History YMMV / Archer

** Season 11 is another downplayed, but still significant example. It was critically acclaimed by professional reviewers, but fan reactions were more mixed, with common criticisms including Adam Reed no longer being involved as a writer (and Ray appearing in less episodes as a result), the writers of the season {{flanderiz|ation}}ing Archer's negative qualities to make the rest of the agency look more competent and ethical by comparison, and the general feeling that they were imitating what they thought made fans like the show without really achieving it in the writing for the season. That being said, a few episodes, such as the penultimate episode "Cold Fusion", were considered a return to form and successfully captured the spirit of earlier seasons. It was enough of a success that the show was renewed for Season 12 a week before the season finale aired, with fans hoping that the theme laid out by Archer at the end of the season will become more prominent in Season 12, and that the show will take a deeper look at how little help from Archer the Agency's members need to be terrible people.

* CompleteMonster:

*** [[Lana's baby plot showcases her at her worse. Lana, on the suggestion of Malory, impregnates herself with Archer's sperm without his consent and without breaking up with Cyril first, as the latter is told he's not the father weeks after she became pregnant and the former only learns he is the father after the baby is born. It only gets worse as Archer offers to help her at every turn and she's often been rude to him, even stating she would rather lose the baby than marry him. She attempts to shoot him in the face during birth, but is only stopped because her rifle was empty. While Archer is a goofball, she's been even very nasty to him after AJ's birth: she hired an actor to kidnap AJ and prove his worth as a parent, which got Archer shot. And she expresses no remorse over anything she does]]. What's worse is that a small line from season 4 suggests that Lana purposely [[spoiler:[[TheBabyTrap impregnated herself]] to get Archer's attention.]]

** [[spoiler:A lot of Lana's baby plot puts her in a bad light: She gets herself pregnant with Archer's sperm without his knowledge, and even when he offers to help her at every turn, she's often been rude to him, even stating she would rather lose the baby than marry him. She attempts to shoot him in the face during birth, but is only stopped because her rifle was empty. While Archer is a goofball, she's been even very nasty to him after AJ's birth: she hired an actor to kidnap AJ and prove his worth as a parent, which got Archer shot. And she expresses no remorse over anything she does]]. What's worse is that a small line from season 4 suggests that Lana purposely [[spoiler:[[TheBabyTrap impregnated herself]] to get Archer's attention.]]

*** While Robert cheating on Lana is wrong and seeing Lana crying over it is sad, she'd spent most of the season being distant and rude towards Robert, heavily flirting with other men, having already basically cheated on him in Japan and would have actually cheated on Robert with Prince Fawad had he not passed out, so it's hard to really sympathize with her here.

** [[spoiler:[=McGinley=], Archer's mentor who convinced him to go by Archer, introduced him to drinking and even started Archer's "Phrasing!" CatchPhrase, and voiced by '''Creator/BruceCampbell''' no less. Of course he has to die.]]

** The episode "The Honeymooners," which concerns Archer and Lana trying to stop North Koreans from buying enriched uranium, aired just after the real North Korea threatened yet again to attack South Korea and the United States with nuclear weapons.

* FunnyAneurysmMoment:
** In 2014, a terrorist organisation with the acronym ISIS has become notorious for its brutality, savagery, fanaticism and mass-murder. As a result, in Season 6, [[http://www.cnn.com/2014/10/13/showbiz/tv/archer-isis-fx/index.html?eref=mrss_igoogle_cnn the in-universe spy organization ISIS is integrated into the CIA, avoiding further use of the term]]. In the premiere, an ISIS logo is seen being removed from the office. The worst is probably this line from "Job Offer":
--->'''Mallory:''' That was the mayor of Paris, who was just as eager as I am to know why ISIS agents were terrorizing Paris!
** This exchange from "Skytanic", before the real-world terrorist group ISIS became popular:
--->'''Archer:''' God, who would want to put a bomb on that?
--->'''Captain Lammers:''' Well, that's what we're hoping ISIS can find out.
** In the season 2 episode "Movie Star", Rona Thorne loses control of an automatic weapon at the firing range and accidentally shoots Brett. A few years later, an [[http://www.reviewjournal.com/news/nevada/shooting-instructor-dies-after-being-accidentally-shot-girl instructor at a Nevada gun range was shot to death]] under similar circumstances.
** The episode "The Honeymooners," which concerns Archer and Lana trying to stop North Koreans from buying enriched uranium, aired just after the real North Korea threatened yet again to attack South Korea and the United States with nuclear weapons.

* HarsherInHindsight: This line by Archer in season six, after [[spoiler:it's revealed in season eight Woodhouse died offscreen]]: "Unless you came home you little scamp. Woodhouse?! Woodhouse! Seriously I hope he didn't die." Also when Mallory tells Archer he won't have [[spoiler:Woodhouse]] to kick around forever.

* WhatAnIdiot:
** Archer causing a seaplane to run out of fuel by assuming the autopilot maintains the flight plan, then crashing it by lowering the landing gear while its pilot attempts a ''water'' landing, in "Heart of Archness Part I". He then eats all the rations in the liferaft and causes himself and his fellow survivor to be captured by pirates.
** In "Crossing Over", Cyril kills [[spoiler:an unarmed, subdued, cooperating KGB agent who was about to defect and give ISIS a full rundown of KGB operations, including Barry's master plan]]. In the same episode, Cheryl takes Barry [[spoiler:to the ISIS safehouse where Jakov is being housed in protective custody]]. The first case was accidental, and the second case, Cheryl's ditzy behavior prevented her from realizing the depth of her errors.
** Noted by Lana to Cyril in "The Wind Cries Mary" in response to him dressing in orange clothing. He says so he won't accidentally be shot by hunters and she points out it makes him an easy target for the guy ''intentionally'' shooting at them. Lucas Troy calls out Lana in the same episode for her [[ATeamFiring spray and pray]] firing method while only ever carrying two magazines.
** Ron ruining Archer's attempted bluff in "Midnight Ron" by accidentally letting it slip that he's out of bullets.
** In "Sea Tunt Part II", when the ISIS agents are posing as a local news crew, Archer and Ray insist on giving themselves biographies that could be debunked with a 5 second Google or Wikipedia search. Well, Archer did - Ray just wanted to tweak Archer's nose by putting his alter-ego higher than Archer's.
** Pam buying amphetamines from the yakuza, with money she knew to be counterfeit, fully aware that she'd pay for her mistakes.
** Pam eating a huge quantity of faux crab legs made from tofu, knowing full well she has an allergy to soy.
** More than once Archer has shot a door he knew to be armored, only for the bullet to ricochet and hit somebody or himself.
** The husband of the woman Archer sleeps with in "Heart of Archness part 1". He's out playing golf on the first night of their honeymoon. Archer points this out.
** In "Stage Two", when Archer is diagnosed with cancer, he's shown in flashbacks to have exposed himself to radioactive materials. In one he removed a piece of uranium from the container and held in his unprotected hand, which he himself notes is a bad idea. Another flashback shows him looking into a (glowing) nuclear missile and asking MissionControl if they were serious about not opening the missile.
** In "Archer Vice: On the Carpet" Ray follows the drug runners' flight plan and lands at an unknown runway full of drug traffickers expecting their usual pilots. Archer then grabs a rifle and shoots off the door for no reason.

* HarsherInHindsight:
** This line by Archer in season six, after [[spoiler:it's revealed in season eight Woodhouse died offscreen]]: "Unless you came home you little scamp. Woodhouse?! Woodhouse! Seriously I hope he didn't die." Also when Mallory tells Archer he won't have [[spoiler:Woodhouse]] to kick around forever.
** One of Malory's oft-used catchphrases was, "If [X, usually referring to her not having an alcoholic drink], I will literally die!" [[Creator/JessicaWalter Well...]]

** One of Malory's oft-used catchphrases was, "If [X, usually referring to her not having an alcoholic drink], I will literally die!" [[Creator/Creator/JessicaWalter Well...]]

* HarsherInHindsight: This line by Archer in season six, after [[spoiler:it's revealed in season eight Woodhouse died offscreen]]: "Unless you came home you little scamp. Woodhouse?! Woodhouse! Seriously I hope he didn't die." Also when Mallory tells Archer he won't have [[spoiler:Woodhouse]] to kick around forever.

** [[TheIrishMob Franny Delaney]] from "Placebo Effect" packs a lot of nasty into a very brief appearance. An [[EvilOldFolks unrepentant old bastard]] of a mob boss who runs a counterfeit chemo drugs operation, he is ultimately responsible for killing Archer's CoolOldLady friend [[LittlestCancerPatient Ruth]], to say nothing of the countless other cancer patients his scam has endangered. Add in his StupidEvil spiteful [[LikeYouWouldReallyDoIt taunting]] [[IBangedYourMom of]] Archer while he's being held at gunpoint and it's ''immensely'' [[AssholeVictim satisfying]] when Archer finally pulls the trigger.

** Season 11, finally returning to reality, puts this relationship into an ''awkward'' position; Archer has awakened from his coma dreams certain that he is in love with Lana, but finds that she has married the considerably older billionaire Robert (a mere 8 months after Archer was shot) and she subsequently shoots down his every attempt at reconciling '''hard.''' But Lana's relationship isn't as stable as it could be; age gap aside, there are quite a few arguments between her and Robert - who is quite the NiceGuy, if a bit smug and not as open about his past as he perhaps should be, which clashes with the HotBlooded Lana. Furthermore, Robert seems to have some alarmingly good chemistry with Mallory, [[TheCharacterDiedWithHim and considering the death of Ron Cadillac's voice actor...]]

*** While Archer has slept with at least one married woman[[note]]and even then, he did that while he was still mourning his own fiancée who was murdered in front of his eyes at his wedding only three months prior[[/note]], Katya getting together with Barry is played as LaserGuidedKarma to Archer for sleeping with Barry's fiancée back in season 1 specifically. The thing is, show has forgot two very important details. First, Barry wasn't actually engaged to that woman, only "engaged to be engaged". And second, Archer did not know that she was with Barry when he slept with her. In fact, if anything Archer was coaxed into sleeping with her by Len Trexler, who didn't know she was with Barry either. If anyone is to blame, it's her for choosing to sleep with Archer. It's hardly fair to blame Archer for what happened.

** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MAvz9dpwqC4 The opening and closing themes]], the latter of which is a snippet of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdGjuJDl7IQ Mel Young's "The Killer".]]

** The season four premiere and finale are too short and take too long to set up the plot, so they don't have enough time to properly develop the plot or the new characters. The Belchers -- of whom only Linda has any lines -- are barely seen in the cold open and are almost completely forgotten afterwards, while Captain Murphy has only a few minutes of screentime before [[spoiler:being crushed by the pop machine]]. Both feel like they're each missing a part, as if the premiere was meant to be a two-parter and the finale a three-parter.

** In general, Lana constantly berates Archer for not being involved enough in AJ's life, whilst being incredibly disdainful of him whenever he ''does'' attempt to be involved. It's made even worse in season 11, where it is revealed that Lana has sent ''five year old'' AJ away to boarding school ''in Switzerland!'' Despite years of complaining about Archer's dysfunctional personality, at least some of which can be traced to parental neglect and being sent away to school at the same age by Malory, Lana seems hell bent on repeating the same mistakes. Even though Lana is now married to a billionaire who could most definitely afford the best tutors and schools closer to home.

** Did the crew really become better more ethical people because Archer was in a coma for three years? Or is because [[BadBoss Malory]] spent those three basically living in Archer's hospital room? Given Malory's [[CorruptCorporateExecutive methods]] of [[ManipulativeBitch running]] the [[OnlyInItForTheMoney business]], it would be much easier to turn the agency around if she wasn't running it. And if it is a mixture of both, which was the bigger factor?

** Katya getting together with Barry is played as some form of LaserGuidedKarma to Archer for sleeping with Barry's fiancée back in season 1. The thing is, show has forgot two very important details. First, Barry wasn't actually engaged to that woman, only "engaged to be engaged". And second, Archer did not know that she was with Barry when he slept with her. In fact, if anything Archer was coaxed into sleeping by Len Trexler, who didn't know she was with Barry either. If anyone is to blame, it's her for choosing to sleep with Archer. It's hardly fair to blame Archer for what happened.
*** In fairness though Archer did sleep with a newly married woman in the season 3 premiere and seems to have done it knowingly that time, so perhaps it still qualifies as LaserGuidedKarma.[[note]]Then again, Archer notes that said husband stupidly spent the first night of his honeymoon golfing instead spending it with his wife, so take that for what you will. And Archer was still mourning his own fiancée who was murdered in front of his eyes at his wedding only three months ago, so Archer was clear acting irrationally at that time. Again, take that for what you will.[[/note]]
** In the Season 6 premiere, Archer is supposed to be seen as the bad guy for [[spoiler:heading to Thailand to escape being a parent]]. While it is wholly irresponsible of him, [[spoiler:Lana did steal Archer's sperm to make a baby, and didn't even tell him until after the baby was born]].
** Because the show in general devotes a lot of time to Archer's traumatic childhood, gives him a few scattered PetTheDog moments, and drops heavy hints that he suffers from some undiagnosed mental problems (which could range from depression to autism), Archer comes off as way more sympathetic than he probably should be in a lot of scenarios. No matter how much of an asshole he is, it's pretty hard to outright hate him since you understand ''why'' he acts the way he does, and the show displays that he's ultimately a good guy once you get deep down enough. In-universe, people who hear about Sterling's issues will remark "that explains a lot."
** While Archer is meant to be sympathetic in the season 11 premiere, it comes off as even more than they meant it. [[spoiler:Specifically, while granted Archer was being a dick about Lana's new husband's age, considering that he has been awake for three months and only found out about Robert while meeting him on his first mission back, it is hardly surprising that he doesn't take it very well]].

*** What worse is with his disappearance, ODIN is also dropped entirely. Despite them being the perfect [[{{Foil}} foils]] to the agency, they show up one more time with Barry, and another time in season four, then never again. This is made even more jarring in season 11 when a brand new rival agency called JUNO appears, with no mention of ODIN. It isn't until season 12 where it's finally explained what happened to them (they were absorbed into another spy agency called the ''International Intelligence Agency'', or IIA)

*** What worse is with his disappearance, ODIN is also dropped entirely. Despite them being the perfect [[{{Foil}} foils]] to the agency, they show up one more time with Barry, and another time in season four, then never again. This is made even more jarring in season 11 when a brand new rival agency called JUNO appears, with still no mention of what ever happened to ODIN.

** All the jokes about Woodhouse dying have become less funny with the passing of George Coe.

** While Lana's husband Robert is a NiceGuy most of the time, he doesn't come out of "[[Recap/ArcherS11E7CaughtNapping Caught Napping]]" looking particularly well. Specifically, the ending indicates that, despite whatever problems he and Lana are having, he is at least a good father to AJ. However, considering that he could have only be her step father for two years at most [[note]]AJ was already two by the time Archer fell into his coma and Lana only started dating Robert eight months after that.[[/note]] and it was his idea to send AJ (who is five) to study in Switzerland away from her family, he can't be all that great of a parent. Even worse, Lana seems to feel validated in marrying Robert because it means AJ has a parent who's normal even though he's not around for her either.

* LGBTFanbase: When a show is packed with as much [[ShirtlessScene shirtless]] and naked men scenes as ''Archer'', it's inevitable it'd be a huge hit with gay men. Ray being a [[ButNotTooGay reasonably portrayed gay man]] helps also

* CrazyAwesome: Cheryl, the filthy rich pyromaniac secretary who spouts non sequiturs at any given moment, eats glue and rubber cement, and somehow becomes a successful country singer despite her insanity. She becomes a successful country singer due to her ''belief in herself'' (and the placebo effect of thinking she has a chip implanted in her brain).