- "That's how you get ants!"
- —"Mole Hunt"
Malory Archer is the Chief Executive Officer of ISIS. Malory governs her employees with harsh criticism, raw commentary and belligerent vilification and almost always with a drink in one hand. Malory is also Sterling Archer's emasculating mother.
Background
As a young woman, Malory pursued an acting career before being recruited as a spy by Wild Bill Donovan of the OSS. Her first mission was to kill a German man in Tunisia (there are theories as to who the man was, though it is likely Wolfgang Fischer).
Malory was usually an unavailable working mother when her son was growing up (spending one Christmas in Iran for Operation Ajax). She is still unsure about who Sterling's father is (though it is probably the unnamed Italian activist she describes in the episode Lo Scandalo), there are a few other "possibles in the mix" the three she names initially are: Major Nikolai Jakov (head of the KGB with whom she has appeared in a sex tape), Len Trexler (head of rival organization, ODIN), and famous jazz drummer, Buddy Rich. Malory gave birth to Sterling in Reggie's Bar in Tangier, Morocco, an establishment which was, at that point, owned and operated by Woodhouse.
In Skorpio, she shows a definite tendency to micro-manage her agents. During her entire vacation, she observes Lana and Sterling carry out their mission to take out Spirodon Skorpio. She watches the entire operation unfold nearby, from the deck of the Chum Guzzler, a small boat rented by Nikolai Jakov.
Malory has recently shown an interest in returning to acting, by collaborating with Cyril on a script in which she would play the lead character, a spymaster based on her.
Malory has a New York apartment, and formerly a condo in South Beach Florida. Malory is voiced by Jessica Walter.
Personality
Her description of her son in Jeu Monegasque as a "vain, selfish, lying, and quite possibly alcoholic man-whore" works equally well for her. She is definitely elitist, and probably racist (calling a black conductor George in The Limited, and hating the Irish for "not being on our side in WWII" in Lo Scandalo).
She is also very self-righteous, in Skytanic, she went to extreme lengths to fake a bomb threat, in order to get a room on the rigid airship, simply because her neighbor/rival was bragging about her suite. In the episode A Going Concern, it is revealed that she lost all her money in a Ponzi scheme. After she couldn't book a reservation at 16, she faked another phony case of emergency in Live and Let Dine, this time she set up a threat against the life of the ambassador of Albania, but again, this too came to fruition.
She was also absent most of Sterling's life. Most notably letting Woodhouse raise him for the first five years of his life. Until she decided to suddenly show up out of the woodwork, bringing with her gifts for him to buy back his love.
When she was with him, she emotionally bullied him. Even leaving him at a police station on Christmas Eve once, in an act of kindness, she got him a bike, but when she returned home later, she found the bike on the sidewalk, took the bike, only to justifiably punish him by beating him with a ping pong paddle for negligence, and she once even went as far to donate money to a Junior ROTC, who later faked a 21 gun salute for Archer's benefit after she lied to him that his father died a hero, but the Junior ROTC went on to win a trophy later that year, so she believed that it was still a noble thing to do.
In addition, when she didn't bully her son, she was emotionally neglectful to him. She was shown to quickly abandon her son for the sake of a lover or lavished her own dog, Duchess, right in front of Sterling; caring little for his feelings.
Malory harbors a number of grudges from World War II, among them hating the Irish for not helping the Allies and the Japanese for their attack on Pearl Harbor.
Love Life
Because of her career as a spy Malory is an expert in seduction and has access to social circles that include very powerful and high profile men, and on rare occasions, women. It can implied that Malory was rather promiscuous in her youth, as she is unsure who is the father of her son, Sterling (who seems to have inherited his mother's libido) is. Her sexual appetite has not subsided despite her older age and her less action filled role as a spymaster. She is currently married to her current husband, Ron Cadillac. Though the marriage is greatly strained due to Malory's demanding ways and hints of unfaithfulness. They even at one point tried an open marriage; though it was clear she didn't want him with another woman. Malory has had sexual encounters with many people including
- Major Nikolai Jakov
- Len Trexler
- Buddy Rich
- Rip Riley
- Savio Mascalzoni
- Franny Delaney
- Conway Stern - "Diversity Hire" (Though it appeared one-sided as Conway stated to a worried Archer that nothing happened physically )
- Cyril Figgis - "Movie Star"
- Pam Poovey - "Swiss Miss"
- Conrad Schlotz - "Swiss Miss"
- Burt Reynolds
- Ron Cadillac
- Kermit Roosevelt, Jr.
Operations and Associations
Malory has been part of a number of covert operations in her lifetime as well as having associations with a number of historical figures in that world. Some of the ones mentioned thus far are:
- She was recruited into the OSS by "Wild Bill" Donovan.[1]
- Operation Gladio, where she met Mascalzoni.[2]
- Operation AJAX, where she may have had a relationship with the agent tasked with leading the operation, Kermit Roosevelt, Jr..[3] She refers to him in a telegram to Archer (sent in lieu of being present for Christmas that year) as "Uncle Kermit," a common convention for single mothers to refer to their boyfriends when talking with their children. She had also referred to Buddy Rich as "Uncle Buddy." [4]
- Operation PBSUCCESS,[5] for which she missed Archer's sixth birthday.
Quotes
- "Well, people in Hell want ice water." - A Going Concern
- "Now it's all Sterling this and ribbons that!"- Response to Archer's positive breast cancer diagnosis. - Stage Two
- "If I cared what you did on a weekend I'd put a shotgun in my mouth and pull the trigger with my toes." - Stage Two
- "Do you want ants? Because THAT'S how you get ants." - Mole Hunt
- "My god! What shade is this, crackwhore red?!" - The Rock
- "Who is it? what do you want? Because all you're gonna get are holes! Not my holes I mean holes in you!" - Dial M For Mother
- "Immigrants! That's how they do, you know. Just drive around listening to raps and shooting all the jobs." - Training Day
- "Both of you, imagine shutting up!" - Diversity Hire
- "And I don't want another one of your sullen whores using my medicine cabinet like a... a Pez dispenser!" - Killing Utne
- "Now, then. We want this to look like a classic hooker/murder/suicide. Cyril, take Sterling's gun and pump a round into this prostitute." - Killing Utne
- "Oh, but I will. And I'll get to see Trudy Beekman try to explain this little barbecue to the co-op board!" - Killing Utne
- "Oh, shut up! I bet you're barren!" - Job Offer
- "Yes, Pam, get me some poison, because I am already dead inside." - Job Offer
- "And are you going to loom over me all day, like some sort of… henge?" - Job Offer
- "Yes, I was a single mother. And it's a big dangerous world out there…are you idiots still here?" - Training Day
- "Do you mind? I'm trying to parent! (Fires gun five times) That was for Pearl Harbor!" - Drift Problem
- "And I think I just had a flashback so...these antihistamines are inSANE!" - Training Day
- "Keep her out of the medicine cabinet. One more dead body in here and that bitch Trudy Beekman will have me right back in front of the co-op board!" - Killing Utne
- "But if I did want a grandchild, I'd just scrape all your previous mishaps into a big pile and knit a onesie for it." - Skorpio
- "Now remember I want the entire data system on those new servers or I will just make it rain pink slips!" - Skorpio
- "Oh, like you'd recognize a vegetable that wasn't wrapped in a Monte Cristo sandwich. (Pam- What's that supposed to mean?)...That is Pam, isn't it?" - Training Day
- "Pfft! Security Deposit! What was it? A pair of flip flops?" - Skorpio
- "Oh, congratulations! You beat up a nazi, a nerd, and queen of the robots."
- "Oh you don't look like a whore... An idiot Maybe...or both...yes A whordiot!"
Trivia
- Kathleen Cohen served as the model for Malory.
- Had a dog named Duchess, which is the reason why Sterling's codename is "Duchess".
- She is allergic to zucchini.
- Malory holds an open dislike for ISIS operative Ray Gillette, for reasons yet to be explained. Her animosity may stem from Ray's homosexuality, often referring to him as "Miss Gillette", and goes as far as refusing to negotiate a ransom for his release from Malaysian pirates, while planning to pay for everybody else.
- She is the only member of ISIS to regularly carry a revolver. In a flashback she tells Lana Kane, "This is a .44 magnum." It is equipped with both optical and laser sights, and does not need to be cocked after every round (Dial M for Mother) in the context of the show, which is a defining trait of a double-action revolver. It is possibly a Colt King Cobra because that is a double action revolver.
- She has $2,302,725 in her ISIS 401(k). (The Largest amount of anyone at ISIS) - "Jeu Monégasque"
- She does not have a photo with both her and Sterling in it - "Placebo Effect", largely due to her near-total absence in her son's upbringing.
- She is currently writing her memoirs Secrets and Silk: The Malory Archer Story.
- Malory believes in behavior reinforcement through punishment, largely contributing to Sterling's difficult childhood and her mistreatment of ISIS staff.
- She has slept with Pam Poovey by way of a threesome while under the influence of "Green Russians".
- Seems to have a preference for muscular black men. As is seen with her infatuation with Conway Stern (Diversity Hire), and her rewriting of the Disavowed script into a love story between her and a "coal-black" spy named Cassius (Movie Star)
- Jessica Walter also played Lucille Bluth in Arrested Development. Lucille was the drunk matriarch of the family sort of like Malory Archer and her business. Malory's relationship with Len could be a possible reference to her on Arrested Development, for on the show, her husband George Bluth was portrayed by Jeffery Tambor and he voices Len.
- Malory is likely inspired by Female M from the James Bond movies Goldeneye and all onwards, and the stern, pseudo-maternal relationship that she and James Bond shared. The title of the episode "Dial M for Mother" could be a pun for this, although it could also refer to the Alfred Hitchcock movie "Dial M for Murder ".
- It is hinted to that Malory has been evading taxes for quite sometime to that point in White Elephant.
- In White Elephant, it is hinted that Malory is friends with someone with very high authority in the United States, possibly the President.
- Malory's mother is apparently still alive, and it's implied they don't get along. Archer calls her "Bub."
- Malory appears to have an extremely strong metabolism possibly caused by her excessive drinking, as she is hit in the chest with a Tranquilizer in "Archer Vice: House Call" and is not knocked out by it.
- In the season five finale, Lana gave birth to Malory's granddaughter, Abbiejean Kane-Archer. Malory is very vocal in her disapproval of Lana's chosen name for her granddaughter, and attempted on multiple occasions to coax Lana into legally changing Abbiejean's name to Malory (just as she gave Sterling her own name as his middle name). Lana eventually acquiesces to Malory's efforts, though only after being offered $10,000, agreeing to give Abbiejean her grandmother's name as a middle name, like her father.
References
Gallery of Images
There are 153 images of Malory Archer on this Wiki, visit the Malory Archer gallery to view all the images and screenshots.
Here is a sample of four images from the gallery:
