It’s so hard to say good-bye. We’ve had so many stops and starts with The Venture Bros. it’s hard to believe this is really it. But creators Doc Hammer and Jackson Publick wrapped it up the way it should have been. Most questions answered – but not all – and a sense that the adventure will go on, even if we don’t get to see it.
To be honest, Season 4 ended on that kind of note with “Operation: P.R.O.M.” That was before they built an even higher tower of intricate lunacy and pulpish goodness. From their commentary, it’s clear that if they had been given an eighth season, we would have seen such sights. And begged for a ninth.
Instead, we get this wrap-up film, which flat out, isn’t where someone should begin with The Venture Bros. Though each season often felt like maybe we’d missed something (and loved the not knowing), this one was really made for the fans. (Go back and get the whole series! It’s worth it!)
Opening with Brock Samson (Patrick Warburton) and agents from S.P.H.I.N.X. searching for the missing Hank Venture (Chris McCulloch), Radiant is the Blood of the Baboon Heart barely slows down to even explain why he’s missing. In the commentary, Hammer and Publick admit they had to condense a lot of planned action from a full season of episodes into this script, and there just wasn’t space. (They did convince some higher up to give them 15 more minutes than originally budgeted.)
From there it’s a plot that sees the Monarch and 21 drawn into a rival agency to the Guild of Calamitous Intent, led by a mysterious woman from the Monarch’s past. (Listen to the commentary to understand the extent and limitations of Debbie’s abilities.) Meanwhile, Doc Venture (the splenetic James Urbaniak) prepares to launch a competitive product to Amazon Echo, based on H.E.L.P.er. There’s a flaw, of course, that could prove fatal. And Hank battles his subconscious – or are they past lives? – to find his mother while Dean (Michael Sinterniklaas) teams with Dr. Orpheus to fight past a brood of vampires to follow Hank’s trail
Got it? Pretty sure I’m still leaving something out, but that’s the glory of how densely, hilariously, and sometimes touchingly plotted The Venture Bros. is. You could follow a thousand threads, and in both a fan question-driven commentary and an interview with John Hodgman, Hammer and Publick acknowledge a couple where they just forgot to follow themselves. There’s a throwaway villain that Hammer says he wanted to have voiced by Matt Berry, and I’ve spent days obsessed with the spin-off series that could have been.
Regrets? They’ve had a few. But truly, they did it their way, and we’re better for it. The hope we hold out now is that enough people watch Radiant is the Blood of the Baboon Heart that Warner Bros. Discovery wants a sequel, and brings Hammer and Publick back.
For here’s a little fuel for the current strike situation – despite the radiant blood, sweat, and tears that obviously belong to Hammer and Publick, they don’t actually own The Venture Bros. While others could carry on, this is a clear case where no one else should. The things that make this show – and this wrap-up movie – great reflect the idiosyncratic voices of two writers who somehow found kindred spirits in each other.
I’m just grateful for the voice they shared.
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