When Malory announces that a former ISIS agent — who was Archer's best friend and may or may not have been gay for him — is dead after a mission gone wrong, Archer travels to Vermont to prove that his death was a set-up.
This episode provides examples of:
- Big "NO!": Archer lets one out when Lucas admits in his Death Bed Confession what he did to Archer during a past mission, when he was passed out drunk.
- Continuity Nod: Krenshaw (The turncoat from episode 1) and deceased agent Pak are seen in a flashback during agent graduation.
- Death Bed Confession: Lucas makes one while he's dying under a tree. Archer expected what he would say next and told him not to finish, but it was too late.
- Double Standard: Rape, Male on Male: Averted. Lucas apparently did this to Archer on a mission when he was unconscious. Once it's found out what Lucas did, it's treated as genuinely horrific. On the ride home, Archer is sitting in the car blank faced while Cyril and Lana look extremely uncomfortable.
- Gilligan Cut: After Lucas makes his Death Bed Confession, Archer, Lana, and Cyril are shown driving away, not saying a word after being so horrified of what they learned Lucas did to Archer.
- Face–Heel Turn: Lucas became this to ISIS when he left them once he "became worth a damn" and then he later does this to ODIN just to steal uranium and a lot of money to live together with Archer.
- Kinky Cuffs: Archer wakes up in these and wonders why Lucas has them.
- Naked People Are Funny: Cyril strips down naked to lure Lucas under a trap using his clothes as a makeshift rope for Lana to use.
- Not Hyperbole: Lucas indeed left the very instant he become a field agent.
- Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil: Being told of what Lucas did to an unconscious Archer leaves Archer near-catatonic while Lana and Cyril both appear completely horrified.
- Single-Target Sexuality: Troy for Archer. Notably, Ray insists that Troy is not gay, although Lana, Malory and almost everyone else thinks he is because of his chemistry with Archer. It could also be a case a of If It's You, It's Okay.
- Skewed Priorities: Cyril does his peer review on Lana while they're both busy doing the mission and trying not to die in the cold or get killed by Lucas. This becomes even more enforced when he has to take off his glaring orange winter outfit to blend with the snow in just a white shirt and his underwear, and he still runs his peer review. He stashed the papers in his underwear, even.
- Thousand-Yard Stare: Archer (especially), Lana, and Cyril drive out with disgusted but shocked looks on their faces after learning that Lucas did something to a passed-out Archer.
- Yandere: Lucas of so much. He steals uranium, kills his fellow agents, and betrays ISIS just so that he could be together with Archer. To top it all off, he also attempts to kill Lana and Cyril to prevent them from taking Archer away from him.
