Top 5 Favorite Characters in “The Venture Bros.”

“The Venture Bros.” is one of my favorite animated shows and an inspiration behind making this post is the hope that it can be brought back and so many of these character narratives finally brought to an end. This is a problematic show early on but becomes quite deep as it continues as it keeps consistent in exploring the themes of trauma, failure and how family can define us within that. I love this show and I hope “The Venture Bros” is picked up by another company to let Doc Hammer and Jackson Publick continue their amazing work.

For some deep analysis I’ve posted StrucciMovies and Jack Saint’s reviews of “The Venture Bros.” below. I highly recommend checking both videos out. StrucciMovies also covers the early season problematic elements of the show.

For honorary mentions I want to give a shoutout to: Phantom Limb, Dr. Orpheus, Shore Leave, Blue Morpho and Dr. Killenger.

Also this analysis does contain SPOILERS for character arcs so unless you don’t mind SPOILERS or are already caught up, don’t read on.

Here is the list:

5 – Red Death

Clancy Brown’s Red Death is the gentleman villain and easily one of the most fascinating later introductions to the show. This is a villain who has a family life fully separated from his life as a killer and holds so much history in regards to the Guild of Calamitous Intent. Everyone is afraid of this guy and for good reason. He also might be the only member of the Guild Council who didn’t give up Arching given his last act when the Council Members were doing their final Archs. I can’t wait to see where his story goes if he is brought back.

4 – Brock Samson

Patrick Warburton’s Brock Samson is a great character and takedown of the 80’s action hero. Samson is hyperviolent and loves to fight above all else. He is also nearly untouchable and is easily the greater than any member of the Guild of Calamitous Intent and any single villain in combat. This makes him the perfect bodyguard for the inept Rusty Venture and his sons as they are just as likely to harm themselves without any villain help. From this we see him mentor and be the father to Sam and Dean that Rusty never is. He is also mentors Gary / Henchman 21 and helps him come into his own.

3 – Gary Fischer / Henchman 21

Gary is a character who begins at the lowest of the Monarch’s Henchmen. Kidnapped as a child he is played out as a joke on extreme nerdome initially but over the course of the series develops into the core cast. He loses his best friend, leaves the Monarch, works with OSI, rejoins the Monarch and becomes the best friend and Number 2 of the Monarch. His arc is amazing and I love how he recounts how wonderfully convoluted the lore can get in YouTube videos to update everyone on the story of the show. Henchman 21 was in close competition with the next 2 as their drama and arcs came to define so much of what made this show great. Doc Hammer does a wonderful job making him sound so distinct and personable.

2 – Sheila / Dr. Mrs. the Monarch

Sheila was initially a thief working for the villain Phantom Limb who when she realized how she was basically being used as a prop and trophy left and joined the rebellious Phantom Limb henchman Monarch who was attempting to create his own arching outside of Guild control. He would be dead now if not for her and much of the story involves Sheila defeating greater threats to rise in power or helping to broker peace with the Guild’s enemies. Doc Hammer does a great job voicing her and seeing her rise to power to one of the best arcs in the show.

1 – Malcom Fitzcarraldo / The Monarch

The Monarch is defined by his hatred of Rusty Venture and he is willing to disregard all rules to do so until he is forced otherwise. This obsession and hate is what defines the character until he finds more dimension in his relationships with Gary and Sheila. His rise has highest highs and extremely lowest lows and oftentimes The Monarch is at his best after he has lost everything and has to think on his feet and get beyond his obsession, which is why he loses those closest to him. We see how that like the Joker when he has Rusty he isn’t happy and that it is the chase like the Joker that defines him. This is all likely to change though if the show is picked up as a major change was brought to the relationship that will define them both. This is one reason I hope the show continues as I want to see this complex character continue to grow.

Here are the great videos to give you a deep dive of this wonderful show:

Here is Jack Saint’s take on “The Venture Bros.”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pE8ooHf9dlw

Here is StrucciMovies on “The Ventures Bros.”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYZaXD4X-JU&ab_channel=StrucciMovies

“A Series of Unfortunate Events” Season 1 – A Good Adaptation and What Should Have Been Done in the First Place

     Netflix continues to create gold and we finally get the adaptation of this series we’ve been waiting for since “The End.” “A Series of Unfortunate Events” by Lemony Snicket was one of my favorite books growing up. I read it through Middle School and High School and truly enjoyed how it never pretended to have a happy ending while being a brilliant satire of society and how easily it is that people are selfish or allow their flaws to overcome their better natures or ignorance. I won’t give anymore away but you truly should read the series, it is a fast read and brilliant Gothic Fiction.

      How the show does it is it breaks the books in to two episodes so I’m going to review each Book and give the final score based on how each of the individual books stood all together when their scores are measured against one another.

      This series was created by Mark Hudis and Barry Sonnenfield. I’m surprised this came through given the flop that was the original film, but I’m grateful it did.

     The premise is the Baudelaire orphans Violet, Klaus and Sunny are given to Count Olaf, an evil actor who wants to steal their fortune and will go to any means to do so after their parents are killed in a horrible fire.

SPOILERS ahead

Book 1 – The Bad Beginning

  The first 2 parts feel just like the book. The dark tone is fully captured, you have the ally in the Judge played by Joan Cusack and we are introduced to Count Olaf (Neil Patrick Harris) and his troup and Patrick Warburton’s Lemony Snicket. The story is the darkest of the four this season except maybe “The Miserable Mill.” This is how these stories should be and solid acting on the part of the child stars who play the Baudelaires make this a solid episode as like in the book each of them have their chance to shine with Violet inventing, Klause’s knowledge saving her from having to marry Count Olaf. The only confusing bit are the bits with the Quigley Parents who early on seem to be implied to be the Baudelaire parents and nothing is done to show the audience this isn’t the case.

Final Score: 8 / 10 Solidly good. True to the book and doesn’t drag.

Book 2 – The Reptile Room

   Aasif Mandvi is wonderful as Uncle Monty, and this is the first episode the really incorporate the Spy World in. The first story doesn’t but this one makes it relevant and gives us pieces for the Baudelaire’s to put together the mystery…be it from the connection to Peru, Monty’s spyglass and his connection to their parents. Olaf is threatening in this when he has his full squad and for the fact that he kills Uncle Monty, but sometimes the comedy is played a bit too hard and that keeps it from being a perfect episode as it makes the tone of the episode a little all over the place when Olaf and his troupe are in play. Olaf’s character of Stephano is pretty weak too and didn’t feel inhabited at all. The purposeful bad acting really came out in this character.

Final Score: 9 / 10

Book 3 – The Wide Window

   “The Wide Window” is the story that drags the most, both in comparison to these four stories and in the show as well. Aunt Josephine is never given the chance to do much, though Alfre Woodward is a favorite actress (Mariah from “Luke Cage”) so it is a shame the adaptation didn’t do more with her character. She introduces the Baudelaire’s to code like in the books and like the books is overwhelmed by fear. Count Olaf’s Captain Sham is fantastic and the threat and charm of his character never goes away (unlike the zero of both that were in Stephano). He is the strongest part of this episode besides the Baudelaire’s taking their agency into their own hands and seeking to solve the riddles as well as running away from Poe at the end so they can learn what happened to their parents and how they connect to Lucky-Smells Lumber Mill.

Final Score: 7 / 10 Neil Patrick Harris carries this episode.

Book 4 – The Miserable Mill

      Up to this point, Shirley is the most threatening character of Count Olaf’s, largely because he has help from Dr. Orwell (Catherine O’Hara) who controls the workers by hypnotizing them. This creates an aura of threat around the mill as all of them are prisoners and Count Olaf is friends with the one with all the power and Klaus being controlled by Orwell and Olaf. Sir is just greedy and only cares about money and lets the corruption occur as he profits from the control of his workers and the Baudelaires. Thankfully he is chased away by his workers when the hypnotic trance is broken, which gives his partner Charles to give the children the article that shows that their parents saved the Mill and the town from being entirely burned down. This was the darkest episode besides the first story and returns to that same charm. I really enjoyed Count Olaf’s Shirley as a character too, as well as Count Olaf’s jealousy of Orwell for succeeding in villainy while he is still only striving to fully succeed. This is where we see the Parents reveal of them not being the Baudelaire’s or in the same time and place showing that all our heroes have to count on, is one another. This is where the Baudelaire’s courage finally pays off and luckily the next season sets up them meeting allies at the boarding school that Mr. Poe leaves them at at the end.

Final Score: 9 / 10

     This is a series that should have never been done as a film. There is far too much material to cover and it is hard to slim it down while still honoring the source material. The original film did not and though I liked some things about it, it was not like this. This is a perfect adaptation and the only flaws it has are those that exist in the source material itself. Excited for Season 2 and am looking forward to “The Penultimate Peril” and “The End,” as this is one of those series that has one of the endings I was greatly impressed with growing up. Lemony Snicket giving us his thoughts as narrator is powerful too and Warburton gives us a powerful, comedic and somber performance through the narrative. The side characters were cast extremely well as are the three actors who play the orphans. The only thing that really brings the series down is the tone sometimes has extreme shifts and the source material really didn’t give us much to go off originally and this is true to that source material so is bound by those same limitations. We get tiny answers but most of it is mystery and grey….which has potential depending on how they handle the mystery and reveals. Suffice to say, I highly recommend this series to any lover of the books as I am or if you are just looking for another amazing Netflix series.

Final Score: 8.6 / 10

The Venture Bros. Pilot – “The Secret of Turtle Bay” – Satirizing Super Heroes and Celebrating Their Charm

     “The Venture Bros.” are a lot of fun and a brilliant satire and celebration of superheroes, pulp action novels, the Hardy Boys and countless other things. I haven’t had this much fund in a show like this since “Archer” and “Rick and Morty.” There are a lot of things going for this show and though this episode isn’t a favorite, I’ll cover what I think worked and hope gets explored down the line.

    “The Secret of Turtle Bay” was the pilot of the series and was directed and written by Jackson Publick.

    The story involves Doctor Venture trying to get to the United Nations conference to present his new machine while the Monarch seeks to stop him on his quest as elsewhere others plot.

The Pros: Hank and Dean Venture – These two are the Hardy Boys of the series except they aren’t very bright at all, are overly optimistic and sheltered but somehow manage to get out of even the worst situations (thanks oftentimes to their protector Brock). I’m really curious to see how the harsh world is going to change them.

Dr. Venture – Dr. Venture is an oblivious mad scientist who is all about making money…though what is keeping him from doing so is himself as he brings a weapon to a peace conference and is not aware of much at all except himself.

the Monarch – the Monarch is hilarious and like Dr. Venture has a one track mind, though where Venture’s is to money…the Monarch just wants revenge against Dr. Venture and to be the best super villain in the process. His look is hilarious too as all his troops and himself are dressed like Monarch Butterflies which he has set up to be the most dangerous of creatures in his mind. He’s over the top and really works.

Brock Samson – Patrick Warburton plays some of the best characters…and Brock has to be one of my favorites he’s done. Brock is the protector of the Ventures and is on the edge, always about to snap. He kills and thinks nothing of it and is former military. In the end he sleeps with the prostitute the boys ran away from and brings his knife into the U.N. because the police where to afraid to challenge him. Can’t wait to see what they do with this character.

The Comedy – From the boys innocence when they accidnetly go to a prostitute, Dr. Venture bringing a weapon to a peaceful tech. conference at the U.N. and anything with the Monarch and Brock are really what make this show work. The characters create the comedy simply by being themselves.

The Cons: Senzuri – Is a diplomat who it looks like is going to steal the Oo-Ray but in the end just wants to get off to it. The joke was kind of funny but they could have done a lot more with the character. He felt like a throwaway character and not completely thought out.

    This is a series I’d highly recommend and I’m grateful that my friend recommended it to me. The characters are strong as is the comedy and there is so much potential in this pilot to take the characters in interesting directions and explore this unique world that celebrates and satirizes so many things.

Final Score: 9 / 10