Review: Archer “The Handoff”

In “The Handoff” Archer and Lana make a tricky hand-off while the rest of the gang hears the best voicemail ever.

In this new season of Archer, the gang has opened a private investigation company and this is the first real episode that felt like it. While we did see them doing a bit of investigating last week, it felt very much like previous seasons of the show. The spying, the espionage. It was a great episode, but it didn’t do a good job of telling us how this season would differ from the rest. Enter “The Handoff”.

This episode did everything that I wish the premiere had done. Show the group doing real investigation work, have the same fun banter between the characters, an engaging plot, and everything else that make the show great. It isn’t hard to keep Archer fresh. The characters are already developed and known by the audience. Now it’s just a matter of putting them in different situations and keeping them on their toes.

As great as last night’s episode was, it wasn’t perfect. I think I’m over the Archer/Lana relationship. While in the field, the question of where their relationship stands is asked a few times. After last season, I was hoping they would take a season to keep these characters apart. If not that, at least put another character out in the field with Archer. Put a different character with Archer in a stressful situation and work on an underdeveloped relationship. We see that the show is willing to uproot itself to put these characters in new and exciting situations, I wish they would do the same with relationships. They’ve done it in the past, so I’d love to see more of it this season also.

The subplot involving the supporting cast and a mysterious voicemail was pretty funny. It doesn’t really get started till nearly half way through the episode, but it’s good when it gets going. Prior to that, it’s really just them spinning in chairs bouncing dialogue off of one another. Also not a bad route to take with writers as good as Archers.

Overall, this was another strong episode but not a perfect one. The good news about season seven is that the show is as fresh as ever. The problem is that the relationships of the show aren’t receiving the same treatment. As far as they go, it’s business as usual. But the jokes are great, the banter between characters is still the best on television, and I’m genuinely curious to see where this story goes. There is still some action but there is definitely more of an emphasis on investigating. Patton Oswald returned this week to guest star and he was also pretty good. A little too noticeable, it was hard to suspend my disbelief, but he’s a soothing presence.