I suppose his existence can be justified at a mechanical level, but oh god do I find him insufferably obnoxious. Even his voice makes me cringe.
I just can’t shake the feeling that the creators have no idea why the first two seasons were so popular. Jackson Publick has repeatedly claimed that VB is a show about failure. Well, failure is depressing and annoying. The VB I became a fan of was a show where the underdogs come out on top (or at least, not the bottom). But seasons three and then four gave us less and less of that.
Yeah … I’m not hopeful for the new (and last?) season either. People who gave us Escape to the house of mummies pt 2 then took Brock and Orpheus away. It’s like they are clones too, but without the learning beds.
I just finished watching the first to seasons and you are completely wrong. Its like saying you loved Cheers when it wasn’t about a bunch of people in a bar or when ER wasn’t a medical show. There isn’t a single episode where the underdogs come out on top. In fact, I think season 4 tries to be more feel good than the last 3 seasons. Can you think of an episode from season 1 or 2 that was feel good and showed the underdogs winning?
There was a period when he was, at least, pitiable. He was born into an impossible position. Eventually, you realize that he’s also a terrible person, but there’s a little while in the middle.
“Feel good” can go screw itself. I just like seeing competence. Towards that end, and focusing on Rusty Venture:
101: “Dia de Los Dangerous!” - Rusty gets his kidneys stolen. Responds by converting HELPeR into a makeshift dialysis machine and, at the end, successfully performs kidney transplant surgery on himself. Twice. Somehow.
102: “Careers in Science” - Rusty summoned to Gargantua-1 to diagnose the problem light. Succeeds. Also has a minor philosophical epiphany regarding his relationship with his father.
103: “Home Insecurity” - Rusty builds GUARDO to protect the compound. IFF problems notwithstanding, GUARDO successfully wipes out two squads of henchmen.
104: “The Incredible Mr. Brisby” - Rusty successfully resists handing his father’s cloning technology over to Mr. Brisby (due to entirely dysfunctional reasons, but what the hell).
105: “Eeney, Meeney, Miney… Magic!” - Rusty build the “joy can”. Sure it’s evil, and powered by an orphan, but it works!
106: “Ghosts of the Sargasso” - Rusty sets out to discover the crash site of his father’s crashed experimental spaceship, and succeeds. Well, temporarily.
107: “Ice Station – Impossible!” - Rusty accidentally seduces Mr. Impossible’s wife, and creates a cure for the Goliath Serum. Or ranch dressing. It’s a win either way.
108: “Mid-Life Chrysalis” - Rusty tries to seduce Dr. Girlfriend, and succeeds just enough that she goes against the Monarch’s wishes and injects him with the antidote.
109: “Are You There, God? It’s Me, Dean” - Rusty discovers Grover Cleveland’s time machine, and saves everyone with his very specific knowledge of Guild bylaws.
110: “Tag Sale – You’re It!” - Rusty gets people to buy a bunch of old crap that doesn’t work right anyway. Ka-ching!
111: “Past Tense” - Rusty doesn’t do much in this one besides get captured.
112: “The Trial of the Monarch” - Again, not much Rusty action.
113: “Return to Spider-Skull Island” - Rusty reconciles with his brother.
For a long time Doc and Jackson were implying that after the end of the fourth season, they’d have said everything they wanted to say. But for the last year or so Doc has been saying that, in fact, they could easily do a fifth season. It’s worth noting that they are referring to the season finale as a two-part season finale, not a series finale.
In summary, I don’t know, but I don’t think they’ll stop here.
I thought that was a fine episode, with the old-school Venture Brothers sensation of a half-hour episode somehow containing 2 hours of hilarious material.
