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Review James Stansfield 14 Nov 2013 - 07:38

Archer welcomes Flight of the Conchords and Mad Men alumni in the penultimate episode of season four...

This review contains spoilers.

4.12 Sea Tunt Part 1

The first half of Archer’s season four finale was a slow starter but once it picked up the pace, firmly established itself worthy of being part of the conclusion to what’s been another great series of what is, for many people, the funniest programme on television right now.

Looking back at the reviews for this past season, most have had a common theme that, more often than not, an episode is stolen by the Judy Greer-voiced Cheryl Tunt, the pyro / masochistic / slightly unhinged P.A. to Mallory Archer. Given that her surname makes up part of the title for this episode, it was not unreasonable to expect that we’d get a welcome hefty dose of Cheryl here.

Review James Stansfield 31 Oct 2013 - 06:49

Archer serves up a back-to-basics madcap mission episode that's a great deal of fun. Here's James' review of The Papal Chase...

This review contains spoilers.

1.11 The Papal Chase

“Pam – get off the Pope”

Even by the ludicrous measures that Isis agents find themselves in, this is a line that not many of us ever thought we’d hear Sterling Archer utter. The Papal Chase is an episode that gets off to a slow start but once it’s up and running, the funny is firing on all cylinders with another bizarre dress-up mission.

Mallory Archer has been contacted by the Vatican as there’s believed to be a plan afoot to assassinate The Pope and Isis are chosen to stop the plot. It’s basically a good excuse to throw in a bunch of jokes about Italy and religion but when they’re led...

Archer, Season 4, Episode 11: “The Papal Chase”

Story by Eric Sims

Teleplay by Adam Reed

Airs Thursdays at 10pm Et on FX

With the world’s attention turned towards the Vatican with the recent shakeups in the Papacy, “The Papal Chase” is an oddly relevant episode of Archer, or, at least, as relevant as any episode of Archer can be. The plot concerns a cardinal staging a hit on the Pope, and hiring Isis to protect him (because of their reputation for incompetence) in order to establish an alibi. However, with Archer, the how is always significantly more interesting than the why.

Woodhouse has been largely absent from the season’s proceedings and his presence here tonight highlights what a shame that is. His heroin addiction seems only to have intensified during his absence, allowing Lana the wonderful line “is there some amount you can shoot up to get right...

Continuing our ongoing Archer series, executive producer Matt Thompson gives Vulture the lowdown on each episode's inside jokes and obscure references. In last night's installment, "The Papal Chase," Archer must rescue the Pope from an assassination plot. Here, Thompson tells us about bubble cars, Guido Sarducci, and that blink-and-you-missed-it Sealab shout-out. Father Guido Sarducci At one point, Pam calls Archer Father Guido Sardouchebag. It’s not an obscure reference if you've been around for a while. Father Guido Sarducci is the No. 1 most recurring character ever to appear on Saturday Night Live. In this episode, Archer looks exactly like him. Basically, he’s a Catholic priest who serves as the in-house rock critic for the Vatican. The BMW Isetta We are very cognizant of the look of the show, especially with respect to guns and cars. We cast guns and cars. The cars in our show have personalities. Krieger has his van.

This week, Archer, Lana and Pam brushed up on their Romansh, packed some heroine and boarded a plane to head to Italy to stop an assassination during "The Papal Chase."

Adam Reed couldn't have planned a better time to send Archer to the Vatican than coincidentally sending him a mere couple weeks after the new Pope was elected.

The timely episode centered around a failed attempt to plant Woodhouse in the Pope's place, only to do what they were meant to do: botch the job.  

Apparently, the world has learned what any Archer audience member already knows: Isis has a reputation for being a bit incompetent. But, really, what do you expect from an organization that promotes its accountant and human resources manager (welcome officially aboard Pam!) to field agents?  

After nearly accidentally killing the Pope and screwing up the switch, things got interesting as Cardinal Carnelli vied for the...

FX has sent along the latest clips from their Archer, The Americans and Legit series. First up, from The Americans "Safe House" episode 9, Philip and Elizabeth are put to the test when a routine mission goes horribly wrong. Stan and the FBI are pushed to their limit when one of their own goes missing. After that, in Legit's Episode 11 "Hat Hair", Jim, Steve, Billy and Rodney go to a minor league baseball game. When Jim refuses to remove his hat for a patriotic anthem, a political melee ensues. Finally, from episode 11 of Archer "The Papal Chase," Archer must rescue the Pope from an assassination plot using Woodhouse as a decoy. Operation Bad Habit is a go.

FX has sent along the latest clips from their Archer, The Americans and Legit series. First up, from The Americans "Safe House" episode 9, Philip and Elizabeth are put to the test when a routine mission goes horribly wrong. Stan and the FBI are pushed to their limit when one of their own goes missing. After that, in Legit's Episode 11 "Hat Hair", Jim, Steve, Billy and Rodney go to a minor league baseball game. When Jim refuses to remove his hat for a patriotic anthem, a political melee ensues. Finally, from episode 11 of Archer "The Papal Chase," Archer must rescue the Pope from an assassination plot using Woodhouse as a decoy. Operation Bad Habit is a go.

FX Network has sent along the latest loglines for the fourth season of Archer. We've included ones from March 14th's episode onward, ending on April 4th. Get a heads up of what's coming from the animated series. Episode 9 – “The Honeymooners” (Airs March 14, 10:00 pm e/p)– Archer and Lana pose as newlyweds to stop a sale of enriched uranium. Spoiler Alert: Lana goes nuclear before the bomb does. Written by Mike Arnold & Adam Reed. Episode 10 – “Un Chien Tangerine” (Airs March 21, 10:00 pm e/p)– Archer and Lana extract an agent from Morocco only to find out his bark is worse than his bite. Written by Adam Reed and Mike Arnold. Episode 11 – “The Papal Chase” (Airs March 28, 10:00 pm e/p)– Archer must rescue the Pope from an assassination plot using Woodhouse as a decoy. Operation Bad Habit is a go. Story by Eric Sims; teleplay by Adam Reed.

FX Network has sent along the latest loglines for the fourth season of Archer. We've included ones from March 14th's episode onward, ending on April 4th. Get a heads up of what's coming from the animated series. Episode 9 – “The Honeymooners” (Airs March 14, 10:00 pm e/p)– Archer and Lana pose as newlyweds to stop a sale of enriched uranium. Spoiler Alert: Lana goes nuclear before the bomb does. Written by Mike Arnold & Adam Reed. Episode 10 – “Un Chien Tangerine” (Airs March 21, 10:00 pm e/p)– Archer and Lana extract an agent from Morocco only to find out his bark is worse than his bite. Written by Adam Reed and Mike Arnold. Episode 11 – “The Papal Chase” (Airs March 28, 10:00 pm e/p)– Archer must rescue the Pope from an assassination plot using Woodhouse as a decoy. Operation Bad Habit is a go. Story by Eric Sims; teleplay by Adam Reed.