Slater returns with a job for The Figgis Agency. While at the office, Krieger tries hypnotizing everyone.
- All for Nothing: Despite technically completing their mission, Slater reveals he never intended to pay The Figgis Agency for their services in the first place.
- Break the Haughty: Archer laughs off waterboarding as a form of torture at first. When he volunteers to experience it himself, he's reduced to a quivering, blubbering mess and says it was the most traumatizing experience of his life.
- Call-Back: After being subjected to waterboarding Archer remembers that he actually drowned for real once (not to mention getting pneumonia from toilet swirlies in prep school).
- Cold-Blooded Torture: The mere threat of waterboarding convinces Eckard to talk. When Archer scoffs at it, he gets a turn.
- Distinction Without a Difference: That mental patient wasn't given LSD for six months. Just a hundred and seventy-four days.
- Freeze-Frame Bonus: Longwater partially appears on Eckard's fridge.
- Gory Discretion Shot: The show cuts to commercial and returns after Archer gets to experience the fun of waterboarding. He does not take it well.
- Grievous Bottley Harm: Malory beans Archer with a bottle of champagne to prevent him from attacking Slater. Notably, neither the bottle nor Archer's skull breaks, but he is holding a bag of ice against his head through the next scene.
- Immune to Drugs: Krieger forgets Malory has a super-human tolerance to drugs. When he spritzes her with his mind control spray, she slaps him silly and stabs him with her shoe.
- Incest Subtext: Lana straight up goes there and accuses Archer of being attracted to Veronica Deane because of his subconscious desire to sleep with Malory.
- In-Universe Catharsis: Archer volunteers to try getting waterboarded and proceeds to boast about how it probably won't affect him at all, heckling all the way as he prepares to go through with it, causing an exasperated Slater to comment "God, I'm going to enjoy this." When the show cuts back to the aftermath of Archer's waterboarding, and Archer, thoroughly broken and scared, babbles about how terrifying the experience was, Slater just sits around in silence and listens to Archer rambling with an extremely smug grin on his face.
- Room Full of Crazy: Slater's contact has one.
- So Much for Stealth: Archer attempts to sneak behind and grab the agent on the ledge. The agent hears the first step and turns before falling to his death.
- Too Much Information: Archer ends up prattling on about his love for Veronica Deane during his off-screen Water Torture from Slater, which upsets Lana and later leads to a breakup.
- Truth in Television: Yes, every shady thing Archer mentions about the CIA are true. Even MKUltra
- Water Torture: Eckard hands over information to avoid being subjected to this. Archer laughs at this until Lana and Slater put him through it. Archer agrees that it really is that bad, especially since he ignored prior training in the past and has drowned for real before.
- "You!" Exclamation: Archer to Slater at the Cold Opening.
