THE VENTURE BROS (S7E3): “Arrears In Science”
Episode 3 is here already and it’s the end of The Morphic Trilogy. The Venture Bros. has definitely moved more towards serialised storytelling in recent seasons rather than adventure of the week stories as it was at the start. Some fans aren’t into this new approach, but I feel as though it’s a perfect fit for this season with its rich cast of characters, deep bench of supporting players, and huge mythology and world-building.
World-Building
“Arrears in Science” is a big Christmas present for anyone who loves how layered and dense the Venture Bros. mythology has become. This episode (much like the previous two) dives back into past Venture Bros. episodes to pull out explanations, references, and payoffs from all manner of things like the Pyramid Wars, Doctor Orpheus’ morbid prediction to the Action Man, the fate of Gargantua-1, the death of Jonas Venture Sr. and many more that I’ll have to read about on the Venture Bros. wiki.
As a third part to a trilogy this episode isn’t really about a big finish and actually slows the pace right down to focus on the past between the Blue Morpho and Jonas Venture Sr. This past helps to illustrate more than ever the kind of villain that Jonas was, which is something we’ve always had hints of but tonight’s blackmailing Blue Morpho while also sleeping with his wife (and, possibly, fathering his child, The Monarch) really takes it to the next level.
Not much happens in this episode outside of the Blue Morpho and Jonas reminiscing in Jonas’ mind and Red Death’s story about Gargantua-1 meaning that Arrears in Science is an exposition and flashback-heavy episode. This will definitely delight people like me who love this world-building and mythology but might be disappointing if you’re here for adventures and the Johnny Quest pastiche that the show used to be.
Conclusion: The Venture Bros. “Arrears in Science”
One thing this episode did was really illuminate the relationship between Rusty and The Monarch which is now a familial one, even if they both don’t know about it yet. The Venture Bros. has really become something much more mature and nuanced as it has gone on and episodes like “Arrears in Science” really show the shows range and capacity to still surprise us.
Also, we now know The Monarch’s real name is Malcolm, which I admittedly gasped at when I saw, which shows you how dedicated I’ve become to this show over the years.
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