Archer: More like Don Draper every Day

And the similarities don't stop there.
"I have never been so repulsed by someone mentally and so attracted to them physically at the same time. It's like my penis is facing my brain in a chess match - and I'm letting him win." - Jerry Seinfeld, Seinfeld, S03E09




Sadly, one of our favorite leading men is going off of TV for an entire year. The well-dressed, fearless, dick-joke loving Sterling Archer has finished off his sixth season. While it's sad to see him go, it's just in time for another well-dressed, fearless (unless his childhood is brought up), and slightly-less-dick-joke-loving leading man to come back on our televisions: Donald Draper. Though the two of them ostensibly have nothing in common aside from womanizing and a love of looking cool, as their respective shows progress, similarities keep arising.

Once more into the fray!
Before we get on to our cross-program examination, let's talk a bit about Archer season six as a whole. When it all started out, I was skeptical, as mused about in my "Archer: Taking the Streets into the Danger Zone" post. I thought some of the gags felt a bit forced, Malory's screentime was too limited, and the show may have started to run out of steam. Though as a whole the sixth season wasn't quite up to par with say, season two, I was completely wrong that it had jumped the shark. While maybe not as fresh as it once was, after a couple of episodes, the sixth season found its footing and was able to begin delivering classics. There was "The Kanes," the best episode of the season, in which Archer met Lana's parents, "Vision Quest," in which the office formerly known as ISIS was stuck in an elevator, "Achub y Morfilod," in which Archer and Lana travel to Wales, and the season finale, "Drastic Voyage: Part 2," where everything came to a boiling point.

Mother? Mallory? MOTHER!
The interesting thing about this season of Archer, though, is where creator Adam Reed has brought the characters. This season focused a lot more on our leading man and lady, Archer and Lana, than ever before. Malory, as I complained about a bit earlier, was cut out more, Krieger as so many characters on Archer have before him, has gone all but insane, Cheryl is her usual, destructive self, Pam isn't a coke addict anymore, but still dabbles in lunacy, and Cyril has decided he may want to kill his coworkers. Finally, Ray, the falling man of the series, has a Buster Bluth-ish accident, leading to him losing his hand and being given a black hand instead. This isn't the first wink and/or nod to Arrested Development, and certainly won't be the last. While I appreciate just how wacky all of the supporting cast has become, showing that Archer is essentially fearless when it comes to direction, sometimes characters fall into the same rabbit holes. At this point, we've seen Cheryl, Pam, and now Krieger go bat-shit crazy. All of them have ruined ISIS/CIA missions, all of them have gone on a rampage, and basically all of them have had similar comedy. It's funny, but it also begins to get a bit repetitive.

When Sterling met Lana
On the other hand, the direction in which Archer and Lana have headed is much more original, and much more refreshing to watch. The two of them have a child together now. Lana is beginning to become more maternal, more slowed down, and more wary of the constant life-threatening tasks that the crew is constantly put in. Likewise, even Archer, who admits he thinks that he's invincible, is beginning to take a page out of Lana's book and check himself. The two of them, even though they're cartoons, are getting older. They have a real responsibility. Though Lana is still Lana and Archer is still Archer, they can't be quite as crazy as they once were - giving a new brand of comedy, but also an interesting change in characterization. While Archer is certainly still a comedy, one where anything can happen (see my blurb on character craziness,) the plot is much more serialized and focused on making change.

This leads us to our story of the hour, Don Draper vs Sterling Archer. Where do the similarities start and end? First of all, there's the surface level aspects. There's the dark hair, blue eyes, and overall good looks that they share. There's the love of fine whiskey. There's the womanizing. There's the 1960's way of dressing. However, upon closer inspection, the two men have a lot more in common than hobbies and looks.

In the first seasons of both Mad Men and Archer, our respective leading men were doing what they wanted, when they wanted. If a woman was available to sleep with, Don and/or Sterling was hitting it. If a drink was available to be drunk, Don and/or Sterling was drinking it. While Don was married and Sterling was recently breaking up with his longtime girlfriend Lana, they both had women that they seemed to care for, even while they cheated, lied, and went crazy.
If only he rocked the turtleneck.
As the two characters began to get developed, we learned their back-stories. Don, or Dick, as he was born, had a mother he never knew and abusive father who died when he was ten. Sterling never knew his father, but had a semi-abusive mother who ridiculed him constantly and even made his middle name her first name, Mallory. The two men, without father (or really mother) figures, became womanizers and loved drinking. While Don's story is more tragic and Archer's more funny, the causation for their later lives are quite similar.

Nearing their very late seasons, the two men took similar turns. As both aged more, Don got remarried, and Sterling had a child with Lana, they began to have to grow up. No longer do they womanize, drink unreasonably (though they both still partake), or hide their darkness as well. Don is insecure with his personal position, professional position, and overall life position as we head into the final seven episodes of Mad Men. Sterling, as he heads into his own seventh season, has to learn to be an adult. He's actually trying to make things work with Lana, and fruitless as taming Archer could prove to be, the effort itself is a big step on its own.

Though the shows are pretty opposite in supporting cast, tone, mood, and basically everything else, their leading men have more in common than most. As Archer continues to charge on ahead, hopefully for many more years, and Mad Men sadly comes to a close, will the characters gravitate even more toward each other? Will Adam Reed ever admit that Jon Hamm could be the model of Sterling Archer? We'll never truly know, but as one of the greatest comedies of all time and one of the greatest dramas of all time continue, it's something to keep an eye out for.

Labels: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,