Archer producer knew they pulled off the Jessica Walter tribute when it brought someone to tears
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The Archer team knew they did right by the late Jessica Walter when their season 12 tribute to the Emmy-winning actress elicited some tears among their own ranks.
Executive producer Casey Willis took a break from the laughs coming out of EW's Comic-Con suite Friday to address how that touching moment came together to honor their beloved cast member, who died last year at 80.
"It was tough when it happened and we were in the middle of the season, so we had to kind of go back and change the scripts a little bit," Willis said. "And we had the idea pretty early on of what we wanted to do, and we knew it was the right thing to do when I told it to somebody over the phone and they started crying. So I was like, 'Okay, this is what we want.'"
Walter voiced spy agency chief Malory Archer on the show and had reportedly been working on season 12 before her death. The season 12 finale ended with her son, Sterling Archer (H. Jon Benjamin), reading a letter from his mom saying she was leaving the espionage business behind.
Yolanda Perez/Getty Images; FXX Jessica Walter and her 'Archer' character, Malory
The very last scene saw an image of Malory on the beach with her husband, Ron Cadillac, who was voiced by Walter's husband, Ron Leibman, before his death in 2019.
"To have Ron Cadillac there with her as well, we just thought it was really sweet," Willis said. "And also, she was disrespectful to a waiter there too. Like, this is what she wants."
"She eviscerates someone from the afterlife," Aisha Tyler, who voices Lana Kane, joked.
"I also want to add, that was a very difficult writing job, which was done very, very well by Mark Ganek, our co-executive producer right now," executive producer Matt Thompson noted. "He just really nailed that."
Watch EW's full interview with the masterminds of Archer above.
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