cyril didn't know someone was out for him, and Archer actually tried to instigate a showdown to take this title.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: Aleister believed Archer and Cyril are this due to their Odd Couple-like relationship, and Cyril was the first person he showed off his new office to. While Cyril was touched, Archer rejects the very idea.
