Picture a suave, studly sleuth like James Bond but drunk, irresponsible, dangerously immature… and you’ve got Sterling Archer: world’s greatest secret agent. The witty animated spy comedy created by Adam Reed and starring H. Jon Benjamin (Bob’s Burgers) follows a rag-tag band of operatives whose adventures never fail to go off the rails. Along with its boisterous missions and capers, Archer’s popularity comes from the way it tells explosive stories of espionage through the structure of a workplace comedy. With a number of running jokes, celebrity cameos, and displays of its characters breaking the fourth wall, what began as a loose Bond parody evolved into an acclaimed series with a loyal cult following.

Archer smashed back onto the scene for a twelfth season in 2021 after three years in a coma and plenty of radical new directions. We’ve seen "The Agency" work as spies, drug dealers, CIA operatives, detectives in the current day and in 1940’s L.A., treasure hunters, and even astronauts. With all of these wildly different takes on our same troublesome characters, it’s difficult to decide which one is the best.

With a highly anticipated thirteenth season of Archer on the way, we’re ranking all twelve seasons judged by humor, storytelling, and downright badassery.

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12. Dreamland

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Season 8 isn’t the first to branch off into a different direction but is definitely the most ambitious reach of the bunch. The first of three seasons that take place in his imagination during a coma, Dreamland finds Archer as a detective in 1940’s Los Angeles investigating the murder of his real-life valet, Woodhouse (George Coe). It’s evident that Reed spent the “coma seasons" teaching Archer - and us - valuable lessons about his relationships to the others in the show. Dreamland finds Archer against old foes in new clothes on his mission through the trenches of L.A. crime, all in the pursuit of justice for a valet he tortures daily. This season proves Archer really does love Woodhouse, who practically raised him in his mother's absence. But Archer, being the insufferable man-child that he is, could never admit it. This is why his subconscious dreams up a glitzy noir mystery in search of Woodhouse's killer. Dreamland tries too hard to be different and ultimately lacks the sort of offside humor that audiences love about Archer.

11. Season 12

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The most recent season of Archer finds the worst coworkers in the world up to their old antics again. Bringing the series back to its core, Season 12 has the gang working as spies again. Unlike the old days when they rivaled ODIN, a new spy organization called the I.I.A. is now their major competitor. Thankfully, the series never shies away from addressing Archer’s sabbatical. His time out of the field acts as a major crutch to Archer’s character and ego since he’d been the world’s greatest spy until getting shot in Season 7. Although not the most imaginative, this season saw a touching farewell to Malory Archer after the death of voice actress Jessica Walter in 2021.

10. Season 6

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Season 6 finds The Agency back home at exactly the same office as before. Well… besides that one hot spring. This season dons its variation of a clear staple episode in every animated comedy in which its characters shrink for a mission inside another human body. Besides a few adventurous gems like this, Season 6 of Archer is rather uneventful. Once the group discovers Agent Slater (Christian Slater) tricked them into trafficking cocaine, they begin working as independent contractors for the CIA under his authority (which Archer and the group rarely comply with). Although this season is composed of random missions and drastic voyages, audiences finally get to see Archer as a parental figure after the birth of his and Lana’s (Aisha Taylor) daughter, AJ. Also - aliens!

9. Archer Vice

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In the first episode of Season 5, the FBI arrests The Agency for treason and seizes all their assets, including Archer’s swanky penthouse. Although Malory strikes a deal for their freedom, she does so under the condition that The Agency be disbanded and its operatives never engage in espionage-related affairs again. Now homeless, the gang moves into Tunt Manor with Cheryl (Judy Greer) where they have a literal ton of cocaine to get rid of. Archer Vice finds our favorite dysfunctional team in a boozy parody of Miami Vice, traveling to Miami, Colombia, and even Texas on their quest to sell a ton of cocaine. In this season, Lana’s newly pregnant, Cheryl becomes country sensation Cherlene, Pam (Amber Nash) gets skinny due to an extreme addiction to their own product and Archer saves Kenny Loggins from the danger zone.

8. Season 11

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The eleventh season finds The Agency working at its most proficient and symbiotic during Archer’s absence. Our first peek at the world outside Archer’s subconscious finds Lana, Cyril (Chris Parnell), Pam, Cheryl, and even Kreiger (Lucky Yates) being better versions of themselves. Newly awakened, Season 11 sees our favorite spy adjust to a world that has spent three years turning on without him. Since Archer is so arrogant, it’s hilarious to see him humbled. When he wakes, everyone has moved on; Woodhouse is gone, Lana’s married, Cheryl has taken on what might be her sixth identity and Cyril is now Agent-in-Command. Since The Agency excelled in his absence, Season 11 makes for some great banter as Archer struggles to regain his stripes and put the lessons he learned on his adventures in a coma to use in real life.

7. Season 7

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Season 7 finds Archer and the others relocating to Los Angeles to become private investigators. We begin this season at the end, seeing Archer’s bullet-riddled body floating in the pool at starlet Veronica Deane’s (Mary McDonald-Lewis) glamorous mansion. The season unravels like a murder mystery, showing us every misguided adventure the group hazards until the fateful moment that leaves Archer in a three-season long coma. Although the gang gets into some shifty situations (that may or may not include a batch of Hamentashen), this season mostly acts as a set-up for its jaw-dropping finale.

6. Season 4

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The fourth season of Archer is by far one of the most potent with quick-witted comedy, serving up hilarious adventures in Mexico, Morocco, The Vatican, and even under the sea. This season sheds light on supporting characters who become heavier contributors to the absurdity at The Agency. Audiences learn about Cheryl’s family fortune, as well as the nature of her insanity. Not only does she hallucinate throughout this season, but she continually breaks the fourth wall by addressing how she hears the show's non-diegetic sounds. Is Cheryl really crazy? Or is she just the only one who knows they're all on a TV show? Not only does this season overflow with the sort of outrageous humor that makes Archer so poignant, but we also see unlikely duos in action like Archer and Ron (Ron Leibman) against gangsters and even a body swap between Woodhouse and the Pope! This season is full of wacky adventures and effortlessly delivers top-tier slapstick comedy.

5. Season 1

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The first season of the series sets up the international web of espionage surrounding Archer and the others at The Agency. It gives audiences a rowdy introduction to what is likely the most toxic work environment ever featuring our soon-to-be-favorite operatives Sterling, Malory, Lana, Cheryl, Pam, Cyril, Ray (voiced by Adam Reed), and Krieger. Although the animation on Archer has consistently improved over the years, few seasons have managed to tap into the degree of humor the first season boasted in its scripts. Season 1 bulldozed onto screens with gut-punching one-liners and brilliant satire to back up its turbulent storylines. Using sarcasm and parody to address themes of racism, homophobia, alcoholism, obesity, addiction (the list goes on...) set a sarcastic tone for the series that brought it critical acclaim. Archer was nominated for Outstanding Animated Series at the Primetime Emmys in 2017.

4. Season 3

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In Season 3, Archer grieves the death of his Russian fiancée by marooning himself on an island and becoming a pirate king - as one does. Along with a trip to space, Season 3 is jam-packed with quirky adventures that not only characterize the show’s major players but keep us laughing the whole way. Reed and his team of writers put their best foot forward when creating this season by giving audiences a look at Archer’s relationship with his mother, Malory, and (possible) father, Nikolai Jakov (Peter Newman) of the KGB. Apart from learning the juicy details of his past, this season of Archer plays along heavily with long-running-inside-jokes like “phrasing” and Archer’s guiltiest pleasure to date: a secret sexual fling with Pam. Sploosh!

3. 1999

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The final season taking place in Sterling’s imagination is Archer: 1999. The third “coma-season” boasts the show’s ability to remain an outlandish workplace comedy despite the gang’s place of work moving to outer space. Besides this season expertly playing off the tropes of popular sci-fi movies, it acts as the final circle of Archer’s subconscious. The gang fight as gladiators in an intergalactic version of the Colosseum, battle space pirates, and even make friends with a sentient doomsday device. Although ending the season on trial for her attempted murder, the lesson Archer learns this season is how much he loves Lana. Besides partaking in some serious egg-induced love-making, the pair keep up their banter and bickering even in other galaxies. The cherry on top of an outrageous season is when Archer finally wakes to find Malory at his side, a cot, and all of her belongings sitting nearby. Seeing how much she missed Archer emphasizes the importance of his relationships with those who, after almost permanently losing them, he finally understands the value of. Plus, that montage before he wakes up is epic.

2. Danger Island

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The ninth season of the series but the second taking place in Archer’s mind is set in 1938 on a small island home to a legendary treasure. Danger Island finds the cast in new roles again thanks to Sterling’s overly imaginative subconscious. From princesses to parrots to Nazi warlords, these are easily the funniest variants of The Agency's regular misfits. On the heels of a notoriously dark season (Dreamland), Reed decided to make Danger Island a fun, light-hearted adventure. Needless to say, he hit his mark. Including (but not limited to) quicksand, Nazis, cheating heiresses, fiery volcanoes, a talking parrot, and plenty of cocktails, Danger Island flaunts the show's most provocative quest and the most inventive renditions of its characters. Like in other “coma seasons,” in Danger Island Archer learns the importance of a certain relationship he has in real life: his friendship with Pam. Although already a fan favorite, Pamela Poovey is overlooked by Archer until their adventures on Danger Island, when he realizes what he really treasures is their friendship.

1. Season 2

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Early enough to remain potent with the original breed of comedy the series was written with but late enough to no longer be experimental, Season 2 of Archer is the show at its best. In its earlier seasons, Archer did little to shy away from controversial jokes and remained unapologetic with its satire. Furthermore, running gags are a staple of the series, and most of them are born sometime within this season. Some gags are more like catchphrases, while others are allusions to scenarios or characters that exist off-screen like “the old gypsy woman.” Phrasing!, Archer’s elaborate voicemail machine, Ray’s paralysis, Brett the Bullet Magnet, Duchess, Lana's man hands, and getting inner-ear tinnitus are only a few running jokes that span across multiple seasons. Archer, an egocentric spy who relies on luck to fuel his god-complex, is faced with his own mortality this season when he is diagnosed with breast cancer. Deciding to expose the corrupt pharmaceutical corporations profiting off of fake cancer medication, we witness Archer’s first rampage in this season. We also witness the birth of Archer’s rivalry against nemesis, Barry (Dave Willis).