Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Archer’ Season 14 on FXX/Hulu, Marking The Final Mission For The Animated Super Spy Send-Up

Archer will debut the first two episodes of its 14th and final season on FXX before hitting Hulu for streaming the following day. And since its debut way back in 2009, it’s been a solid, enjoyable run for creator and co-star Adam Reed’s animated spy world sitcom, where evildoers are thwarted because of – or in spite of – super agent Sterling Archer (H. Jon Benjamin) and the eccentric personalities that populate his spy agency workplace. Reed, Benjamin, Judy Greer, Aisha Tyler, Amber Nash, Chris Parnell, and Lucky Yates all return in Season 14, with Natalie Dew joining the cast as a super spy who’s even more super than Archer thinks he is. That is, if she’s really who she says she is.    

ARCHER – THE FINAL SEASON: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT? 

Opening Shot: As the boss of The Agency as it heads into a new and independent era, Lana Kane (Tyler) is issuing directives and dictating to underlings inside a bustling office. “Tell them ‘No,’” she orders one of the new hires. “And swear a lot. I expect foulness and creativity.”

The Gist: Some things never change, like Archer’s penchant for booze. But as he slips a flask from the folds of his double-breasted suit at the team’s morning meeting, Lana settles behind the big desk to lead their spy agency in what she envisions as a new direction of efficiency and prosperity. “Missions that make us money and the world a better place. No muss, no waste.” Lead accountant Cyril Figgis (Parnell) wonders if transparency is really the best practice for an office engaged in covert operations – he receives the usual round of potty-mouthed insults and put-downs for this observation – but loopy human resources chief Pam Poovey (Nash) is ready to assist with all of Lana’s new hires, Ray Gillette (Reed) is excited about booking new work, Dr. Algernop Krieger just wants room for his typically outlandish experiments, and administrative assistant Cheryl Tunt has taken to subtly threatening her coworkers with sharpened cooking implements. So, business is back to usual, in other words. 

And the spying business just might be picking up. The Agency team’s been tapped to work with Interpol on nabbing an elusive, powerful ring of international jewel thieves known as the Vanguard, which means it’s off to Paris for Archer, Ray, and Pam, where they rendezvous with their new contact. “Agent Z,” Zara Khan (Dew) is sure handed, bold, in possession of flawless bone structure, and ready with a black bag operation to grab some fancy jewels and draw out the Vanguard. A super agent with international panache, confidence bordering on arrogance, a host of gadgets and weapons, and who’s beautiful to boot? No, that’s not going to make Archer flustered, jealous, and chauvinistic at all. No way. 

With Zara joining Archer in the field, Lana is freed up to focus on heading up The Agency. But there are questions from the rank and file about her leadership, and they aren’t answered by the decomposing, besuited body that her office renovations reveal behind a wall. But with an excuse quickly concocted by Cyril – you mean you’ve never heard of a one man show version of The Cask of Amontillado? – and the offer of raises for everyone who wants to stick around with this spy agency’s evolving versions of crazy, things should move along nicely. Now, if only Archer could determine whether Zara’s backstory is legitimate or subterfuge.    

What Shows Will It Remind You Of? The new Netflix adult animation comedy Captain Fall might be an option for those lamenting the end of Archer’s impressive decade-plus run. And barring all of its behind-the-toons drama, Solar Opposites in its new fourth season continues to sweep a powerful joke tractor beam across the night sky. 

Our Take: After all of the James Bond buffoonery and seasons-long detours into comatose dreams, increasingly absurd side hustles, and quests for its core characters to find themselves, Archer has found itself back at the beginning as it stares down its end. Sterling Archer, never very far away from a cocktail, is back in the field and bashing heads alongside Zara Khan, even as he suspects she’s not telling the whole truth. (In an early scene where he giddily drives a motorcycle down a flight of steps, Archer manages to both impress Zara and reveal himself as an easily excited simpleton.) Pam and Ray form a kind of two-headed setup team, lobbing jabs in Archer’s easily-jabbed-at direction and playing well off each other – and perhaps unlocking some of the mystery surrounding their new colleague Zara – and back at HQ, as the body in the wall becomes a headache for HR, Lana has the Agency hewing nicely to her vision. Aside from new blood Zara, these characters and their foibles are fully established, and the same goes for the respective styles of the voice actors playing them, so Archer is at its most effective and entertaining when it sticks them into familiar situations and just leans into the banter. We’re not investing in the stakes of the missions Archer and the team take on. We’re investing in all of the goofs, crass moments, and self-involved absurdities that come along with it. That’s what was funny in 2009, and it’s funny in 2023 as Archer prepares to shut it all down.      

Sex and Skin: Sterling Archer’s usual MO as an inveterate philanderer with drinks close at hand is present and accounted for here. But it’s already funny to watch Zara Khan throw his horn-dogging right back in his face at every turn. 

Parting Shot: Zara, Pam, Ray, and Archer have made contact with the Vanguard under the guise of being jewel thieves themselves. Great plan, very secret agent. Just be sure to keep an eye out for tranquilizer dar–oh shit!

Sleeper Star: Judy Greer is usually the sleeper star of anything she’s in, and her work in Archer is no different. Cheryl Tunt is always up to something – a list that includes a handful of different personas – and she spends most of the early going of this season brandishing a set of kabob skewers. (She wears them in a holster like six-guns.) But Greer’s voice acting always adds depth to that surface layer of kookiness. Could Cheryl actually be the most calculating of this bunch?   

Most Pilot-y Line: Stealing jewels? Pretending there’s a mole in Interpol so they don’t contact them? Pam and Ray are more receptive, but Archer’s not buying what super-agent Zara is selling. “We’re turning her in to the cops, right? If the French have cops and not, like, mimes with invisible guns?” 

Our Call: STREAM IT. Whatever the format, 14 seasons is an eternity in today’s cancel-happy media landscape. So why not stick with its spy thriller absurdities and zippy workplace comedy vibes as Archer brings this thing into the station with a return to its first-generation format? 

Johnny Loftus is an independent writer and editor living at large in Chicagoland. His work has appeared in The Village Voice, All Music Guide, Pitchfork Media, and Nicki Swift. Follow him on Twitter: @glennganges