(upbeat drum music)
For nearly a decade now,
Archer has been the smartest comedy on TV.
Now you might not think so between its joking sex robot,
its holographic anime brides, rampant alcoholism
and often ineffective spy craft.
But hidden between its hilariously over-the-top antics
are some of the smartest, weirdest
and most obscure references you'll find in any piece of TV.
So in honor of Archer: Danger Island season finale,
and given that it's the show ninth season,
on today's episode of The Dan Cave,
I'm gonna run down nine of the most obscure references
in Archer history.
Bartleby the Scrivener, one of Archer's best literary
deep contexts from way back
in the season one episode "Scorpio".
When the corpulent arms dealer Spiridon Scorpio
commands Archer to bring chocolate to a threesome
with himself and Lana, the superspy replies plainly,
"I'd prefer not to."
Now you might be having a flashback to high school English
because that's the infamous catchphrase
of Herman Melville's Bartleby the Scrivener
who would say the same thing when asked to do any number
of unsavory tasks. But then again,
no one asked Bartleby about a chocolate threesome
but who can say if that would have changed his tune.
Prude.
Not a big Melville crowd here, huh.
The Destruction of Sennacherib
Now not only is Pam proving handy with a dolphin puppet
in resolving interpersonal conflict
but she can beat the ever loving crap out of you as well
and even more intimidating
than her hand to hand combat skills
is the fact that she has the third stanza
of Lord Byron's poem, The Destruction of Sennacherib
tattooed on her back.
Now most people opt for like two dragons smooching
or a glorious phoenix like Ben Affleck
or the Monster Energy drink logo.
But not Pam, as we learn in season two's "El Sequestro",
she prefers a poem about an Assyrian gang trying
to capture Jerusalem.
What? Were you expecting Don Juan?
(laughter)
How pedestrian?
Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God
When Archer was so unspeakably hungover in season three's
"Crossing Over" that he needed an entire pitcher
of Bloody Mary's to make his head stop pounding,
he was perhaps at his most relatable
but unlike the majority of us when we're hungover
Archer actually had the wherewithal to quote a sermon
from 1741 by British theologian, Jonathan Edwards.
Now personally speaking, I prefer Archer's prayer
mainly because a gigantic pitcher of Bloody Mary's
is my platonic ideal of a great awakening.
Amen.
The Sirens of Titan
Remember in season four when Archer had to travel to Morocco
to help extract a secret agent,
only to find out that he was a little boy dog.
Well, that dog, Kazak the English mastiff
is a certified pure breed in terms of literary credentials.
He's named in honor of Kazak the space faring dog
from Kurt Vonnegut's novel, The Sirens of Titan.
Now someone must have
double dog dared Adam Reed and Mike Arnold
to make double the obscure dog references
because the episode itself, "Un Chien Tangerine"
which means a tangerine dog is a reference
to surrealist film maker Louis Bouniel's 1929 short film,
Un Chien Andalou which means an Andalusian dog.
Thankfully though this episode contains far fewer instances
of razor blades slicing into human eyeballs
because yikes, it is hard to watch!
Did a PowerPoint on that back in high school Spanish,
look at me now Senor Benagi.
Johnny Bench Called
One of Archer's most delightful deep cuts happened
in the show's very first episode.
Archer tells his mother, Mallory, that Johnny Bench called
then trails off,
now Johnny Bench is a Hall of Fame catcher who played
for the Cincinnati Reds and had famously large fingers
that let him hold up to seven baseballs at once.
The implications that Archer's next line would be,
"He wants his mitt back."
which is to suggest that his mother's lady parts are akin
to a gigantic well-worn catcher's mitt.
It also paved the way for Archer to refer to Lana
as Johnny Bench in "Fingers of You" episode later.
It's also just straight up gross.
Ugh.
Alphonse Bertillon
In the season seven episode, "The Handoff",
Cheryl wants to burn a cashier's check
but Cyril wards her off noting
that it could have fingerprints on it.
In response Cheryl shoots back,
"Well who am I, Alphonse Bertillon?"
Well, you'd be forgiven if that sails right over your head
because Bertillon was a 19th century French police officer
who created a technique known as anthropometry
which was the first scientific system of identifying
criminals based on their physical measurements.
It was later replaced by fingerprinting
and also Bertillon invented the mugshot
which is something I'm pretty sure 95%
of the Archer gang has in spades.
P.G. Wodehouse
Now one of Archer's sneakiest references
is actually hiding in plain sight.
Archer's trusty mistreated heroin
and jazz-addled butler, Wodehouse.
His name is actually a sly reference to a series of stories
by English author P.G. Wodehouse
about a highly capable valet named Jeeves
who serves an incredibly wealthy man named Wooster.
In these stories, Jeeves has to rescue Wooster
from putting his foot in his mouth at every conceivable turn
much like Wodehouse must help Archer out
from all manner of unsavory situations.
Except unlike Jeeves, Wodehouse stands an exponentially
higher risk of getting straight up murdered
or being threatened with coarse grain sand.
I don't know if they grate it but,
coarse.
Emile Zola
How would you like to be remembered when you die?
Something tells me that French novelist and journalist,
Emile Zola, didn't anticipate being turned
into a hamburger pun yet that's exactly what happened
to the literary giant in season four's "Fugan Riffs".
Believing himself to be Bob Belcher, Archer devised
a deliciously cheesy Emile gorgon-Zola burger served
with Jacques-cumbers.
The topping itself being a reference
to Zola's famous 1898 letter, Jacques, which he published
to accuse the French government of antisemitism
in the wake of unlawfully imprisoning Albert Dreyfus.
The only thing we can accuse Archer of though
is thinking that Gorgonzola and cucumber
is a winning burger combination.
What are you doing?
Peter Abelard and Heloise d'Argenteuil
When Archer awakens from a drunken one night stand
with a French flight attendant
in the show's very first episode,
he finds a pug in his apartment
which violates Archer's strict no-dogs rule.
Now Abelard's name is actually a joke nestled
within a series of jokes all leading back to anal sex.
When the woman tells Archer that she's hungry,
he tells her to go to the diner
because she's obviously into Greek.
Now this is a double entendre because Greek was a slang term
for anal sex referencing its popularity in Ancient Greece.
Her dog Abelard is named for a medieval French philosopher
who dedicated his life to studying Greek thinkers.
Now according to a user on Reddit, J.R. Hugh,
this joke goes even deeper, Abelard famously had a romance
with a younger working class woman named Heloise d'Argentuil
much like Heloise, this flight attendant
is a younger working class woman who loves her Abelard.
But wait, there's more.
Not only was Heloise a scholar in her own right
but wait for it she was fluent in Greek
and thus much like life, it all comes back to butt sex.
And those are some of the most obscure references
in Archer's story and history.
But tell me which one's your favorite,
what would you add to this list?
Let me know in the comments below
and give me a highly obscure thumbs-up while you're there.
Now be sure to like, subscribe and hit the notification bill
or else you might miss next week's show,
all about seven masterless samurai
who come to a seaside town where four young friends
are being stalked by a hook wielding maniac
in Seven Samurai Know What You Did Last Summer.
Until next time, keep on digging.
(bells chiming)