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"Archer Vice: Filibuster" is the twelfth episode of Season 5 and the sixty-first episode overall. It first aired on April 14, 2014.

Plot[]

Synopsis[]

Cyril becomes the new president of San Marcos, Cherlene becomes the first lady of country music, and Archer becomes a resistance fighter.

Summary[]

Filibuster

Archer in prison, while Lana visits him.

Archer has been rotting in the Palace dungeon for three weeks, imprisoned next to Juliana and Calderon by the new President Cyril. He is visited by Lana, who has come to get the former first lady Juliana, who Cyril forces to become his wife. In the palace, Lana questions Cyril's new position as dictator, which Malory supports. Cyril throws Cherlene into the dungeon after growing annoyed by her. There she picks the lock on her cell freeing Archer and Calderon. They leave to join the rebels, much to Calderon's chagrin. They stop midway at a zoo, Archer wishing to obtain a pet tiger. As Archer and Calderon debate, Cherlene lets out the tiger, which immediately mauls and kills Calderon. The pair continues on to the airport where they are captured and taken to the rebel leaders, who are none other than Agent Holly and Slater, and who reveal themselves to be CIA case officers supporting the rebels.

As this is going on Krieger and his clones are preparing to launch a nerve-gas armed missile at an unknown target. Krieger tries to stop them, killing them in the ensuing struggle, knocking them and himself from the launch platform, leaving them all presumed dead. However, one of the Kriegers (whether or not this is the original Krieger is unknown) informs the rest of the gang of the missile which he cannot disarm. They go to get Archer and discover his escape. Lana leaves to retrieve him and is taken to meet the rebel leaders at the same time as Archer and Cherlene. After getting over her initial surprise at the situation she declares that her water has broken...

Cast[]

Cultural References[]

  • The Silence of the Lambs: Lana calls Archer "Miggs", a prisoner in the mental hospital with Hannibal Lecter.
  • Dracula (1897): Pam calls Krieger 'Count Krieger' after convincing herself that the "vampires have got him."
  • Zion, a song Pam thinks is about “weed” (unclear reference).
  • Doppelgänger: The concept of a double relates to Krieger and his clones, with Pam referring to him as 'Doppelkrieger'.
  • The Boys From Brazil (1978): In a callback to Malory's suggestion that Krieger is a Hitler clone in Placebo Effect (s2e9), this related scenario continues to be explored, with Krieger confronting his clones in order to prevent the launch of a warhead filled with nerve gas.
  • Star Wars: Lana claims that Malory is the Palpatine to Cyril's Darth Vader.

Running Gags / Callbacks[]

  • Shut up...
  • Vampires...
  • It doesn't matter to the stake...
  • Can't or won't...?
  • CIA up to no good...

Continuity[]

Trivia[]

  • Title Explained- A filibuster in the context of foreign policy, is someone who engages in an (at least nominally) unauthorized military expedition into a foreign country or territory to foment or support a revolution. The term is usually used to describe United States citizens who fomented insurrections in Latin America in the mid-19th century (Texas, California, Cuba, Nicaragua, Colombia). Cyril’s coup also mimics the most famous American filibuster, William Walker, who proclaimed himself President of Nicaragua in 1856.
  • After Archer rushes to the cell bars and startles Lana, she labels him "Miggs", after the character in The Silence of the Lambs.
  • Gustavo Calderon blames what he said on 'pruno', which is the name given to wine made in prison, typically in a toilet.
  • Cyril is seen devising a plan to defeat the Rebels, using the pincer movement similar to the one used by Hannibal during the Battle of Cannae. He also mentions a member of his "Warhammer Guild" using the tactic, in a reference to the Warhammer tabletop game.
  • Ray mentions that his church "didn't really do the New Testament" when Lana calls on him to back her up in a religious(ish) argument with Malory. This may be a reference to Bloody Ferlin, in which Randy mentions that Ray was not a fan of the Old Testament.
  • The use of sticky notes on Archer's cell door is similar to Pam's note to the Yakuza in the episode "A Debt of Honor".
  • During Cyril and Juliana's wedding, Ray and Malory make a back reference to the events in "Double Trouble," where Sterling and Katya's wedding was ruined by Katya getting killed.
  • Lana's comparison of Cyril and Malory to Vader and Palpatine, and Cheryl and Pam's ensuing dialogue is a reference to Star Wars.
  • Archer, Charlene and Calderon escape the palace in a Bizzarini Manta.
  • Archer's reference to wishing he was a poet when he sees the tiger in the cage could be a reference to Inferno, I, 32 by Jorge Luis Borges, or a reference to Jodie Foster's line from Contact... "Some kind of celestial event. No — no words. No words to describe it. Poetry! They should have sent a poet. So beautiful. So beautiful... I had no idea." This same reference is also made in the Sealab 2021 episode "Return of Marco."
  • Archer is correct that Johnny Cash was never in prison, and he only played concerts at Folsom Prison and San Quentin — recording legendary live albums in both prisons — but he did spend several nights in jail after being arrested for various misdemeanors.
  • After Calderon uses the tiger to metaphorically justify his dictatorship, Archer responds by calling him "George Bore-well". This is a callback to Space Race Part II, in which Archer expressed his opinion that Animal Farm was a clunky allegory for totalitarianism.
  • The nerve gas rocket built by the Krieger clones and Krieger looks similar to a World War 2-era German V2 rocket.
  • The code to enable the nerve gas rocket is in hexadecimal, the corresponding ASCII characters are UUDDLRLRBA, also known as the Konami Code.
  • As Krieger and a Krieger clone struggle at the top of the rocket, their shirts are oppositely buttoned. The Krieger that survives has the same button side as Archer's Krieger.
  • Having Krieger switch from a bowtie to a regular tie after his fight with the clones is often cited as proof that a clone took his place. However, Krieger has always only worn regular long neckties throughout the entire series. The first time we actually see Krieger wearing a bowtie with his lab coat is in the episode Archer Vice: Palace Intrigue: Part II. This was presumably given to him by his clone brothers to wear since he was only in his underwear when they kidnapped him. When he's talking with his clone brothers at the beginning of the episode he is still in his underwear, but later in the episode he is wearing his normal lab clothes, except with a bowtie. Krieger's comment that "This regular tie means nothing. I don't like bowties, so I switched." was most likely added to give the viewer some doubt if it was actually the real Krieger.

Locations[]

  • Republic of San Marcos
    • The San Marcos Presidential Palace
    • The San Marcos Zoo
    • The San Marcos International Airport

Deaths[]

Quotes[]

Archer: "How long have I been down here, left to rot in this godforsaken hole?!" 
Lana: "Like... three weeks?" 
Archer: "Hmm, seems so much longer than that."

─────────────────────────

Cyril: "Hey! Will you idiots get out, I'm trying to talk to the first lady!"
Cherlene: "Of what, this country or country music? Cause I'm first lady of both!"
Cyril: "No, you're not..."
Cherlene: "Outlaw country!"

─────────────────────────

Malory: "Ugh, second worst wedding ever." 
Ray: "Yeah, but at least nobody died." 
Pam: "Yet!" *clears throat* "Inappropes." 
Malory: "What is wrong with you?" 
Pam: "I'm trying to make that a thing people say, like damn, dawg, that's inappropes! Plus I think I'm addicted to cocaine." 
Malory: "Well, but look on the bright side. With any luck at all, it will save me the trouble of killing you myself." 
Pam: "Damn dawg..." 
Ray: "Inappropes."

─────────────────────────

Cherlene: "Well we should've guessed that was gonna happen." 
Archer: "W... we should've?" 
Cherlene: "Well, or at least could've. I mean..." 
Archer: "Yeah, I-I-I guess, uh, I guess a leopard can't change his spots." 
Cherlene: "Uh... I don't know that much about leopards." 
Archer: "That was actually a proverb." 
Cherlene: "That was actually a tiger. "

─────────────────────────

Malory: "Krieger, I am about two seconds away from telling Pam to get a wooden stake."
Pam: "Yay!
Krieger: I'm not a vampire!"
Malory: "Doesn't matter to the stake."

─────────────────────────

Krieger: "I can't!" 
Pam: "Can't or won't?" 
Krieger: "Can't!" 
Pam: "Oh. I didn't hear you."

─────────────────────────

Slater: "What the hell are you doing here?"
Archer: "What the hell are you doing here?"
Holly: "I could ask you the same question. I am asking you the same question." 

─────────────────────────

Lana: "Cyril..."
Cyril: "Ah, it's actually senor presidente, but--"
Lana: "Shh, hush. Now, I know you've had a fun time as dictator, and we all enjoyed this little break from him, but, Cyril-- and if ya tell him I said this, I'll break your frickin arms-- it's (uuughf)... Archer-time."

Gallery of Images[]

There are 6 screenshots and images from "Archer Vice: Filibuster" on this Wiki, visit the category page for a complete gallery.

External links[]

References[]

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