Review: Archer “Chill Barry”

Overview:

Just when it seems like Archer and The Agency team have reached a successful rhythm, the gang gets thrown for a major loop when Barry makes his return, but with a very surprising makeover. Sterling pledges to save Barry from his compromised state. Unfortunately, wherever Barry is, Other Barry can’t be far behind, and this time around he plans to end this feud once and for all through the robotic subjugation of mankind. 

Our Take:

Archer has cultivated a compelling cast of characters over its 14 seasons. Characters like Archer and Lana have always popped, but part of the joy of a series that runs for this long is watching supporting players like Pam, Krieger, and Ray come into their own and evolve over time. Barry Dylan may not be in Archer’s core cast, but he’s a character who’s been around since the show’s first season and has found new life as a KGB cyborg since season two’s “Double Trouble.” Barry–who is gleefully played by Dave Willis–is such an entertaining and unpredictable wild card who’s become the perfect foil for Sterling. 

Sterling and Barry’s relationship has transformed in remarkable ways over Archer’s 138 episodes and it’s become one of the series’ sweetest dynamics. Archer’s most recent Barry installments have been some of the strongest episodes that the show has ever done. Archer hit such heights with Barry’s last appearance that any return faces a tall task that seems set up to fail. “Chill Barry” is a remarkably silly way to bring back–and say goodbye to–Barry, but it somehow becomes the perfect farewell to Archer’s greatest recurring character.

The major hurdle in “Chill Barry” is that this odd new version of the character is desperate for some power surge solution that will jumpstart his consciousness from this chilled prison to a proper host vessel. This sort of mad science seems like it would be completely in Krieger’s weird wheelhouse and something that he could sort out in seconds. However, the ludicrous nature of this problem comes with equally ludicrous science. This isn’t coconut amnesia logic where simple repetition of the same act will fix all of this. These scientific hijinks are initially a fun change of pace from Archer’s standard spy scenarios (although “Chill Barry”does ultimately reach some espionage action sequences courtesy of Other Barry) and a reminder of how unabashedly silly this show can be. It’s a series that once took its characters to a Sky Titanic, for god sakes!

This is the right energy for Archer’s final season and it’s an installment that brings forward some really fun ideas that unfortunately won’t have any future seasons to be further explored. Archer could have had a whole season of mini-fridge Barry if it set itself up for more episodes. That’s not to say that more mini-fridge Barry is necessary, but it’s another example of how Archer’s final season continues to explore rich ideas that have plenty of life left. These are not the flailing death rattles of a show on life support. “Chill Barry” proves that Archer will be thriving until its very end. Even if that end happens to be a robot apocalypse.

Mark Ganek has proven to be Archer’s strongest writer in its post-Adam Reed-as-showrunner years and he’s typically given a lot of the heavy lifting to do each season. He’ll set up and conclude the season’s larger serialized ideas as well as be the person who gets to play around with some of the bigger story episodes. In this sense,  he’s the perfect writer to handle the continuation–and seemingly the conclusion–of Barry’s increasingly convoluted and comical character arc. Ganek rises to the occasion when it comes to doing this story justice and giving Barry the swan song that he deserves. However, this is also just a wickedly funny script and Archer at its sharpest. The self-aware cold open conversation and Krieger’s on-the-nose tally system are broad jokes by Archer standards, but they help give this episode’s script a lot of leeway, which is always useful in a Barry episode. 

“Chill Barry” is perhaps not the exit that Archer’s Barry needs, but it manages to be the one that he deserves. “Chill Barry” teaches Barry and the The Agency team how to confidently yawn into the maw of the future rather than stare into the abyss. It’s a powerful and poetic lesson for these characters to reach in Archer’s final season that’s as entertaining as it is enlightening. “Chill Barry” is an Archer episode that’s dense in plot and gags. It throws a ton at the audience, but it’s surprising to see just how much works due to Ganek’s excellent grasp on Archer’s characters and story structure. It’s an episode that would fall apart if it were in less experienced hands and it thoroughly understands how to undercut its weaknesses and turn them into strengths–something that Sterling and Barry have adeptly done since their very first meeting. One of them just now happens to be a post-coma dad and the other is a kitchen appliance. No big deal. 

Oh, and the passcode for Other Barry’s Doomsday Machine was definitely: FRISKY DINGO. Let’s be real here, people.