In part one of the two-part finale, the Archer gang pays homage to the class movie “Fantastic Voyage.”
Special Agent Hawley informs the office that he’s about to give them top secret information about their new mission, and informs Pam that a selfie is inappropriate to be taking during the meeting.
Their assignment, to be performed as a whole for the first time since the failed Durhani mission, involves Dr. Zoltan Kovacs.
Dr. Kovacs is a Russian scientist who has been working on miniaturization and was targeted by someone.
Krieger immediately falls to floor and slams his fists, claiming that Dr. Kovacs stole his idea and he’s been working on miniaturization for years. Hawley has to inform him that shrinky dinks are not quite the same concept.
Dr. Kovacs is now in a coma with a blood clot in his brain, which the team has to remove.
Hawley tells them the big surprise — they’re going to make use of the scientist’s miniaturization process and be injected into Dr. Kovacs’s bloodstream so that they can remove the clot safely.
While waiting for the full explanation of how the mission should be executed, Archer plays the classic Operation game and spews countless one-liners at Slater.
Dr. Kovacs’s doctor and also lover, Dr. Sklodowska, enters and begins detailing step-by-step how the clot will be removed and assigns each person a specific duty to perform, with Ray being designated pilot.
Ray, by the way, is extremely unhappy with his new African-American hand and has been complaining thus far.
Archer petitions to be the pilot, and when that is denied, begins pleading his case for co-pilot.
He makes a strong argument for his placement as co-pilot on the fact that he’s had astronaut training and knows how to be weightless.
The gang has to inform him, despite the fact that he lets everyone know he’s seen every submarine movie ever made that riding in a submarine does not make someone weightless.
At this point, TV’s Michael Gray comes into the room wearing a unitard with the human systems on it, and Archer’s inner fanboy comes out.
After this, they are escorted into the laboratory and onto the submarine to prepare for miniaturization.
Krieger is in the operating room with the other surgeons, but gets kicked out because he never went to medical school and the other doctors feel he causes more of a disturbance than anything else.
Ray is pilot with Cyril as co-pilot, and Ray continues complaining about his hand. Cyril offers him a brilliant explanation about how it could be worse: his hand could have come from a serial killer and in a short amount of time he could start feeling urges until he became full blown Dexter.
Lana is to assist Archer with the laser, and the issue of their own mortality is brought up again, as it frequently is in their relationship. Lana reiterates that her parents would take AJ over Malory should anything happen to them.
Meanwhile, Malory is watching AJ during this mission, and we see her being read to by a man smoking a cigarette as well as Malory commenting on her weight again.
Pam asks Cheryl what she would do with the money should this mission be successful, and for a second Cheryl seems to be extremely mature about the situation.
She explains that it’s not about the money, but the scientific advancement and the chance to do something no one else has.
She then adds that she plans to buy an orphanage and bulldoze it for “shits and grins.”
At this point, the miniaturization starts, and it’s successful.
A robot then picks up the miniature submarine and brings it to the operating room to inject Dr. Kovacs.
As soon as the syringe is about to pierce his skin, screaming can be heard and everyone is confused.
The scene goes to the operating room, where Krieger is shown standing triumphantly around everyone else, who he knocked to the ground.
He explains that he’s taking up for himself to Malory, and it’s discovered that in Krieger’s fit, he hit the robot and it injected the submarine into Dr. Kovacs’s foot instead of the original entry through his neck.
Because there is no way to extract the team now, the plan is to have them make their way to his tear duct in order to get out.
We’re left with a cliffhanger.