Review: Archer “Helping Hands”

Overview:

The Agency prepares for their most important mission of the season when a powerful exo-suit built by a reclusive genius becomes a coveted piece of technology that everyone must have. Agency attempts to crack the inventor’s mysterious code to obtain the exo-suit, but pressure mounts when a rival spy agency who’s also after the tech crashes the party. This exo-suit has the power to cause immense good in the world as well as unspeakable evils, which means that whoever acquires it could have serious repercussions on the state of the world. Agency tries to ensure that the unthinkable doesn’t happen, but their work becomes a lot more difficult when an insecure Archer begins to throw his weight around.

Oh, and Krieger’s Mitsuko hologram has seen better days and looks a lot more like Samara from The Ring. Hologram maintenance is an important practice, y’all.

Our Take:

Bottle episodes are a cherished staple throughout television and any series that’s been on for 11 seasons has more than likely turned to the cost-cutting single location story structure at one point or another. In fact, one of Archer’s very best episodes, Season 6’s “Vision Quest,” is a bottle episode that largely traps Archer and company in an elevator as they try to learn a thing or two about trust or teamwork. Even before “Vision Quest,” Adam Reed’s previous animated series, Sealab 2021 and Frisky Dingo, both participated in creative subversions to the age-old trope. With Archer’s 11th season going back to its basics, it makes a lot of sense for the show to tackle something as traditional as a bottle episode. There are even moments in this installment where the arguments that Archer, Lana, and Cyril engage in feel like they’re the evolution of the squabbles that were first introduced in “Vision Quest.”

Season 11 of Archer is only three episodes in, but it’s already become a running joke at this point where a pristine mission that the Agency has put together quickly gets sidelined by Archer’s ineptitude. This doesn’t change in “Helping Hands, but it is material that continues to work because it reflects the greater schism of how the Agency is still actively doing missions without Archer. He’s been able to make small strides and prove his significance to the team in minor ways, but this season’s arc where Archer is basically designated to be a supporting character in his own series is an angle that continues to bear fruit. The first few episodes both explore this idea in various capacities, but “Helping Hands” makes it its priority as Archer is in full-on petulant child mode, but it also proposes a possible solution.

Additionally, it’s also appreciated that “Helping Hands” actually addresses Archer and Lana’s daughter, AJ, and where she’s been throughout Archer’s coma and during the events of the season. It seems a little easy to have just whisked her away, but I’m happy to hear the show at least acknowledge her rather than pretend that she doesn’t exist or attempt to turn her into a mini Robert (Lana’s husband) or something.

“Helping Hands” benefits from the depth of the righteous quandary that’s raised by Hands’ powerful exo-suit. This technology can genuinely help injured people and be an impressive rehabilitation tool, yet it’s so powerful that it’s also a deadly weapon. The dangerous capabilities of Hands’ exo-suit are focused on more than its ability to help others, which ignites a moralistic debate that’s typically not seen in Archer. The ending of “Helping Hands” focuses on these virtuous questions, but it kind of muddles the execution.

“Helping Hands” is an unusual episode of Archer in the sense that in some ways it feels like the weakest episode of the season and that the bases it covers are all derivative of material that’s explored in the previous two entries. However, at times this also feels like the most well-defined episode of the season as it is able to expertly articulate the drama that’s been building since the start of the season. “Helping Hands” may end up polarizing the audience, but it leaves Archer and the rest of Agency in a strong place for whatever comes next. Archer still hasn’t earned his way back into everyone’s good graces, but slowly and surely he continues to make progress.

And we’ve got a “Boosh” shout-out!

Miss you every day, Frisky Dingo. Miss you every day.