Archer Wiki
Register
Advertisement
Archer Wiki

"The Man From Jupiter" is the fourth episode of the third season of Archer.

Plot[]

Synopsis[]

Burt Reynolds starts dating Archer's mom and boss, Malory. Archer tries to sabotage Malory and Burt's relationship while being chased by a Cuban hit squad.

Summary[]

S03E04-Archer-Reynolds-Malory

I hope that's not going to be a problem.

Sterling Archer drinks at a bar where he unsuccessfully attempts to pick up a woman for sex. A man nearby laughs at Archer's incident. When Sterling threatens him, the man easily subdues him. Sterling suddenly realizes that the man is his idol, Burt Reynolds. After gushing to Burt about how much of a fan he is, Archer learns that much to his horror, Burt is dating his mother Malory Archer. A shocked Sterling passes out, and by the next day is seen with a black eye. Sterling assumes his fainting was an "involuntary reaction" due to the fact that he saw his idol Burt Reynolds dating his mother. 

S03E04-The gang

His mother dating his man-crush.

Malory informs Sterling that a group of Cuban hitmen have established a hit against him, which makes Sterling even more irate. Sterling would have known about the hit squad sooner, but his voicemail pranks prevented Malory from informing him. Burt then calls Malory and asks her out to a movie premiere that night. Later that day, however, Malory gets a letter from Reynolds, saying that he is leaving her for a younger woman and moving back "to Tinseltown".

S03E04-Reynolds-Archer-Woodhouse

You have to not date my mother.

However, Lana Kane quickly figures out that the letter was written by Sterling himself (citing how no star actor uses the term "Tinseltown"). and that Sterling visited Burt, knocked him out with gas and took him to his apartment. Lana, along with Cyril FiggisRay Gillette, and with Krieger driving Krieger's Van, go to try to reason with Sterling. Once there, they encounter the Cuban hit squad, who believe Gillette is the real Sterling based on the recon photo they have and a firefight begins.

S03E04-Firefight

This conversation isn't over!

Meanwhile, Sterling holds Burt hostage, threatening to never let him date his mother again, but he is interrupted by the firefight between the ISIS agents and the Cubans. As they drive off, Sterling prepares to go after them, but Burt says that Sterling won't be able to catch up to them and that he can. Sterling agrees to a bet: If Burt can't catch up to them, he will leave for Hollywood and never call Malory again, and if he does, he will continue to date Malory.

S03E04-Everybody OK

Everybody OK?

Sterling agrees to this, which results in a hectic car chase that frightens Sterling some, despite Burt's expert driving that allows him to achieve many Hollywood driving stunts. During this, Burt tells Sterling that he needs to stop thinking of Malory as just his mother and rather think of her as a person with emotional (and sexual) needs and that he should think about her happiness and not his. This seems to sway Sterling and at that point, Burt has been able to catch up to the ISIS agents and the Cubans and saves the ISIS agents. With that, the group drives back to a heartbroken Malory. Sterling apologizes for writing the phony letter and Burt takes Malory on their date to the movie premiere.

Cast[]

Cultural References[]

S03E04-Archer child Camero

East Bound and Down!

  • Smokey and the Bandit - The flashback to Archer as a child show him dressed as Bo "The Bandit" Darville and playing with a cardboard Camero. The police cars flipping is a scene directly out of the Burt Reynolds film.
  • Krieger's new van is called "Vanispheres". This is a reference to the Rush album Hemispheres. The image of Krieger on the van pointing at another person mirrors the album's cover.
  • Burt Reynolds asks Woodhouse to make him a Pimm's cup, a traditional British specialty drink made with Pimm's liqueur (also called a "fruit cup"), lemonade, ginger ale and slices of cucumber and lemon peel. When Woodhouse returns with the drink, Burt Reynolds asks for a chalice, making the Pimm's Cup into a pimpcup, to which Burt Reynolds quips, "I hate to sound Hollywood, but, would you mind…?"
  • Woodhouse confuses Burt Reynolds for Clark Gable, and tells Burt: "Loved you in Gone with the Wind, sir." This is further evidenced by him responding "Certainly, it would be an honor Mr. Gable." As he leaves to switch his glass to a pimpcup.​"
  • Burt Reynolds exhibits many references to his past performances, particularly comedy car chase movies such as "The Cannonball Run" and "Smokey and the Bandit." In particular, in addition to the aforementioned stunts, there is his trademark laugh as he drives away.
  • Hal Needham was a Stunt Man, as well as the director of Reynolds in six films, and a close, personal friend of Mr. Reynolds.
  • Richard Petty was a NASCAR driver. Statistically speaking, he is the greatest driver the sport has ever seen.

Running Gags / Callbacks[]

S03E04-Pamfitti

Pam strikes again.

  • The Tuntmore Towers Hotel - The episode starts out at the bar of this hotel owned by Cheryl's family, the Tunts.
  • Expense Reports - Callback to "Mole Hunt."
  • Cuban Hit Squad - Callback to "Honeypot."
  • Airboat / Gator / White Lightning - Callback to "Pipeline Fever" and "The Rock."
  • Pam Graffiti - In the alley when Burt puts Archer’s car up on two wheels.
  • The Cuban hit squad pursuing Archer uses a photo of him from the episode "Honeypot", causing them to mistakenly identify him as Ray Gillette, although a Cuban hit squad also made contact with him in "Diversity Hire" when he was wearing a disguise that much more closely reflected his actual appearance.
  • AmPetCo - A tanker from this energy company from "Pipeline Fever" is blocking the highway.

Continuity[]

Trivia[]

  • Title Explained: The episode's title is a reference to "The Man from U.N.C.L.E." and Reynold's home of Jupiter, Florida.
  • According to Adam Reed,[1] Burt Reynolds actually helped write this episode by making suggestions for changes and writing more jokes. Originally, it was "more gushy about Burt Reynolds." Apparently, Reynolds suggested more self-deprecating elements in the script and "made it better."
  • Valet vs Valet
  • Wait, was that the same footage?" is a reference to a practice where "B Roll" was often looped to save production costs in the '70s.

Locations[]

Quotes[]

Archer: "Pretty hard to stay anonymous when you're the world's greatest spy."
Burt: "Calling yourself that can't help."

─────────────────────────

Malory: "So help me God, if you drop that computer on the floor again, I will make sure you wake up in a mental ward with total amnesia under someone else's name."

Production[]

American actor Burt Reynolds makes a guest appearance on "The Man from Jupiter", as the love interest of Malory Archer. His guest appearance was formally announced in October 2011. Prior to his appearance, Reynolds was referenced in several episodes of the series. Series creator Adam Reed opined: "I think the only person on the planet who's a bigger fan of Burt Reynolds than me is Sterling Archer. Archer constantly tries to imitate Burt and always raves about Burt's movies and all-around awesomeness. So to have Burt recording voice-overs for the show was just amazing." After receiving the episode's script from Reed, Reynolds made several edits; while editing the script of the episode, Reynolds added a scene in which Sterling reveals that his career choice was largely influenced by his films. "We sent him the script beforehand and he noted the script up pretty good. But it was all to make it more self-deprecating."[5] Reed, a fan of Reynolds, said that working with him was a great experience. "It was such a surreal experience being in the room with Burt Reynolds, my childhood hero," he affirmed. "Just hearing him read the stuff that I wrote, it was pretty great."

The episode title is a reference to the television series The Man from U.N.C.L.E. and the town of Jupiter, Florida, which is where Reynolds spent most of his childhood. Sterling proclaims that his career path was largely influenced by Reynolds' film career, particularly his work in the musical film At Long Last Love (1975) and the spy cinema Operation C.I.A. (1965). Reed stated, "Archer says [that] Operation C.I.A. is why [he] became a spy. And he's [Reynolds] like, 'Really, I thought that movie sucked.'" A sequence which features Sterling strapping Reynolds onto a hand truck reflects homage to the thriller film The Silence of the Lambs (1991). The song "East Bound and Down" by Jerry Reed are presented in the episode, while Sterling makes several references to several American cinematic works from the 1970s. Jesse Carp of Cinema Blend wrote: "I should start by saying that this episode played particularly well for me because I’m a huge fan of 1970s American cinema—the good and the bad—so all of those references that Archer soon starts throwing at Reynolds, I'm catching and loving every second of it."[6] "The Man from Jupiter" contains several scenes that are reminiscent to those in the action film Gator (1976). Carp wrote that "it isn't long before the Reynolds' sweet talking and charisma mesmerize Archer and soon the pair are talking plot possibilities for the last film in the Gator trilogy."

Gallery of Images[]

There are 11 screenshots and images from "The Man From Jupiter" on this Wiki, visit the category page for a complete gallery.

Navigation[]

References[]

Advertisement