Few would deny Archer took the creative route of dealing with its incapacitated lead by a trip to Dreamland, but will the ninth, or potentially final season bring us back to real life? According to creator Adam Reed, Season 9 may pick up with yet another new theme.

You’re warned of full spoilers for Archer: Dreamland from here on out, but Season 8’s finale surprisingly declined to return from the “real” Archer’s coma, instead ending on a dour note of the noir Archer and Pam mourning lost loved ones. Among them, Aisha Tyler’s Lana Kane was surprisingly killed off, and Reed tells UPROXX the ninth season remains open-ended as far as cast and setting:

Is Aisha Tyler going to be back? Are we going to see those characters again?

I don’t know… I don’t know. We’ll see. You know, it does take place in Archer’s head but I don’t know that we’re going to necessarily come back in season nine and instantly be back in the present.

So, it still could take some time in the Dreamland world?

Or in a different world.

Reed also noted that producer Matt Thompson had been developing “a really exciting framework” for Season 9, as well that they still consider Season 10 a likely stopping point for the series. Reed has ideas for Season 10 (and a final episode) as well, but we shouldn’t necessarily expect that story to return to real life either:

I guess, season seven ended and Archer was in a coma… I don’t necessarily feel like we have to go back and see him wake up or die from that particular hospital bed. But yeah, I guess I have an obligation to do that, but I don’t feel the obligation — if that makes sense. I know I should do it, but I don’t know that I will do it.

It remains to be seen when in 2018 FXX might schedule Archer Season 9, but is Dreamland worth revisiting, even without Lana?

More From KISS FM