Training Day (Archer)
Encyclopedia
"Training Day" is the second episode of the animated comedy Archer
. It was written by Archer creator and co-executive producer
, Adam Reed
, and directed by Mack Williams. In the episode, Archer's mother Malory assigns her son the task of training Cyril to be an agent. Meanwhile, secretary Cheryl and human resources
representative Pam take advantage of Malory being temporarily blinded by an allergic reaction.
"Training Day" was produced at Floyd County Productions and animated at Radical Axis
studio in Atlanta, over the course of approximately one month. FX had initially planned on airing the series alongside the fifth season of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
in 2009, but production constraints led to it being pushed back to January 2010. The episode features cultural references to the films Rain Man
and James Bond
, and stand-up comedian and actor
Dane Cook
. In its original broadcast, the episode was met with 1.8 million viewers and positive reviews.
and using concealable weapons which have a tendency to malfunction "for, like, no reason." One of his sessions involves trying to kill an assassin (portrayed by Archer's butler, Woodhouse) and using a dance partner (played by a prostitute Archer has befriended) as a human shield. During the session, however, Cyril accidentally poisons the prostitute and both he and Archer pronounce her deceased.
The pair put the prostitute in Archer's trunk and drive off, hoping to dispose of the body in an undisclosed location. On the way, however, Archer reveals he is aware of Malory's plan and has been attempting to discourage Cyril from becoming a field agent, presumably due to his own feelings for Lana, and had orchestrated the whole fiasco to this end (revealing the prostitute was merely tranquilized). At this point, the car is rammed by a pursuing vehicle. Cyril believes this is part of Archer's hoax, until their pursuer opens fire on them. In a true show of his character, Archer threatens to eject from the car and leave the hysterical Cyril behind. Their mystery attacker then ceases fire and reveals herself to be Lana, who has discovered Archer's assignment and decided to put a stop to it. Despite Cyril's concern about being caught with a dead hooker, Lana reveals she is only upset he felt the need to keep secrets from her, so she punishes Cyril by forcing him to buy inter-racial pornography
from "the sweet old Korean lady" at the video store. Archer releases the prostitute in the trunk after Cyril and Lana depart, who reveals she was not in on the plan. Archer is forced to not only pay her obscene amounts of money as collateral, but also give her his car, leaving him stranded.
Meanwhile, Malory becomes temporally blinded after having an allergic reaction to zucchini. Seeing this as an opportunity to help themselves, secretary Cheryl and human resources
representative Pam hack into the ISIS computer mainframe from Malory's office and alter their files, allowing them better health care and other perks they can not afford themselves. The whole time, Malory rants about how disgruntled she is about her own and others' life choices.
creator and co-executive producer
Adam Reed
, while the series' animation director
Mack Williams directed it. In 2009, FX network had officially greenlit production of the series, ordering six episodes and an additional four scripts. Over the course of approximately one month, "Training Day" was produced at Reed's Floyd County Productions studio in Atlanta, Georgia
, and animated at the Radical Axis Studio
, also located in Atlanta.
FX originally planned on pairing Archer with the fifth season of the network's situation comedy
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
on Thursday nights in the Fall. However, the network learned of the month-long production period needed to create the necessary six episodes, and realized that there was not enough time to have all of the episodes ready before Philadelphia began its new season. FX instead decided to release a sneak airing of the pilot episode "Mole Hunt
" on September 17, 2009, without any promotion or announcement, and began broadcast of the first season with "Training Day" on January 14, 2010.
The episode featured multiple cultural references. While discussing his training, Cyril asks Archer if he will teach him the art of karate. In response, Archer negatively compares karate to the stand-up comedian and actor Dane Cook
. Archer explains that Cyril shall be trained by a former member of Mossad
in order to perform Krav Maga
, an eclectic hand-to-hand combat system developed in Israel.
While Archer and Cyril are being shot at by an unknown vehicle behind them, Archer refers to Cyrill as "Rain Man
," a 1988 drama film
starring Tom Cruise
and Dustin Hoffman
. Cyril believes that Archer is calling himself a better spy than James Bond
from the James Bond film series
, to which Archer pronounces "I don’t like to invite that comparison but... yeah, basically." Several critics have noted satirical
comparisons between Archer and the Bond films. Reed himself based the Archer character on Bond, because he perceives Bond as being misogynistic and racist.
Archer calls the .25 calibre pistol he keeps in his underwear a Chekhov
. 1.2 million of these viewers were aged between the ages of 18 and 49, the core demographic for Archer. A re-airing of the pilot episode "Mole Hunt" preceded it and attracted a slightly smaller amount of viewers, with 1.4 million viewers, only 950,000 being between 18 and 49.
"Training Day" received generally positive reviews from television critics. Annie Wu applauded the episode in her review for TV Squad. Wu dispensed that the best part was the writing, and acted as "a prime example of how ridiculously rapid-fire the conversations can get." She singled out the scene where Archer gives an "oddly specific" situation as to when he would utilize a gun hidden in his underwear. Wu opined that she "loved" Jessica Walter
's performance as Malory, declaring that she "wins this episode" with lines such as "Immigrants! That's how they do, y'know. Just drive around, listening to raps and shooting all the jobs."
Brian Zoromski of IGN
rewarded the episode a 9.0 out of 10, signifying it as "Outstanding." Zoromski called the voice cast "absolutely excellent," writing that H. Jon Benjamin
's delivery as Archer was "brilliantly over-the-top, from his drunken outburst and almost-accidental stopping of a terrorist, to his education of all things spy-related," and noted that both the series satirical themes and character development were "alternately obvious and subtle" and "Archer's biggest strength." Salon.com
's Heather Havrilesky called the exchange between Archer and Cyrill concerning the latter's martial arts training a "[zinger that flies] by pretty quickly."
Archer (TV series)
Archer is an American animated television series created by Adam Reed for the FX network. A preview of the series aired on September 17, 2009. The first season premiered on January 14, 2010. The show carries a TV-MA-LSV rating....
. It was written by Archer creator and co-executive producer
Executive producer
An executive producer is a producer who is not involved in any technical aspects of the film making or music process, but who is still responsible for the overall production...
, Adam Reed
Adam Reed
Adam Brooks Reed is an American voice actor, writer, director and producer. He is most often associated with Adult Swim and 70/30 Productions....
, and directed by Mack Williams. In the episode, Archer's mother Malory assigns her son the task of training Cyril to be an agent. Meanwhile, secretary Cheryl and human resources
Human resources
Human resources is a term used to describe the individuals who make up the workforce of an organization, although it is also applied in labor economics to, for example, business sectors or even whole nations...
representative Pam take advantage of Malory being temporarily blinded by an allergic reaction.
"Training Day" was produced at Floyd County Productions and animated at Radical Axis
Radical axis
The radical axis of two circles is the locus of points at which tangents drawn to both circles have the same length. For any point P on the radical axis, there is a unique circle centered on P that intersects both circles at right angles ; conversely, the center of any circle that cuts both...
studio in Atlanta, over the course of approximately one month. FX had initially planned on airing the series alongside the fifth season of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia is an American television sitcom that premiered on FX on August 4, 2005. New episodes continue to air on FX, with reruns playing on Comedy Central, general broadcast syndication, and WGN America—the first-ever cable-to-cable syndication deal for a sitcom...
in 2009, but production constraints led to it being pushed back to January 2010. The episode features cultural references to the films Rain Man
Rain Man
Rain Man is a 1988 drama film written by Barry Morrow and Ronald Bass and directed by Barry Levinson. It tells the story of an abrasive and selfish yuppie, Charlie Babbitt, who discovers that his estranged father has died and bequeathed all of his multimillion-dollar estate to his other son,...
and James Bond
James Bond (film series)
The James Bond film series is a British series of motion pictures based on the fictional character of MI6 agent James Bond , who originally appeared in a series of books by Ian Fleming. Earlier films were based on Fleming's novels and short stories, followed later by films with original storylines...
, and stand-up comedian and actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
Dane Cook
Dane Cook
Dane Jeffrey Cook is an American stand-up comedian and film actor. He has released five comedy albums: Harmful If Swallowed; Retaliation; Vicious Circle; Rough Around The Edges: Live From Madison Square Garden; and Isolated Incident. In 2006, Retaliation became the highest charting comedy album...
. In its original broadcast, the episode was met with 1.8 million viewers and positive reviews.
Plot summary
Malory begins to suspect that Lana's feelings for her son, Sterling Archer, are beginning to resurface. Hoping to readjust Lana's desires so they are steered towards her current boyfriend, Cyril, she promotes Cyril to a field agent and assigns Archer the job of training him. Archer briefs Cyril of his multiple training tactics, including learning Krav MagaKrav Maga
Krav Maga is a noncompetitive eclectic self-defense system developed in Europe that involves striking techniques, wrestling and grappling. Krav Maga is known for its focus on real-world situations and extremely efficient, brutal counter-attacks...
and using concealable weapons which have a tendency to malfunction "for, like, no reason." One of his sessions involves trying to kill an assassin (portrayed by Archer's butler, Woodhouse) and using a dance partner (played by a prostitute Archer has befriended) as a human shield. During the session, however, Cyril accidentally poisons the prostitute and both he and Archer pronounce her deceased.
The pair put the prostitute in Archer's trunk and drive off, hoping to dispose of the body in an undisclosed location. On the way, however, Archer reveals he is aware of Malory's plan and has been attempting to discourage Cyril from becoming a field agent, presumably due to his own feelings for Lana, and had orchestrated the whole fiasco to this end (revealing the prostitute was merely tranquilized). At this point, the car is rammed by a pursuing vehicle. Cyril believes this is part of Archer's hoax, until their pursuer opens fire on them. In a true show of his character, Archer threatens to eject from the car and leave the hysterical Cyril behind. Their mystery attacker then ceases fire and reveals herself to be Lana, who has discovered Archer's assignment and decided to put a stop to it. Despite Cyril's concern about being caught with a dead hooker, Lana reveals she is only upset he felt the need to keep secrets from her, so she punishes Cyril by forcing him to buy inter-racial pornography
Pornography
Pornography or porn is the explicit portrayal of sexual subject matter for the purposes of sexual arousal and erotic satisfaction.Pornography may use any of a variety of media, ranging from books, magazines, postcards, photos, sculpture, drawing, painting, animation, sound recording, film, video,...
from "the sweet old Korean lady" at the video store. Archer releases the prostitute in the trunk after Cyril and Lana depart, who reveals she was not in on the plan. Archer is forced to not only pay her obscene amounts of money as collateral, but also give her his car, leaving him stranded.
Meanwhile, Malory becomes temporally blinded after having an allergic reaction to zucchini. Seeing this as an opportunity to help themselves, secretary Cheryl and human resources
Human resources
Human resources is a term used to describe the individuals who make up the workforce of an organization, although it is also applied in labor economics to, for example, business sectors or even whole nations...
representative Pam hack into the ISIS computer mainframe from Malory's office and alter their files, allowing them better health care and other perks they can not afford themselves. The whole time, Malory rants about how disgruntled she is about her own and others' life choices.
Production
"Training Day" was written by ArcherArcher (TV series)
Archer is an American animated television series created by Adam Reed for the FX network. A preview of the series aired on September 17, 2009. The first season premiered on January 14, 2010. The show carries a TV-MA-LSV rating....
creator and co-executive producer
Executive producer
An executive producer is a producer who is not involved in any technical aspects of the film making or music process, but who is still responsible for the overall production...
Adam Reed
Adam Reed
Adam Brooks Reed is an American voice actor, writer, director and producer. He is most often associated with Adult Swim and 70/30 Productions....
, while the series' animation director
Animation director
An animation director is the director in charge of all aspects of the animation process during the production of an animated film or animated segment for a live-action film...
Mack Williams directed it. In 2009, FX network had officially greenlit production of the series, ordering six episodes and an additional four scripts. Over the course of approximately one month, "Training Day" was produced at Reed's Floyd County Productions studio in Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...
, and animated at the Radical Axis Studio
Radical Axis (studio)
Radical Axis is an animation studio headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, United States known for its diverse work in both episodic television and commercials...
, also located in Atlanta.
FX originally planned on pairing Archer with the fifth season of the network's situation comedy
Situation comedy
A situation comedy, often shortened to sitcom, is a genre of comedy that features characters sharing the same common environment, such as a home or workplace, accompanied with jokes as part of the dialogue...
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia is an American television sitcom that premiered on FX on August 4, 2005. New episodes continue to air on FX, with reruns playing on Comedy Central, general broadcast syndication, and WGN America—the first-ever cable-to-cable syndication deal for a sitcom...
on Thursday nights in the Fall. However, the network learned of the month-long production period needed to create the necessary six episodes, and realized that there was not enough time to have all of the episodes ready before Philadelphia began its new season. FX instead decided to release a sneak airing of the pilot episode "Mole Hunt
Mole Hunt
"Mole Hunt" is the pilot episode of the animated comedy Archer. It was the first episode produced for the show and originally aired as a special sneak preview on September 17, 2009, but officially aired billed as the second episode on January 14, 2010 after the episode "Training Day" which aired...
" on September 17, 2009, without any promotion or announcement, and began broadcast of the first season with "Training Day" on January 14, 2010.
Cultural references
Dane Cook
Dane Jeffrey Cook is an American stand-up comedian and film actor. He has released five comedy albums: Harmful If Swallowed; Retaliation; Vicious Circle; Rough Around The Edges: Live From Madison Square Garden; and Isolated Incident. In 2006, Retaliation became the highest charting comedy album...
. Archer explains that Cyril shall be trained by a former member of Mossad
Mossad
The Mossad , short for HaMossad leModi'in uleTafkidim Meyuchadim , is the national intelligence agency of Israel....
in order to perform Krav Maga
Krav Maga
Krav Maga is a noncompetitive eclectic self-defense system developed in Europe that involves striking techniques, wrestling and grappling. Krav Maga is known for its focus on real-world situations and extremely efficient, brutal counter-attacks...
, an eclectic hand-to-hand combat system developed in Israel.
While Archer and Cyril are being shot at by an unknown vehicle behind them, Archer refers to Cyrill as "Rain Man
Rain Man
Rain Man is a 1988 drama film written by Barry Morrow and Ronald Bass and directed by Barry Levinson. It tells the story of an abrasive and selfish yuppie, Charlie Babbitt, who discovers that his estranged father has died and bequeathed all of his multimillion-dollar estate to his other son,...
," a 1988 drama film
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
starring Tom Cruise
Tom Cruise
Thomas Cruise Mapother IV , better known as Tom Cruise, is an American film actor and producer. He has been nominated for three Academy Awards and he has won three Golden Globe Awards....
and Dustin Hoffman
Dustin Hoffman
Dustin Lee Hoffman is an American actor with a career in film, television, and theatre since 1960. He has been known for his versatile portrayals of antiheroes and vulnerable characters....
. Cyril believes that Archer is calling himself a better spy than James Bond
James Bond
James Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...
from the James Bond film series
James Bond (film series)
The James Bond film series is a British series of motion pictures based on the fictional character of MI6 agent James Bond , who originally appeared in a series of books by Ian Fleming. Earlier films were based on Fleming's novels and short stories, followed later by films with original storylines...
, to which Archer pronounces "I don’t like to invite that comparison but... yeah, basically." Several critics have noted satirical
Satire
Satire is primarily a literary genre or form, although in practice it can also be found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, and society itself, into improvement...
comparisons between Archer and the Bond films. Reed himself based the Archer character on Bond, because he perceives Bond as being misogynistic and racist.
Archer calls the .25 calibre pistol he keeps in his underwear a Chekhov
Chekhov's gun
Chekhov's gun is a literary technique whereby an apparently irrelevant element is introduced early in the story whose significance becomes clear later in the narrative. The concept is named after Russian playwright Anton Chekhov, who mentioned several variants of the concept in letters...
Reception
In its original broadcast on FX, "Training Day" was watched by 1.8 million viewers, according to Nielsen ratingsNielsen Ratings
Nielsen ratings are the audience measurement systems developed by Nielsen Media Research, in an effort to determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States...
. 1.2 million of these viewers were aged between the ages of 18 and 49, the core demographic for Archer. A re-airing of the pilot episode "Mole Hunt" preceded it and attracted a slightly smaller amount of viewers, with 1.4 million viewers, only 950,000 being between 18 and 49.
"Training Day" received generally positive reviews from television critics. Annie Wu applauded the episode in her review for TV Squad. Wu dispensed that the best part was the writing, and acted as "a prime example of how ridiculously rapid-fire the conversations can get." She singled out the scene where Archer gives an "oddly specific" situation as to when he would utilize a gun hidden in his underwear. Wu opined that she "loved" Jessica Walter
Jessica Walter
Jessica Walter is an American actress, known for the films Play Misty for Me, Grand Prix, and for her role as Lucille Bluth on the sitcom Arrested Development...
's performance as Malory, declaring that she "wins this episode" with lines such as "Immigrants! That's how they do, y'know. Just drive around, listening to raps and shooting all the jobs."
Brian Zoromski of IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
rewarded the episode a 9.0 out of 10, signifying it as "Outstanding." Zoromski called the voice cast "absolutely excellent," writing that H. Jon Benjamin
H. Jon Benjamin
Henry Jon Benjamin , known professionally as H. Jon Benjamin and Jon Benjamin, is an American actor, comedian and writer best known for his voice-over roles as Jason and Coach McGuirk on Home Movies, Ben on Dr...
's delivery as Archer was "brilliantly over-the-top, from his drunken outburst and almost-accidental stopping of a terrorist, to his education of all things spy-related," and noted that both the series satirical themes and character development were "alternately obvious and subtle" and "Archer's biggest strength." Salon.com
Salon.com
Salon.com, part of Salon Media Group , often just called Salon, is an online liberal magazine, with content updated each weekday. Salon was founded by David Talbot and launched on November 20, 1995. It was the internet's first online-only commercial publication. The magazine focuses on U.S...
's Heather Havrilesky called the exchange between Archer and Cyrill concerning the latter's martial arts training a "[zinger that flies] by pretty quickly."
External links
- "Training Day" at TV.comTV.comTV.com is a website owned by CBS Interactive. The site covers television and focuses on English-language shows made or broadcast in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland and Japan...
- "Training Day" script at www.archerscripts.com