Audio Spoilercast of season 6 at the bottom

Venture fans have been waiting for three years, give or take a special, for a new season of Venture Bros. This past January, we were given just that in a new 8-episode season.

A new city, a new Guild and what seemed like endless possibilities for the characters we’ve already grown to love.

While this season matched the tone and humor we’ve come to expect, the story fell short of the expectations of the fans and the creators, Jackson Publick and Doc Hammer.

The city that never henches

The biggest change from season five to six is the change of scenery for both the Venture and Monarch clans. New York has replaced both the compound and the Cocoon as the main HQ for all super science and villainy. Even secondary characters like Billy Quizboy and Pete White are roped into the New York hustle and bustle under the employ of the now extremely wealthy Doc. While the new setting seemed to offer up new adventures, it really just added a new coat of paint to the old formula.

The first two-thirds of the season focused on building the new location with all kinds of new villains including Reduca, Hurangatang, and Think Tank, all inspired by the pop culture skewering we’ve all come to know and love from Publick and Hammer. Sadly, there is no payoff to the threads that Jackson Publick and Doc Hammer lay out, and it feels as if these characters weren’t needed to begin with. It feels like they existed to flesh out a world we may not be spending much time in at all. Because ultimately their time is cut short thanks to the Monarch’s new persona as the Blue Morpho, a thinly veiled Green Hornet spoof.

These villains that were intended to build a world were turned into nothing more than a villain of the week thanks to the hijinks within the new Venture tower. Even this season’s big bad, Wide Whale tapers off a few episodes in after it seems Hammer and Publick find more interesting villains to focus on. This leads to a convoluted feeling through the season, with no characters that really pose a threat and a setting that feels wasted.

Go Team Venture!

But, even in a new locale, the characters we know and love remain as entertaining as ever. Whether it’s Hank’s endeavors as a newly-made billionaire playboy bringing him ever closer to his dream of the Batman, or Billy and Pete coming into their own as super scientists and partners to Doc. The core cast of Venture Bros. is built upon so much heart and love that you can tell Publick and Hammer really care about these characters. This doesn’t however, mean there isn’t room for growth, as the Monarch’s journey into his birthright brings out new emotions in him, Gary, and Dr. Mrs. The Monarch. Their journey is a microcosm of the overall themes of the season, most importantly self-discovery.

Doc goes from a failed super scientist, struggling to make ends meet, to overnight becoming the new face of Ventec Industries and dealing with all the responsibility that that entails. He now has to run a company in the shadow of his dead brother and somehow live up to his larger-than-life image.

Hank is growing into his own when it comes to women, but he’s still as dorky and lovable as ever. Whether he’s dance fighting albino muggers or buying a giraffe, Hank is still as Hank as ever. That’s ultimately the best and worst part of the Venture Bros. These characters are like comfort food; you know what you’re getting with minimal additions to the solid core.

But comfort food is only good for so long and sooner or later you’re going to want something more filling.

TL;DR

Venture Bros. Season 6 will probably seen as an almost passive season of the show. The wheels are spinning with no traction, and while it’s fun to be with these characters whenever we get the chance, after 10 years it feels like there should be something more.

+Core Characters remain as entertaining as ever

+Blue Morpho and Kano storyline

+New villains continue to be amusing

-Lack of payoff

-Villain of the week structure

-More of the same

All images: Venture Bros. Blog