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Recap / Archer S 3 E 7 Drift Problem

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Archer's surprise birthday present – a high-tech, souped-up spy car – leads to all sorts of other surprises—none of which are good.


This episode provides examples of:


  • All for Nothing: Archer dragged his friends in a car chase with the Yakuza because he believed they stole his car. They didn't, and Pam's car paid the price.
  • Big "NO!": Sterling yells this when he finds out that his spy car is gone.
  • Big Red Button: When Krieger tells Archer to press this, he believed the feature might be something that could kill everyone in the vicinity. Krieger tells him to press the blue button instead.
  • Breakfast in Bed: Archer wakes up to breakfast in bed on his birthday, made by his valet, Woodhouse. Unfortunately, it gets ruined by confetti raining down on his meal, and Woodhouse doesn't have the ingredients to replicate it.
  • Broken Aesop: Malory tries to teach Archer about responsibility to keep his things safe. Unfortunately, that doesn't work as intended, because Malory got rid of Archer's bike and the spy car for no other reason than being a cold bitch. Everyone is appalled by her methods.
  • Continuity Cameo: Mr. Ford, from Frisky Dingo. His ass is everywhere.
  • Cool Car: Archer's spy car, a custom-made Dodge Challenger, has so many gadgets that, in his words, it "makes the Mach 5 look like a vagina".
  • Dramatic Drop: Archer drops his drink when Woodhouse phones him to tell him the car's stolen. He brings another drink to the garage and drops that one when he sees the car is in fact missing.
  • Embarrassing Nickname: Pam claimed that the nickname the Yakuza gave her, Shiro Kabocha, meant "White Shadow", but the leader reveals it to accurately translate to "White Pumpkin" due to her race and size, respectively.
  • Everyone Has Standards: Pretty much the entire main cast is disgusted when they find out Malory stole Archer's bike when he was a child and punished him for losing it to teach him a lesson about responsibility, but then their disgust doubles when they learn Malory never told him what happened to the bike, and she never gave it back to him either.
  • Heroic BSoD: Archer is furious when he learned his mother stole his new car in the first place, but practically breaks when he learns she stole his bike as a kid. He then walks dazedly off-screen, describing his bike in detail.
  • Jerkass Has a Point: Even though Malory stole Sterling's car, she did tell her son that he should've locked his car when he left it in the garage. It still doesn't justify her stealing it in the first place.
  • Not-So-Forgotten Birthday: The Cold Opening starts this way. Everyone, except for Woodhouse, has seemingly forgotten about his birthday and are doing their usual duties in ISIS. A fire drill was soon revealed to be a front for concealing Archer's Cool Car gift, officially starting the plot.
  • Product Placement: Parodied. We get a long spiel about the Dodge Challenger, but mostly concentrating on its non-standard, spy-related features.
    Lana: Wow. So... How much did Dodge kick in?
    Malory: Not as much as you'd think.
  • Roaring Rampage of Revenge: Lana does not want Archer to do this while infiltrating the Yakuza. Sadly, he is too impatient for it to last.
  • Spit Take: Lana lampshades, teases, and invokes this when she learns Archer lost the car. It actually happens off-screen.
  • Squee: Archer was excited enough about his new Cool Car, but then does this after discovering it has a minibar in the glove compartment. Granted, it has only apple juice, but he had planned on replacing it with real alcohol (if it hadn't been stolen later).
  • Yank the Dog's Chain: Just as Sterling was enjoying his time with his new spy car, it gets stolen... by Malory, who sells it, apparently considering it some kind of lesson. She apparently did it years ago with his bike, too.

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