TV Review – The Venture Brothers Season Six

The Venture Brothers Season Six (Adult Swim)
Written by Jackson Publick and Doc Hammer
Directed by Jackson Publick & Juno Lee

If you weren’t around or paying attention when these seasons were aired initially, you wouldn’t understand the vast chasms of time fans had to wait for the next installment. The time between the end of season one and the start of season five encompasses eleven years. A lot happened in the world and in popular media during that time, and often, it took a little while for the show to reflect those changes. One thing I wondered when I sat down to finally watch the entire Venture Brothers series was if, at any point, the emergence of the Marvel Cinematic Universe would play a role. With season six, we finally got to that point. It is, in my opinion, the superhero season.

Before the season can properly begin, we get an extra-long special to set up the status quo going forward. Jonas Jr. is finally opening Gargantua-2, a new space station. This means all the familiar faces you might expect get a part in the story. Meanwhile, the Guild of Calamitous Intent’s inner council is being systematically killed, leaving only a few surviving members, including Dr. Mrs. Monarch. The Sovereign is attempting a coup against people he believes have become too powerful and uses Phantom Limb’s Revenge Society to foment chaos onboard Gargantua-2. 

In my opinion, it’s the most cinematic the Ventures have ever been and hit all the notes I needed it to. The pathos and serious storytelling of a classic Marvel comic book, alongside the irreverent humor, made the show such a joy to watch. Jonas Jr. gets a heroic finale, but if the comics genre influences the series, I think that if we don’t see a body, the character will return later.

Because of J.J.’s departure, Dr. Venture inherits his estate including the Venture Industries building in New York City. The crew moves into the penthouse, with Sergeant Hatred being downgraded to lobby guard when Brock is reinstated as the Venture bodyguard. We immediately see how life in NYC will differ as this metropolis is filled with superpowered heroes and villains. There’s a lot of table setting in the first few episodes: getting Doc Venture’s R & D operation going by having Billy & Pete’s company bought up by Venture Industries, Dr. Mrs. Monarch helping to start a new iteration of the Guild, The Monarch and 21 discovering the former’s father’s secret lair in the old family home. 

That last plot point was the source of a lot of fun & humor this season; the Blue Morpho & Kano are a clear nod to the Green Hornet & Kato, with Monarch’s dad having been a faux-villain but actually an ally to the original Doc Venture. Monarch and 21 take on these identities to take out the official Guild arches being assigned to ol’ Rusty Venture. In this way, Monarch can work up the ladder and re-establish himself as the main villain to his longtime nemesis. This involves much lying to his wife and identity confusion, as the Guild believes Rusty is the Blue Morpho. 

I enjoyed this subplot the most out of all the ongoing stories in the season. The characterization of Monarch and 21 has been developed enough that they are multidimensional people. There’s a moment where 21 is made to take one of the arches out to the New Jersey Pine Barrens, where Monarch wants the guy killed and buried. 21 has a genuine moral struggle, and we realize that any death done by Monarch’s henchmen was always very distant, and more often than it was them witnessing the deaths of their comrades in arms. Whenever I think a character on this show has exhausted their arc and has nowhere else to go, Publick & Hammer find a new angle or plotline to pursue, and it works.

Hank and Dean continue to grow into young adulthood. Hank develops a crush on the daughter of the villainous neighbor across the street. Hank attends college and is continually pushed by his father to follow in his footsteps. Brock is becoming a more engaging, nuanced character, and his rigid masculinity is finally being challenged. This season, there are many great villains, from the MODOK-inspired Think Tank to The Doom Factory (a mash-up of Andy Warhol’s artist collective & The Legion of Doom from Superfriends). Overall, it’s a testament to how, unlike many other animated comedies that have been on for so long, this one keeps improving with each successive season. Perhaps, when showrunners focus on the quality of their show rather than just cranking out episodes to fill space between ads, you end up with good television. I’m no expert; that’s just my amateur observation.

This is a relatively short season, coming in at only eight episodes. From what I’ve read, the production cycle on this show was tough, so shortening the season allowed the quality of episodes to be higher. I always want more, though, so I was disappointed it ended so quickly. With only one more season left and then the film finale, I don’t think I’m not quite ready to say goodbye to the world of the Venture Brothers.