Archer and the gang just saved the world from a nuclear catastrophe... and their reward is five nights in a rat-infested Moldovan hotel.
Tropes:
- Actually Pretty Funny: Archer finds Cyril's impression of him rather amusing despite the fact that it seemed insulting of him, and even suggests he drop the "almost" when he calls Archer "almost always drunk".
- Always Someone Better: The Agency faces an espionage conglomerate known as the International Intelligence Agency, or IIA. They have been well accomplished due to following protocol and are far more financially responsible (For example, a $5 penalty for every bullet missed at an intended target.) As a result of using ammunition sufficiently, they have more equipment and weapons at their disposal than Archer's group could ever hope for, and a few of Archer's allies actually consider defecting to the group.
- Fabian Kingsworth of the IIA is the obvious Foil to post-coma Archer and more. Despite Archer's attempts to defy this, he ultimately fails.
- Bait-and-Switch: Near the end, when the armored truck crashes at the roadblock, all of Archer's friends gather together to see an unknown person in a coma. Just in case people think it was Archer again, it was actually the scientist.
- Bait-and-Switch Sentiment: When the chopper begins to fall, Archer tells Cyril that he cannot jump without him. Cyril smiles...then Archer says he must use him as a way to cushion the blow when he jumps out of the chopper.
- Bittersweet Ending: The IIA got the device, but without the scientist and a key component he has, it is useless, so not a total loss. Unfortunately, an accident renders the scientist into a coma, though Malory is able to finalize a reward whenever he recovers. She also succeeds in finding a new benefactor, implied to be Robert earlier.
- Comically Missing the Point: When Archer starts to fly the IIA helicopter, Lana tells him he can't. Archer says that being in a coma did not diminish his chopper piloting skills, only for Lana to respond by saying that he never flew a chopper.
- Downer Beginning: Despite their accomplishments from last season, the Agency has nothing to show for it and aren't rewarded. As a result, they are low on funds and must compete for contracts against a rival group. They must also try to find a new benefactor to further mitigate their financial crisis. Until then, they are unable to book extravagant hotels and travel methods. This is especially a problem for both Sterling and Malory because they have limited access to alcohol.
- Failed a Spot Check: Archer suggests sabotaging the IIA's operations before extracting the scientist but, while he hijacks their helicopter, and Lana slashes one of the vehicle's tires, he never considered destroying the rest of the convoy. Because of this the rest of the agency are forced to deal with them during a high-speed pursuit.
- Gory Discretion Shot: Archer accidentally uses his cane's jaw mode on the back of one of the guards and it cuts away from seeing how gruesome it was to rip through the poor guard's back before killing him.
- Groin Attack: Archer hits Cyril in the crotch with his cane. He threatened to do it a second time, but Cyril avoided it.
- Helicopter Blender: Attempted but failed. Archer manages to pilot a helicopter with no prior experience, but his luck runs out when he attempts to use its rotor blades to cut open the roof of a truck carriage. While he manages to actually make an opening instead of the whole thing immediately crashing, the helicopter does begin to break down, forcing him and Cyril to bail before it crashes.
- Ink-Suit Actor: The CloudBeam representatives Kaya and Alton look like their voice actors, Natasha Rothwell and Harvey Guillén respectively while the scientist looks exactly like his voice actor, Eric André.
- Irony: When Archer fell into a coma for three years/seasons, Lana stood by him for 8 months before moving on, though Malory pushed through until he woke up. After seeing the scientist comatose himself, he admits it's not enjoyable watching someone in that state.
- Logical Weakness: Archer's tactil-cane has helped him all of last season, not only for gadgets, but for a handicap for his nerve damage. Fabian recognizes this and breaks it before knocking him back.
- Meaningful Rename: The agency formerly known as ISIS settles on an official name after numerous pitches: The Agency. There's no real meaning to it, but no one is complaining.
- MacGuffin: Archer literally calls the targeted device this "in a world full of them".
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: There have been a large set of issues to deal with that is draining the Agency's account. In this case, Cheryl literally breaks a phone just to kill a ladybug, so they didn't receive any client calls for who knows how long, and she never told anyone in hopes of finding a client.
- Power Pincers: Archer discovers a Jaws of Life function on his cane. Unfortunately, his inexperience with it leads him to mutilate one of the kidnappers of the scientist right in front of him.
- Revenge Before Reason: In typical Archer fashion, he chooses to undermine the IIA for one of their agents insulting him rather than focus on the mission. Though Archer does go back to the mission once he's finished. There might be a sense of practicality though since as established at the beginning of the episode, the agency is near bankruptcy and since the IIA agents are clearly more capable, taking them out before doing the mission seemed rather smart.
- Shout-Out: Fabian calls Ray a Silly Wabbit.
- Skewed Priorities:
- Malory prioritized the alcohol budget over such trivial expenses as bullets, electricity or a health plan.
- Archer thinks that his cane being broken is more important than the device being stolen by the IIA. What sort of mitigates it is that the device is useless without the scientist.
- Tempting Fate: CloudBeam Marketing offers to help the Agency modernize themselves to become more noticeable and approachable, but Malory declines their offer. The two representatives leave, expecting them to change their minds later. Ray believes this may be Foreshadowing and eventually, Malory is fed up with scraping by and decides makes a phone call.
- Whatever Happened to the Mouse?: We never knew what became of Len Trexler, the head of ODIN. That said, Cyril mentions that ODIN itself was absorbed into the IIA, before allegedly firing its agents then having them reapply with only half pay.
