The Agency goes to a plastic surgery resort to arrest a terrorist, where Archer gets some bad news about his body. Meanwhile, Lana learns that Malory's leadership was, well, far shadier than anyone could imagine.
Episode Tropes:
- Affably Evil: Gary is a very cordial person, but he turns out to have such big connections to many underworld organizations that things can only be peaceful if he receives his bribe money in specific.
- Body Horror: Most of the patients at the resort must really try to keep themselves from doing anything strenuous to their bodies or else they may easily get deformed. Sneezing is something they must avoid because otherwise their faces will come off (which actually happens) and Cyril's bigger calves get deformed when they go up his legs.
- Bread, Eggs, Breaded Eggs: Lana learns from Cheryl that Malory has been blackmailing and bribing everyone from both sides of the law to keep the Agency afloat. It got to the point where she made a "Blackmail Bribe Day" to pay off everyone at once.
- Chekhov's Gun: Archer is pretty disappointed with the small fan Cyril buys for him, but it proves useful when fighting El Cambiante and his men in a steamy sauna. Not that he'll ever tell Cyril it saved his life.
- Chekhov's Gunman: A man named Gary arrives at the Agency to ask Lana to consider going forward with his bribe. When she refuses, he states that she'll likely change her mind soon. As another gang breaches the facility, Gary comes to reveal his connections, prompting Lana to finally cooperate.
- Disaster Dominoes: When Lana refuses to pay bribe money to Gary in specific, it unleashes a series of criminal events because Gary's services keep one evil organization from breaking loose, and then the next one after that, and then the next one after that, and so on.
- Honor Before Reason: Lana in full force. She's so determined to not let her agency be involved in anything shady that when many contacts Malory once had break down her door to demand some bribes, she refuses. Not even seeing New York descend into chaos is enough to make her yield. Eventually though, she understands that you can't always have a squeaky clean image and reluctantly pays the bribe to end things.
- Mad Doctor: Krieger pretty much corrupts Dr. Spencer with the wish to acquire "godlike power" that he ends up turning her into a monster out of Resident Evil and later kills her through blowing her up.
- No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: Lana hopes to provide a fresh start without having to rely on bribes, but chaos ensues throughout the city the longer she tries to hang onto her principles. Once she learns how important "Gary" is, she is forced to comply and pay his bribe.
- Red Herring: Archer and the others believe that El Cambiante might have changed his face again after escaping them. He shows up again with a couple of associates, revealing that he had to postpone his surgery in case assassins are trying to hunt him down.
- The Reveal: Archer is revealed to have severe internal damages to his organs and bones that it's a miracle that he's still alive, which causes him to go into depression and become careful with what he does. Only later does he start to think he's invincible because he doesn't get killed when he should.
- Right Under Their Noses: Because the resort in Costa Rica specializes in plastic surgery, Archer's team has to search for their target "El Cambiante", even though he had recently changed his face.
- Tempting Fate: At first, Archer seems worried after being declared "beyond frail" to go on any more dangerous missions, when he survives a fall while perusing El Cambiante, he is surprised that he is fine and believes he is immortal, if not invincible. A few gunshots give him a wakeup call that he is neither, but at least pretty damn lucky to still be alive despite his previous injuries.
- Younger Than They Look: The plastic surgery provided in the resort is so top-notch that women guessed to be in their thirties are revealed to be elderly people.
