Archer (TV Series) Into the Cold (2023) User Reviews

The End of an Era

[AJ_Blanc · 8/10 · 19 December 2023]

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!

Satisfying ending to a great show

[chrishob-05766 · 9/10 · 19 December 2023]

Im going to miss the hell out of this show. Im glad they got the chance to do a proper ending and it delivered. I loved all the callbacks from throughout the series, and seeing characters return. But the episode was great and the ending was kinda heartfelt because no matter how much these characters argued and fought with each other they all loved each other truly deep down and I'm glad they all admitted it. All of the core group had their moment to shine and I loved that. I wish we could have saw a little glimpse of what all the characters are doing now but I still liked what we got. Im so glad I found this show, it bought me so much laughter and joy through the series, and surprisingly learned things through these crazy characters. Im going to miss them so much. The ending with Archer and Pam doing their thing was great and I love to see them both kicking butt. Goodbye Archer gonna miss the heck out of you. Danger Zone.

Also shoutout my favorite character Cyril 😂 I liked his ending.

Fitting end for a legendary show!!

[iconastro · 10/10 · 19 December 2023]

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.

Disappointing end that should have come sooner

[agenericperson · 6/10 · 19 December 2023]

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.

Disappointing

[wavesplitter · 5/10 · 19 December 2023]

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.

Seriously?

[rctsfwnt · 1/10 · 19 December 2023]

I have never written a review, but I found the ending of archer so remarkably disappointing I had to write about it. I love this show, or at least I did. It started slacking off at season 11 and steadily declined since then. But this ending, probably the worst in history!!

I am hard to disappoint but this finale left me utterly engaged. It is completely inconsistent with the history of the show. Slater as a bad guy? He's an entertaining a-hole but never an evil villain. Weak choice. His duo with Katya and her total 180 in the last 5 minutes made no sense. The story drags on for an hour and says nothing. We built up the IIA over what now, 4 seasons? Not a single mention of IIA so why bother introducing it in the first place? Also, Zara is so useless and annoying she was a pointless addition and provides nothing for the finale and she adds nothing of value. Also Katya. We said bye to this character in a fitting and lovely way in season 6 and everything since then (and before) has said archer's true TRUE love is Lana. So. Why did he bang Katya and her weird merged consciousness with Barry (awkward..not even really funny) instead of finally rise and commit to his true mate and bestie of them all Lana? The mother of his child. The one, after his coma, during which Katya never once appeared, he said needing is the deepest part of him. And the shallow ending of the Lana-Archer dynamic and lack of AJ is SO unfulfilling and disappointing. I mean. What have we been doing here for 14 seasons? I also didn't like the shallowness of the other key characters and how fruitless their departures were. Just disappointment all around. I would honestly love to hear what the writing staff were thinking here. I mean. Did they forget what they've been doing for the last 15 years?

Do yourself a favor and don't watch it. I myself am going to erase seasons 11-14 from my memory and pretend it all stopped at season 10. Seasons 11-14 would have been ok if they had led to something meaningful or entertaining in the finale but it didn't. At all.

Truly awful

[FlorianLaur · 24 May 2024]

The show has had its ups and downs and after the basically perfect season 1 and 2 and the almost perfect season 3, we already saw it stumble a bit in season 4, definitely in season 5. But it wasn't until season 10 and after that it became this bad. Yet, even 10-11 had some good moments (Lana and her new husband).

Ultimately, it seems it was all pointless though. Barry came and went, came and went, came and went. Ditto Katya. It took away all emotional impact.

Lana and Archer? No real resolution there. Guess Archer forgot that he loved Lana once. Is he with Katya-Barry now? Is that supposed to be yet another woke idea (trans-Cyborg rights maybe?)?

The final episode, like basically all of season 14 was very bad. Yeah, it was nice to see some characters from classic episodes, but they didn't have any impact on the story. Why have Pam and Boris fight for example? And then not even show it? What happened to Cyrill or Cheryl, Krieger or Ray? Guess we won't know.

Yeah, there was some action, but the show was never about that. The new writers didn't seem to understand that. All we got was a ton of random situations and basically no humour. I didn't laugh once the entire season! I chuckled a little at the "heads coming off easy" bit, but that's it.

Everyone seems to hate the new character too (I don't even remember her name). Super annoying and pushed into the show for what reason exactly?

They should have just ended the show after season 12. Or 9. But definitely sooner.