Archer Season 9 – The Big Changes In Store For Pam

Archer is a show that is constantly transforming. One character in particular that has drastically changed over the years is Pam Poovey. Played with the perfect amount of gleeful madness by Amber Nash, Pam has slowly turned into one of the most popular characters from Archer. Pam even receives a major upgrade in the upcoming season where she’s front and center in a way that most of the other characters are not. Archer: Danger Island promises a whole lot of Pam and it’s purely because the audience loves Nash’s twisted interpretation of this unhinged character.

The series has chosen to frequently reboot and then “deboot” itself in past years. As far as the show is concerned, there’s absolutely no reason that Archer needs to remain a show that’s about spies, so why not turn it into a film noir, or a drug running operation, or a 1930s adventure serial homage set on against a pirate backdrop? It’s this sort of creativity and fearlessness that allows Archer to stay on the air and remain fresh for so long. And guess what, if a certain reboot doesn’t work for you one season then just tune in against next year and it’ll probably be something different. 

On the topic of the past reboots, Nash spoke with fond memories in particular towards the show’s 5^th season. “I always loved Archer: Vice. I loved our cocaine season.”

That being said, Nash was quick to praise the eminent Danger Island season, not because it might be the show’s craziest season yet, but also for the interesting role that it positions Pam in this year.

“It’s set in 1939 and Archer—he’s still drunk as usual, that’s never going to change—but he’s like a cargo pilot and Pam is basically like his Chewbacca sidekick.”

Nash continues to explain the bizarre journey that Pam’s gone through to reach this place and how this season differs from the previous. “Last season, Dreamland, was dark, noir, and I’m glad that we could do try that for a while, but this season is back to being big, bright, and over the top funny.”

Archer: Danger Island basically turns Pam into the show’s second lead besides Archer. Nash was thrilled for the opportunity, but also excited to see how Pam would interact with the rest of the cast this year.

“Pam has done everything but in Danger Island she’s also gigantic!” she says. “She’s like seven-feet tall. They sent me a drawing of Pam from this season standing next to Cyril and he looks so tiny!”

On that note, Pam isn’t the only character to receive a facelift this season and another highlight of this year is the radical new versions of these familiar faces. This allows the characters to remain exciting in unique ways, but it also leads to a lot of fun opportunities that otherwise wouldn’t be possible in the earlier versions of this show.

Nash explains some of the new versions of the cast that turn up this year. “So Pam’s his sidekick, but there’s also Crackers, the parrot. That’s Lucky Yates’ character this year because Kreiger is gone, but he instead plays this Macaw parrot. He’s always just around whenever Pam and Archer get into trouble in their plane. It’s really fun.”

Nash remains tight-lipped on what the direction for any future seasons of the show may be, as well as how many years there may be left, but also that nothing is set in stone. So while any future plans for Archer are tentative to change, Nash is grateful for the show’s past and its legacy.

Another reason for why Archer has lasted for so long is because of its loving relationship with its fans. It creates extensive running jokes and has a conversation with its audience through them, so to speak. Nash says this is one of her favorite aspects of working on Archer. “I get to say some of the most horrifying lines on the show,” she jokes.

It remains to be seen what sort of conclusion Danger Island will turn to at the end of this season, but there are many possibilities that lie ahead for both Archer and Pam. Furthermore, Nash opened up a little on what a Pam Poovey spin-off might look like. While purely a pipe dream, Nash joked about a Rockford Files-esque program called The Poovey Files that had her and Cheryl stuck doing detective work. Another more ridiculous idea that took Pam back home and into a Nutty Professor II: The Klumps scenario with the rest of the Pooveys also appealed to her.

Archer embraces the whole adventure serial and pirate angle without hesitation and this feels like a show that wouldn’t put any genre off limits. However, the one reboot that you won’t see Archer turn to is a hard sci-fi space epic, at least if Amber Nash has her way. “I know that it may be an unpopular opinion, but I’ve never seen the appeal in Star Wars. It’s not for me. That and Greek yogurt.”

Archer: Danger Island, the show’s ninth season, returns to FXX on Wednesday, April 25^th at 10 p.m.