Archer Goes Out With a Bang (and a Big Twist) — Read Series Finale Recap
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
After 14 seasons of bawdy spy hi-jinks, Archer is calling it quits — but the FXX comedy managed to deliver one final twist on the way out.
If you haven’t watched in a while, here’s a quick update: Lana is running the spy agency now after the departure of Malory (voiced by the late Jessica Walter), and the agency has a sassy new British spy, Zara Khan, played by Natalie Dew. Other than that, it’s pretty much business as usual in Thursday’s series finale, with Archer and his pals springing into action when a fleet of killer drones start murdering ex-IIA employees. Yes, that’s the agency they all used to work for, so they’re kind of motivated to find out who’s behind this. And that means they need the help of their slimy ex-boss Fabian, voiced by What We Do in the Shadows’ Kayvan Novak.
More from TVLine
AHS: Delicate Launches New Murder Mystery in Part 1 Finale - Grade It!
Survivor 45 Recap: A Much-Needed Tribe Swap Leads to Another Bummer at Tribal Council
The Voice Recap: Season 24's Battles Claim Their First Casualties
Fabian is currently incarcerated in a cushy Swiss prison with squash courts and daily bike rides (must be nice!), and he explains that whenever IIA fired a troublesome employee, they checked a box marked “no-fault severance,” and that sent a drone to murder them. He’s the only one who can disable the drone system, so they have to take him along — but Archer makes sure he stays put by handcuffing himself to him, and handcuffing Pam to him, too, just for good measure. Of course, that does make the ensuing train ride, and any and all bathroom breaks, a bit uncomfortable.
On the train, Fabian is convinced IIA employees will be along shortly to rescue him, and sure enough, henchmen board the train and open fire… but they’re shooting at him, too. Archer, Fabian and Pam all tumble out of a train window and end up lost in the woods, while Zara and Ray are happily oblivious, getting sauced on the free train booze. (Again, must be nice!) The handcuffed trio are pursued by killer drones, but when they fall into a mud pit, they realize the drones can’t detect them through the mud. (All thanks go to Ray for buying the cheapest drones possible.) The henchmen eventually catch up to them, and Fabian is devastated to learn that they are trying to kill him, too. But he was such a good boss!
If that weren’t enough to deal with, Lana also has to testify before a UN hearing on spy agencies, and it gets off to a bad start when a hot mike catches her calling the UN delegates “total idiots.” They quickly learn that this is actually a disciplinary hearing to decide if the agency will be allowed to continue operating — and Cheryl is their star witness. In her defense, they offered her immunity, and as she says: “When someone offers you immunity, you take it!” She dutifully confirms to the UN that their agency was responsible for incalculable chaos and property damage over the years. Yeah, but in a fun way, right?
The good news for Archer, Fabian and Pam: The drone that was following them gunned down all those henchmen for them. The bad news: The waterfall they dove into for safety washed off the mud, so now the drone is back after them. When more henchmen arrive on motorcycles, though, they use their handcuff chain to clothesline one of them — and decapitate him, actually. (Ouch.) They all cram onto the bike and escape with more drones in pursuit, while Fabian insists on bonding with Archer over their past traumas. Archer does share, but he contends: “I wasn’t connecting! I was one-upping!” His gun hand is handcuffed, so he tosses his gun to Fabian to take out one of the drones, and Zara and Ray show up just in time to take out the rest.
They reach the drone system just as drones infiltrate the UN, with Lana doing her best to save the delegates’ lives. Fabian gains access, but Archer went through first, and only one person can go through at a time, and they need Fabian’s handprint to disable the system. So Archer nonchalantly chops off Fabian’s hand and uses it to call off the drones. (“For a good cause! And I gave it back to him!” “After you shot him the bird with it.”) The drones are deactivated, and the UN delegates are safe, so everything’s back to normal — except it’s not, because to the agency’s shock, the UN announces that all private spy agencies are illegal and need to disband in 30 days. “Is that 30 calendar days?” Archer wonders. “Or business days?” (And it turns out that’s not the end after all!)
So it looks like Sterling Archer’s spying days are over — how do we feel about that ending? Give the series finale a grade in our poll, and hit the comments to share your thoughts.
Best of TVLine
Get more from TVLine.com: Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Newsletter
