Dark-humored Archer is Ending.

Fans are elated and sad that the final season of the dark-humored Archer premiered August 30th. Brooklyn’s very own JG Thirlwell has written the scores for Archer since season 7. Thirlwell’s music, which is frenetic and verging at times on diabolical, is the perfect soundtrack to this hilarious show about haphazard secret spies. Don’t miss it!

Archer first aired September 17, 2009.

It’s an animated parody of James Bond movies. Archer follows the comical exploits of the espionage master, Sterling Archer. Archer and his spy colleagues work for the CIA, previously under his mother’s, Mallory Archer, direction. The spies routinely sabotage each other, which results in comically dangerous situations.

Season 14 sees Archer and The Agency working under the direction of Lana. Her goal is to make money and the world a better place. This task is not so easy however.

One of the things that is wonderful about comedy is its ability to cut through to the heart of the matter.

There are no constraints in true comedy regardless of sex, gender, race, age, creed, and so on. Archer delves into the darker aspects of people’s personalities and behaviors and doesn’t hold back any punches. It enables us to laugh about our past traumas or come face-to-face with previous transgressions perhaps, in a way we wouldn’t be able to stomach otherwise.

Sterling Archer is voiced by H. Jon Benjamin.

He is good-looking with sleek, black hair and blue eyes, but is arrogant, selfish, and hypocritical. He is a high-functioning alcoholic as well. His flaws and quirks are some things that make dark-humored Archer so hilarious. He is the first person to accuse others of bigotry to prop himself up, while being bigoted himself. Archer often makes mistakes, and blames them on his colleagues to avoid his mother’s scorn.

Throughout the show, his relationship with Mallory Archer is shown with flashbacks to his childhood.

Archer has abandonment issues since his mother was absent for most of his life. Archer has been the victim of Mallory’s neglect for most of it as well. For example, she once sent him to boarding school, and moved while he was there without notifying the school or Archer. He took a train alone to go home, and wound up at a police station. When Archer confronts her about her irresponsible parenting, Mallory responds that he could have looked her up in the phone book first. This gives us an insight into Archer’s personality flaws.

It’s been suggested a few times throughout the sitcom that Archer is autistic.

For example, Archer has an encyclopedic knowledge of weapons. His behaviors make it difficult to discern if he is insensitive or has a truly limited grasp of nuance in human interactions. A running gag on the show is Archer will repeatedly say someone’s name, usually his wife Lana’s, until they irately respond. One can’t be sure if it’s just for attention or if he doesn’t realize he is being ignored.

Mallory Archer was Archer’s hawkish, narcissistic mother who ran their CIA spy program.

She was voiced by Jessica Walter (a Brooklynite!) until her passing in 2021. Mallory was a handsome older woman with short grey hair. She passed the agency along to Archer in season 12. While she ran it she never hesitated to harshly chide and criticize her employees.

Mallory had no qualms about her worldviews.

She was an open elitist and politically aligned with the conservative side of the spectrum. A dangerously crafty and sly woman, she proved to be ruthless and willing to do anything to succeed, including hurting herself. She was a force to be reckoned with, even with a drink in her hand at all times. She was one of the darkest and most hilarious characters on the dark-humored Archer series.

Much like Archer, she attributed her own flaws to others.

She once described Archer as a “vain, selfish, lying, and quite possibly alcoholic man-whore”, which could equally describe her as well. Throughout the show she demonstrated an amoral, cavalier attitude. For example, Mallory once went to great lengths to fake a bomb threat. She was jealous that her rival, Trudy Beekman, was going on a coveted trip on an airship called Excelsior. Mallory faked the bomb threat so that Trudy would be bumped off the guest list, and she could go instead.

Mallory Archer was one of the funniest characters in dark-humored Archer.

Being absent most of Archer’s life did not give her pause for introspection. Instead, she resorted to bribing him with gifts to gain his affection when he insisted that she wasn’t his mother. As previously mentioned, Mallory is a harsh critic, but she is harshest of all to Archer. Throughout the series, her behavior toward Archer oscillates between indulgence and harsh neglect. Understandably, this is where much of his neuroses and behaviors stem from.

Since Jessica Walter died in the middle of making season 12, her character couldn’t continue. Mallory disappeared due to mysterious circumstances. Such is the life of a secret agent with no moral compass though.

Ray Gillette is one of the more affable, fun characters in Archer, though he has a sarcastic, dark side as well.

Ray is voiced by Adam Reed. Growing up in the backwoods of West Virginia, he was forced to conceal his homosexuality from his conservative father as he grew up. He regularly considers his co-spies and loathes when they don’t take other’s feelings into consideration. Despite being one of the more good-natured characters on Archer, Ray has definitely has an acerbic, even dark side to his personality.

Though Ray generally enjoys being kind to people, he hates Archer.

Ray sees him as irredeemably selfish. Aside from that, Archer was the direct cause of Ray becoming paralyzed from the legs down and he refuses to take responsibility. As a result, Ray values Archer’s life much less than anyone else. For example, one time there was an active bomb in Mallory Archer’s desk, and Ray didn’t bother to tell Archer how to disarm it. Will we get to see Archer’s character grow and confront the insensitive, selfish lout he has been?

Ray’s sass outweighs any of his darkness, and he is one of the funner, warmer characters in dark-humored Archer.

Lana Kane is a beautiful, intelligent black woman with dark hair done up in a ponytail.

Voiced by Aisha Tyler, she is one of the more rational characters in the show. She has a zero-tolerance policy for foolishness, however. She will resort to violence whether or not it’s called for. Lana is also Archer’s love interest. Though she cares about him deeply, Archer is simultaneously one of the biggest sources of aggravation for her throughout the show.

Lana is arguably the most sensitive, empathetic character on the dark-humored Archer series.

Lana is one of the more complex characters. She is more left-leaning politically and this often causes friction at her workplace. She is very tough, however she is also incredibly caring and loyal. Archer once confided in her that she is his only friend. Though she is one of the more upstanding characters on the show, she is not without moral culpability. She once stole Archer’s frozen sperm to impregnate herself while in a relationship with their co-spy, Cyril Figgis. While she did this she was enraged that Cyril was cheating on her with multiple women.

Cyril Figgis is Archer’s punching bag.

He is voiced by Chris Parnell of SNL fame. Cyril has displayed his intelligence numerous times throughout the dark-humored Archer series. However, he does a lot for the agency that he never receives recognition for. It’s not ineptitude that gets Cyril picked on, but his quirks and neuroses that do. Cyril is an exceedingly timid and unconfident man. Much of this stems from growing up with his father, who was rigid and cold toward him, after Cyril’s mother died.

As with all of the characters in Archer, Cyril’s morality is questionable at times.

He has sexual dysfunction, particularly where it comes to fidelity. In one season, Cyril went on a stint of sleeping with every woman Archer previously had sex with while in a relationship with Lana in a previous season. Lana became enraged, but she also impregnated herself with Archer’s frozen sperm, as mentioned earlier.

The wily, hilarious antics of dark-humored Archer will be sorely missed

There simply is no other show like it. The characters all have wretched personalities and morals in some way. But they are hilarious and understandable thanks to their rich backstories. Aside from the show itself, there is also the time element. Archer aired for 14 years and that is an incredibly long time. Some fans of this show surely grew up with it. Parting is such sweet sorrow.

You can catch the final episodes of Archer at 10 pm on FX and FXX. It’s being streamed on Hulu and multiple streaming services as well.

As always I, and the team at Brooklynites, thank you for reading. Click back soon. <3

Read more about Archer, the show that is spoofing on James Bond and spy movies:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archer_(2009_TV_series)

Read our previous post on Brooklyn’s oldest bars:

https://brooklynites.nyc/brooklyns-oldest-bars/

Read Brooklynites; take on Oliver Anthony’s “Rich Men North of Richmond”:

https://brooklynites.nyc/the-lefts-elitism-problem/

Read about Brooklyn-style pizza:

https://brooklynites.nyc/brooklyn-style-pizza/