S11.E07: Caught Napping

[JTMacc99]

Quote

When AJ is kidnapped, it's up to Archer to get her back and keep Lana's rampage pointed in the right direction.

 

[Galileo908]

Robert is all of us when he wasn't sure what exact jobs the rest of the gang has these days. I wonder just how powerful his drugs were if he was able to knock out Pam and Krieger? It took like five darts to take her down.

Wasn't expecting to see Peregrine again! They got their money's worth out of Jaimie Lee Curtis again. Shame she's definitely dead now.

They remembered that Ray was a bronze medalist! (and we saw his silver medalist rival, voiced by Flula Borg!) And the times Lana shot Archer in the foot. And everything about rampages. I love the phrase "rampage sherpa."

"Introspection is the enemy of happiness." Too true.

"Well, I wasn't using that heart anyway." Big oof. At least Lana brought AJ to visit him while he was asleep. That was sweet. 

By the way, we're getting season 12!

[Chaos Theory]

This might have been the best Lana episode ever.    I really loved seeing her in rampage mode.  Not sure if it was scare or sexy.  Maybe both.   Must have been awkward for Archer being the voice of reason.   Also awkward finding out that AJ considers Robert her father.  But kinda sweet though that it seems he’s been a good one.   

[bmoore4026]

OK, this was definitely the best episode of the season and one of the best episodes of the series.  Everybody got to do something and I find that awesome. 

I love that even other rich people are put off by Cheryl.  It's just beautiful.  And I love that it was her that cracked the case on the hoof beats and what it meant.

And, despite Mallory's now passive aggressive jabs about weight, we see she actually loves AJ.  I love that she wants to teach AJ to shoot.

Ray getting his revenge on the skier that screwed him out of a silver medal was brilliant.  Not enough Ray.  I like Ray.  I demand more Ray!

We also see that Robert is smart enough to know that Archer would need his team so he drugged most of them and brought them on to his plane.  That could not have been an easy feat.

Kreiger making a supersled in a short amount of time and Pam being "the human airbag" were all sorts of awesome. 

RIP Peregrine.  You were an awesome villain.  Lana taking you out is one of the best moments on this show.

Another awesome moment, an enraged Lana showing up at the recording studio unannounced.  Just so cool.

And we get a callback to "RAMPAGE".

I am a bit confused, though.  AJ was, what, two when Archer went into a coma?  So how is it that she's about 7 now if only three years have passed?  It's a bit sad she doesn't see Archer as her father, but it is sweet that she thought of him as "Sleeping Beauty".  Lana's name for him was devastatingly funny, though.

[Galileo908]

18 minutes ago, bmoore4026 said:

Kreiger making a supersled in a short amount of time and Pam being "the human airbag" were all sorts of awesome. 

And continuing the runner of Krieger naming vehicles after bands, the sleigh was named "Sleigh-er."

20 minutes ago, bmoore4026 said:

We also see that Robert is smart enough to know that Archer would need his team so he drugged most of them and brought them on to his plane.  That could not have been an easy feat.

And also find an arms dealer to buy ALL the weapons.

[Lantern7]

That was fun. I got pumped by the teaser of Lana in full-on Rampage. Seeing a shorter bit where Pam gets five tranquilizer darts in the neck added to the anticipation. Except for Lana's killing of Peregrine getting spoiled, I had a good time.

Man, Lana was a badass. Everyone was fun to watch. Robert played well as a guy who didn't know everyone that well (dragging the bulk of the team in because he didn't know their strengths, getting every conceivable weapon) and knew Lana well. (bulletproof shoes? Nice) Ray got to fuck up Flula Borg, though he had to remember they weren't actually racing before he pulled his gun. Pam got to be awesome (#HumanAirbag). Cheryl got to be Chaotic some more. Cyril had the horse and didn't try to pull rank (he does need a win, though). Krieger got to pimp out another mode of transport. Malory got to be drunk and yell at a broken walkie-talkie. And, apparently, Archer's "raised finger while drinking" motion is still in AJ's DNA. The kid is cute. You think Lana will let her know about her real biological father one day?

RIP Peregrine. At least you looked good. Then you had to do something as stupid as kidnapping AJ.

Did they say AJ's age? I'm thinking six, tops. Probably five.

Dammit, why not ten episodes a season? It's like the first episodes aired last week!

[CoyoteBlue]

2 hours ago, Lantern7 said:

You think Lana will let her know about her real biological father one day?

I think calling Archer a "sperm delivery device" in front of her will at least fill her in at some point.

[OnceSane]

11 hours ago, CoyoteBlue said:

I think calling Archer a "sperm delivery device" in front of her will at least fill her in at some point.

I wonder if Lana will ever tell AJ that she STOLE Archer's sperm (and acted like it was no big deal) to conceive AJ...doubt it. 

[Morrigan2575]

12 hours ago, CoyoteBlue said:

I think calling Archer a "sperm delivery device" in front of her will at least fill her in at some point.

Which seems massively unfair to both Archer and Mallory. As I recall they both wanted to be apart of AJ's life. Yeah Mallory would have given that kid an eating disorder by the time she was 5 but, she cared.

 

36 minutes ago, OnceSane said:

I wonder if Lana will ever tell AJ that she STOLE Archer's sperm (and acted like it was no big deal) to conceive AJ...doubt it. 

That was always such a shitty move, especially when she acted as if it was no big deal and how dare Archer want any rights to the child. It's one of the reasons I have no problem believing Lana jumped into a relationship a few months after Archer went into the coma and sent her daughter away to boarding school. Lana likes to pretend she's the "good one" but, she's as awful as the rest of that lot. 😃

[Chaos Theory]

18 hours ago, OnceSane said:

I wonder if Lana will ever tell AJ that she STOLE Archer's sperm (and acted like it was no big deal) to conceive AJ...doubt it. 

Archer was in a coma for three years.  That is the better part of AJ’a life.  There was no point telling her “Sleeping Beauty” was her father.   It would just scare her.    Robert is a perfectly good father and one that looks like he is an active one.   If Archer wants to be a part of AJ’a life and can maintain that for a few years then yeah when she is ten or eleven maybe tell her the truth....or a version of it at least.

Edited October 23, 2020 by Chaos Theory

[Galileo908]

7 hours ago, Morrigan2575 said:

Which seems massively unfair to both Archer and Mallory. As I recall they both wanted to be apart of AJ's life. Yeah Mallory would have given that kid an eating disorder by the time she was 5 but, she cared.

And gave her a cute little Ruger! I'm sure Malory is in her life in SOME aspect.

[tennisgurl]

That was an awesome episode, probably the best one they have had in ages. Everyone got something to do and got to help out (even Cheryl) to save the day, and Lana going full rampage was all that I wanted it to be. I do continue to feel pretty bad for Archer post coma, it does feel like everyone in his life ended up moving on and doing better without him around, even his daughter, and that really sucks. I dont really know how Archer would do as a parental figure to a kid, but I hope that he can at least get to try. 

So if Robert is such a good dad and he and Lana have a whole parenting thing now, why did they decide to send AJ to boarding school on the other side of the planet in the first place? AJ seems like she is doing fine, but I still find the whole thing weird and rubs me the wrong way, like Lana and Robert wanted to focus on their work and their relationship without a kid around. I do appreciate that Robert was smart enough to get Archer and company to find AJ, and I am rather fascinated by the life he seems to have offscreen. Going to an arms dealer and asking for one of everything? Owning a Swedish jazz record label? It sucks that he didn't tell Lana about AJ being kidnapped, I am really glad that Archer and everyone told her right away. Rampage! 

Its been too long since Ray got a lot to do, so I am really happy that he got a subplot, and even call backs to his skiing career. 

Peregrine was an awesome villain, while she did plugged full of holes, I half expect her to still come back as a robot or something later on. 

"I dont really know what jobs everyone has, its all pretty nebulous." 

[DoctorAtomic]

Pam is a total superhero. 

I still think Archer is in a coma though. 

[edhopper]

Definitely the best so far this season. I have grown weary of Archer's petulance and self pity/belligerence over his coma. In the past Archer was a narcissist, ego driven character, he screwed things up out of pure indifference. But this season he purposely messed things up like a bratty 3 year old. It got tiresome quickly.

This was more vintage Archer, maybe because he was thinking about AJ rather than himself.

[RobertDeSneero]

On 10/23/2020 at 3:14 PM, tennisgurl said:

So if Robert is such a good dad and he and Lana have a whole parenting thing now, why did they decide to send AJ to boarding school on the other side of the planet in the first place? AJ seems like she is doing fine, but I still find the whole thing weird and rubs me the wrong way, like Lana and Robert wanted to focus on their work and their relationship without a kid around.

It's established that Lana values education and want her child in a prestigious institution.  It is not inconsistent with past behavior for her to want to send AJ to the best school that her husband can afford.

[Chaos Theory]

I don’t know why sending AJ to a boarding school is such a big deal?  Should a mother be forced to give up her entire existence for her child?    I think that is what the episode was trying to work out with Lana.   Lana loves loves loves her job but she also loves loves loves her daughter.   You would never ask Archer or even Robert to make a choice so why should Lana?    And plus she isn’t Malory.   It seems like AJ is happy at boarding school and not being completely and utterly abandoned there like Archer was.    So I don’t see the problem with sending AJ to the best school that is available to Lana.   

[DoctorAtomic]

On paper that all makes sense, but there's a context that's lacking. I don't like the word but it's apt here - the 'optics' of it just look bad. It's not a mutual decision that Lana and Archer came to. He wakes up, the daughter is gone and Lana is married to some old rich guy. It looks like she foisted the kid off for her new jet set life. 

That's not fair to Lana either, and she shouldn't have to put her life on hold. No one knew when Archer would wake up. Now, this could have been a decision she made with Malory, but neither of them sat him down to discuss how the decision was made, etc., either. 

A lot of what's going on this season has been 'Catch up Archer. Things are different. Too bad.' Pam has been the only one sympathetic to his situation. To be fair, Archer isn't doing himself any favors either, but he still has been contributing on the missions. 

(Also I think he's still in the coma because I don't think Lana sending off the kid tracks in character for me. The only person that's been consistent is Pam.)

[PinkRibbons]

Quote

I don’t know why sending AJ to a boarding school is such a big deal?  Should a mother be forced to give up her entire existence for her child?    I think that is what the episode was trying to work out with Lana.   Lana loves loves loves her job but she also loves loves loves her daughter.   You would never ask Archer or even Robert to make a choice so why should Lana?  

I would absolutely ask Archer and Robert to make that choice. Parenting is a responsibility you shouldn't get to just toss away.

It's just plain not healthy to send a child that young away from a loving family. And there were many excellent options for AJ that could have worked for Lana like a full-time nanny, a private school, even a boarding school in the US that she could travel home from to visit fairly easily. Maybe it wouldn't be quite as good as the school in Switzerland, but it would be a much better compromise.

To send AJ so very far away is just not a good decision for her at this time in her life; I just looked it up and the earliest recommended age for boarding school is 9. Before that AJ needs to be near her family forming healthy bonds and establishing a sense of security.

[ravencroft]

3 hours ago, PinkRibbons said:

I would absolutely ask Archer and Robert to make that choice. Parenting is a responsibility you shouldn't get to just toss away.

It's just plain not healthy to send a child that young away from a loving family. And there were many excellent options for AJ that could have worked for Lana like a full-time nanny, a private school, even a boarding school in the US that she could travel home from to visit fairly easily. Maybe it wouldn't be quite as good as the school in Switzerland, but it would be a much better compromise.

To send AJ so very far away is just not a good decision for her at this time in her life; I just looked it up and the earliest recommended age for boarding school is 9. Before that AJ needs to be near her family forming healthy bonds and establishing a sense of security.

THIS, So many times this.

Also, I'm seriously hoping this season isnt another coma dream, if only because to me, that feels cheap and like a cop out. But they could suprise us.

[PinkRibbons]

4 hours ago, DoctorAtomic said:

It's not a mutual decision that Lana and Archer came to. He wakes up, the daughter is gone and Lana is married to some old rich guy. It looks like she foisted the kid off for her new jet set life.

Not to mention that before this Archer was very clear about how against private school he was, he gave a whole speech. There was no rationalizing the decision to send AJ away (when he didn't even want her attending a prep school and living at home!) as "Archer would think it's for the best", which to be honest I suspect is what Lana may have told herself when dating and marrying Robert.