After last week’s disappointing and needlessly confusing season premier, my first impression of this episode was “Oh, thank God! They’re back to normal!” My second thought was “Oh, God, no! Not more child molester jokes!” My third impression was essentially to vacillate back and forth between my first two impressions, with “Oh, God, no!” winning out around halfway through.
This isn’t too uncommon for me, really. I’ve always had a love/hate relationship with the show. On the one hand, it is frequently the funniest damn thing in the English language, and it seems intent on telling jokes that Only I Get, and how can I hate a show that strives so single-mindedly to please me, me, only me? (And were I a bit more rational, I’d probably point out that despite my egocentrism, it’s actually playing off of mass culture references for my specific subgroup of my specific demographic, which is to say kids who came of age in the ‘80s, and watched a lot of repeats). On the other hand, the show is frequently not just filthy, but disturbingly filthy, filthier than I can really watch with a clean conscience. Usually, however, the utterly filthy stuff is a relatively minor part of the episode, and if I close my eyes real tight and stick my fingers in my ears, and whistle some spy music (The Avengers Theme works well), I can usually get through the more sordid aspects of The Monarch’s sex life, or Orpheus’ mentor in dog-form, or the mentions of how Sgt. Hatred evidently raped Hank and Dean.
I’m fairly thick skinned. Not a lot of stuff really curls my toes, and I do recognize that it is just a joke, after all, but, dammit, child molesters are not funny, not ever, not under any circumstances. Call it a taboo if you want, I won’t argue, but I find that an intolerable (Yet mercifully minor) part of the show.
Up until now, of course.
PLAY BY PLAY
We start out in fine form with The Monarch already having kidnapped Hank & Dean, and threatening to kill them if Dr. Venture doesn’t fork over $10 million. Dr. V. offers to pay $5 million for just Dean, since Hank called him a “Honky,” and then, since he has no cash, he offers to trade any of his old, outdated lab crap that Monarch thinks has an equal cash value. It deteriorates in to an argument, “This isn’t antiques roadshow, you know.”
After the call ends, a never-before-heard-of superhero called “Captain Sunshine” bursts in to the Monarch’s Cocoon/lair/ship thing, and flashes bright lights, giving everyone sunburns (Though curiously the Monarch himself seems mostly immune.) He trashes the place, and then hauls Monarch off to prison.
Dr. V, meanwhile, is trying to come up with $10 million, and ends up borrowing it from Pete White and Master Billy Quizboy, who are suddenly, inexplicably rich. At first, Sgt. Hatred thinks Billy is a child, since he’s very short and hydrocephalic, and lisps a bit, but Billy points out he’s actually 37. Hatred is aroused by this. Meanwhile, Monarch walks back in to the lair explaining that no one ever explained “Due Process” to Captain Sunshine, and just kidnapping a guy and physically dropping him in a prison doesn’t mean the guy has to stay there.
| neorandomizer New day 23 hours ago |
| neorandomizer wife seems to have took a step forward today but a half of a step back so her condition is about the same. It's damn hot here! 1 day ago |
| neorandomizer Already 95 deg in Vegas and it's not 10 yet. Off I go to see wife hope she has some improvement. 1 day ago |
| Republibot 3.0 I'm really sorry to hear that. She's in our prayers. 2 days ago |
| neorandomizer @Republibot 3.0 The wife is still in icu and seems to be just treading water. 2 days ago |
| Republibot 3.0 Yeah? What's up? 3 days ago |
| neorandomizer All things being equal I can go for a cosmic reboot. 3 days ago |
| Republibot 3.0 but he has no other genre credits." It seemed like a cool idea to me. 4 days ago |
| Republibot 3.0 If we were interviewing James "Scotty" Doohan, we'd say say "He played on Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea and Space Academy, 4 days ago |
| Republibot 3.0 The concept was, "Hey, let's pretend Trek didn't exist, and just cover the rest of the genre." 4 days ago |
| jkirton2 Gonna take a few minutes to look around. 5 days ago |
| jkirton2 @Republibot 2.0 Will do 5 days ago |
| Republibot 3.0 » Jake Was Here "Jake Was Here" has been a member of our little blog family for exactly one year and three hours. THREE HOURS! 5 days ago |
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| jkirton2 Reading Republibot for the FIRST time online! Yeah, go figure! 5 days ago |
Comments
1 June 2009
15 hours 48 min
Watched the new one tonight, and y'all will be pleased to know that there was very little (but still just a bit of) reference at all to child molestation.
Go Progressive Rock!
27 December 2008
20 min 41 sec
I actually liked most of season 3, I liked how they explored their own backstory and such, but I've only seen most of those episodes one time, and some of 'em were so dirty that I'm pretty clearly never gonna' buy the DVDs. Hence, I'm relying on my memory, and my memory might have been a bit skewed simply by the glee of seeing some new VB material that I hadn't already seen a hundred times.
But, yeah, it is getting nastier and meaner-spirited all the time, isn't it?
1 November 2009
38 weeks 4 days
While I don't find the way pedophilia (or other questionable material) is portrayed on Venture Bros. particularly offensive, my problem is that the use of it and other themes has become so common and overused by the writers. I agree that the VBs is one of the funniest and most creative shows in the last few years, but for me the first two seasons were the best, with a major decline in quality for most of season 3...season 4 is looking to be more of the same, unfortunately. For me the show lost much of its joie de vivre when they switched to the darker, nastier tone and more focus on the Monarch story line. Plus, when they spoof old cartoon standards, why do they all have to be either violent psychotic burnouts (Jonny Quest, Scooby Doo) or child molesters! That is just lazy, unimaginitive writing. Bring back Season 1!!!
27 December 2008
20 min 41 sec
Does it matter if I'm offended by the child molestation, or the homosexuality? They're both toe-curling, awful things. I can tolerate homosexuality, though I've never accepted it, but child molestation destroys lives and even kills people, it's the absolute worst form of rape - and I think we can all agree that rape is a very bad thing to start with, right?
I don't think it's hypocritical of me to be offended more by one kind of gag than another - there's some things I find more offensive than others. I've got a Jewish friend who simply can not sit through any kind of Hitler or Holocast gag, for obvious reasons, and can't understand why anyone would do such a thing. I explain that "It's how we bring it down to a scale that we can understand, and diminish it by mocking it." She says, "Why would anyone want to do that? Why would anyone want to make the Holocast something you wouldn't be horrified at?"
Case in point: Why would anyone want to make pedophilia seem funny, rather than a horrific affront to life itself?
1 June 2009
15 hours 48 min
This was a very funny episode. I will admit that for people with such a bugaboo about man/boy love like you have will find it offensive, but jokes are jokes and picking one specific category to be offended by is kinda close minded. Yes, child molestation is bad but at least here Sunshine didn't actually rape or force anything on Hank (yet) but tried to seduce by taking advantage of innocence. It could have been worse. It's not like Hank and Dean are 8 years old; aren't they like 17 or so now? Are you sure it's not the homosexuality that's bothering you instead of the "child" part?
About the money, they mention that it was from an insurance payoff, probably related to the end of last season's problems, which I can't specifically remember the details of. Yes, this show seems to take place fairly close to the end of last season's, and not in some of the "future" that we glimpsed in the pilot.
27 December 2008
20 min 41 sec
Could also be after he dropped off the finger for cloning, but before he went back to pick it up. BTW, re-watched part of last week's episode, and the clone-baby's name is "24." That killed me.
27 June 2009
14 min 49 sec
Ok it’s your fault R3 you got me to watch this show and it was hilarious really sick but hilarious. It lampoons the hell out of superheroes and pedophilia is always sick and not funny it did smack around the Batman and Robin dynamic (why do you think they are rarely in comics together anymore).
Since 21 is doing the going mean after a loss thing I would say this episode falls right after Sgt Hate comes to the Ventures but before 21 goes to them for a clone of 24.