Archer has never really had a main, ongoing antagonist. The show is set in a sort of timeless, anachronistic period where global politics are as much a mess as the technology what with there being seventies-style computer terminals rubbing shoulders with fully operational cyborg legs. Castro is in charge of Cuba, many episodes feature references to the Soviet Union as a current nation, Woodhouse served in World War I, the pop culture references are fairly up-to-date, and Malory worked during the Cold War. As such the villains that ISIS has been hired to take down have varied between Russian spies and modern-day Middle Eastern terrorists, but they've changed with basically every episode. The closest the show has ever had to an ongoing conflict besides ISIS versus every other intelligence agency in the United States is in the return of a Cold War between ISIS and the KGB. Which basically means America and Russia. Again. Just like real life! Apparently the returning villainous pairing of Archer's nemesis Barry and his fellow robotic wife Katya, head of the KGB, will play a pretty big part in the next season, again getting things back to familiar ground after Archer Vice saw the group down in Miami, or else staging accidental coups in South America. Which was fun, but really you wanna see those Russian cyborgs duking it out again. For democracy.
Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/
