Tweet
Archer: The Complete Fourth Season
Released by: Fox
Released on: January 7th, 2014.
Director: Various
Cast: H. Jon Benjamin
Year: 2013
Purchase From Amazon
The Movie:
Created by Adam Reed for the FX Channel back in 2009, Archer revolves around the various members of an organization called ISIS. Based in Manhattan, ISIS - the International Secret Intelligence Service - is essentially a spy organization run by Malory Archer (voiced by Jessica Walter of Arrested Development). The 'rock star' in her organization is her son, Archer (H. Jon Benjamin of Bob's Burgers). He's suave, tough and good looking, a hit with the ladies and more than just a little full of himself.
Rounding out the cast of characters that make up the primary players in the series are Archer's former flame and current ISIS agent Lana Kane (Aisha Tyler), her boyfriend and current ISIS agent Ray Gillette (Adam Reed), corporate accountant Cyril Figgis (Chris Parnell), HR Director Pam Poovey (Amber Nash), Malory's Secretary Cheryl Tunt (Judy Greer), and an eccentric research scientist named Doctor Algernop Krieger (Lucky Yates), a descendent of Hitler with a thing for cyborgs and kinky sex. As you can imagine with a cast of characters like that, things at ISIS don't often go as planned but somehow, through blundering, blind luck or skill the team seems to get the job done.
This fourth season begins with a pretty great tie-in to Bob's Burgers. Archer has lost his memory and assumed the identity of Bob Belcher, a burger cook who runs a small restaurant with his family. When a team of Russian thugs show up to cause trouble his old training comes back to him and he mercilessly eliminates them. This sets into motion the return of Archer's memory and gets him back on track at ISIS, leaving his wife Linda and his three step children behind. As the rest of the episodes play out we get to know Malory's new man and Archer's new step-dad, Ron Cadillac, a big shot who owns a few car dealerships in New York City. As his character evolves he winds up playing some interesting roles in a few of the capers that unfold this season, particularly when Archer winds up drunk and in Canada. We also learn the truth about one of Archer's former spy school pals and their decidedly one sided relationship ('He's not gay!') and we see just how far some of the characters in the series will go to keep cyborgs out of the office.
When Russian agent Kayta needs Archer's help bringing her fellow agent and flame Barry back from space, he begrudgingly obliges and then in the next episode when a poisonous snake bites his taint he experiences strange hallucinations that lead to the identity of his true father. Anthony Bourdain voices a restaurant owner named Lance in an episode that finds ISIS wonder how it all ties in to what the Albanians are up to and then later Archer and Lana go undercover as honeymooners in the most romantic of locations - North Korea.
It's a solid batch of episodes, thirteen in total. Timothy Olyphant, Eugene Mirman (also of Bob's Burgers fame), Jon Hamm and Kristen Schaal also pop up here doing some fun guest voice work and the series remains as creative as it does dryly humorous. Everything is played completely straight here, as the series melds everything from the ridiculousness of the cold war to strange modern day pop culture oddities into one big, funny stew of animated awesomeness.
Video/Audio/Extras:
Archer looks excellent in this AVC-encoded 1080p 1.78.1 anamorphic widescreen transfer. There are no obvious authoring issues and the color reproduction is stunning. The different shades used throughout the film really pop here and this is definitely one of those transfers that has that almost 3-D quality that good animation tends to have on Blu-ray. Black levels are nice and strong throughout and there are no noticeable issues with mpeg compression artifacts or edge enhancement. Detail is excellent and the image is consistently crisp, clean and clear.
The English language DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio mix is also of very good quality. Surrounds are used nicely throughout the film to add depth and atmosphere while the dialogue is always succinct and easy to follow. The score is spread out nicely throughout the soundstage and bass response is strong as well - just listen to the scene where Bender belches and you'll know your subwoofer is paying attention. Overall, this is a nice, immersive and very active mix that leaves very little room for complaint. Optional subtitles are provided in English SDH, French and Spanish.
There isn't a whole lot here in the way of extras but we do get a twenty minute panel where the voice actors do a live performance on stage in New York City and a quick three minute short called Fisherman's Daughter that ties into the series. Menus and chapter selection are also provided on each of the two discs in the set.
The Final Word:
Archer is a wickedly funny take on dysfunctional family dynamics and at the same time a frequently brilliant parody of spy films and espionage programmers. The animation is slick and colorful, the voice work remarkably appropriate and the writing both biting and clever. Fox's Blu-ray set of the series' excellent fourth season is surprisingly light on extras but it looks and sounds great. Fans already know they need this one, and if you're late to the series, this makes a great jumping on point.
Click on the images below for full sized Blu-ray screen caps!
