S09.E01: Danger Island - Strange Pilot

[OnceSane]

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Archer inserts himself into a domestic dispute and engine troubles threaten to ruin his business.

[Lantern7]

Reminder for anyone who needs it: this is on FXX, not FX. Also, I saw this at NYCC in October, or at least a preliminary version. Very funny stuff. ?

[Galileo908]

Thanks to security issues, I only managed to catch the last few minutes of this episode at NYCC, so I'm glad to see the rest of it now.

So...we're in another side story, set in Pre-WWII and totally not Casablanca, you guys. Gotta love how they just handwave Crackers being pretty much Krieger as a bird. "It just is, he talks. Just go with it." And like the normal series, Bird!Krieger is quickly becoming my favorite.

[Lantern7]

@Galileo908 . . . one day, we need to meet. There's a lot of overlap between us. Why wait until NYCC?

I don't remember if anything got changed from what was screened. Core concept: Archer is still in a coma, still dreaming, imagining he's Patrick Warburton's character from "Heart of Archness." Seriously, the plane couldn't be anything but "Loose Goosey"? Also, most of the characters have changed from "Dreamland," save for Malory being an aurotarian bitch and Cheryl being a nutjob.This time, we have Ivy from "Deadly Prep." Well, I'm assuming, because he's "the fourth." I'll understand if Trexler and Barry don't show up, even though they are recurrent pains in Archer's ass (Trexler as a paternal candidate; Barry for basically being Barry).

Krieger-as-parrot/macaw? Inspired. I dig how it's basically Krieger . . . but as a bird. I mean, the mad scientist shit is probably gone, and the German background goes to Cyril/Fuches, but Krieger is still Krieger, albeit as Crackers.

While I'm hoping the final season adheres to the series' reality we've grown accustomed to, I reckon "Danger Island" will be a blast.

[TVSpectator]

This wasn't a bad start to the season but I am hoping that we finally get the real world for the final season or at least clips from the real world. 

 

And of course in Archer's mind, Cyril's name is Mr. Fuchs (pronounced literally "fucks") and of course, Ray is not only a French police/guard but he is literally a version of Captain Renault, from Casablanca, right down to the fact that both were crooked cops. 

Edited April 26, 2018 by TVSpectator

[Temperance]

Cheryl is still named Charlotte Vandertunt.

Didn't see the whole thing. 

Really I. V.?

[PinkRibbons]

3 hours ago, TVSpectator said:

And of course in Archer's mind, Cyril's name is Mr. Fuchs (pronounced literally "fucks")

True story: my mother knew a man (Russian-Jewish immigrant, like us) who had this exact name. He got so tired of the reaction people got to seeing and saying it (back home the name was properly pronounced "Foochs") that he ended up changing it to "Fox", which is what it meant anyway (iirc).

I am very much liking the cast set up this time around, but I'll admit I was overly distracted by us not getting the Theme Song and seeing whether it had anything changed the way Dreamland jazzed up the original.

[TresGatos]

I was a little taken aback by the male voice doing the Mature Content warning.

Fibbertigibbet! Such a great word!

I loved Malory's dress. I am glad she is back to being Archer's biological mother in this instead of an unrelated crime boss nicknamed Mother.

Cheryl, who I thought stole Dreamland was a little too shrill for my liking.

The Supersized Pam threw me off a little. It also seemed like Archer was small, more diminished, than in the past and Malory also seemed smaller but maybe just in comparison to Pam.

Still love Pam and Archer's relationship and I am glad she is his partner here. I still think Pam, not an ocelot, is Archer's true Spirit Animal.

Liked how Archer's subconscious dredged up Ivy which seemed to fit in with last season and Barry. I still hope Cecil Vandertunt makes an appearance.

I am glad Lana did not stay dead across all worlds.

Cyril Fuchs - Meh but I'm always kind of Meh of Cyril in any iteration.

"I am shocked, shocked I tell you" totally lifted from Casablanca which kind of threw me off because Casablanca is set during WWII and Danger Island is set in the 1930s. It worked but did kind of throw me off for a second.

I really enjoyed the ending and the call back to old serial films. That was great.

What I did not like was Krieger as a Macaw. I suspected as much even before this season began because when I first heard about it I immediately thought of Norm MacDonald voicing the character Pigeon on the Mike Tyson Mysteries. I re-watched Danger Island this morning and then watched a Mike Tyson Mystery which I hadn't seen before and it happened to be "Broken Wing," which is very Pigeon-centic and Norm McDonald as Pigeon was so hilarious and just had it all over the Krieger Macaw. Pigeon also has a backstory, which maybe Crackers will get someday.

[Netfoot]

19 hours ago, Lantern7 said:

Seriously, the plane couldn't be anything but "Loose Goosey"?

The name isn't so crazy.  It's a Grumman G-21 Goose.  

[TVSpectator]

18 hours ago, PinkRibbons said:

True story: my mother knew a man (Russian-Jewish immigrant, like us) who had this exact name. He got so tired of the reaction people got to seeing and saying it (back home the name was properly pronounced "Foochs") that he ended up changing it to "Fox", which is what it meant anyway (iirc).

2

Yeah, I get the joke that it's probably a real name (and I just can't see FXX allowing Archer to say, "fucks" without some kind of context/double meaning and its a lot like the joke from Meet the Parents. Although, I thought that Mr. Fuchs (Cyril) was supposed to be German in this version?

[PinkRibbons]

9 minutes ago, TVSpectator said:

Although, I thought that Mr. Fuchs (Cyril) was supposed to be German in this version?

German and Yiddish are very similar and share words, so there are a ton of Jewish names that are both Yiddish and German. Mandelbaum, for example, is a (usually, but not always) Jewish last name meaning "almond tree" in both languages. And Yiddish went wherever Ashkenazi Jews went, so tons of European and Russian Jews have German/Yiddish last names. We tend to wander. :D It's gotten to the point where a lot of people think that German-sounding names are automatically Jewish, which is why quite a few people think Bruce Springsteen is Jewish.

Edited April 27, 2018 by PinkRibbons

[Kel Varnsen]

22 hours ago, Lantern7 said:

@Galileo908  Cheryl being a nutjob.

But she wasn't even that much of a nutjob compared to previous versions. I mean she was freaking out, but based on her circumstances and the time period it wasn't really too over the top as far as freak outs go.

So far I am enjoying it. It seemed to pick up a little faster than Dreamland did. My favourite line was Ray saying how of course adultery isn't illegal in a french territory. I also thought fuchs was a pretty inspired name for Cyril rather than some corny stereotype German name.

Also anyone know why Pam's had had a goat on it (rather than a cow)?

[Galileo908]

12 hours ago, TresGatos said:

"I am shocked, shocked I tell you" totally lifted from Casablanca which kind of threw me off because Casablanca is set during WWII and Danger Island is set in the 1930s. It worked but did kind of throw me off for a second.

It works like the ambiguous timeline of the main storyline (KGB and cell phones existing at the same time, etc).

[TVSpectator]

1 hour ago, Kel Varnsen said:

But she wasn't even that much of a nutjob compared to previous versions. I mean she was freaking out, but based on her circumstances and the time period it wasn't really too over the top as far as freak outs go.

1

In this first episode, she was actually acting much reasonable than in any other season. the first 7 had her literally being on the verge of burning the entire office down and/or she is also not allowed to handle scissors either. 

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My favourite line was Ray saying how of course adultery isn't illegal in a french territory. 

That is my favorite line from the episode and I loved it. Even the way Ray delivered was so funny and I also loved it as well. 

[Jordan61]

I liked it. I didn't really like Dreamland, mainly because the characters weren't the characters I love. This so far looks promising: bringing back the mother-son dynamic with Archer & Malory, hopefully more Ray this season, Pam back to being a woman (who can and will beat your ass), Archer seducing newlyweds while their husbands are away. Not sure yet how I feel about Krieger being a bird.

[TresGatos]

12 hours ago, Galileo908 said:

It works like the ambiguous timeline of the main storyline (KGB and cell phones existing at the same time, etc).

I can see this but it still yanked me out of the moment.

[Lantern7]

I don’t remember that much from the NYCC screening. I kept notes during the episode, but I didn’t use them because I was focusing on the panel itself. I believe the line that got the biggest laugh was, “OW! MY TWAT!” I don’t think that word gets used on TV, so hearing it was jarring, then hysterical. Thanks, Pam!!

Edited April 27, 2018 by Lantern7

[Kel Varnsen]

On 4/26/2018 at 10:36 AM, TresGatos said:

 

"I am shocked, shocked I tell you" totally lifted from Casablanca which kind of threw me off because Casablanca is set during WWII and Danger Island is set in the 1930s. It worked but did kind of throw me off for a second.

I am not sure I see the problem considering WWII started in the 30's.

[Jordan61]

8 hours ago, Lantern7 said:

I believe the line that got the biggest laugh was, “OW! MY TWAT!” I don’t think that word gets used on TV, so hearing it was jarring, then hysterical. Thanks, Pam!!

That was my husband's favorite line of the episode.

[Snookums]

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The Supersized Pam threw me off a little

Okay, so I wasn't imagining that?

It works, though, because this is Archer's subconscious, so that's how he "sees" Pam. Same thing with using Wharburton's character as himself (Mom loved him so she'll love me!) and the name of his plane, and banging a woman on her honeymoon, like he did in Heart of Archness. It's just his coma brain slotting stuff from his memories into the fake reality it's conjuring up. 

Also loved Crackers' little dance--it really was animated in the floppy way actual macaws dip and shuffle around. You can tell they were having fun with this "new" character. 

Judy Greer just brings it as usual "AND I HOPE YOU DIE OF SOME HERETOFORE UNKNOWN KIND OF EYE HOLE CANCER!" And while I loved Ray's adultery line, for me his best read was "and for dinner, one turnip."

[ganesh]

On 4/26/2018 at 8:36 AM, TresGatos said:

"I am shocked, shocked I tell you" totally lifted from Casablanca which kind of threw me off because Casablanca is set during WWII and Danger Island is set in the 1930s. It worked but did kind of throw me off for a second.

I think Tales of the Gold Monkey was in the 1930s which was my first thought for the current version of this show. 

[Morrigan2575]

11 minutes ago, ganesh said:

I think Tales of the Gold Monkey was in the 1930s which was my first thought for the current version of this show. 

Absolutely. The whole thing reminds me of Tales of the Gold Monkey and, I Love It! ?

Edited April 28, 2018 by Morrigan2575

[ganesh]

I'm not complaining. I don't remember Casablanca, but the precocious pet and the plane always needing repairs just immediately struck me as Monkey. I would actually hope they're going in that direction because the "rich American woman" in that show was actually a spy and quite capable. 

[Victor the Crab]

I don't know if I'm going to like the parrot Crackers. Krieger was my favorite Archer character because he was this so-called mad scientist who was more weird and goofy than mad and was into a lot of strange stuff (Rush notwithstanding) that made him somewhat appealing. Crackers seems to be more of the wisecracking sidekick that we've seen in many a movie before.

[WritinMan]

This was a pretty good episode. Only real laugh I got was from Pam. I'll give the season a try. I gave up halfway through last season. The best seasons of Archer are in the past.

[Jordan61]

On 4/28/2018 at 3:28 PM, Victor the Crab said:

I don't know if I'm going to like the parrot Crackers. Krieger was my favorite Archer character because he was this so-called mad scientist who was more weird and goofy than mad and was into a lot of strange stuff (Rush notwithstanding) that made him somewhat appealing. Crackers seems to be more of the wisecracking sidekick that we've seen in many a movie before.

I agree with all of this. I miss the old Krieger. But Pam is another of my favorites and at least she seems to be closer to her original character in this iteration.