Season Review: The Venture Bros. Season 7

The boys have done it again.

In ten short weeks, the seventh season of The Venture Bros. has come and gone, and with it, some of the best-animated television money can buy. It’s hard to come into reviewing the misadventures of Rusty Venture and his always-expanding circle of cartoon weirdos with an impartial mind. After all, for six straight seasons before this, I have been astounded. Each season offers more than the last, but never loses the soul of the series that got it there in the first place. It feels as if this story, that’s been an Adult Swim alumni for over ten years now, had its entire course charted from day one, and has just been slowly revealed to is over time. I have never seen a show quite like this, that has run for this long.

With that in mind, It’s vital to remember that when examining the quality of one season of this series versus another, we are talking a battle of inches. Each season brings with it unique offerings to satisfy even the most critical palate, and to critique the show is to examine the most minor differences in quality; the difference between an “A” and an “A+”. That being said, this is one of the more curious seasons of Venture Bros. in recent memory; one that cuts back on the screwball nature of the show in favor of a more sardonic, down-to-earth structure. The Venture family is playing in the big leagues now, and while most of this series has been based around coping with failure, this season presents the challenges of success.

Dedicated viewers will remember that the Venture family is now firmly planted in the headquarters of Venture Industries in New York City. Meanwhile, The Monarch and his faithful minion, Henchman 21, have been getting their vigilante on as The Blue Morpho and his sidekick, putting an end to any villains who dare to arch Dr. Venture. Well, in the season’s excellent three-part opening, The Monarch goes back to being, well, The Monarch, while Dr. Venture learns that his dad maybe wasn’t such a good guy after all. There’s a lot to unpack in those first three episodes, but at the end of it all, we’re set up for another season of super science and super villainy. Brock ends up working for OSI again at “Dummy Corp.”, a thinly disguised OSI front company, Dean heads off to college, and Hank pursues his love for Sirena, the daughter of super-villain, Wide Wale.

What we find this season, from the initial setup of the story, is that the Venture family is completely scattered, each given their own solo stories to accomplish. You won’t see Hank and Dean go on an adventure together, but you will see Dean get into an existential crisis with the long lost brother of his family robot, “Helper.” You won’t see The Monarch run an evil organization with his wife, but you will see him go on his own adventures to try and become top dog villain once again. It’s an interesting setup, one that we haven’t really seen from The Venture Bros before, for good and for bad, and believe me, there is a whole lot of good.

If you want to know the barebones of if this show’s latest season is “Worth Watching”, the answer is, as it always has been, yes, yes and more yes. You will find no drop off of production quality or comedic worth here. The jokes are as witty, as bittersweet, as hilarious as ever. The writing is on point, the characters are well-developed, well-characterized and well-voiced. The show hits high marks in basically every category. There is still nothing quite like The Venture Bros out there, and if you haven’t seen it yet, you should go out and buy the first six seasons on DVD this instant. It’ll be one of the best purchases you ever make.

By having the cast be so isolated from each other and put into new, challenging situations, we get to explore longer, more singularly focused stories. The showrunners then have more freedom to pursue concepts they wouldn’t normally be able to if they had to fit in the entire main cast. Get ready for a lot of solo episodes, get ready to find some of your favorite characters auspiciously absent, but also get ready for The Venture Bros. to go places it hasn’t been before.

This means, however, that certain viewers might find themselves a bit disappointed with how the cast is dispersed. For example, Brock Samson, the legendary killer of men (Killer of henchmen) can’t be considered the main character anymore, but a B-character who shows up from time to time. Dr. Orpheous is entirely absent save for the season’s opening episodes, while Billy Quizboy gets an inordinate amount of screen time for a character who most people could take or leave. It’s a bittersweet exchange. The show has been on for so long that mixing up the formula is a necessity, but I still have pangs of nostalgia to see the Venture family romping around the world together, getting into as much trouble as they possibly can. It’s still a five-star meal, just a different flavor than what I’m used to.

This is a season absolutely worth your time, attention and money. In a world where the pool of crappy adult-oriented cartoons keeps growing larger and larger, shows like The Venture Bros. remind us how it’s supposed to be done. I was sad to see this season end so quickly, but its a testament to this show’s ability to hook its audience. This is a show that knows what its fans want, but also knows how to keep them wanting more. Keeping the soul of the show we’ve loved so well, while still finding new ways to astound and amaze.

Now when the hell are we getting season 8!?