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Venture Bros S7 (Aug 5th)

Started by madhair60, July 22, 2018, 02:51:54 PM

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Small Man Big Horse

Quote from: alan nagsworth on October 06, 2018, 11:41:14 AM
Well, we wanted a proper season finale and we really got one there. Superb episode. So much stuff tied up and so many new doors opened. Ugh, I'm on such a high after that! Hank and Dean got me tearin' up a fair bit there, and The Monarch is honestly just the most magnificent character, as well. Seven seasons of us learning who he is came to such a simplistic but wonderful head in this episode and I cannot wait to see where they go from here.

As is the standard way of things, it sucks we're gonna have another big wait on our hands, but I'd still be happy even if I had to wait twice as long for television this good.

Hey, if you're reading this thread out of rainy Saturday curiosity and you've never watched this show before, GO AND FUCKING WATCH IT. You have no idea, seriously. Do it. It's the fucking greatest and in its seventh season, it's close to being one of the most consistently entertaining animated comedies of all time.

I couldn't agree more with this, it was fucking beautiful stuff and I loved it a ridiculous amount, I'm all hyper and buzzing after such a fantastic ending - and so relieved that my predictions for Hank were completely wrong too. I think this might be my favourite season yet, S4 comes close but there was so much to love about this year's batch, and only one episode which wasn't quite as good as the others (though still bloody great stuff). Like you say the wait's going to suck, but hopefully in two years time I'll be raving about the new season as much as I am this one.

madhair60

Quote from: alan nagsworth on October 06, 2018, 11:41:14 AM
Hank and Dean got me tearin' up a fair bit there

Gary and Monarch got to me a little with their almost casual admission that they consider each other their best friend. "I don't wanna have to be a villain without him. (...) I just wanna help my best friend with his hate. Fuck you guys. Monarch crew! Hench for life!!"

alan nagsworth

Quote from: madhair60 on October 06, 2018, 07:26:11 PM
Gary and Monarch got to me a little with their almost casual admission that they consider each other their best friend. "I don't wanna have to be a villain without him. (...) I just wanna help my best friend with his hate. Fuck you guys. Monarch crew! Hench for life!!"

Yeah! I've just got to season 5 on my re-watch and it's hella interesting to look back on all the doubt and sadness Gary went through after 24 died, and with Sphinx and all that, and then how close he and Monarch became, in the treehouse and later with the Blue Morpho gig. What's great is that through all of Gary's shit and Monarch's attitude towards him "just being a henchman", you could always tell the bong they had together. Casual bits like in season 4, Monarch in his dressing gown stopping by to chat to Gary about the film he went to see and the Ain't It Cool review. I'm so excited to see them in full partnership next season.

As an aside, I had my head completely blown off by Operation P.R.O.M. again the other night. Gotta be one of, if not the best episode of the series. The Mr. Wendal stuff when Gary completely breaks down to Orpheus, so fucking deep.

Small Man Big Horse

Here's the recap I wrote of it for my site:

Jackson Publick and Doc Hammer's animated sitcom is one of the finest shows ever to air on Adult Swim, and even though I love Rick and Morty a disturbing amount I'd say that this is better. Originally starting off as a spoof of animated fare like Johnny Quest it quickly became far more layered and fascinating, a study of failure, love, life, ambition and ego, and all of the characters have developed in intriguing and unpredictable ways over the years

Whilst slightly disjointed this has been one of the very best seasons of The Venture Bros., with perhaps only season 4 being oh so slightly better. Beginning with the resolution to season six's story arc featuring the Blue Morpho, this year has mostly centred around The Monarch's attempts to regain his standing in The Guild of Calamitous Intent, whilst Rusty's been doing the super scientist thing (for once actually succeeding when he builds a teleportation device), Dean attempting to break away from his father's obsession with making him in to a younger version of himself, and Hank has been romancing Sirena, the daughter of supervillain Wide Wale.

Last week's episode ended on the cliffhanger that Dean and Sirena have been seeing each other, with an injured Hank discovering them in bed together. The season finale, entitled The Saphrax Protocol, continues on from that as we learn Hank's now in a coma, with a distraught Dean by his bedside. Meanwhile The Guild kidnap Dr Venture, leaving a group of agents to distract Brock who relishes the chance to kill each and every one of them, and the Monarch is awarded Level 10 villain status, at least if he can succeed in the various trials the Guild sets him.

It's an episode which is almost perfect, and I don't say that lightly. And now that I've said that I'm not sure why I included the word almost, but I suppose it doesn't feature The Order of the Triad and as they're three of my favourite characters it would have been nice if they'd been able to pop up even if it was for a brief cameo. But that's the only incredibly minor thing I could suggest as there's so many fantastic elements to the episode, it moves the plot forward whilst resolving a lot of strands that the previous seven episodes had built up, but also reveals some of the mysteries that the show has set up since the beginning, including the identity of Hank and Dean's mother and whether or not The Monarch and Dr Venture are actually related.

There's also some beautifully surreal moments within Hank's coma dream, as he teams up with The Action Man, a member of Jonas Venture's original Team Venture who had a stroke several episodes ago and is also in a coma himself. Imagining himself as Lando Calrissian in a mix of a The Empire Strikes Back and Barberella influenced world, visually it's stunning and the ideas it plays with constantly made me laugh, there's so many highlights but when The Guild member Dr. Phineas Phage turns up (having been put in to a coma himself after a transporter accident) and is part At-At it's a truly hilarious moment.

Also incredibly fun is the ridiculously daft ceremony that The Guild puts the Monarch through, including a Flash Gordon inspired moment where the Monarch has to put his hand in to a tree trunk supposedly containing a dangerous beast, and when it appears that Gary is elevated to level four supervillain The Monarch amusingly shrieks "What the (bleep), this was my party!". And there's genuine tension as he's given a sword and the opportunity to murder Dr Venture, which made me wonder if the series really was going to shake things up – especially after it was revealed that Rusty was a clone himself in a recent episode. The Monarch's rejection of the idea is a great one, showing his best side as he realises that destroying his arch-enemy would make him miserable, telling The Guild to go (bleep) themselves, whilst Gary turns down his promotion, which it turns out is what they wanted all along and The Monarch's level 10 villain status is confirmed.

The episode also features some of the funniest dialogue of the season, including Hank's realisation that he needs to grow up, saying to the Action Man "What's more grown-up that jumping in to the Matmos?", who wryly responds "I don't know mortgage, prostate swelling, child support payments". Indeed the whole sequence is superb, where Hank then suddenly acts like he's in The Wizard of Oz, uttering "I think I'll miss you most of all" before kissing The Action Man on the lips, and after he leaves them The Action Man admits "That kid has moxie", only for Dr. Phineas Phage to respond "That kid has undiagnosed Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder".

Other highlights are Brock's need for "a whizz break" mid-massacre, Sergeant Hatred's attempts to get past the receptionist at the hospital to see Hank, claiming that she's "Moriarty to his Sherlock" (as an aside it's great to see Hatred do something fun for once this season, he's been a tad underused and I enjoyed him a lot in this episode), whilst Dean's list of things he feels guilty about is full of gems, including the fact that whilst he lied at the time he really did love Hank's 98 Degrees cd.

As a season finale it's amazing stuff in general, packed with some shockingly beautiful moments, extremely funny segments and for once there's no real downside for Dr Venture, Hank, Dean and Brock. Sure Dean has to cope with his betrayal of his brother, but he also gets to let off some steam and reveal all of the things he's struggling with in his life. And I was greatly relieved when it came to Hank's eventual fate, there's been speculation all season that Rusty's poor parenting and Dean's treatment of him may lead him to becoming a supervillain, but somewhat joyously the opposite occurs, as he wakes from his coma and realises he needs to try and find himself, and in a homage to Sam Raimi's Darkman the very final shot reveals him wearing his Batman mask again for the first time in far too long.

The Venture Bros. has sometimes been quite a bleak series, Dr Venture has never really recovered from his hideous childhood whilst Hank and Dean had to come to terms with the nightmarish fact that they were both clones, and many times The Monarch has screwed up his life and sunk in to depression over events and risked screwing up his marriage, so it's enormously pleasing for it to end on a high note – and even if The Monarch is horrified by the news that he's Rusty's brother, the previous episode suggests all will turn out well in the end. Due to Publick and Hammer being involved with many aspects of making the show it only tends to air roughly every two years, which can be a little frustrating, but if it means the series is this great than I'd have no issue with them taking three, four or even five. But no more than that, I have my limits after all.

TL;DR? - It's mostly lots of praise, more praise, and then some gushing praise!

alan nagsworth

Excellent stuff, SMBH. Loved reading that, the thrill of the whole season came flooding back into my head. Also grinned massively remembering Hank's Wampa seduction routine.

Small Man Big Horse

Quote from: alan nagsworth on October 07, 2018, 03:50:45 PM
Excellent stuff, SMBH. Loved reading that, the thrill of the whole season came flooding back into my head. Also grinned massively remembering Hank's Wampa seduction routine.

Thanks for that, and I forgot about the seduction but might have to edit the article now as that was beautiful stuff!

AsparagusTrevor

Wow, a Darkman parody in the last scene!

I enjoyed that, although a lot's still up in the air it felt like it had enough story closure for a season finale this time. The Monarch and Gary stuff was great as ever.

derek stitt

Quote from: AsparagusTrevor on October 07, 2018, 08:45:11 PM
Wow, a Darkman parody in the last scene!


That's where I had seen that ending before, cheers.

kidsick5000

You buggers. At least wait until it's legit out there.

AsparagusTrevor

It's never gonna be 'legit out there' for UK fans, Netflix need to get on that shit.

Thursday

Yep really enjoyed that one, and have to agree this has been the best since season 4.

kidsick5000

The shared Coma land was good.
Though it did lead me to the feeling I often have at the back of my head this season, that they are running out of non-obvious pop culture to riff on.

I half hope that next season is the last. It sounds pessimistic but stories need a departure point.

NoSleep

Just binge-watched the entire series in the last few weeks. And then started from the beginning again. Why had it not occurred to me before season 7 that Rusty and Monarch might be related; given how similar they are facially?

And in season 1 Rusty keeps having those dreams in the womb, including one where he is being strangled by his twin.

alan nagsworth

Rusty is the one doing the strangling in the womb, and he's doing it to Jonas Jr, not the Monarch. But that aside, it is a testament to the expert writing that they've had fans speculating roughly on this for about three seasons now and have only been steadily drip feeding tiny bits of plot development for many years.

You'll be hugely rewarded with rewatching, by the way. The continuity of the series is watertight and there's so much stuff you'll pick up on the second and third time around. I'm on about the fourth rewatch with my girlfriend right now and I still have occasional "oh bloody hell, it's him!" moments. Especially with Vendata.

NoSleep

Quote from: alan nagsworth on January 01, 2020, 01:00:39 PM
Rusty is the one doing the strangling in the womb, and he's doing it to Jonas Jr, not the Monarch. But that aside, it is a testament to the expert writing that they've had fans speculating roughly on this for about three seasons now and have only been steadily drip feeding tiny bits of plot development for many years.

You'll be hugely rewarded with rewatching, by the way. The continuity of the series is watertight and there's so much stuff you'll pick up on the second and third time around. I'm on about the fourth rewatch with my girlfriend right now and I still have occasional "oh bloody hell, it's him!" moments. Especially with Vendata.

It really looks like two fairly identical Rustys or a Rusty and a Monarch to me: no fatherly Jonas chin (or rounded nose tip) in sight.


alan nagsworth

Nah it's definitely JJ. When they started writing the first season, they had no plans whatsoever to expand any further as they hadn't been given the green light for a second season. They ended season 1 the way they did because they thought the boys dying would be a really grim but slightly open-ended closing scene. They started writing the clone stuff afterwards, and I'd hazard a guess that at that early stage the fact they'd designed Rusty and The Monarch to look alike was either coincidence or making a vague artistic point of "these two people are living worlds apart but they don't realise how similar they are", as the whole premise of the show from the start was that all the characters are miserable or failures in some way. That's also why a lot of them have a natural stance which is a sort of dejected slouch.

a peepee tipi

Quote from: alan nagsworth on January 01, 2020, 01:38:53 PMThat's also why a lot of them have a natural stance which is a sort of dejected slouch.
Interesting observation!

NoSleep

The art style has changed so much over the seasons. I was definitely not thinking about how similar Rusty and the Monarch appeared until season 7 and then (apart from noticing their similarity) it was (apparently) suggested that the Monarch's father is Jonas Sr in episode 3 and then confirmed that he is related to Rusty in the season finale. Could be they have only decided on this part of the story at this late stage but equally possible that it was always going to be part of the story but got held over indefinitely.

The clone stuff is definitely touched on in season 1, Rusty emphasising it's illegal nature in his innuendo-laden tone.

I'm try to remember if that glimpse of a time-travelling Billy and Rusty is something from a previous season or if that's more story to come.

Ant Farm Keyboard

The Monarch wasn't even supposed to be Venture's archenemesis when they started the show. He just turned out to be the most interesting and complex villain. And the visions from the womb are definitely of Rusty and Jonas Jr. Rusty and the Monarch have different mothers.

alan nagsworth

Quote from: NoSleep on January 01, 2020, 02:41:40 PM
The clone stuff is definitely touched on in season 1, Rusty emphasising it's illegal nature in his innuendo-laden tone.

Ah yeah, you're right about that. He mentions at one point something about an error being flushed out in the prototype phase, muttered under his breath. I guess they were probably abuzz with various ideas but they never decided to expand on them until they were approved for a second season. It would be difficult to pinpoint exactly when for most things since there's so bloody much going on with so many characters. It's a brilliantly complex show.

Quote from: a peepee tipi on January 01, 2020, 02:40:26 PM
Interesting observation!

This is noted in the art book, which I urge any fan of the show to pick up. It's enormous and fantastic, and also very affordable. I started a thread on it here:

https://www.cookdandbombd.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=73697.0

NoSleep

Just finished my rewatch. This is such a great show, so many times I find myself laughing out loud and applauding at the same time (usually one or the other happens and less often with other shows). Think I'll watch from the start again; I'm sure I missed something.

alan nagsworth

#111
I'm not exaggerating when I say that it's very close to being my all-time favourite TV show. If it weren't for the sheer bulk and the sentimental value attached to seasons 2-8 of The Simpsons keeping it sat comfortably at the top of the tree, The Venture Bros would certainly be the best animated show. I don't even fucking enjoy superhero fiction in any other shape or form and yet somehow this thing is damn near perfect to me in every way. I'm emotionally invested in what seems like a hundred fuckin characters or something.

Rewatches of shows with such deep continuity as this will always bring up occasional flourishes of "ooh, I didn't twig that development so early on last time", but with The Venture Bros, those flourishes come on in great waves, and you start wondering exactly how far back some plot lines were written and how much character development was merely circumstantial or coincidental and just fell beautifully into place. As mentioned in my previous post, the stuff with Vendata which, whilst unintentional at first, is now deeply woven back seven seasons to S01E02 "Careers in Science", is absolutely mind-blowing. Watching that old episode again adds a thick fucking wedge of tragedy to the show, when it had already bolted out of the gate stuffing its face with a trough full of tragedy casserole to begin with. "Phantom spaceman!"

It is so bloody good. A hilariously funny, tragic, deeply woven universe.


The Mollusk


The Mollusk

This better be a really shit joke

Egyptian Feast


chveik


NoSleep

I hope this isn't true. It's really evolved to the point where I thought it was uncancellable in the way it can constantly renew itself; still adding awesome characters like Red Death to the roster.

The Mollusk

I'm not joking around when I say I will legitimately go out on the streets and kill if I find out this is true

Small Man Big Horse

Until there's official confirmation I'm in denial, and even if Adult Swim have gone mad surely due to it being so critically acclaimed someone like Netflix / HBO Max / ITV3 would pick it up.