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Five Thoughts On The Venture Bros.’s “Careers in Science” and “Home Insecurity”

By | August 16th, 2018
Posted in Television | % Comments

On the heels of the seventh season premiere, we continue our look back at the first season of The Venture Bros. The show is available for streaming on Hulu.

1. The Jonas Father
In the third episode of season one, we get introduced not only to Dr. Rusty Venture’s formidable father, Jonas, but also his equally formidable legacy. Traveling to the earth-orbiting space station Gargatua-1, constructed by Jonas in the early 1970s, the Venture team needs to address a problem with the station that is only indicated by a persistently-lit trouble light (like the check engine soon light on a car dashboard). The troubleshooting manual only gave one directive to the two people manning the space station, contact Dr. Venture. While Dr. Rusty Venture tries to fix the problem, his deceased father appears to him as a hallucinatory vision, towering almost twelve-feet tall and depicted in a variety of wardrobe configurations: adventurer, scuba diver, astronaut, inventor, and scientist. It’s easy to see how Rusty might have an inferiority complex. Dr. Venture Jr. still sees his father as a giant of a man, morphing from one role to another as easily as you can blink and espousing the power of the mind and body to overcome any problem. In these economic scenes, Rusty’s motivation to live up to his father’s legacy while being destined to fall tragicomically short is set for future episodes.

2. Ventures and babysitting
Hank and Dean are often left to their own devices in these episodes, and the absentee parenthood is the cause of much of their character development as well as the humor associated with these characters. As young teenagers who are clearly home-schooled by father figures who appear to be content to teach by osmosis, they are both victims of arrested development. Largely unschooled in even basic notions of common sense, the two often turn to explanations that reveal a childlike understanding of the normal world—much less the ridiculous situations in which they find themselves. Their rationale for Brock’s tryst with a female astronaut yields a hilarious extended comic beat in the third episode, and when forced into close confines with their father in the Venture compound’s panic room in the fourth episode, it’s revealed again just how little interest rusty Venture has in playing the role of father. In fact…

3. H.E.L.P.eR.
H.E.L.P.eR. may be the character that has the boys’, and in fact, the entire Venture clan’s best interests at heart. H.E.L.P.eR. takes center stage in the fourth episode as his services are supplanted by a new sentry robot of Dr. Venture’s own design. The new robot has a video screen that projects Dr. Venture’s face, again projecting himself into a physical presence that he lacks. But Brock is away for some R and R, so Dr. Venture must take steps to secure his well being (and perhaps just by coincidence his sons’). Last time, I discussed how Brock was the true keeper of the Venture family’s safety, but that is revealed to be more of a function of and outlet for Samson’s bloodlust. H.E.L.P.eR., the robot, is ironically the only one who seems to care, and his reward in both of these episodes is to be colossally mistreated both by circumstance and his creator’s indifference. H.E.L.P.eR., by design, also projects a physical frailty that mirrors its inventor, but he has more heart than his creator likely had the capacity to imbue. He’s at once the most tragic and lovable character in these episodes because of his capacity for loyalty. It’s a dichotomy that is also shared by our next entry.

4. The Monarch and The Doctor
The Monarch was introduced in the first episode and stands to be the primary foil for the Venture family in the series. His slim physique and general lack of physical presence undergirds his offhanded but inscrutable villainy. Like Dr. Venture he proves himself to be largely ineffectual in succeeding in his only real aim, to destroy his arch nemesis. The character could easily be portrayed as one-note, but here, as well as in the two earlier episodes, The Monarch is given a certain level of pathos. He clearly has at least a passing sympathy for some of his hapless minions, but his clear affection for his right-hand gal, Doctor Girlfriend, grounds the character in the relatable. While much more will be revealed about these two characters’ relationship, their pairing is one of equals. The Monarch may be the main face of The Venture Bros. villainy, but his actions clearly need to meet the approval of Doctor Girlfriend. While they sometimes squabble like a old married couple, it actually seems to be the healthiest relationship in the series so far.

Continued below

5. Mo villains, mo problems
My only real problem with these early episodes is that its creators seem to go to the subversion well a bit too often, seemingly handicapping interesting longterm developments for the sake of short term laughs. When new villains are presented at the beginning of episode four in a summit with new series heavy Baron Ünderbheit (who also has a mandible bone to pick with Dr. Venture), I was delighted, only to see Catclops, Girl Hitler, and Manic 8-Ball seemingly dispatched in the fourth episode’s cold open. While it immediately helps characterize Ünderbheit as a villain not to be trifled with, even by his conspiratorial acolytes, I couldn’t help but feel sad that we might not get to see more of these characters and their inventive designs. On the other hand, it speaks to the creators’ confidence that they can so easily dispatch these promising concepts (or toy with viewer expectations) in favor of a singularly funny comic scene. At the sudden end of these two episodes (another early series hallmark), The Venture Bros. feels less cohesive and focused than it could be, but that’s also part of its madcap charm.

Join us next time for the next two episodes in The Venture Bros. first season.


//TAGS | 2018 Summer TV Binge | The Venture Bros.

Jonathan O'Neal

Jonathan is a Tennessee native. He likes comics and baseball, two of America's greatest art forms.

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