What is a highly trained agent to do when he discovers the mind-control chip implanted in his brain by his could-be father? Re-plant it in another could-be father, obviously.
The second episode of Archer’s second season, “A Going Concern,” picks up on the plot line introduced in the first season’s finale. Sterling (Archer) confronts Malory about the mind-control chip her (now ex-) boyfriend Nikolai Jakov had implanted in his head. She diffuses the question, revealing financial woes solved only, according to her, by selling ISIS to archrival agency ODIN. The ISIS team is not pleased.
“A Going Concern” brings us back to the ISIS agency and the full cast of characters seen only briefly in last week’s season premiere. The team must band together to prevent the sale of ISIS—and the loss of their jobs. Their task is simple, cause Len Drexler, head of ODIN, to fall out of love with Malory and as such cancel the purchase of ISIS. Naturally, the plan involves mind control, brainwashing, and some LSD.
In the office is where Archer truly shines, as the brilliant cast of supporting characters are what make the show great. Pam, having apparently stopped by Amsterdam on her way back from last week’s Switzerland trip, has taken up a Rastafarian habit of dressing like Bob Marley, smoking the ganga and saying “Irie” every five minutes, while Krieger and Cheryl’s “relationship” was revealed to have some psychedelic complications. All in all, it’s the ISIS team’s sheer incompetence that makes dealing with Sterling’s insufferable mommy complex significantly more bearable.
While it’s still yet to hit the same glorious heights set down by last season’s antics, the second season of Archer continues to deliver the hilarity and insanity that fans have come to know and love.