Comedic genius Adam Reed (Sealab 2021, Frisky Dingo) has another cult hit on his hands. His latest effort, Archer, started off its second season this evening with a bang.
For the uninitiated, Archer is about the goings on at an American spy agency called ISIS. Archer (H. Jon Benjamin), Lana (Aisha Tyler) Ray (Reed), Cyril (Chris Parnell), Kreiger (Lucky Yates), Pam (Amber Nash) and Cheryl (Judy Greer) all work under Mallory (Jessica Walter), the head of ISIS and Archer’s mother. The best way to describe the show is that it’s a cross between Arrested Development and James Bond films.
In the season two premiere, a group of ISIS employees heads to a snowy town in Switzerland to protect the daughter of a wealthy videotech distributor.
What sets Archer apart from other “adult” cartoons is how cleverly the dialogue is written. The lines sound ad-libbed and natural, which breathe life into the animated characters. Another strong point is the amount of subtle call-backs to previous jokes or episodes. Even though the show is still young, the amount of recurring jokes is staggering. Fans of Arrested Development‘s joke repetition will love Archer (and probably Frisky Dingo).
Tonight’s episode, while not the absolute best in the series, was fantastic. I would’ve liked to see more Krieger, the ISIS gadget guy who spends most of his time violating others’ food and taping bum fights. Also MIA was Woodhouse (George Coe), Archer’s depressed and unappreciated live-in butler. Despite those and other shortcomings (such as Archer being much more responsible than normal) of tonight’s episode, Archer makes Thursday even better for fans of comedy.
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