Into the Cold

Where are all the Archer fans? Could it be because there's a two month gap between the previous episode and this one and some assumed the season was already over? Nah, that can't be it.

Sorry for the salt but I don't quite get the delay. Was Into the Cold not made until season 14 already started airing? Regardless, this was a mostly excellent episode, and a great sendoff to this wonderful show. There was a lot of cameos of old characters... some cameos bigger than others, and even a callback of the very first line of dialog in the series. A decent balance between action and touching moments; I look forward to watching it again.

The finale picks up with the UN threatening to make private spy agencies illegal, so the team of ISIS (yes, I still call them that but hopefully I'm not the only one) needs a big win to sway the vote. A simple enough story with a relatively satisfying conclusion. I only have one criticism with the season as a whole and one for the episode itself. Season 14 debuts a new character, Zara, who is completely unnecessary to the show as she didn't do anything that already established characters couldn't have done, especially given all the cameos here. It's a shame we never got to do anything with Pam's and, to a lesser extent, Cyril's family like we have with everyone else's (except Krieger but he's a clone anyway). The other is a macguffin Krieger finds in the office that doesn't really go anywhere. I'm trying to avoid spoilers so I'll simply say that I know it had an intended purpose, it just wasn't needed at all to serve that purpose and would've been more interesting had it literally paid off the way it was built up.

Into the Cold wasn't the best story of the show, and 14 wasn't the worst season, but overall I enjoyed the both of them quite a bit, and I think most fans will as well. Too bad the show ended when it was starting to get really good again, but I guess that's... damn, I had something for this!

Not nearly as funny as what the spirit of the show is famously known for. While the finale did have some entertaining moments of plot twists, it was mildly humorous at best. Disappointing for what was an exceptionally funny espionage animation overall. The finale starts off with bad jokes that glance over the overall feeling that the characters have of their current situation. And when I say bad jokes, I mean bad. Nothing even close to the quick wit that the characters are typically known for. That was an immediate red flag. It doesn't get much funnier from there unfortunately. A swing and a huge miss on choosing the writer for this finale.

I first encountered Archer on Netflix, around their release of season four. Naturally, I had to then watch seasons 1-3, which I consider to be some of the funniest animated comedy I have ever seen in my 55-odd years of existence. I was hooked, and faithfully binge-watched each new season as soon as I could view it.

Some people didn't like the "coma" series, but I found them refreshing, giving new life to the show, and putting the characters I knew in new, interesting roles.

But I did love it when they got back to the spy business again.

Season 14 came as a surprise, as I had heard Archer was ending, and thought the end of season 13 was the series finale. So a (in my eyes) bonus extra season of the show was just icing on the cake.

Season 14 was good. Not great, but certainly made me genuinely laugh out loud at times. I liked that they addressed that the characters were ageing, and the introduction of a young, loose cannon to the team, who was much like season 1 Sterling Archer, was a nice touch.

There are numerous call-backs, and returning characters. Some of these felt quite natural, while others felt a bit forced.

This finale was OK, but it would have been nice to see how things worked out for everyone. Also, there were plenty of hooks left, old and new, to continue the show, or create one, or more, spin-offs.

I rated the finale a five, as it was good, but not great. I don't think there will be a general consensus as to the overall quality of this episode, as I suspect it will depend on which seasons of the show (and thus which version(s) of Archer), were peoples' favourites.

Definitely worth a watch, but I hate that this is, as far as we know, the end of the show.

I would love to see one or more spin-offs, as I mentioned above. Or, obviously, just more seasons of the show...

I used to be a big Archer fan but I noticed a severe decline in quality around season 5 or 6. I make a point to watch the finales of shows I was once invested in because a good ending can sometimes save a show.

I'm sad to say this one, while having a few funny moments, was mostly the bad habits the show fell into around season 6. In fact the show seems to have doubled down on a lot of things. There's also weirdly quite a few set pieces that the show has done before. It makes the episode feel like it doesn't have many new ideas. Though I'll be charitable and say that I think this was a botched attempt to bookend the show.

It's just sad because this still feels like a hollow shell of the show I once loved. I'd hoped they could capture that magic one last time. Instead it feels like they're going through the motions and just making content. I didn't hate it but I didn't love it.

I will say that if you like newer Archer, you might really like this episode. It's part of why I won't rate this lower. That and the fact there are a few jokes that genuinely got a chuckle out of me.

While I am so sad to see Archer end after 15 years and 14 seasons, the show left us with so many hilarious memories and catch phrases I still use to this day!! Thank u to the crew, the voice actors and all the people who made the show possible. RIP Jessica Walter and George Coe, the show just wasn't the same without Mallory and Woodhouse!! Now we just need an Archer/Pam mercenary spinoff lol. I know Rick and Morty is the hot show right now and it's definitely one of my favs, no show consistently made me laugh or brought me joy on a crappy day than Archer and the lunatics at ISIS. Also shoutout to Slater and Barry...... 2 of the greatest recurring characters in the shows run! Thanks again for all the good times.