Season Review: Archer “Season Seven”

Was this lucky number seven for the group formerly known as ISIS?

The seventh season of Archer has come to a close and now it’s time to reflect and ponder if this season lives up to those that came before it. It was a season of new beginnings as we saw the team start the Figgis Agency in their new home of sunny Los Angeles. The days of espionage and drug trafficking are now behind them and have now turned their focus to private investigation. The season consisted of ten episodes and focused primarily on the troubles of Hollywood starlet, Veronica Deane.

This was a pretty good season overall. The private investigation angle is a unique approach and added an extra layer of mystery and tension throughout the season. The idea of taking these characters we know and love and throwing them into different careers every once in a while is a fun idea and helps the show stay fresh. One of these seasons Archer and the gang need to open their own restaurant!

This season turned the spotlight back onto Archer and Lana and pretty much held it there. The supporting cast stayed in the background for the most part, which was disappointing. I love seeing characters like Cyril and Cheryl play a bigger role in the main story, but alas, this season opted to bring in some new characters like Veronica Deane and Alan Shapiro. While I missed seeing the characters we know in the spotlight, it was better suited for the mystery is we followed some characters with motivations we do not know.

This season had a heavy focus on the relationship between Archer and Lana, something that has grown stale for me. Their “Will they? Won’t they?” angle became dry for me a long time ago. I think that relationship has been explored and it’s time to take these characters in different directions for good. They do share a child, so understandably they will always have a connection, but I think that’s the only connection I can bear to watch anymore. They share a child and both care about her, that’s it, that’s all.

Next season we should continue the private investigation angle, but take an emphasis off the relationship between Archer and Lana. Maybe find a way to take the supporting characters we love and incorporate them more into the main story. Stretch is back out to thirteen episodes. While it helps the story to have fewer episodes, I personally wouldn’t mind a bit of filler. The characters themselves are a strong driving force for the show and the more time we get to hang out with them the better.

Overall, I think this season was alright. There are directions they took this season that I wish they hadn’t, but it was still a fun ride. Hopefully this season is more of a bump in the road than four flat tires. Many people point to season ten as the downfall of The Simpsons, hopefully in a few years we won’t be having the same conversation about this season of Archer.