Willis told Newsweek how he and the writers wanted to approach Season 13 in a way that felt “fitting” for the characters and was also respectful to Walter’s memory following her passing in March 2021.
‘Archer’ Showrunner on Why Season 13 Was ‘Challenging’
Season 12 of the animated series ended with Malory announcing via letter that she would be retiring from being a spy and had left The Agency in the team’s hands, and now they are vying to see who can take the top spot in Season 13.
Archer, Lana Kane (Aisha Tyler), Cyril Figgis (Chris Parnell), Ray Gillette (Adam Reed), Pam Poovey (Amber Nash), Cheryl Tunt (Judy Greer), and Dr. Krieger (Lucky Yates) are all in the running.
Reflecting on approaching the story without Malory, Willis told Newsweek: “It was quite challenging and we talked about it a lot and wanted to do it the right way because we have even had these talks at the end of the previous season, [and] because it was such a sad thing for all of us.
“And we felt that if the character of Malory died in the show that would be too sad for us. We’ve always had a rule on Archer, that we never wanted anything bad to happen to Malory because a viewer would look at that and it’s like watching your grandma get hurt, that’s not what we wanted to project.”
“Similarly, if Mallory had died in the Archer universe we felt like Archer would just be devastated, and that would be a very sad show to watch,” Willis said. “So we made a decision that she just retired and had to get out as a spy, she’s able to just disappear and do what she wants to do, and escape her enemies and former lovers, as she mentioned in that farewell letter. So that’s what we wanted to say, that she’s retired.”
“That way, the characters can move on and do different things, and not just be devastated, just like how the viewers were. So we felt that was the fitting way to proceed,” Willis said.
“I think it allows the characters to be ambitious and go for this thing and not seem crass that they’re they’re vying for this position that was once held by Malory.”
Reflecting on the season as a whole, Willis said: “We wanted to explore a couple things, but the main thing was how the Archer and the gang thrive, or not, under this new boss, and we know that they’re gonna want to try to get out of that and what do they do to do that.
“And then, there’s also this kind of game of who’s going to be the leader, and we wanted to explore that too.”
On Archer’s Growth as a Spy and Family Man
Archer’s first reaction to his mother’s retirement is to choose to do what he wants when he wants. “Early on in that first episode Archer kind of takes himself out of the game pretty quickly, but teases a little bit throughout the season of who will or won’t be in that chair at the end of the season,” Willis said. “So that’s kind of what we were trying to play with throughout the season and I think we did a pretty good job.”
“We discussed a lot of possibilities with [Archer] but it didn’t seem quite right for him to be ambitious and want to take this thing over when he’d never shown any interest in that in the past,” Willis continued. “And so we’re worried that if suddenly Archer was all gung-ho about The Agency then that would read very false to fans, and to the show so we went the opposite direction.”
“What we wanted to do is kind of set the stage for if you think he was bad before now he’s really off the chain, the kind of metaphorical chain that was on him in the past, so that’s kind of where we wanted to start from,” Willis said.
“And then our goal, and hopefully you’ll see it through the season, is for him to realize that was he can’t do that. He does want The Agency and his mother’s legacy to live on, but is he the right person to be in control of it?”
But it’s not only in his professional life that Archer is growing in Season 13, he will also change personally because he also helps Lana with raising their daughter Abbijean (also known as AJ, voiced by Kimberly Woods).
“We wanted to show that Archer has a lot of unique insights into parenting just because he’s pretty self aware about the things that might have damaged him in the past, and made him the person he is,” Willis said.
“So he’s able to just tell Lana to do the opposite of the things that kind of messed him up, and so his instincts are usually right on the money when it comes to AJ and how she’ll respond to things.
“I think it’s a nice turn of the tables between Lana and Archer, where Lana is going to try to do all these things correctly but Archer is able to help her through this minefield of a tween and all their swirling emotions.”
Giving Pam her Chance to Shine
Of what’s to come in the new chapter of The Agency, Willis added: “I think that this season [fans] can expect the group coming together to fight against Fabian [Kingsworth, voiced by Kayvan Novak], who we all don’t think is a very good guy.
“But, also, as they come together they also have to fight amongst themselves as well, because it wouldn’t be Archer if they weren’t doing that. And so will The Agency be able to survive this in-fighting? And will they be able to figure out who should be in charge of The Agency in the end?”
One such character who is keen to prove herself during this time is Pam, who has been overlooked despite her competency in the role.
“She has moments I think there fairly early on in the season, early to middle of the season, where we see Pam starting to step up and realize that maybe people like her and Lana don’t get the respect that they deserve around The Agency, especially with Fabian command,” Willis said of the character.
“So she starts pushing for that, but, also, she may get side-tracked because we’ve been hinting that something big is going to happen to Pam this season, and that is that she’s going to get a love interest.
“We wanted to handle it correctly because Pam, and we know this from going to places like [San Diego] Comic-Con, means a lot to a lot of the fans, and she represents a lot of things for fans.
“And so we wanted to we wanted to give her a more special relationship but also kind of honor who Pam is at her core, and I think we were able to do that.”
Archer Season 13 premieres on August 24 at 10 p.m. ET/PT on FXX, streaming the next day on Hulu.
