Archer rarely disappoints, but here in its fourth season it did begin to show the slightest signs of age. Not because the show had gotten lazy by any stretch, but instead because after fifty episodes there just isn't much new ground left to cover for a workplace sitcom moonlighting as a spy thriller parody. This fourth season began and ended with nods to other animated shows; the premiere retconned all of Bob's Burgers into a summer Archer spent as a fry cook with amnesia, and the two-part finale sent the ISIS crew down to Sealab - yes, the one from creator Adam Reed's early 2000s masterpiece Sealab 2021 - in search of a nuclear weapon. In between those two expeditions, episodes were set in Vermont, Montreal, Turkmenistan, Morocco, the Vatican, the Texas-Mexico border, and a fictional Anthony Bourdain five-star restaurant. (Again, nothing here felt lazy!)
Fortunately, Adam Reed seemed to sense a bit of stagnation, too, and utterly revamped the show for the fifth season. They're still the same old characters and the show uses the same old humor, but now instead of covert special agents they're all just drug smugglers. It's been pretty good so far!
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