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"Viscous Coupling" is the fifth episode of the fourth season of Archer.[1]

Plot

Archer's former fiance wants him to save her cyborg boyfriend who is trapped in outer space. Archer wants...other things.[2]

Malory and Sterling catch Lana and Cyril "in the act" causing Sterling to get jealous and try to win Lana back. He is interrupted by a call from Katya who wishes Sterling to help her get Barry back.

Sterling enlists the help of Krieger with the promise of an "epic robot fight", while trying to convince Katya that Barry (and Other Barry) is cheating on her, and planning to keep Barry in space. He creates a poorly made tape of "proof" seemingly convincing her that Barry was cheating on her. Sterling later finds out that Krieger helped Barry get back to earth for a promised robot fight between Barry and Ray. Sterling runs back to Katya's apartment to find her and run off with her.

It is then revealed that Katya knew Barry was in space all along, and she needed Sterling to bring him back. Katya orders Barry to quit trying to kill Sterling. Barry proclaims that he's the head of the KGB and can do what he wishes. Without explicitly saying so, Katya reveals she is the new head of the KGB, with the trusty Boris serving her (and willing to be her bottom).

Callbacks

  • Sterling references Cyril's expensive scotch that he had previously drunk in "Skin Game".
  • Cheryl enters the room after her date with a fireman with bruises all around her neck, referencing Cheryl's enjoyment of being choked during sex.
  • The boxes Lana is climbing on in the vault are labelled "Fort Kickass" in reference to Krieger's "fort" from Skorpio.
  • Cyril awakes to find himself naked in a bathroom stall with Ray (also naked), and exclaims "Is it too much to ask, just once, to be unconscious in a bathroom without being sexually assaulted by -- you?!" referring to the events in "Blood Test" wherein both Pam and Ray take advantage of him while he is unconscious in the bathroom. However, Ray is innocent this time because both of them were unconscious due to tranquilizer darts.
  • Lana discovers that Krieger has placed nerve gas canisters throughout the air ducts. in previous episodes, he has repeatedly asked Malory if she wanted him to use the nerve gas. She is surprised to find there really are nerve gas canisters because she had thought this was a joke.
  • While working on their phony radio tape, Pam repeatedly calls Archer "dicknuts." This is a callback to an episode of "Sealab 2021" (another Adam Reed show) wherein Captain Murphy starts a pirate radio station and calls people "fignuts".
  • Krieger finds that at least one problem with Barry's ship was the "viscous coupling," a reference to the show's title. The title is also a double entendre referring to coupling with an octopus, simultaneously referencing either Archer or Barry having sex with Katya, who is a cyborg.

Trivia

  • Title Explained: The title is also a double entendre referring to coupling with an octopus, simultaneously referencing either Archer or Barry having sex with Katya, who is a cyborg. Also, Krieger finds that at least one problem with Barry's ship was the "viscous coupling," a reference to the show's title.
  • When Archer mistakenly believes Lana hears him from an incredible distance to her office, he says "Who are you, Jaime Sommers?" Jaime Sommers was the Bionic Woman.
  • A production error occurs when Archer tells Lana he'd be happy to bang her. From the back, Lana's gun and holster are on her right side. When the camera cuts to the front, it changes to the left.
  • Apparently the members of ISIS are all into "tentacle porn" including Dr. Krieger, Krieger's Virtual Girlfriend, Ray, and Cyril, to which Sterling exclaims "How is that even a genre?"
  • Doctor Krieger says the tentacle porn films he will be watching are "Fisherman's Wife I and II." "The Dream of the Fisherman's Wife" is a 19th century woodcut of a nude woman entwined with an octopus, considered an early forerunner of tentacle porn.
  • When Ray and Cyril are tranquilized they were reading tentacle porn manga. Apparently, while they were unconscious, Pam made a porn film involving them and an octopus. Pam prevents Archer from entering the bathroom, while hiding her camera, and is later accused by Malory of making porn. Probably as part of her film hobby, she does this often, prompting Malory's accusation. When Ray and Cyril awaken they encounter the octopus in the toilet of the stall they are in and realize the horrible truth.

Gallery of Images

There are 16 screenshots and images from "Viscous Coupling" on this Wiki, visit the category page for a complete gallery.


Here is a sample of four images from the gallery:

References

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