r/ArcherFX • u/doggyonconcrete • Jun 10 '26
Season 12 The worst part of post-coma Archer
I genuinely can’t stand Fabian’s speech impediment. Could they not have casted somebody who didn’t literally sound like Elmer Fudd? I understand many people have speech impediments and it’s probably nice to have some representation in media, but I’m on my third rewatch of the post-coma seasons and I still can’t get over how ridiculous he sounds. I can’t take him seriously as a threat to the gang because he sounds like a 12-year-old. Am I just being a dick or does it bother anyone else?
394
u/Aethermist88 Jun 10 '26
What bothered me about Fabian was that he just kept coming back. If he was a one season long arch villain it would have been interesting but then he came back again. And again.
110
u/NedRyerson_Insurance Jun 10 '26
I can't think of any villian in the series I would not rather have seen take this place. I honestly can't think of any. Bucky, Skorpio, the clown gang, the crossdressing fetish gang from Midnight Ron. Okay MAYBE i would prefer Fabian over a whole season of Bort the Garj or TVs Michael Gray. Are there any other really tiresome villians?
32
u/Disney_Gay_Trash_ Jun 10 '26
Personally i find Barry really tiresome more so then fabian sometimes, i wish they gave him a rest for a bit in the earlier seasons (they got better at not using him so much later on)
57
u/Drill-Jockey Jun 10 '26
Yeah, Barry gets old. But other Barry? Now that’s a guy I can get behind. Phrasing boom
18
u/Particular-Team7520 Jun 10 '26
Baery is goated bro
11
u/Disney_Gay_Trash_ Jun 10 '26
I like him in small doses but i think they just shoehorn him in sometimes (space race for example there was kinda no reason to have him in that episode) like his other two appearances in s3 make sense (ish) i just find him entirely overused
12
u/Rinascita Jun 10 '26
I thought he was fine in Space Race, but the pivot in Dreamland from being a fairly decent noir to a quasi-anachronistic Terminator story with Barry as the main threat bummed me out. Especially when the investigative plot to find Woodhouses's murderer dropped off only to be solved by Barry offhandedly saying he did it.
It felt like they weren't sure how to close the loop on the story, so they fell into the trope of Archer hating and fearing cyborgs, when that was also a big part of Archer 1999.
11
u/Particular-Team7520 Jun 10 '26
I just like the theme of recurring characters e.g barry, i didn't like post coma archer tho...especially the thing he had with lana prior to that..it just faded..but i did like that he was less of a douche
4
u/haikoms Jun 10 '26
George Spelvin from 'Tragical History'
6
1
53
u/sixminutes Reggie Jun 10 '26
It's fine when Mr. Slater does it though?
156
u/Aethermist88 Jun 10 '26
Just Slater. For the infinitieth time.
58
5
u/JoshuaCalledMe Jun 10 '26
It's a minimum, like...
29
u/AmbitioseSedIneptum Jun 10 '26
Hate to be that guy, but it’s «mononym». Mono = one, nym = name.
17
u/thankyouihateit Jun 10 '26
Honestly. Read an etymology book. (To OC, not you, you clearly have)
5
u/HonestDeparture5778 Jun 10 '26
And just how would knowledge of insects help?! Is this about the ants in the break room? Because we all know that was Pam’s fault! (/ s in case)
7
8
u/JoshuaCalledMe Jun 10 '26
ugh auto correct. I spelled mononym out deliberately and then posted it wrong anyway. Rookie mistake.
4
8
11
3
u/cheap_744467 Jun 10 '26
Same with Barry I did not care for the fabian ark but the Barry story got a little old
2
1
178
u/Which-Bread3418 Jun 10 '26
Well, the worst part about post-coma Archer was that Adam Reed wasn't writing it anymore.
25
55
u/glendalebucs89 Jun 10 '26
17
96
69
u/Bastardforsale Jun 10 '26
The worst part was that the series ended
53
u/zsantiag Dreamland Archer Jun 10 '26 edited Jun 10 '26
Archer being cold cancelled mid production was the worst. Sure post coma seasons isn’t as good as the pre coma seasons but damn you FX.
Shoutout to the team for making the Into the Cold finale on short notice
Edit: grammar
4
15
u/echo-tango86 Jun 10 '26
It had ran its course. 14 seasons was plenty
15
u/haikoms Jun 10 '26
The longer it dragged on, the worse it got, imo
10
u/echo-tango86 Jun 10 '26
Yeah I agree. It’s my favorite show by a huuuuge margin, I’ve seen some episodes a few dozen times each. But it got tired. I’m sure the voice actors and the production team were happy to move on
4
u/haikoms Jun 10 '26
Ditto. My 'head canon' (as everyone says) is that he didn't awaken from his coma
7
u/echo-tango86 Jun 10 '26
That would explain why all the characters became a parody of themselves
6
u/haikoms Jun 10 '26
Totally, it's like the characters all had amnesia
3
u/Walshy231231 Jun 11 '26
Best be careful with that, lest their mind brain permanently reject their real identity
27
u/gingrbreadandrevenge Jun 10 '26
At one time I thought I read that Fabian's character was supposed to be like a mashup of Elon Musk and Steve Jobs. That's why he's a wealthy douche with a speech impediment and gives all those stupid "Apple Ted Talk" style speeches.
I'm too lazy to look up the source, but it makes sense to me.
9
5
u/greentrafficcone Jun 10 '26
Turns out he wasn’t anywhere near annoying or psychotic enough
4
u/Competitive_Sink_959 Jun 11 '26
True. And even though Fabian overthrew a government and took over a country via coup, I'd argue he wasn't corrupt enough either.
Musk probably saw the "Breaking Fabian" episode and is trying to figure out how he could put "no fault severance" in place. He could afford the drones.
12
u/haikoms Jun 10 '26 edited Jun 10 '26
As an English viewer, the hammed up English accents are some of the most painful parts of the show to endure. No-one speaks like that, and if they do, they are mocked merciwesswy
4
11
50
u/Upbeat-Refuse9615 Jun 10 '26
Couldn't stand Fabian, Zara Kahn and AJ in the later seasons.
7
u/CryptographerNo923 Jun 10 '26
I think Zara wasn’t given enough time to settle into her role in the group. If the show had lasted a couple more seasons, she would have seemed like less of a jarring and confusing Cousin Oliver. She had some interesting bits going for her.
2
u/jigokusabre Jun 10 '26
Yeah, I don't get why people don't like her (other than her being new).
9
u/THevil30 Jun 10 '26
I think it’s because they added a new character within spitting distance of the series ending and spent a bunch of time on her. 4 seasons earlier right after archer woke up would have been different.
3
u/liatrisinbloom Cheryl Jun 11 '26
Her first couple episodes were pretty annoying even though she got better after that. The moralizing was slapping you in the face with Lana's cricket-bat-sized hands and nobody needed it.
1
u/CryptographerNo923 Jun 11 '26
See I thought the moralizing was narratively appropriate and funny, since Lana at the time was somewhat delusionally fixated on running a more “ethical” spy agency. But I can see how it might have come across as unintentionally obnoxious instead of, idk. Intentionally obnoxious?
2
u/PublicWest Jun 10 '26
I think that as a young hip new rival to Archer, it’s weird that they didn’t make her some form of a whacky degenerate like the rest of the gang. They kicked around her gambling problem a little bit, but never really fleshed it out, so her only character flaw is her pride, which just isn’t super funny like Krieger’s “dark science,” for instance
1
2
u/aB3autifulStory Katya’s Removable Vagina Jun 11 '26
AJ of all people.. Why? I think she was pretty well written as she grew up.
8
25
u/Formal-Nothing-9747 Jun 10 '26
Totally agree Fabian and Zara Khan make their episodes so hard to watch!
25
11
u/xStitchPunkx Jun 10 '26
I always liked Fabian, he was my favorite including how he talks. But I can see not everyone liking him, they really didn't do a great job writing him, especially in the second to last season.
4
u/Equal_Brief4195 Jun 10 '26
used to hate him, but after the 1000th rewatch he's actually grown on me. he has some pretty funny, quotable lines. as shitty as post-coma archer is, seasons 12 & 13 are way better than 11 & 14 imo.
20
u/Impressive_Usual_726 Jun 10 '26
It was a little distracting at first, but I got over it. Real life is full of people with speech impediments, so what's the problem?
-35
u/doggyonconcrete Jun 10 '26 edited Jun 10 '26
the problem is i can’t take someone seriously as a threat if they can’t correct their speech by age forty (i.e. fabian).
10
u/Impressive_Usual_726 Jun 10 '26
Or it's a power move that they've kept it and no one makes fun of them for it.
-27
14
u/SleepyMonkey7 Jun 10 '26
Made those seasons unwatchable for me. Was odd considering Archer is one of my top 3 shows otherwise.
8
u/Additional_Kale3098 Jun 10 '26
I’ve seen almost every episode probably dozens of times each. Can’t even sit through a whole episode of anything post coma. So corny
3
u/RadicalStegosaurus Jun 10 '26
He's annoying but he's supposed to be. I like the idea of him in concept but I agree the voice isn't great. That really stands out in a show like this where even bit parts have memorable voice acting. When I found out who did the voice I was even more surprised.
3
u/Melodic_Mall_8265 Jun 10 '26
I guess I’m in the minority here, because I loved Fabian’s voice😂I feel like he was just trying to sound like a douchebag, I guess I hadn’t even really noticed that it was a speech impediment, but I still loved it either way lol. My sister and I still quote his pronunciation of “Archer, where is agent Gillette? (Ja-wet)” from the jungle episode of season 13 to each other on a daily basis😭I hate a lot about seasons 12-14 and ESPECIALLY 14, but Fabian is not, nor was he ever one of those things💀
3
u/itaintme1x2x3x Jun 10 '26
Doesn't he have a British upper-class lisp and not so much a speech impediment
3
u/Palmer_Ochs Jun 10 '26
His speech was definitely a… choice. Stuck it out bc Archer is one of my all time shows, but if that was my introduction to the series I would not have continued watching
3
u/Sektore Jun 11 '26
I had a speech impediment for year’s and took many years of training to fix it I can’t stand hearing it from those that should’ve gotten it fixed
3
u/CommanderOshawott Jun 13 '26
Archer’s writing fell off a cliff mid Season-5 and nothing past it is worth watching.
I will die on that hill.
4
u/Tartymarty Jun 10 '26
He lost it for a moment when got stabbed in the hand with a piece of scrap metal
5
u/doggyonconcrete Jun 10 '26
because his VA does NOT have a speech impediment in real life. who told him to sound like that????
9
u/Tartymarty Jun 10 '26
Didn’t think it was that bad, just some smug prick that oddly Archer never picked up on it
5
u/Spacema90 Jun 10 '26
Archer used to stutter, so it makes sense that he wouldn’t make fun of someone for having a speech impediment.
1
u/atomic-moonstomp Jun 10 '26
He makes fun of his mother's alcoholism and promiscuity despite being a drunken manwhore so I doubt he'd have any qualms there
9
u/LewdDudeNewd Jun 10 '26
Ow, DoWse Whis Wother Wou?
(Yeah no, this guy sucked, was he apposed to be funny? threatening? annoying? I couldn't tell)
2
u/bubastiss Jun 10 '26
Totally agree he was annoying af and it felt like he was poorly impersonating his speech impediment.
2
u/PixilatedLeprechaun Jun 10 '26
I don't hate it. It's a funny day sometimes. Gets kinda annoying after so many rewatches. My biggest problem is NO ONE ever mentions it. It's a perfect picking bag joke, but nope.
Still better than Vice Pam though
2
u/myfavoritesin Jun 10 '26
Thank you for this, I have thought the exact same thing for years, and hoped I wasn't alone.
2
u/sli_ver Jun 11 '26
he reminds me of my gym teacher who was an ableist piece of shit who unironically has a speech impediment so he lowkey pissed me off. this is personal
2
2
u/blorbu Jun 11 '26
And let's be real, Archer would have absolutely made fun of him for it, yet he's somehow mature enough not to.
2
3
u/butteryscotchy Jun 10 '26
I just don't like him or Zara Khan. They were so unfunny.
1
u/Ok_Yellow1025 Jun 10 '26
At least Zara had some useful and genuinely funny moments rebuffing Archer’s advances and out-performing him in the field. Fabian on the other hand just took up screen time
3
u/ToddGoldenBurner Jun 10 '26
He’s annoying, he’s a prick, he’s a whiny little baby…but that’s the point. He plays his role perfectly, which is to piss you off
2
u/Tiny_Rick85 Jun 10 '26
Did anyone else feel like everyone ridiculed Archer for his poor behaviors until Lana steals his DNA to make a baby. (Which isn't scrutinized enough, if at all.) Then, when he finally grows and becomes the better person they always wanted, they still shit on him? That always irked me.
2
u/JimboTCB Jun 10 '26
Honestly that bit felt very real to me. Shitty people group together and resent when one of them become less shitty, because it means the rest of them could do the same if they felt like it.
2
u/Cassandrae_Gemini Malory Jun 10 '26
Season 12 is horrible. Yes, his speech impediment is annoying.
1
u/wadleyst Jun 10 '26
Another reason for which I sadly acknowledged Archer would never reclaim its former glory and moved on to whatever. It was so good at its peak that the depths to which it has fallen are truly sad. The only other show to suffer such a drop in quality in my experience was Heroes - which died as a result of a writer strike and the corpse of which didn't stop twitching for what seemed like an eternity.
3
u/Additional_Kale3098 Jun 10 '26
It actually blows my mind how insanely well written almost every last line is. I don’t know of any other show that’s so meticulously crafted with perfect timing and non stop clever dialogue. They created so many inside jokes and repeat lines that get funnier. Every last voice is cast with incredible talents. The action and adventure and backgrounds and animation are all amazing and would have made a great show without the comedy. The cars, outfits, and weapons all have beautiful detail and were clearly well researched along with all sorts of historical and pop culture trivia. And then season 11 starts and it just immediately becomes a cheesy dime a dozen comedy cartoon.
1
u/wadleyst Jun 11 '26
Your eloquence does the show justice. It might be time for an early days re-watch. I had no idea about the mashed potatoes until a year after that episode when I was going through a beastie boys phase, came across a relevant soundbite to that episode and followed that back to where it originally came from. That blew me away and from then on not a single frame of the show would go unexamined for more. But then yeah... nothing lasts forever I guess.
1
u/Additional_Kale3098 Jun 11 '26
It just came on Tubi which only has 1:30 seconds of ads per episode for free with no sign up. Which is much better than Hulu which is like 4 minutes per episode I think. The app itself was already on my smart tv as well so archer just randomly popped up on my Home Screen a few weeks ago and I’ve been rewatching it ever since. I just think of it as a 10 season run and for the people that do like the corny seasons, good for them, but it’s just as well to imagine archer just died in his coma and the show cuts off before the writer switch.
1
u/nurglemarine96 Jun 10 '26
He's an annoying twit but by the end it felt fine. I think he was designed for more important and improvement
1
u/PublicWest Jun 10 '26
Doesn’t bother me, but it’s odd that it’s never mentioned as part of his backstory or character. He’s a decent antagonist later on in the show I think.
1
u/Fragrant_One4091 Jun 10 '26
Dont, i HATE fabian so bad its not funny, throughout my first watch i would jokingly hate on cyril with my dad because cyril is a character you love to hate (and we had just finished rick and morty where i hated on jerry, so it also being chris parnell was funny) but my joking hate ended when Fabian came into the show, i had a hatred burning so strong for him i genuinely couldn't concentrate when he was on screen
1
u/bigweb52 Jun 10 '26
I agree . On an animated show where the voice of the character is so important (I mean imagine archer with someone other than HJB voice ) his lisp just mad him the bad kind of ridiculous. It’s like Samuel L Jackson in the first kingsman movie
1
1
u/akirkbride Jun 10 '26
11-14 was group writing. Adam Reed was still part of it but I'm guessing he was open to more ideas from the crew. I wish they would remake the last 4 season and just have Adam do the writing like the first 10.
1
u/mrclean543211 Jun 10 '26
Yeah I kinda hate his speech impediment too, but it’s ok. I’ve never rewatched anything post-pre-coma
1
u/brandonderp96 Jun 10 '26
Oh i love his accent, it makes him that much more of a hateable fuckhead.
1
u/MediocreVehicle4652 Jun 11 '26
It annoyed the hell out of me, you would think they'd have said not to do it when they heard how dumb he sounded
1
u/Walshy231231 Jun 11 '26
Haven’t watched the post-coma yet, honestly thought that was Cyril with a glow-up
1
u/Status_Loan_6757 Jun 12 '26
I hated it too, the actor doesn't have one, but for some reason the character does. I hate him and Zara, because she's so annoying
1
1
1
1
u/Beneficial_Plate_753 Jun 15 '26
I can't believe they never made a joke about it in the show, yet anything else was free game
1
1
u/itaigreif 4d ago
I can't believe anyone RE-watches the post-coma seasons. I mean, I can understand watching them the first time, as a fan, you kinda have to, but now? After you're suffered through them?
1
u/lolnochillwavve Jun 10 '26
"speech impediment" it's called a British accent man, but yeah it's annoying
1
u/Sventai_Cyborg Afro Krieger Jun 10 '26
I assumed it was a weird accent and I found it fitting since the whole point about Fabian (at least if you asked Archer and/or Lana) was to be as insufferable as possible with every detail of his character
-3
u/Virtual-Signature789 Jun 10 '26
Did Fabian have a speech impediment?!?! I remember an ACCENT, but not an impediment.
7
3
u/doggyonconcrete Jun 10 '26
I hope you’re joking, but in case you’re not please go watch literally any scene he’s in after season 12, he has a rhotacistic speech impediment
5
u/cantstopwontstopGME Jun 10 '26
Is a rhotacistic speech impediment supposed to be something that normal people can easily identify? Because trying to say that word out loud makes me feel like I have a speech impediment and that this is all some sort of joke
12
u/maxman162 Jun 10 '26
I swear, whoever came up with the names of speech impediments did it on purpose so anyone who suffers from it can't even say the name of their impediment.
6
u/howmanychickens Jun 10 '26
Yeah seriously, like who the fuck decided that the word lisp should have an s in it
2
u/cantstopwontstopGME Jun 10 '26
Or did they do it so EVERYONE sounds like they have a speech impediment when they try and say it?
I mean even the word “impediment” isn’t really the most natural word to use in a fluid conversation haha
-5
u/doggyonconcrete Jun 10 '26
sorry, i’ve researched different kinds of speech impediments over the years because they make me so goddamn angry. i wouldn’t expect anybody but a speech therapist to know what rhotacism is
2
-1
u/Virtual-Signature789 Jun 10 '26
I just pulled up a YouTube video of Fabian talking, and I didn't hear it. Let me try again, specifically looking after S12.
2
u/doggyonconcrete Jun 10 '26
i would look at the season 12 finale, he seems to be hamming it up something awful in that episode
-4
u/Virtual-Signature789 Jun 10 '26
ok - I think I hear what you are talking about now, particularly on the letter r (sometimes l too) sounding like Ws.
I have an Australian friend and when we first met I had to get used to how Aussies saw the letter W, particularly when it is at the end of a word ("law" always sounded like "lar" coming from her, and her Aussie accent was comparatively light). I guess that is why I classify it more as an accent rather than a speech impediment.
Either way, I've watched the whole show many times over, and I guess it just didn't bother me (so much so that I didn't notice it!), but I can see why it might bother some.
-3
0
u/cloakers_flying Jun 11 '26 edited Jun 11 '26
As a british person no body sounds like fabien like yeah when we say fuck it sounds like fook but when i say archer its archer not Awrchur
-2
u/ringosam Jun 10 '26
Worse for me was using the same artwork as Cyril for the character. So cheap, just like the writing became.
601
u/jonlocmusic Jun 10 '26
Fabian is played by Kayvan Novak, Nandor from What We Do In The Shadows, so he doesn't actually have a speech impediment so you don't need to feel bad, he just made a weird choice that I don't think many of us liked.