The Archer series finale executive producers discuss closure, catharsis, and their lost “Archergeddon” season.
This interviewdoes notcontain major spoilers forArcher: Into the Coldbutdoestease certain moments.
Zara feels like such a natural addition to the cast and like she almost out-Archers Archer.
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Casey Willis:We had a lot of plans for Zara.
Together with writer and co-executive producer Mark Ganek, we had a rough three season arc for Zara.
Pierre Cerrato:We also wanted an excuse to talk about BBC programming with an actual Brit.
Matt Thompson:We had things for Zara along the way to bring out a more distinct personality.
We had this idea of her being the youngest of 10 kids, with all older brothers.
This made her a football/rugby fan always up for a pint.
I liked where we were headed with her and Natalie was/isa delight.
Was she always the first choice for this promotion or did you ever consider Sterling or anyone else?
CW:This was our goal at the beginning of season 13.
Even Archer realizes it in the end.
But in the end, Lana sitting there just made too much sense.
Barry is one of my favorite recurring characters from Archer whos experienced quite the change over the series run.
How did you decide on this final turn for him and were there any other angles that you considered?
MT:We love how Barry has evolved over the years.
From season to season, there is such a drastic swing to his motivations.
He is also fun, as he is the wackiest element in the show.
For a cartoon, we run a pretty logical, realistic ship.
Barry exists on the edges of that, which just makes him fun to have around.
I love that you do not know if he is going to be good or evil until the middle.
And then something truly nuts happens to him.
I hope you dont see it coming, and it is our best Barry change yet.
BTW: huge shoutout to David Willis, who voices Barry.
He really has helped make Barry something special.
I think he just liked playing the bad guy.
I may have said too much.
Theres some really fun A.J.
material in this final season and its been great to see this baby grow into an actual person.
What do you see for A.J.s future followingArchers conclusion?
Is she destined to be a spy or something else?
CW:AJ does make an appearance inArcher: Into the Coldand I hope fans will enjoy that.
I think it would be great if AJ became a scientist like Lanas parents.
MT:We always at leasttryto plot small changes to each character, each season.
We treat them as real people who are in a state of constant change.
But Archer still rages against the dying light, which just feels right to us.
I also think that Archer learns new ways to deal with situations.
In early seasons of the show, Archers scheme would have worked.
But now, he has to get saved by a younger agent with an actual plan.
PC:Archer, 100%.
He survived cancer, went to therapy, and has possibly made it to Pam levels of sexual progressiveness.
MT:I think Pam has grown the most.
What she became was something truly glorious, and my favorite character.
She is hedonism, love, protection, rage, understanding and she is one of a kind.
You would not recognize her as the same character that she was in season one.
She becomes a mother.
Learned to work with Archer in a more productive way and became head of The Agency!
This final season teases a few different hypothetical happy endings for Sterling.
MT:We really did not have a good handle on how we should go out.
And we did not have that much time to figure it out.
We only had a couple of months to plot out a story and write it.
Thankfully for us, Mark Ganek kept coming up to the plate with great idea after great idea.
Mark did a ton of heavy lifting in the past few seasons and deserves a lot of praise.
Its so exciting that youre able to send the series off with this super-sizedInto the Coldarc.
What did you want to say and accomplish with this finale?
MT:Its so hard for us to say goodbye to this world, say goodbye to these characters.
You will hear a couple of speeches in these episodes which I hope do not feel too heavy handed.
One by Lana and one by Cyril.
And about celebrating what we did achieve.
CW:From a production stand-point, I want to shine a huge spotlight on our talented crew.
They were given a monumental task of drawing and animatingArcher: Into the Coldwith a very tight timeline.
I think they did a wonderful job and really sent the series off with a bang.
Casey and Mark rightly told me to calm down with the cameos and focus on the story.
Spoiler alert: there is a small appearance by Milton the toaster/copier.
CW:We debated how and where to find Milton and what he had been doing all these years.
What we eventually settled on was really great for the episode.
There are also a lot of hints and nods to seasons past in the backgrounds if you look closely.
MT:We would love the opportunity to keep exploring these characters and their world.
PC:Emphatically yes!
I have yet to see a more charming parrot than Crackers.
CW:I think the ending ofArcher: Into the Coldis very special and satisfying.
First was King Archer, which wasArcherin Arthurian times, and the other was Archergeddon, which was post-apocalyptic.
Both of those would have been amazing.
MT:Id like to see Pam in a Western.
Its 1850 in Grass Valley, California when beloved town Sheriff Poovey makes a startling discovery.
It will take all of Pams cunning to stop this Predator.
Special appearance by Danny Glover.
I would call itArcher: Algernops Abyss.
