THE VENTURE BROS. (S7E2): “The Rorqual Affair”

Welcome back. Following the premiere’s cliffhanger, I went into this episode expecting to find out what the issue with “The Cure of the Haunted Problem” was, how the Ventures would solve it, how Jonas Venture Sr. was still alive, and why The Monarch/Blue Morpho was tied to a chair in Wide Wale’s office. Imagine my shock when only one of those things was explained, and the rest was left for the next episode.

Go Team Monarch

Last season definitely showed The Venture Bros. moving in a different direction both in story and execution. Rusty Venture finally got the money, fame, and prestige he always dreamt of while the show became a two-hander between his family and The Monarch’s. The two characters had essentially swapped places. The Monarch was once the head of an army with his cocoon, technological wonders, and loving wife. In season 6, we found him living in a collapsing house with only one henchman and Dr. Mrs. The Monarch off being on the Guild council leaving him behind.

Tonight’s episode, after last week’s Venture-centric one, picks up the story of how The Blue Morpho became Wide Wale’s captive. It boils down to this: The Monarch got c*cky and Gary overslept. The Monarch, as The Blue Morpho, shows up at Wide Wales and demands he leave town. He promises violence which doesn’t arrive as Gary is stuck on the subway and is roundly beaten and tied up by Rocco and Wale.

Meanwhile, the Guild put out a reward of free Guild rights to anyone who kills The Blue Morpho leading to an episode long Jaws riff that at first feels hackneyed but gets more and more clever as the episode goes on.

Dominion Over All

The stand out of this episode, and every episode he is in, is The Red Death. Voiced by Clancy Brown, Red Death is basically the Brock of the villains in that he is extremely capable but is surrounded by idiots playing dress up and ineffectual buffoons.

This episode finds him working with Dr. Mrs. The Monarch after Gary reveals all to her. He massacres an OSI facility, gives a version of Quint’s USS Indianapolis speech (with hints towards how Jonas Venture Sr ‘died’), and basically steals the episode out from under everyone else.

Conclusion: The Venture Bros. “The Rorqual Affair”

A great episode that fits together neatly with last week’s and promises some madness next week as Ventech looks as though its trying to move and after the credits we see the arrival of…the original Blue Morpho?

It’s fantastic to see this show grow in confidence. The writers continue to use the kudos they’ve picked up over its run to mess around with the structure and the characters and keep the audience on its toes and tell wonderful stories with these wonderful characters.