I have been a fan of The Venture Brothers cartoon series on Adult Swim since its premiere in February of 2003.  The show went well with the original theme of Adult Swim, Hanna Barbara remakes, by playing off the Jonny Quest vibe. Even during the lengthy break the show took between initial seasons, I hoped and prayed that it would return in its full glory. Thankfully it did. The expertise in writing and direction make The Venture Brothers one of the most formidable animated comedies on the market. If your suspension of disbelief is strong enough, you might even forget that are watching a cartoon. I think that might be one of the greatest compliments that can be paid to an animated series. It might also be the Orange Kush that I smoke religiously on Sunday nights that lends a hand to my subjective reality.

With all of that said, I must eat my own words and say that the last three episodes of Season 3, ORB and the two part season finale, are insanely disappointing. Don’t get me wrong, I love insanity but I think Public and Hammer phoned these episodes in. ORB is all over the place not having a true denouement to tie up the loose ends. Even the creators themselves had some criticism of the editing of the show in the commentary provided on adultswim.com.  Doc said that the show would have had made more sense if the extra four to five minutes were left in.

The two part season finale, The Family that Slays Together, is so convoluted it makes viewing almost painful. Part 1 carries over from the abridged ORB episode so it makes sense that it makes no sense.  The true role of Brock in the whole series becomes eerily ambiguous especially the reasons behind his “termination.” Part 2 tries to answer some questions, but I don’t think that the General’s little pep talk at the end is the full truth. One of the smaller problems that I have with Part 2 is the continuity issue with the Ventures hopping a ride in Monarch’s Cocoon. It’s flying away from them in one scene and in the next; they are crawling out of an escape hatch at their compound. The biggest problem I have with the finale is Henchman 24. Seriously what the fuck? What the hell is #21 going to do by himself? By nature, he’s a codependent character.

Fuck you Jackson Public and Doc Hammer. Fuck you. I will see yall next season premiere, but fuck you guys…seriously fuck you. RIP #24. We will miss you.