Archer Season 12 Finally Pays Off The Agencys Name Issues

Archer Season 12 Finally Pays Off The Agency’s Name Issues

Archer season 12 sees Pam and Cheryl finally riff on The Agency’s long unaddressed name problem — to both hilariously and thematically rich results.

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Archer Season 12 Finally Pays Off The Agencys Name Issues

Warning: This post contains spoilers for Archer Season 12, episode 1.

Sterling Archer and his not-so-illustrious team returned for Archer season 12 and swiftly paid off The Agency’s long-term name issues in a more direct fashion. Created by Adam Reed and premiering in 2009, Archer centered on a fictional spy agency named ISIS (International Secret Intelligence Service). Overseen by Malory (Jessica Walter), the organization fueled the antics and global adventures of H Jon Benjamin’s titular secret agent, as well as his eclectic colleagues. For obvious reasons, however, the name ultimately had to be scrapped.

In the time since then, the group has gone by a couple of different monikers. Most notably, it became The Figgis Agency when Cyril Figgis (Chris Parnell) became the figurehead and the team attempted to be private detectives. Sometime during Archer’s three-year coma, though, Cyril, Ray Gillette (Adam Reed), Lana Kane (Aisha Tyler), and the others were removed from the CIA blacklist and reestablished themselves in the field of international espionage. Regardless, between the moment that Archer finally awoke to the ending of Archer’s season 11 finale, the organization operated without a name being officially specified.

Rather than coast by without addressing that fact, Archer season 12, episode 1, “Identity Crisis” made it a running gag. To save money, Malory turned away a marketing team of Kaia (Natasha Rothwell) and Alton (Harvey Guillén), tasking Pam (Amber Nash) and Cheryl (Judy Greer) with the responsibility instead. What followed was an overzealous attempt to recreate “marketing banter” and a succession of ideas that demonstrated the Archer writers’ knack for puns and wordplay. Pam and Cheryl’s suggestions ranged from S.P. Nosh to Spies and Dolls, with several others spread throughout the Archer season 12 premiere’s runtime.

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It was a testament to the fact that even after 12 seasons, Archer still has plenty left comedically in the tank — only just utilizing scenarios and jokes that could have been made years ago. Equally, it was a perfect opening use of Pam and Cheryl, arguably one of the show’s best pairings. Both were given a chance to shine individually and collectively, the back and forth between the duo positively sizzling with energy and to hilarious results. The various suggestions also served to highlight both Pam and Cheryl’s individual quirks and proclivities, solidifying that both had returned to normal after Archer season 11 and their attempts at self-improvement. For Pam, it was in how many of her ideas came from vices, especially sexual, lustfully incorporating references to specific body parts. For Cheryl, they reflected her generally creepy edge, her idea of branding being to leave sinister dolls at mission sites.

Things ultimately came full circle when Cheryl, stumbling for words, simply referred to them as The Agency — much to the satisfaction of the team. While it served as the perfect cap for the running joke, it also tied poignantly into the overall themes of the Archer season 12 premiere. Throughout the episode, the team’s field agents clashed with Fabian Kingsworth (Kayvan Novak) and his organization: IIA. In the process, it was conveyed that Sterling Archer was the model secret agent no longer and his team was officially the underdogs. Using a name as simple as The Agency lent itself to that notion, setting them endearingly apart from the kinds of overly corporate and “soulless vultures” that they were now up against. As such, Pam and Cheryl could consider their first Archer season 12 mission officially accomplished.

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Link Source : https://screenrant.com/archer-season-12-isis-agency-name-problem/

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