Over the years, the raunchy cartoon comedy has become a genre in itself. It started with Family Guy and lead to "South Park," "Futurama," "American Dad," and a number of Adult Swim shows have followed; but as many of these shows have came out of the wood work over the years, 'Archer" has easily been my favorite. "Archer" is an original series by FX that premiered back in 2010, it revolved around a super spy named Sterling Archer. Archer is very good at his job, he is one of the top spies in the world; but at the same time, he is an idiot with mommy issues. It doesn't help that the agency he works for (ISIS) is owned by his mother.
For years ISIS ran covert operations all over the world, but Archer's mother Malory managed to not tell her workers one important fact. It turns our ISIS has been running its operation without the permission from the US government, so one day the FBI raids their headquarters and arrests everyone. Malory manages to pull a couple strings, and in exchange for their freedom she forfeits ISIS headquarters and all of its assets. So suddenly out of a job, the entire team starts to wonder what their back up plan it; but Archer and Malory point out that they may have a way to make more money than they would ever need. Over the years ISIS has seized quite a lot of drugs from various organizations; so they figure the only thing they can do is form their own little cartel. Now the problem is how are they going to sell a literal, not figurative, ton of cocaine?
"Archer Vice" is a change of form for this show; the first four seasons were exclusively followed a spy format, while this fifth season has taken a lot of influence from eighties crime show such as "Miami Vice." At first it might throw the viewer, but by the end of the season it has that old "Archer" flare. Probably the best aspect of this series has always been the strange catalog of characters. Whether it be the idiotic mamma's boy, the alcoholic owner of the company, the beautiful yet unappreciated female spy, the clumsy and socially awkward accountant, the secretary with the choking fetish, the vulgar human resources director, or the insane Nazi clone scientist; every character is colorful and hilarious. "Archer" has been one of the funniest shows on TV for the past few years, its raunchy and well timed humor is top notch. I have talked to some people who have been turned off by the vulgarity and sexual innuendo in the show, so if that's something that might bother you this isn't a show you would enjoy. Probably the biggest complaint I've ever heard about this show would be the animation style, it's very strange; it took me the entire first season to get used to is. While you won't like it at first, if you stick with it you'll actually come to really enjoy it. As a whole, this show is fantastic; but concerning the fifth season, it's a mixed bag. The changing of the format has been met with criticism by many, and even I found that I didn't like it for a while. For the first half of the season, you never really know where the show is headed and what the point is. Some of the earlier episodes aren't even that funny. The second half of the season really picks up the pace but by then it might be too little too late for some. I really enjoyed this season, just like all the other ones; but I will admit this is one of the weakest. I've talked to some people who loved it and others who hated it; it just depends if you're open to change or if you want the show to stay the same. Personally, I was impressed that the people behind the show were willing to take such a big risk with changing the format. It was a bold move that could have ended in failure, but in my opinion it didn't. They have announced that they will be going back to the old format next season, which I will admit I am a little happy about. While "Archer Vice" might not have been the best season of the show so far, it was still hilarious and still one of the best shows on TV right now.
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