Monsters of Television

“You’re lucky you weren’t on duty when he had his conjugal visit with a freaking shoe.”

This review will have to be quick and dirty, which is fitting since this episode was more or less the same way. While last week’s episode was a glorious romp, “Pomp & Circuitry” feels like a great deal of piece moving to (hopefully) gets things in place for the tail end of the season that leads to a big splashy event like Season 2’s “Showdown at Cremation Creek” 2-parter.

The continues to conspire against anyone being happy, as Dean doesn’t seem on going to State University (and why would he? Look at all the nuts that went there before him!) and Hank wants to head over to the army (when he really means S.P.H.I.N.X (Sphinx!)) instead of going to college, and Rusty learns that his name is essentially meaningless (again). The only one seems to have anything going for him is Phantom Limb, and he’s still in love with a high heel he stole from Dr. Mrs. The Monarch.

I suppose the big event, and the most interesting, is Phantom Limb’s escape from the Guild and his attempt to start a second guild, composed of a washed out Professor Impossible and (dare I dream?) a homeless Baron Ünderbheit. The stench of failure, which seems to have washed off of The Monarch (though he seems to be going through a mid-life crisis), is hanging over Limb’s new group. Indeed, as of right now they seem like the Sinister Syndicate to the Guild’s Sinister Six: losers all with delusions of grandeur.

This does have some serious potential, as many of the joys in season 2 came from conflicts between the villains and the Guild, with the Venture family getting stuck in the middle. Phantom Limb always took arching so seriously that he seemed like the straight man of all the lunacy, which made everything all the funnier. I’ve always liked Baron Ünderbheit, so I’m happy for his return. Professor Impossible walks a finer line since he used to be a “good guy” but he clearly isn’t ready for Limb’s dastardly villainy.

Meanwhile, the boys have nothing to show for all their years in bed school. As Billy pointed out, the Venture boys aren’t exactly prepared to socialize with the real world (though we already knew that after their fairly disastrous outing to the mall). Add in Rusty’s on-going ignoring of Hank, and you’ve got consistent character beats across the board.

Hank’s desire to join S.P.H.I.N.X (Sphinx!) stems from a desire to both be close to Brock again, but to also follow in Brock’s footsteps. The one thing I did like about his “training” montage (aside from coughing up blood when firing that massive chain gun), was that it shows Hank as competent operative, if a little clumsy. Indeed, if Hank overcame his clumsiness, he could become dangerously genre savvy (like Henchmen No. 21) and start causing problems within a narrative universe filled with characters who have to pretend not to be genre savvy.

Dean’s travel to State University gets little play, but serves a nice parallel to Hank’s goals since both Hank and Rusty essentially make the same argument for why their goals (Dean getting into State without an application, Hank joining S.P.H.I.N.X (Sphinx!)) should be achieved: legacy. Rusty wants Dean enrolled because of his name (I was amused the Dean though it was Jonas, Jr. who was calling (I miss Jonas, Jr.)) while Hank wants in because he’s lived every operation that could be thrown at him.

And while this episode wasn’t the funniest or most enjoyable episode of The Venture Bros. (it seemed like Phantom Limb’s battle with the Diamond Dogs and Guild troops might’ve gone forever), it does provide for some decent thematic work while hopefully setting up something much bigger in the long run.