I have always been an advocate of FX’s Archer. I think it’s one of the finest adult animation shows in existence for a number of reasons. It is exceptionally intelligent for a show in it’s genre, with references to Bartleby the Scrivener and Schroedinger’s Cat being subtly made par for the course as joke material:

”I would prefer not to. Bartleby, the Scrivener? Anybody? Not a big Melville crowd here, huh? He’s not an easy read. ”

Then there is the consistency of the jokes themselves which occur over and over throughout the series. Each time they reappear they are given some new facet or angle by the writing team. A good example of this would be the classic ”Phrasing!”. Every other character in the show has moved on from the juvenile, though hilarious, joke in the later seasons leaving archer with a constant source of frustration when his colleagues use unconscious innuendos:

”Seriously? Are we really not doing phrasing anymore?”

This consistency and continuity isn’t limited solely to the shows humour. It is a constant factor of the show which cause a number of things in a series. Primarily it sets Archer apart from shows like Family Guy and Futurama. I don’t mean to belittle either show, each having had their share of hilarious moments but neither engages too heavily in the practice of continuity. It is necessary for each show to hit the reset button after 22 minutes in order to allow the high octane, often ludicrous plots to begin again the following week. What this leaves lacking however is plot development or any discernible change in the characters themselves. The same cannot be said for Archer. The characters are frequently shown to change not just physically or on some surface level but often on a psychological level. An prime example of this would be Lana. In Archer’s first season she is introduced as female spy extrodinaire and an excellent foil for Archer himself as a constant source of professionalism. In the beginning this is her prime motivation, she wants to be the best and is content in her pursuit of this goal. In the later seasons, seasons 5 and 6 especially we see a large shift in her motivations. She now wants to start a family and does so of her own accord. She uses the same professional mentality with regards to becoming pregnant not waiting for Prince Charming, she impregnates herself using Archers sperm. This may seem like a rapid and somewhat incredulous shift in personality but the seeds of her decision are planted in Season 2 when she starts to think of motherhood after meeting the wee baby Seamus.

Obviously such character development will lead to moments of genuine emotion and connection between characters that is uncommon in other adult orientated cartoons. This happens quite frequently as Archer and Lana often have encounters that stray from humorously tense to brutal honesty. Archer himself is the most interesting example of this strange repression. He has always been a man-child, a character who has no investment in any situation until there is some form of instant gratification or fun (by Archer’s definition at any rate). As the show has progressed it places those that Archer cares about in perilous situations, the Archer that appears then is one that acts selflessly and without fear or hope of personal gain. He is frequently seen to do so especially where Lana is concerned. His action often accompanied by the familiar cry of ‘‘LAAAAANAAAAA!”. These moments that verge on genuine human emotion are often shown or perhaps excused as red herrings. Archer often reveals that the reason for his heroic actions are actually motivated by something much simpler like saving the mini bar or sparing an ocelot. These admitted motives are usually transparent as Archer merely guarding his own emotions.

This is why the season premiere of season 6 was such a surprise to me. It features two moments where Archer drops all of his playboy devil may care facade and engages wholly in the emotional, bordering on sentimental behaviour.

The plot of this episode is loosely based on the story of Hiroo Onodai, a Japanese soldier deep in hiding who was unaware that World War 2 had ended. Above Archer encounters a version of this soldier and must convince him that the war is over. The following picture shows the moment directly after the soldier realises what happened to Nagasaki and Hiroshima in 1945ii, witnessing it on Archers phone.

There is an ensuing breakdown where the soldier attempts to reconcile what has happened and Archer genuinely apologises. This is followed by a swift boot to the testicles in true Archer style, nevertheless the scene is quite touching. This second picture displays the moment where Archer puts the soldier back in touch with his long lost wife by satellite phone:

The soldiers face says it all. It is a truly beautiful moment, the likes of which I have rarely seen in an animated show. Like I said both these moments border on the sentimental. Sentimentality is often condemned as a naive form of memory and none put it better than James Baldwin:

“Sentimentality, the ostentatious parading of excessive and spurious emotion, is the mark of dishonesty, the inability to feel; the wet eyes of the sentimentalist betray his aversion to experience, his fear of life, his arid heart; and it is always, therefore, the signal of secret and violent inhumanity, the mask of cruelty.” iii

I think that sentiment is important but I also find that the above quote can be an excellent way of navigating when sentiment can be a dangerous thing. However here it is even more useful in showing us that the season premiere is not in the least sentimental. Archer has never engaged in ”the ostentatious parading of excessive and spurious emotion.” In actual fact this may be the first time it has ever shown unrepentant emotion and even then it reigned itself in with quick jokes directly after. Furthermore Baldwin’s definition helps us to see Sterling Archer as far more than a simple man-child, devoid of any real humanity. He could never be viewed as a sentimentalist also his psychology shows that he clearly has no ”aversion to experience” or ” fear of life”. Why then are these moments significant to me? Because if they are not born of sentiment then they show a clear progression of maturity for the character of Sterling Archer. To me these moments merely added a new layer to a show that has always surprised and intrigued me. It constantly evolves every facet of itself, from it’s character’s psychology to it’s plot lines, and proves that a show does not have to repeat the same tired formula to remain successful.