Archer Dreamland: ‘No Good Dead’ Review
Archer is back and this time he’s a 1940’s private dick (phrasing) looking to get revenge on his partner’s killer.
WARNING: This is another classic Show Snob recap. If you haven’t seen this episode, and you read this anyway, you will find out what happens. That’s how recaps work. We really shouldn’t have to explain this to people, but here we are. Anyway, you’ve been warned.
Archer is back and this time he’s a 1940’s detective… not really, he’s just in a coma. The episode started with a glorious fake out. First, we see Archer shot and floating in a pool, right where we left him at the end of last season. Then we jump to a funeral where Malory, Lana and the rest of the gang are mourning. Obviously, the fake out is that Archer is dead, and obviously he can’t be.
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It turns out the gang is mourning Woodhouse. George Coe, who voiced Woodhouse, passed away in 2015. It’s nice to see Archer paying tribute to Woodhouse and Coe in their own special and of course twisted way.
After Woodhouse’s funeral, we see what actually happened to Archer. Archer is in a coma and is dreaming all of Archer Dreamland. It’s not the most clever plot device, but you aren’t watching Archer for clever plot devices, you’re watching for the jokes.
Speaking of the jokes, they were fair. This episode at least doesn’t overcome the slump the last season of Archer was in. The jokes were there, but none of them made me crack up like an episode from an earlier season. There was a lot of explaining to do, so the time available for hilarity was limited.
The gag with Barry and Archer was nice to see. Archer ran over Barry’s ankles, continuing the gag of Archer causing problems for Barry’s legs. Hopefully, we also see other Barry make an appearance in Archer Dreamland.
We can’t be too hard on this episode since it was setting up the whole 1940’s storyline, but we hope future episodes get back to what made Archer great. Archer being an ass and his coworkers being totally inappropriate.
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If you love Archer you should check this out so you stay caught up. If you’re looking for the old Archer magic, there are hints that it might be on the way, but Archer Dreamland hasn’t delivered yet.
Archer Dreamland “No Good Dead” gets a C.
What did you think of the first episode of Archer Dreamland? Let us know in the comments below.