Archer S6E1 - "The Holdout" Recap

Mallory calls Archer up, having discovered his location after he went on the run due to his fears and anxieties about becoming a father. He also resents Lana for not telling him that she had used his sperm to have a baby. Mallory has a freelance mission for him from the CIA. An American spy plane went down in the jungle 500 miles from where he is and he must retrieve the onboard computer and then destroy the plane.

The rest of the team is about to see the new office for the first time. Mallory is at first elated that the 10 million dollar renovations Pam and Cheryl were put in charge of match the vision she had hoped for, an all-white and high-tech interior. Unfortunately for her, it turns out to be an elaborate hologram of a ruse. The interior has actually been done to be virtually identical to the previous office they had, with the exception of a new robot that resembles a copy machine but makes toast.

Archer lands in the jungle and encounters a Japanese soldier from WWII that still thinks that WWII is going on since he was never relieved from his post since he was deployed on 10 May 1942. Kentoro (Ken) Sato at first thinks Archer is lying as part of an elaborate rouse. He is entirely behind on the current, social, and cultural events since the 1940's. Archer needs to go find the plane to complete his mission but is compelled to take Ken prisoner so Ken doesn't try to kill him. Ken tricks Archer into falling into a trap but is forced to pull him back up out of it when some armed enemy soldiers begin approaching.

Archer ends up with a foot injury and shares a drink with Ken. He proceeds to try to fill Ken in on the historical events of America, war, and the world. He also tells him about Lana and her pregnancy. Lana is also having to deal with Mallory refusing to acknowledge that it was her idea in the first place for Lana to use Archer's sperm, but then Mallory tries to suggest that Lana change the baby's name to Mallory. Meanwhile, Ken tells Archer that he is wasting the opportunity to be a father to his child. Archer passes out and Ken steals Archer's phone to catch up on the things he missed. When Archer wakes the next morning, Ken is angry at having learned about American dropping atomic bombs on Japan. Their fight is interrupted by Mallory calling to tell him to hurry up and finish the mission.

Ken and Archer must now work together because Archer needs Ken to help him get into the plane due to his injuries and Ken needs Archer's help in order to get off the island. Further suspense is added when they are attacked by insurgents. Ken drags Archer out before hoisting him over his shoulder but forces Archer to go back towards the gunfire in order to retrieve the detonator and complete the mission. They then head for the beach to wait to be extracted. Archer asks if Ken is ready to go home and at first Ken tries to say that his family will have forgotten about him but Archer uses his super spy phone to call up Ken's wife Satomi. They share an emotional conversation and Archer shoots at the extraction team when they try to hurry them up and thus interrupt Ken's phone call.

When Archer returns, Lana berates Archer for abandoning the baby and tells him that if he is going to be involved in his daughter's life, he will need to shape up. Finally, Mallory learns that Archer joined the planning committee of the renovations and was responsible for the office being identical to the previous one. He says that he doesn't like change, with the exception of the new toast robot, which he has named "Milton."

Archer airs on Thursdays on FX at 10PM.