Archer: The Complete Season Two

The second run of this FX original animated series continues the adventures of Sterling Archer (voiced by H. Jon Benjamin), the playboy secret agent who has worked his way to the top of the spy game through a combination of arrogance, recklessness, hard drinking, womanizing, and nepotism. Lana Kane (Aisha Tyler) is the team's other top operative, helping to tame a world where the Cold War never ended and '60s-style despots still rule third-world kingdoms. Along with the expected spy-movie spoofing—with secret missions endangered by ill-advised affairs and hangovers—the comedy features cutthroat office politics (sort of like The Office staffed by oblivious hedonists). Knowingly ridiculous and absolutely raunchy, the show remains interesting because Sterling is a genuinely talented agent; he may be an idiot in other respects, but the man has mad skills. The second season expands Archer's story by making him a father and saddling him with cancer, an ordeal that he handles with all the aplomb one would expect from a full-grown adolescent with serious childhood scars; the wretched parenting skills of his mother (Jessica Walter) are revealed in flashbacks. Chris Parnell and Judy Greer costar as Cyril and Cheryl, office accountant and secretary, respectively. Compiling all 13 episodes from the 2011 second season, extras include new bonus shorts, a Q&A with Archer, and a Comic-Con panel discussion. Recommended. (S. Axmaker)