Entertainment
For the last few years, each season of the popular FXX animated series Archer has departed further and further from the show’s original '60s Cold War vibe. First there was Archer: Vice, and then after a brief “unreboot,” the show moved from New York to Los Angeles for a Sunset Boulevard parody. This year’s Archer: Dreamland was the show’s most ambitious genre experiment yet, as it takes place all in Archer’s mind and features the characters fans know and love with all new identities. So now that Dreamland is over, when is Archer returning for Season 9?
The good news first: Archer is absolutely getting another season, and another one after that as well. Last summer, Variety reported that FX renewed Archer for another three seasons all at once, and although the show moved to FXX this year, the network still plans to honor that commitment and deliver Seasons 9 and 10 in the future. (Although series creator Adam Reed might be done after that, according to TVLine). As for when the show will return for another eight episodes, you can probably expect it to air sometime in early 2018, based on when the last few seasons premiered.
If Archer only has two more seasons to go, then it’s a safe bet that the show is going to pull out all the stops when the show comes back next year — but where will it go next? I'm hoping the creators consider one of these ideas for an overarching aesthetic:
A ‘70s Exploitation Movie
We already know that Lana Kane arrived at ISIS with a giant afro and bell-bottom jeans left over from her ecoterrorism days — why not expand that aesthetic outward to everybody else on the team for a whole season’s worth of shenanigans? Visible chest hair and plaid pants for everyone!
A Jazz Age Prohibition Story
It would admittedly be pretty difficult to recreate Dreamland’s journey backwards in time, since it all takes place in Archer’s head. But if they wanted to go for another period drama, a Great Gatsby-style rum runners organization would fit the gang pretty dang well. Maybe they could find a way to make it work in the show’s present-day somehow — they’ve already done drug smugglers, but maybe they could just be booze smugglers instead!
A 'Manchurian Candidate'-Style Political Thriller
As a show about a spy organization, Archer has occasionally dabbled in matters of politics — but more in foreign affairs (remember when Mallory murdered the Prime Minister of Italy?) than domestic ones. But since politics are particularly big news right now, it would make sense for Archer to get deeply involved in an election for a year.
Literally Just The Plot Of 'Road House'
Archer has never much been suited to the life of a gentleman spy, and everybody knows it. But a cool, surprisingly book-smart cooler for a backwater dive bar who can kill people with his fists? That seems a lot more up his alley. If the Archer gang found itself suddenly owning just such a disreputable establishment, it seems like it would be a good place for Archer to finally find his true calling.
No matter what genre Archer will focus on in its final two seasons, one thing's for sure: it's going to be just as hilarious (and stylish!) as it's been for the past eight years.
