Live and Let Dine
Archer
Episode no.	Season 4 Episode 7
Production code	XAR04008
Original air date	February 28, 2013
Episode guide
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"Live and Let Dine" is the seventh episode of the fourth season of Archer.^[1]

PlotEdit

Archer, Lana, Cyril, and Ray go undercover in celebrity chef Lance Casteau's hellish kitchen while Malory, Pam and Cheryl/Carol try to get reservations.

TriviaEdit

• The title of this episode is a reference to the James Bond film, "Live and Let Die."
• Casteau is a French-speaking village in Belgium, although here it may also be a reference to Jacques Cousteau.
• Casteau calls Lana a "giraffe lady," a callback to Malory's similar insult in "Fugue and Riffs." Probably this is in reference to her height, as her size and the size of her hands and other features are frequently ridiculed by characters in the show.
• Cheryl says "I'll have what he's having" after the ambassador dies. This is a reference to When Harry Met Sally
• Ray Gillette's fake name is a reference to Gilles de Rais
• The name of the restaurant is "Seize," French for 16. The restaurant logo is a 16 with two concentric circles around it.
• This episode draws inspiration from various cooking reality shows. In particular, the voice actor for Lance Casteau is Anthony Bourdain, and in addition to his smoking, mannerisms, and language being essentially like Bourdain, his motivation later on is to have a travelling show like Bourdain has. But having untrained staff who are constantly being berated and yelled at, with sensational and often staged cuts for bumpers, is more like the series of Gordon Ramsay, who is, like Casteau, famous for his risotto.
• Bourdain is also known for trying all kinds of odd cuisine from various countries in his travels.  In particularly he has eaten eyeballs and the heads of numerous animals.
• Kind of like Lo Scandalo, it seems that Archer has come up with the names and cover stories for the rest of the team. Archer is "Randy Randerson," a sous chef, Cyril, as in Stage Two, is given one of Archer's old aliases "Chet Manley" and designated a "garçon de cuisine," which Archer says means "kitchen boy." Lana, who also hates her name, is called "Mitzi," and called a failed actress. Ray, as previously mentioned, is "Gilles de Rais," a "child-murderer." Archer delights in the others being forced to do menial tasks with demeaning cover stories while he gets to fulfil' a dream of being a chef.
• In this episode, Archer reveals that he has never had a regular job in his life unless you count his stint bartending in Polynesia in Heart of Archness: Part I. He had attempted (at 10) to get a route selling Grit door to door, but his mother wouldn't let him, telling him he would get raped and murdered and that the X-Ray Specs he wanted to get from doing that route were fake.
• Several items of Albanian cuisine are featured in the show, including dolma, rakia, and tavë kosi (the national dish of Albania). Customs such as using yogurt extensively in their food and the eating of the lamb's head and eyeballs get play. The tavë kosi in this case was made from the heads of lambs, from which Archer made Cyril scrape the meat and remove the tongues and eyeballs.
• After his experience with the lambs' heads, Cyril declares himself a vegan. It's unclear yet whether he will stick with that.
• Pam reveals in this episode that she has a Siamese fighting fish named Jermaine, and has racked up $14,000 in debts from betting on fish fights.
• Pam's translator, Thuy, in the cutaway to Pam's underground fish fights is apparently speaking Vietnamese. "Toi ca voi ban nam ngan con ca Jermaine se giet con ca cua ban!" roughly translates to "I bet you five thousand Jermaine will kill your fish." Pam apparently lost even though Jermaine is alive, which could be explained by the fact Siamese fighting fish actually rarely kill each other.
• Thuy appeared again as a manicurist for the Tuntmore Towers Hotel in "The Honeymooners".
• Casteau at one point calls Ray "Gayvid Niven," an obvious reference to David Niven. He also calls him "Mincent Price" (Vincent Price). This is also a callback to previous episodes where similar jokes are made.
• Ron apparently has a habit of keeping jelly and saltines (and possibly a juice box) in his suit pockets in case he gets hungry later. Probably, based on the packaging, the jelly and saltines are from what is handed out for free at other restaurants. The noise he made trying to open the saltines got him and Malory kicked out of the opera.
• When Casteau is throwing food at Archer and Cyril, you can see durian on the counter behind them. Durian is a renowned for its smell and is an exotic food Anthony Bourdain (Casteau's voice actor) enjoys^[2].
• The opera Malory and Ron attend, and are kicked out of, is Carmen. The aria in the background is Habanera. This is a callback to Midnight Ron when Malory and Ron have plans to see Carmen at the Metropolitan Opera.

ReferencesEdit

1. ↑ [1]
2. ↑ Bourdain likes durian