This week, we return to look at episodes nine and ten in the first season of The Venture Bros.
1. Long Live the King
The Monarch is back after a few episode hiatus, and he’s got some new tricks up his sleeve. Absence did make the heart grow fonder for this character. As callous as his demeanor and as villainous as his intent, he can at least remember the numbers for each of his henchman. He’s the perfect foil for Dr. Venture as they both seem to be overcompensating for their respective lack of physical prowess, but while The Monarch has embraced his lack of strength, Dr. Venture is clearly not accepting of the cards he’s been dealt. Ironically, viewers might often find themselves for the villain in these episodes, especially after Dr. Venture’s hapless attempt to play the clueless lady’s man and his inability to secure a competent physician when one of his sons needs one the most. At least The Monarch’s intent is clear and somewhat noble even. Perhaps Dr. Venture deserves to be punished for his egocentric crimes against nature and his own family.
2. License to Kill: Revoked
Brock gets a little bit of fleshing out in the season’s ninth episode when he learns that his government ID that allows him to kill with impunity has expired. It turns out that Samson can’t function very well without that violent outlet. It literally unmans him as we find out when Brock and Dr. Venture visit a strip club. Of course the Venture boys are more than willing to help him train for his exams. Dean handles the written test requirements while Hank takes charge of the physical requirements. Both are hilariously ineffectual, but it doesn’t matter anyway since the bureaucrat administering the tests and renewing Samson’s license is the son of a man who Samson once saved. Samson even babysat the young pencil pusher sitting across the desk from him. By the end of the episode, all is again right with the world and Samson makes a return trip to the bar where the bartender teased him for his mullet to exact a little vengeance. While we don’t see Samson grow in this episode, we do get to see another side to his character. His affinity for the Venture boys is clear, and his loyalty to Dr. Venture even extends to playing wingman, even if it is just out of morbid curiosity.
3. Public Service
In episode ten, The Monarch’s latest plot involves those little fish that swim into men’s urethras (hilariously riffing on the over-the-top James Bondian method for killing that might recall the laser-mounted and ill-tempered sea bass of Austin Powers fame). To The Monarch’s chagrin the ploy is put on hold by an obscure bylaw in the charter for the Guild of Calamitous Intent. When Brock and Hank are taken as hostages to The Monarch’s lair, the impressiveness of the villain’s facility is subverted by its singularly myopic purpose, to serve as the nerve center for ground zero of Operation Destroy Dr. Venture. During the brief armistice brought on by a painful case of Dean’s testicular torsion (more on that in a minute), there’s frankly not much going on, and the control center devolves into a snapshot of normal workplace tedium. At least the compound’s fridge is stocked with Fresca. In one of the more witty developments in the first season, Brock begins to take out henchmen in one of his trademark violent rampages. The catch is that Brock’s motives appear to be benevolent. The Monarch even thanks him for his violent outburst because it gives his cause purpose even while it creates chaos and casualties. In other words, the violence becomes an act of public service, giving The Monarch a reason to exist while simultaneously decimating the ranks of his minions. He’s clearly used to the latter.
4. It’s a Whole New Ballgame
Testicular tortion is not something you’d expect to hear about in an animated cartoon, even one on Adult Swim, but here we are. As mentioned earlier, poor Dean can’t even rely on his father to take care of a delicate medical procedure, opting instead to secure the services of two of his old scientific buddies, Master Billy Quizboy and Pete White, who appear to be making a living as tech consultants operating out of a trailer emblazoned with Conjectural Technologies when Dr. Venture calls for their aid. You really feel bad for Dean in episode ten. He’s such a sensitive soul anyway and to have his father try to cut corners with his emergency care is so expected that Dean never even raises a fuss. He’s mainly just concerned with having to drop his pants in front of his dad who scolds him for his shyness before berating his ill-equipped buddies for their lack of bedside manner. Oh, the irony.
5. It’s All About the Story
Where some early episodes in this first season might have felt like gags stitched together to fill an episode’s running time, episodes nine and ten continue to show the the series has figured out how to more seamlessly integrate the gags into more cohesive narratives. The plots are not necessarily more elaborate, but they are becoming more satisfying as the show creators are using the story to develop the characters and provide a framework for jokes that further that narrative as well as reveal facets of these characters, reflexively creating more satisfying narratives. Whether it’s Rusty Venture’s sad attempts at playing lothario or Doctor Girlfriend’s guilty conscience in the face of The Monarch’s nefarious schemes, the show is becoming a richer viewing experience.
That’s it for this week. Join us next time for the penultimate two episodes of season one of The Venture Bros..
