Review: The Venture Bros. “The High Cost of Loathing”

Hey, no one said supervillainy would be cheap.

Overview (Spoilers Below)

It’s two months after last week’s episode, and The Monarch is back in the villainy saddle as the Guild of Calamitous Intent considers his request to arch Dr. Venture once again. But things are a bit rough around the edges for The Monarch, and so he’s determined to be a “Level 5” villain, not a high enough rank to arch the infamous Dr. Venture.

Dean’s off to college, and though Brock drops him off to get him settled, he’s a bit upset that no one else cared to see him off. Dr. Venture, meanwhile, tries to impress the Ventech Industries board with a new personal flight device. One that’s suspiciously similar to the one his brother had before his passing.

The Monarch tries to get some more funding for his villainy from his trust fund, but to his horror finds it overdrawn. He tries to let out some villainy by robbing the bank but gets stopped by rookie superhero and Spider-Man ripoff, the Brown Widow. (Played by the ever-glorious Nathan Fillion)

While all this is going on, Hank needs to get a job to make some money for his planned room renovations, but, being Hank, resorts to renting out his room as an Airbnb to get some quick scratch. The rest of the episode focuses on The Monarch and his money troubles, who, without his trust fund, is left without a pot to piss in. Looks like even super villains struggle with financial issues.

Our Take:

With the incredible three-part premiere of Season 7 which has reached its conclusion, The Venture Bros. marks its first “real” episode of the season with this latest entry. As expected, it doesn’t disappoint. Though not as focused on earth-shattering revelations and big twists as the last few episodes have been, this is a solid entry into the series that has a great blend of character moments and Venture Bros gaggery.

It’s great to see Hank and Dean having come so far from their boyish roots. As the seasons have gone by, they’ve evolved over time from naive boy adventurers to adolescents to college students, struggling with their super science upbringing as they try to find their place in the world as adults. I know that sounds a little bit too “Lifetime original movie” for an Adult Swim show, but The Venture Bros. has always had a good idea for character growth and expresses itself in its own irreverent way. Of course, nothing goes without a good joke at the end of it, but it looks like Venture Bros. gets to have its cake and eat it, too, because I was laughing the whole way through and still having my itch for a good story satisfied.

The Monarch gets all the best lines this time around, being the clear MVP of the episode. Him and 21 go right back into arching, recapturing the dynamic they had during the Blue Morpho saga while still getting to be villains once again. The Monarch’s adolescent tantrums contrasted with the maturity of Dean’s professor Dr. Hellfire created a great confrontation that concluding the episode splendidly.

It can be hard to keep giving a show like The Venture Bros top scores, when something so beloved just begs to be torn down, but in all honesty, its a show that consistently meets and exceeds my expectations. How this series can pull off what it does, juggling so many stories and directions while still having the time for the wittiest comedy television has to offer is completely beyond me. I’m assuming Doc Hammer and Jackson Publick might have had made a deal with Satan, or maybe they’re just some of the few creatives who can walk the walk that others talk. Loving it as always.