According to the producers, this season will return to its spy agency roots after Sterling Archer wakes up from his three-year coma. Archer will be back at the New York agency, but the personalities and situation of the office will be different. Due to being bed-ridden for three years, Archer is physically and mentally not what he used to be, which in turn affects the rest of the group and makes everyone worse at their jobs. His muscles have atrophied to the point where he has trouble walking and will need the assistance of a cane. The rest of the group starts to see him as an afterthought, and he has trouble understanding how everything moved on without him, which will include Lana having been married in the three years Sterling has been bedridden. The season will focus on Archer's struggle to cope with these lost feelings and how his return forces change on everyone around him, including himself.