It’s the season finale of the Venture Bros after only eight episodes! Let’s talk about it!
1. Is This It?
Last season, Venture Bros was split into two — eight episodes in 2009, eight episodes in 2010. It was a strange decision but they played it well in terms of how the story split of the season split in half. It was always played as part of the season, though; there was never a feeling that you’d been cut short.
This, however, is different. It’s billed 100% as the season finale, the shortest season we’ve ever got, and there are a ton of loose threads — so much more than usual. There are always *some* dangling plot threads but none that seem to be related to the season as a whole; I would’ve wagered that we’d find out some more about the Monarch’s mysterious photo of his parents, for example, and while the photo is shown we don’t get any more information on it. And after all that Vendata speculation from the last episode!
To me, this is rather disappointing. The fact that this was only eight episodes was always a bit of a let down, but feeling like so much of the show’s new direction — the new villains, the relationships between characters, the splitting between OSI/Brock and the Ventures into completely new directions — aren’t addressed is the ultimate kick in the pants, as it were. I hate to be greedy and demand more episodes, but a bit more resolution across the board would’ve been nice.
And, yes, of course there will be more coming down the line. Of course. But still, come on.
This was a good eight episodes. In fact, I’d borderline say it was a great eight episodes, give or take. But if this is all we’re getting out of this season in total then that’s a bit of a disappointment.
2. The Untimely Death of Doctor Venture
Last week, Walt (whom some of you may know as a fellow writer of the site) pointed out to me that I didn’t address the disco ball crushing Doctor Venture at the end of last week’s episode. When asking me what I thought was going to happen to him, I believe I somewhat nonchalantly shrugged it off under the assumption that it was just a site gag more than anything else.
As if they’d kill Rusty, right? Maybe he would’ve had the foresight to clone himself, but … nah.
Still, in having the TV on before the episode aired, the promo that showed the Monarch shouting “I’ve crushed Doctor Venture!” was a good bit of misdirection.
3. All’s Well that Ends Well
The final scene of the episode in which Hank and Dean finally talked about what has been bringing Dean down is perhaps one of the best moments of the season. At least from a heartfelt perspective, anyway, for those of you who care about the characters. There have been a lot of laughs and weird events throughout the season, and those two boys particularly got it pretty hard (Dean’s adventures with Myra come to mind), but Hank’s reaction to finding out he’s a clone was a) perfect Hank and b) a nice way to get Dean out of that slump so some sense of normalcy could be resumed.
4. A Return to the Old
On that same general track, one of the more disappointing moments (for me, anyway) was seeing Gary go back to the Monarch. Maybe I’m overthinking it, but I feel like Gary made a lot of progress on his own accord after the death of his best friend, and while he certainly tried and failed it’s not like the show isn’t about people trying and failing — that’s, like, the Venture Bros in a nut shell, isn’t it? Failure is all over the place.
But the difference is, the characters always move forward from it. I wouldn’t necessarily say they grow (they’re all a bit to egotistical to do that) but they certainly don’t dwell or cycle backwards; they grow up via their own definition of the word. Gary cycling backwards to henchman status seems like the ultimate regression, and it’s rather a shame. If anyone was ostensibly strong enough to carry themselves forward, it was him.
Continued belowThen again, I guess that tattoo does say Hench For Life.
Also, is it just me or was that a Mad Men parody at the end there with the Monarch?
5. Things I’d Like to See in the Eventual Return of The Venture Bros
Here’s just a short list of things I’d like:
- More time with Dr. Mrs. The Monarch as a member of the Council
- The true return of Underbheit, Killinger and Phantom Limb (Dr. Impossible… maybe, but only if Colbert can be coerced back)
- The Venture brothers being brothers and having more Johnny Quest-parody adventures
- More Dr. Orpheus and friends, perhaps even the return of Triana now that Dean is a pseudo-goth and seeing how that would play out
- Less Augustus St. Cloud — did not care for this character whatsoever
- Follow-up on Rusty’s role as father to Dermott and what Hank and Dean think of that
- More with all of those villains from the club last episode
- More Bowie/Sovereign, or at least some sort of resolution to the questions about Bowie actually not being the Sovereign