Trust is a tender subject for most people. For those with good sense, it is difficult to obtain and simple to lose. For spies, there is a simple rule, trust no one. Sterling Archer has his reasons to follow either discipline at any given time, which you know by now if you have been following his story. The man may be a complete moron at times but he is far from stupid. When you are a top U.S. spy about to be ventilated by a Russian firing squad and suddenly a KGB agent takes care of that problem for you and offers your help, he knows to be careful. Archer knows he cannot trust such a person…doesn’t he?
Last episode left Archer at the mercy of a Russian firing squad. This episode would have been the series finale if not for KGB defector Katja Kosnova saving his life with the help of a trusty Tommy Gun. We flash forward to the present where Malory walks in on her son and Katja doing the deed on her desk. After several classic lines from Malory, Katja runs out of the office almost in tears and the Archer family goes at it. This brings in Lana, who has to add her two cents on the situation and gets really pissed when Malory mentions Archer meeting the right girl. Oddly, the only person who is not overhearing the exchange is ISIS’ resident nosy bitch, Pam. Seems she had an incident at a bar the night before involving pool balls and that is all I am gonna say on that.
What Pam does pick up on is what happens next. After Malory and Lana accuse Katja of trying to steal Kreiger’s latest invention, Archer has the boys down in intel hack into the KGB mainframe to pull up her file, expecting it to show that she has defected. Jakov’s right hand man anticipated this move so he altered her file to show she is a double agent. While still trying to poop pool balls, Pam gets this info and spreads it throughout ISIS. Katja runs thinking that everyone, including Archer is now against her. He finds her in the elevator and talks her down as she draws her gun on him. Archer confesses to Katja that he loves her just as Lana and Malory find them in the elevator. Katja shoots both of Lana’s SMGs out of her hands, ruining them and kicks the down button on the elevator. Malory tries to stop them by locking down ISIS but presses the wrong buttons, completely resetting ISIS security for ten minutes. Archer laughs as he and Katja drive away, figuring that his mother made exactly that mistake. He wants to run away with Katja but Woodhouse (on Malory’s orders) has cleverly hidden his bug out bag which held fake IDs passports and a big wad of cash.
While arguing with Katja over what to do next and threatening Woodhouse to get his bag, the ISIS crew shows up at Archer’s apartment and corner him. Woodhouse, after realizing that Archer is truly in love, gives Sterling his grandmother’s engagement ring to give to Katja. Archer decides he and Katja will fight their way out, guns blazing and what follows can only be described as the most pathetic shootout ever. Sterling, Katja, Malory, Ray and Lana, all of whom have demonstrated dead aim in the past, all completely miss each other. Everyone but Malory is out of ammo and she says her last bullet has Katja’s name on it. Archer steps in the way and the only thing that saves her is Kreiger showing everyone Katja’s wedding plan book for herself and Archer. She confesses that she had been in love with him since her early training days when Archer was made out to be Russia’s #1 enemy. Archer pulls out the ring that Woodhouse gave him and proposes to Katja, who promptly and repeatedly accepts. The ceremony was about to happen on the terrace until Barry Dillon shows up. You know, good ol’ Barry, the guy Archer accidentally dropped off a roof last week, for the second time. Yeah, well Russian scientists turned him into the bionic man to kill Katja but after all that has happened he was only interested in Archer. He tried to thro Sterling off the terrace but Katja proves her love by yanking Barry off with her bride’s veil. This sends both of them plummeting to their deaths but bionic Barry lands unscathed. Archer hangs over the balcony in tears in the first true emotion he’s shown since he was diagnosed with cancer. Kreiger also is crying, but only because Katja’s corpse crushed his van. And so ends season 2 of Archer; see ya next year folks!
Season One of Archer was fantastic from start to finish. Season Two blew its predecessor out of the water, but it could not have done so without the first. Everything about this season was bigger and better than the first but much of it built off of the first season. Many of the plots, jokes and sight gags were revisited, fleshed out and improved from the first ten episodes of the show. Archer has grown into a bigger asshole than ever but he has also shown that he does have a heart and that it can be broken. I expect season three will have some sort of operation: get Barry after the loss of Katja. Now that Katja is dead, I am also banking once again that Lana and Archer will wind up back together. Ray blew up in the last few episodes and I want to see more spywork from him in future episodes. Cyril played much less of a role this season now that he and Lana are over. Maybe next season we will see him taking care of his son Seamus, but probably not. Hopefully we will get to see how millionaire Cheryl Tunt lives outside of ISIS and I so want that from Pam after the kidnapping episode. WHatever happens, next winter will hopefully be another season of Archer that outshines this one. I hope you tune in.
