Though it often gets grouped with other crass cartoons such as Family Guy or South Park, Archer has, at its heart, always been something more—a takedown of the male ethos and the hyper-masculine tough-guys we have to deal with every day. Through clever and ungodly irreverent writing, it has managed to blend legitimately poignant character study with raunchy one-liners, throw in homages to cheesy movies, films and music, and biting satire about the insecurities and failings of those society puts in a pedestal.

With such a sprawling show so rich in levity and pathos, it can prove extremely difficult to pinpoint just 10 episodes that really showed off what the show had to offer. That said, I’m extremely bored, so I’m gonna try and do just that. Here’s the top ten episodes of FX’s Archer.

Also, Warning: serious spoilers ahead.

Runner up: "Skytanic"

Season 1 was still finding out exactly what it wanted to be over the course of its first 10 episodes, and as a result, some episodes came off like gory, sexy episodes of Bob’s Burgers. “Skytanic” was the first time Archer really felt like its own unique show, riffing on over-the-top disaster romances, slipping in some clever jabs at racial profilers and the NTSB, and referencing everything form Scooby-doo to Legends of the Fall in between. The premise—that ISIS (the spy agency the characters work for…it was a different time) has to stop a bombing on a blimp quickly spirals out of control as Archer gets into gambling debt, and tries to sell his partner to get out of trouble—is absurd, yet just real enough that you could totally see Leonardo DiCaprio or Martin Shkreli trying to do something similar.

10. "A Going Concern"

This one is just mad-cap fun. When Mallory tries to sell the company to a man who could be his father (played by Arrested Development’s Jeffery Tambor), Archer flips out, scared his mother may actually find some meaningful happiness, and that he’ll lose his dream job as ‘super’ spy. But with his arch nemesis Barry on the premises, and plenty of guards about to keep ISIS workers from interfering with the merger, Archer needs to get inventive. And that’s where Hitler’s biological clone, Dr. Krieger, might be of some help. While it doesn’t build the mythology or give us any new insights into what makes Archer tick, this episode is hysterical, and manages to keep that hilarity cresting for 21 straight minutes, all while delivering a really bleak finale.

9. "The Honey-Moaners"

Archer and Lana’s ‘will-they-won’t-they’ relationship never had as much vigor as, say Jim and Pam on The Office, or Fred and Wesley on Angel. But it doesn’t really have to—it keeps laughs coming. Never is that clearer than on “The Honey-Mooners,” where we see Archer almost win back the love of his life, only to blow it—again, and again, and again. We also get a rather chilly examination of accountant-cum-fedora-tipper Cyril Figgis, which makes him look both pathetic and dangerous at once. But that’s not to say “The Honey-Mooners” isn’t funny—it delivers jokes in spades. And that punchline at the end… just classic Archer.

8. "Lo Scandalo"

When it comes to wacky concept episodes, comedies have always come in second to darker dramas like Dexter, Buffy, or Lost. But that doesn’t mean animated sit-coms can’t produce a few Nolan-esque twists of their own. “Lo Scandolo” takes on the trippy mystery plot, all while providing a plethora of character based gags and gaffes. The gang gets called in to dispose of a body in their boss’s house, although she swears she didn’t kill the man in question. But things get more complicated when it turns out the body belonged to an important Italian senator, and when the police show up un-announced. Subtle and tense, this gem showcased everything great about season three—which, in case I haven’t mentioned, is everything.

7. "Crossing Over"

One of Archer’s many strengths is the funny-sad-funny formula. It will create a joke, turn that joke on its head and make the audience legitimately care about the characters involved, only to throw another joke in to make us laugh again. “Crossing over” is perhaps the best example of this formula at work. Two defining pillars of Sterling Archer’s character—his search for a Dad who will be there for him, and his weird attraction/aversion to Pam, collide in a goofy, violent, and ultimately melancholic episode about bonding, fatherhood, sex and love. Plus we get a scene where two walking punchlines—Major Jakov and Byonic-Barry, respectively—go head to head in a spectacularly crazy fight scene.

6. "Vision Quest"

Everyone hates corny team-building assignments. Everyone hates getting stuck in elevators. Everyone hates white people pretending to be black, guns going off all around you, clones of clones of Hitler, sentient toasters, megalomaniacal bosses, and Tony Robbins. You combine all those things, and you end up with an episode everybody… loves. Go figure, huh?

5. "The Kanes"

Archer has always loved to pay homage to over-the-top discount-barrel pulp films, shows, and comics. Just watch any of the season finales if you need proof. But never has it tackled anything as exalted as the Steve McQueen action classic, Bullit. Thankfully, Archer spoofs this source material with reverence, crafting a fun, bullet-strewn action set-piece around a super-awkward family dinner at Lana’s house—which Archer is forced to attend. My only complaint is that the rest of the gang aren’t given much to do. Then again, I wouldn’t want to take any time away from the glory that is Archer, Lana and Lana’s dad careening around San Francisco shooting at terrorists while discussing barbeque meats.

4. "Arrival Departure"

Archer:Vice has its fans and its discontents. Its attempt to tell one continuous action story were both, on occasion, glorious and dull. But no one can deny the last four episodes, which see the gang try and topple a dictatorship—were spectacular. This has everything. Cyril as Michael Du-cockless,
Krieger and the Clone Bones, that unnerving moment when our Krieger gets killed and a clone takes his place, Lana giving birth while firing a shot gun at Christian Slater and, most of all, that I-just-have-something-in-my-eye sequence where Archer finds out he’s a daddy, after all. “Arrival Departure” is the strongest of the four episodes, but they’re all completely copacetic.

3. "Legs"

Ray Gilette, the one time Olympic runner, now paraplegiac has-been, is one of the funnier cast members. A lone blip of sanity—or as close to sanity as you can get in the Archer universe—it’s both funny and sad to watch him cope with the insane antics of everyone around him… and usually pay the price for them.
But in this episode, the brilliant Dr. Krieger offers him some hope of walking again—by providing him with bionic legs. But not everyone’s on board with this. Archer, for one, thinks the interbreeding of man and robot is an aberration, and hurries around the office desperately trying to put an end to the operation that would help fix Ray. This episode rival’s Seinfeld’s “The contest” and Arrested Development’s “Pier Pressure” for the funniest thing ever filmed; I’ve never laughed quite so hard before or since.

2. "Placebo Effect"

Another great example of the funny-sad-funny story telling, “Placebo effect,” and the episode that precede it, see Archer fighting cancer (which he got from having sex in an X-ray machine), struggling to cope with the fact he’s alienated everyone around him with his selfish, crass behavior. Then he meets someone who doesn’t care—a poor old lady who, like him, is going to get chemo all alone. The two of them hit it off, only for her to perish—her cancer medicine has been watered down by a pharmaceutical company owned by the mob. In a rage, Archer strong-arms Lana into driving him around New York, loaded down with IV drips, a urethra knife, medical marijuana, high power assault weapons, a video camera, and a slowly receding hairline, to hunt down and kill those responsible for the death of his only friend.

And, of course, film it and make it into an awesome action movie for his co-workers to watch.

Moving from start to finish, “Placebo Effect” puts a painful punch into archer’s normally absurd proceedings, with spectacular results.

1. "Heart of Archness"

Nothing I can say about this hasn’t already been said better by rabid fans on the internet. It’s a full length move about grief, loss, and traditional gender roles. And pirates. And Kronk from The Emperor’s New Groove. And pirate kings. Just… just go watch it. Trust me.

Agree with my analysis? Disagree? Wish I’d shut the hell up? Let me know in the comments below!