Line #38 Recap/ArcherS1E1MoleHunt


1	[[quoteright:280:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/simulation_fail.png]]
2	In the series premiere, Archer, the world's most dangerous spy, finds out there are some issues with his expense account. To cover his tracks, he makes a lie about there being a mole in [=ISIS=].
3	----
4	!!Tropes
5	* AccidentalTruth: Archer's lie about the supposed KGB mole turns into the truth when Crenshaw is revealed as one.
6	%%* BelligerentSexualTension
7	* BrickJoke: Several, setting the trend for the series:
8	** The opening sequence involves Archer in a KGB torture simulation with Crenshaw, who is acting as the torturer. By the end of the episode, it's revealed that Crenshaw actually ''is'' a KGB mole within ISIS.
9	** Pam has a nasty habit of telling secrets to everyone via gossip, despite being a confidant as head of Human Resources. When Archer spreads a false rumor of a mole in ISIS, Crenshaw isn't very happy about Pam later spreading said rumor around, since he is revealed to be an actual mole for the KGB.
10	** Early in the episode, Archer accidentally shoots someone in the ISIS office when the bullets he fires reflect off the mainframe door. The offscreen victim yells out "What is ''wrong'' with you?!", to which Archer responds "Me? Nothing. You, on the other hand, ''have a bullet inside you''." He repeats the line after he shoots Kremenski, but is cut off by Malory, who is more than upset that her son had an erection from imagining her killed.
11	** Before Archer walks into Malory's room, she is seen masturbating to an unknown voice over the phone. The second half of this conversation is shown at the end of the episode to have been with Nikolai Jackov, the head of the KGB in Moscow.
12	** Throughout the episode, Archer complains that people are attracting ants by leaving food scraps on the floor. Come the end of the episode, we see where he got the trait:
13	--->'''Mallory''': Do you want ants?! Because ''that's'' how you get ants!
14	* ChekhovsGunman[=/=]TheMole: Crenshaw/Kremenski.
15	* CompanyCreditCardAbuse: Sterling is shown to have a habit of making extravagant purchases on his agency expense account, to the point where Malory admonishes him repeatedly for treating ISIS as a personal ATM. This comes to a head in this episode when she tells him to settle his accounts under threat of being cut off. His attempts to hide his hacking into the system as a mole hunt accidentally reveal that one of his colleagues is indeed a mole, which he blames for the purchases.
16	* CurseCutShort: When Lana is complaining to Cyril about Archer:
17	-->'''Lana:''' After the lying, and the cheating, and [[NoodleIncident that thing with the mayonnaise]]...\
18	'''Cyril:''' It's fine.\
19	'''Lana:''' ...not to mention how messed up he is about his mother...\
20	'''Cyril:''' It's fine.\
21	'''Lana:''' Did you know, he once called out her name while we were f-\
22	'''Cyril:''' FIIIIIIIINE!
23	* DangerRoomColdOpen: How the episode starts.
24	* DeceasedFallGuyGambit: Kremenski forces Archer to transfer $50,000 to his account to transport him to the Soviet Union. After Archer kills Kremenski, Cyril finds this and assumes Kremenski had been stealing from Archer all along, which Archer [[SureLetsGoWithThat goes along with]].
25	* ElectricTorture: The episode opens with Archer being trained in how to withstand this technique. He doesn't take it all seriously.
26	* EstablishingSeriesMoment: Archer is seemingly imprisoned in a Russian cell, near-naked and with a guard threatening to torture him. Archer just snarks at the "guard's" accent and Go-kart (Golf kart) battery, at which point we find out it was all a simulation, which Archer's mother is creepily invested in. This establishes the tone and themes of the entire series; taking every trope you would find in a conventional SpyFiction setting and [[{{Deconstruction}} ripping the mystique right out of them]].
27	* EvenEvilHasStandards: After revealing himself, Kremenski tells everyone they should be nicer to Pam. He also shows disgust when Archer gets an erection about Malory dying.
28	* {{Foreshadowing}}: During the torture simulation, Kremenski asks Archer what would happen if he was really a KGB agent. See BrickJoke above.
29	* {{Irony}}: Archer makes up a Mole Hunt to gain access to the mainframe, only to discover that Crenshaw ''is'' a mole named Kremenski, thanks to Pam.
30	* KarmaHoudini: After being scolded for squandering his bank account, Archer breaks into the ISIS mainframe and decides to move Crenshaw's funds to it. After dealing with Crenshaw, or Kremenski, as a mole, Cyril believes that Kremenski stole Archer's funds.
31	* MexicanStandoff: Archer attempts this unsuccessfully on Kremenski. Kremenski holds Malory at gunpoint, and Archer, in an act of "[[BrickJoke classic misdirection]]", grabs Lana and does likewise.
32	-->'''Archer''': Looks like we've got a Mexican standoff, Kremenski!\
33	'''Kremenski''': Wh--? How is this a Mexican standoff?\
34	'''Archer''': Um...\
35	'''Lana''': Dumbass.\
36	'''Kremenski''': I don't care if you shoot her!
37	** Played straight earlier between Lana and Archer.
38	* NoodleIncident:
39	** "The thing with the mayonnaise" while Lana and Archer were dating.
40	** Pam has a meeting with Krieger, who apparently had sex with people's lunches.
41	--->'''Archer:''' Wait, I had something for this. The Pita Predator! Let's call it what it is: Food Rapist.
42	* [[ThePasswordIsAlwaysSwordfish The Password is Always Guest]]: ISIS security is ''really'' not great.
43	-->'''Archer:''' That is just...Babytown Frolics.
44	* RunningGag: Several jokes that will become long-standing Running Gags are introduced here, including:
45	** "That's how you get ants"
46	** Archer attempting to shoot through an obviously armored door and having the bullets ricochet everywhere.
47	** Archer accidentally shooting someone who is off screen (presumably Brett), prompting them to yell "God ''damn'' it, Archer!"
48	** The password to a supposedly-secure computer system being 'guest'
49	** Archer yelling "Lana did that!" for something Lana did, in fact, do.
50	** Archer forgetting a one-liner and having to come up with a new one on the spot.
51	* SexyStewardess: After the opening credits, Archer is seen waking up naked next to a stewardess he hooked up with the previous night.
52	* SureLetsGoWithThat: Cyril finds out about Kremenski stealing $50,000 from Archer's account and assumes he was doing it all along. Archer sarcastically "accepts" his "apology" and goes along with it.
53	* SupermodelStrut: Lana's very first appearance shows her doing a casual saunter with swaying hips. Possibly subverted, since this was from [[CrushFilter Archer's POV]].
54	* TemptingFate: "Jesus, what else could go wrong?!" (Cut to Kremenski entering the building with a gun)

Context Recap / ArcherS1E1MoleHunt