“It’s not a concussion if you remember it” is probably the most telling and all-encompassing line in the Season 14 trailer for the hit FX adult animated series, Archer. At the end of Season 13, the Agency is out from under the thumb of the villainous Fabian (Kayvan Novak) and IIA and finally able to operate independently. We see Lana is given the chair to lead, and she has big plans to Make the Agency Good Again.
If you’re a fan of Adult Swim, then you’ll be familiar with Archer creator Adam Reed’s Sealab 2021 and a personal fave, Frisky Dingo. Reed has a distinctive style and voice that permeates each project. His humor is irreverent, biting, oftentimes politically incorrect, and always a whole lot of fun.
Entering its 14th season, Archer has always put a lot of action into its bite-sized episodes. Most weigh in at just under 24 minutes, and each season ranges between 8 and 13, but it doesn’t mean the good stuff is in short supply. Archer scripts typically come in at 2 pages per minute, which is double that of an ordinary sitcom. The quick-paced banter and action only justify this need for more, more, more!
Archer follows the lives of the ISIS agency members in what resembles a slightly “turnt-up” office place comedy. There’s Malory Archer (the late, great Jessica Walter), Sterling Archer (H. Jon Benjamin), Lana Kane (Aisha Tyler), Pam Poovey (Amber Nash), Cheryl/Carol/Cherlyne Tunt (Judy Greer), Cyril Figgis (Chris Parnell), mad scientist Algernop Krieger (Lucky Yates), and Ray Gillette (Adam Reed). We also get into the lives of popular and enduring side characters like Barry Dylan (Dave Willis), Trinette McGoon (Maggie Wheeler), Woodhouse (the late and also great George Coe), and of course Ron Cadillac (Walter’s real-life husband Ron Liebman).
Archer is so popular that it’s drawn celebrity cameos like Christian Slater, Burt Reynolds, and Kenny Loggins. The consistent quality and surprises have led to winning several Critics Choice TV Awards for Best Animated Series and multiple Emmys for Outstanding Animated Program.
It’s hard to master not only the art of animation but the balance needed for adult animation. You have to be clever, just profane enough, and cognizant of how much swearing you can get away with. Archer has mastered the tone during its storied run.
Each season has built creatively on the original premise — a spy who can solve the world’s problems better than he can solve his own. Saying Archer is a man-child is an obvious understatement, but something about the show is able to show him as more than just a womanizing cad. When he thinks no one is looking, he can be caring and even progressive. But he fights between being “Sterling Archer: World’s Greatest Spy” and Sterling Archer, the man, the son, and the father (at times, the husband).
While we watch his journey, we become entangled in the increasingly chaotic lives of the side characters. Whether it’s relating to Cyril’s self confidence issues or even Carol’s desire to watch the world burn, there is something in every character that acts as an elevated flaw — something that makes the character uniquely them, but also maybe a menace to society.
Walter’s final appearance was Season 12, where she was given a lovely send-off along with her husband. You may know Walter from her stint as Lucille Bluth on Arrested Development. While Malory carries the unabashed privilege of Lucille, she’s got an iron heart that makes her distinctively herself, and the dry, almost always annoyed, wizened drawl that Walter delivers makes Malory completely irreplaceable.
Archer creates a great balance of tolerance with period appropriate bigotry. Often disguised as homophobia, racism, misogyny, fatphobia, etc., the intolerance of Archer really does exist in a “tell, don’t show” state. They say wild things, but they rarely if ever act on them. This serves to make the show accessible for people that inhabit those identities and have to live in a world full of microaggressions daily.
It’s not perfect, but the show goes a long way to be diverse, inviting in characters of color and actors of color to voice them. Stars like Kumail Nanjiani, Coby Bell (as the irascible mensch, Conway Stern) , Nicole Byer, Natasha Rothwell, and Keith David, and, in Season 14, actress Natalia Dew will join the team as new field agent (and Archer unraveler) Zara Khan. For a while it seemed like Aisha Tyler (the patron saint of Black nerds and girl nerds) was doing all of the heavy lifting with Kane, but now she’s able to share the duties.
Season 14 appears to be the last chance for Archer to face his mortal body and the ravages of aging. It also may be the last chance for him to mature. There are small things sprinkled in that signal the continuation of this journey. When speaking of Lana and their daughter AJ (rising voice actor Kimberly Woods), Archer mentions them as a “family.” Archer and Lana aren’t romantically involved yet, but they also seem like the expected end-game that a lot of fans are waiting for. In fact, I expect a lot of fanservice (in a good way) as we wrap up characters and storylines from 14 seasons.
Reed created a masterpiece that the actors and writers made into a work of art. The show has become one of the most entertaining and respected shows in animation and I’m looking forward to seeing it all wrapped up.
Season 14 of Archer premiered August 30, 2023, with two episodes on FX and next day on Hulu.
