Roush Review: ‘Archer’ Awakens to a Zany 11th Season

The more things change, the more Sterling Archer…doesn’t.

Which is good news for longtime fans of Archer, the irreverent and stylishly animated spy comedy — but not so much for his exasperated fellow agents. They view the dashing yet arrogantly buffoonish James Bond wannabe as, says one, “a human disruption on the scale of an ice age.”

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When the zippy and zany 11th season opens, Archer (expertly voiced by H. Jon Benjamin) gets a chilly greeting upon awakening from a three-year coma — during which time the series flirted with dream-state genres including film noir and sci-fi. Now back to espionage, the gang has moved on and is doing just fine without him. There’s a “new, better” Cheryl (Judy Greer) taking part in missions, and even milquetoast Cyril (Chris Parnell) has stepped up, becoming a buff team leader.

“It was so easy to remember the good stuff when [Archer] didn’t interrupt it with his mouth. And his face. And his general being,” muses longtime love interest Lana (Aisha Tyler), now more unattainable than ever.

(Credit: FXX)

Stripped of an office and primo parking space, wielding a tricked-out cane that invariably zaps its owner, Archer sulks, rants and intrudes on capers, putting everyone in weekly peril when he’s not crossing any number of #MeToo lines. Yet somehow they keep saving the day, and with guest voices in the first weeks including Jamie Lee Curtis, Simon Pegg, The Good Place‘s D’Arcy Carden and Saturday Night Live‘s Bowen Yang, Archer is keeping better company than ever.

Archer, Season 11 Premiere, Wednesday, Sept 16,  10/9c, FXX