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Season Finale Discussion: "The Saphrax Protocol"

Season Finale Discussion:
It's the end of the story! Or at least the season. That's right, the Venture Bros. season seven finale is upon us! It's called "The Saphrax Protocol" and you can watch it on Adult Swim's website if you have the proper credentials (or can fake them?). The episode will of course air on television this Sunday night at midnight, as per usual. Use the comments of this article to talk about the episode, season and series as whole if you like! Just be warned, there will be spoilers inside so don't take a peep unless you... like spoilers. Or if you've watched the episode. Enjoy the episode and we'll meet again next season for more discussions!
Fantastic end to an epic season!
  • 2
Oct. 5, 2018, 4:55pm
I haven't watched this episode yet but does it bug anyone else that every episode in season seven starts with "The" except for "Arrears in Science"? Just me?
  • -1
Oct. 5, 2018, 4:55pm
  • by Repressed Grotesque Human
  • Reply
I think it's an homage to The Hudsucker Proxy and other inscrutible, old-guard titles. It'd be a good question to ask Doc and Jackson at the NYCC panel.
  • 0
Oct. 5, 2018, 5:19pm
I think every Doc Hammer episode is "The Blank Blank" too. Weird difference from their other seasons with more varied episode titles.
  • 0
Oct. 5, 2018, 11:34pm
Not at all
  • 0
Oct. 7, 2018, 12:11pm
but... the symmetry!
  • 0
Oct. 7, 2018, 6:07pm
  • by Repressed Grotesque Human
  • Reply
I guessed the season would end with Hank starting his vigilante training with Nite Dick, but here's Hank's back as The Bat.

If there is a season 8 coming maybe they'll get into Rusty and Malcolm being blood relations and find Bobbi Saint Simone, actress, and Hank and Dean's mom. Maybe she'll live out in LA and Hank will Bruce Banner's his way cross country to meet her. Maybe Dean will follow Hank and they'll get to meet her together and she's more a Dr. Orpheus than a Jonas Venture, Sr.
  • 0
Oct. 5, 2018, 5:59pm
A "Darkman" reference at the end, awesome!
  • 3
Oct. 5, 2018, 9:00pm
Thank god for the end to an increasingly crappy season.
  • -4
Oct. 5, 2018, 9:01pm
  • by zombiejesus
  • (unregistered id: 6BD9A8E174)
  • Reply
No need for that beb.
It's okay that you didn't like it. A lot of others here did.
  • 0
Oct. 5, 2018, 10:52pm
You should probably just find another show to watch if you thought that was crappy.
  • 0
Oct. 6, 2018, 9:16pm
Could you repeat that beb?

We couldn't hear you over Your Mom screaming Brock's name.
  • 0
Oct. 7, 2018, 1:07am
Everyone is entitled to their opinion. No need to razz on those who see some things differently from the majority. I can sort of see where beb is coming from. I don't feel as strongly about it as them, but there were a few points in the latter half of the season I wasn't totally jiving on, but still not bad. Overall way better than most shows anyway. Such is the nature of entertainment media.
  • -1
Oct. 8, 2018, 6:05pm
While one is entitled to an educated opinion, one is also not protected from suffering the obvious consequences of acting as a petulant child.
  • 0
Oct. 9, 2018, 1:25am
How is beb calling it "an increasingly crappy season" being petulant? You don't have to agree with it, but there's no need to put someone down because you have a difference of opinion with them. Are you the appointed VB Opinion Guardian? Must everyone love it as much as you? (Oh, wait. This is the internet) I've been here since about a year after Mike started this site. This has always been more of a Fansite than a FanBoy Site. There's Reddit for that.
  • -1
Oct. 9, 2018, 6:28pm
I expected there would some push back from that comment but I wasn't expecting to be told to (in effect) "drop dead and go away." Harsh man, really harsh.

Look, I've been a fan of VB since the first season. I have followed every season, bought most of the DVDs, and wrote a half-dozen fan-fics (which you can find at FanFiction.net. My handle is "beb") I have been invested with this series. But the last couple seasons just haven't thrilled me like they had before. And this year, which started out OK totally grossed me out with The Unicorn on Captivity. I felt like was gut-punched, much the way Captain V was gut-punched in the Forecast Manufacturer episode. That episode left such a pall over me that I could not enjoy any of the remaining episodes, often finding myself bored and wishing the episode would hurry-up and finish. And finally I found the whole Dean sleeps with Serena illogical. First because Dean has not been that bad a brother to Hank. Sleeping with Hank's girlfrieind seems like the kind of line Dean would not cross. The other thing is that saying Dean slept with Hank's girlfriend denies Serena any agency in the matter. She was the only who could consent to having sex with Dean. If anyone is at faultl here, it is Serena.

Finally, adding insult to injury, neither Barbarella or The Empire Strikes Back were great science fiction movies. They were OK but not great. Better SF movies were Forbidden Planet and "Star Wars" (aka A New Hope)
  • 0
Oct. 15, 2018, 1:25am
A show like this was eventually bound to attract fanboys who tend to get all worked up when someone dares to criticize the show, or not totally adore it every bit as much as they do (how dare you). I'll bet they're mostly Jonny-Come-Latelys too who heard about it from a friend and now it's all hip to be a Venture fan. Also, just look at our current trumpified social climate. The prevailing "You're either 100% on OUR side or you're not one of US so we mock you" attitude.

While I wasn't down on season 7 as much as you I can at least respect where you are coming from and understand why not everyone might have thought it was a perfect season end to end. It is pretty hard to top the beginning 3 episode arc, but that was intended to be the true finale of last season. And while I was not put off by the, er, graphicness of Unicorn (more like surprised they finally went that far) I can understand why others might not have liked it.
  • 0
Oct. 16, 2018, 7:14pm
Man, its gonna be a long wait to next season.
-I love that Dean knows so much more than everyone else. He's really evolved so much as a character over the years.
-I laughed harder at all of Brock's stuff this episode than I have all season, so that was great.
-Everything with Monarch/21 was fantastic, I love that they openly call each other best friends.
-Hank's coma purgatory was clever and threw some curve balls at us. I really didn't expect Phage to show up. I should have given Doc and Jackson more credit, I thought they just forgot about him. :-P
-I can't wait to see where they go with the Rusty/Monarch connection. I love/hate they they didn't explicitly say brothers or half brothers. They could be either, or something Jonas Sr. cooked up in the lab. Maybe we/they will get their answers next season. :)
-Overall, great season, and great finale. Not quite as epic as some previous ones, but felt like more of a finale than last season's abrupt end.
  • 2
Oct. 6, 2018, 12:08am
"I learned to count when I was 3"
  • 0
Oct. 7, 2018, 12:12pm
  • by Mr. Mostly Mittens
  • (unregistered id: E05A093A76)
  • Reply
Wow! I loved this episode! My only critique is that we still didn’t get to see the Order of the Triad in their new NYC HQ. Well, I guess we’ll get to see more next season two years from now. Or a between-season special again. Anyone else pine for the days of the old 13-episode run? 10 episodes go so fast. I’ll have to tide myself over by purchasing the art book. And Red Dead Redemption 2.
  • 1
Oct. 6, 2018, 6:07am
  • by zombiejesus
  • (unregistered id: 3C25583F48)
  • Reply
Ok, I love that the Guild guys are teleporting in, and have no idea of the surface that they're teleporting in on, and keep tripping off the shelf on the receive.
I want to remind you all of this amazing treatise on teleportation:
https://www.e-reading.club/chapter.php/75689/7/Niven_-_All_The_Myriad_Ways.html

And, yes, Hank is correct that Empire is the greatest Space Fantasy Movie Evar {I still like Barbarella, which gave us Durand Durand. And his Orgasmatron. And the Black Queen [Pretty Pretty (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ak1227_mOqU)]}.
The "actors in front of a movie background (probably post-camera editing)" styling of Hank and Rodney on the sled was spot on.

Where does the Blackout team come from? The Guild is never shown recruiting the rank and file.
I presume Watch and Ward are in charge of that crap.
But, Brock piled up a lot of Guild guys. How many do they have?
Okay, I already know that the answer is "more".
I have really missed Brock going sick-house.

Monarch is reaching up inside a log.
No chance that that isn't already a euphemism for "turd". Right?
(Yes, I know, it's from something else. Everything is. "There is nothing but collage." -Ephige, 612 BC.)
And he's reaching in a log, through shit, to find some gem, like any good sport. (I didn't have to actually paw through shit during my Fraternal Initiation, but there were similar indiscretions.)

Next:
Unkel Vatred is a stand up guy. He's sincere.

"Saphrax, heavy with goat, and burdened with terrible chicken..."
I have chaired Manitiations. They are exactly like this. Necessarily absurd.
"Are you certain that you are not a cabbage, or something, in disguise?"
(Okay, I'm giving too much away. Shut up zeej.)

"I'm jealous that you don't care you're dressed like Batman in public."
I did, actually get over that with my brother (TMI).

"What about you, guy with a bead on me who needs to reload?"
<Click.>
Can anyone love Brock more?

And, I totally don't mind Phineas Phage (Gage) turning up as John Philip Law's angel.
"Angel IS love."
I've seen Barbarella, like, dozen times, and I still don't know what the Matmos is.

That kid has moxie:
https://www.drinkmoxie.com/img/timeline/full/20_01.jpg

"I love you. I lo- POOP!"

-

I love you all.
Chat with you in two years.
Go Team Venture!
  • 1
Oct. 6, 2018, 8:56am
  • by Aaaanon
  • (unregistered id: 7C3006FBD9)
  • Reply
I love that after 7 seasons we finally have a working definition of 'arching', courtesy of the Saphrax story: Turning a grudge into a career.
  • 0
Oct. 10, 2018, 2:03pm
I, too, wonderd where the blackout team came from. All through this season it appeared that the Guild consisted of 5 council members and Watch and Ward. A vast downgrade from the vast and all-powerful agency seem in the first season's Trial of the Monarch."
  • 0
Oct. 15, 2018, 1:30am
  • by Eartha Kite & Dismalicious Winds from Provo
  • (unregistered id: 6FFD23CE4E)
  • Reply
Oh...Phage phucking rules! Diff Strokes! HA!!! This was so devastatingly good, the bounce around storyline was so well done.
  • 2
Oct. 7, 2018, 12:56am
Anyone need a pee break?
  • 2
Oct. 7, 2018, 1:08am
Fuck yes.
  • 0
Oct. 8, 2018, 1:21am
  • by Rented Mule
  • (unregistered id: A1D71D50F8)
  • Reply
So why was Brock looking for a gun under Hatred’s desk? Brock would never use a gun, that’s cheating!
  • 1
Oct. 8, 2018, 1:42am
  • by zombiejesus
  • (unregistered id: BDD6637EEC)
  • Reply
Captain V, I look forward to your deep take on this episode.

Jeez, every season seems heavier than the last.
New pro- and antagonists get introduced, and we (I) want so much more history and lore.
10 episodes are never enough.
I would love some more ancillary materiel, from the source.
Trading cards (yes, I know of these, and they are spectacular: https://venturebrostc.tumblr.com).
Comix, encyclopedia entries (yes, I know of the wiki http://venturebrothers.wikia.com/wiki/Venture_Brothers_Wiki, and refer to it often).
I want notes from the whiteboard at Astrobase.
I want the deep lore of everything.
I want the histories and connections of all of it.
Please?
This universe is so reflective and reactive and repetitive.

Om. Nomnom.
  • 0
Oct. 8, 2018, 5:45am
Rewatching the episode for, maybe the 8th time now, I do have a question about the teleporter.

There were 2 discs originally, so I'm curious if the Guild was able to reverse engineer the disc to create more, or if there are still only the 2 discs, how did the Guild successfully get one of the discs into Ven-Tech Tower so the blackout team could complete their mission of getting Rusty out?
  • 0
Oct. 8, 2018, 7:19am
Definitely still only two, since someone was griping about having to travel to Meteor Majeure. I have the same question about why they needed the transporter if they could get it in there, but I assume it's something along the lines of "it's easier to sneak one guy in when everyone's out than 15 people when Doc's home".
  • 0
Oct. 8, 2018, 9:48am
Knowing Rusty the Guild just shipped one of the disks to him via UPS and Doc was like, "Cool! I got one back!" and stashed it in that closet without even thinking that it could be used as a means of ingress and egress. I guess it doesn't have an off switch, and that whichever member of the blackout team went first drew the short straw. Though in the end, they ALL drew the short straw.
  • 1
Oct. 8, 2018, 5:59pm
This is how I took it, but I'm guessing Doc and team don't know what was in the box and they just placed the package labeled something mundane for the research division in the appropriate storage room. Given the dimensions of the box sent, it makes sense how the guildmen knew how low to duck when being teleported.
  • 1
Oct. 8, 2018, 9:01pm
  • by Blixa Barfgold & Followpillow1&2
  • (unregistered id: 8A3D88AEE9)
  • Reply
Since this is pure fantasy astral coma / unconscious stroke projection in Hank's playtime brain, but, do you want to take a guess if Think Tank
is out of the hospital yet? Also why was Stars & Garters serenading him? Is he a hospital worker? Knowing only the professor-college side of Think Tank (ex student)? A member of the NY Dolls who works for anyone with insurance?
KILLer seaSON!
  • 0
Oct. 8, 2018, 3:09pm
Stars & Garters (Prof. Tomkins for U.S. Military History) is Think Tank's substitute teacher, I guess they are work friends.
  • 0
Oct. 8, 2018, 9:07pm
I think this is more Protagonists needing their Antagonists. Same thing as Captian Sunshine freaking out at Boggles The Clue Clown's funeral.
  • 0
Oct. 9, 2018, 1:26pm
  • by Destroyo
  • (unregistered id: 4152F60B7A)
  • Reply
Well, all of my plot predictions were a bust. Still a nice end to see the Monarch and 21 bond so well this season.

The log test was a ref to the movie Flash Gordon; Doc and Jackson must have been on a schlock sci-fi kick when writing these eps.
  • 0
Oct. 9, 2018, 3:57pm
  • by Aaaanon
  • (unregistered id: 7C3006FBD9)
  • Reply
Thx for the Flash Gordon ref. The log test was itching my brain and I couldn't make any connection.
  • 0
Oct. 9, 2018, 7:58pm
In the movie (flash gordan), the guy who got stung by the log scorpion, was a presenter on the longest running children's television program in the world, Blue peter (started in 1956 by the BBC), Peter Duncan. Even got his own show where he would do film stunts called Duncan Dares. And he was the ninth chief scout for the uk scouting association succeeded by Bear Grylls..Wow that's some random British trivia (Brain diarrhea)...
  • 0
Dec. 24, 2018, 8:14pm
  • by Aaaanon
  • (unregistered id: 7C3006FBD9)
  • Reply
So many parallels and doppelgangers. Of course we now have 2 sets of Venture Brothers. Hank and Dean are on track to also split into one good and one evil (to use designations to which the Guild vehemently objects). But which is which -- Hank adopts Batman mask, which is clearly a good guy persona, and Dean just got done articulating why he's a bad brother. I'm even getting confused about the Monarch and the Dr.... Rusty is crappy in so many ways (but he's not out to harm the Monarch). And the Monarch is in a (somewhat) solid, loving marriage, and has a bestie in Gary, but wants to harm Rusty.

Bring on the Ocho!!!
  • 1
Oct. 9, 2018, 8:06pm
While the Bat (Batman) is a good character that Hank is wearing a mask makes him more like the Monarch than his father (who does not wear a mask, but has been a crappy father.

Despite his long list of reasons Dean has been a bad brother most of the items listed are pretty trivial. He may be a crappy brother but he hasn't been an evil one. So I think Dean will because like his father while Hank will become Dean's Archnemesis., like like Malcolm and Thaddeus. Why does Malcolm hate Rusty so much, because suub-consciously he does remember Rusty taking his truck away from him as a child.
  • 0
Oct. 15, 2018, 1:06am
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Latest Informatives

Hank

Apr. 19, 2023, 12:53am
First footage! Title revealed! https://youtu.be/eXJ5OM9RfV8 Synopsis and cast too! “In The Venture Bros.: Radiant Is the Blood of the Baboon Heart, a nationwide manhunt for Hank Venture leads to untold dangers and unexpected revelations, while the Monarch is literally out for Dr. Venture’s blood. An imposing evil from the past reemerges to wreak havoc on the Ventures, the Guild, and even the Monarch marriage—it will take friends and foes alike to restore the Ventures’ world to order… or end it once and for all.” The voice cast includes the returning James Urbaniak as Dr. Venture, Patrick Warburton as Brock Samson, Michael Sinterniklaas as Dean Venture, Chris McCulloch as Hank Venture, and The Venture Bros. co-creator Doc Hammer as Dr. Mrs. The Monarch. (Hammer and series co-creator Jackson Publick also wrote the script, and Publick directed.) Other voice cast members include Nina Arianda as Mantilla, Clancy Brown as Daisy and Red Death, John Hodgeman as Snoopy, Hal Lublin as Clayton, Jane Lynch as Bobbi St. Simone, Charles Parnell as Jefferson Twilight, Jay Pharoah as Nuno Blood, Steven Rattazzi as Dr. Orpheus, JK Simmons as Ben, and Dana Snyder as The Alchemist. A project of Titmouse, Adult Swim, and Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment, all that radiant baboon heart blood will be gushing forth later this year. Go Team Venture! https://gizmodo.com/venture-bros-movie-adult-swim-warner-bros-animation-1850353234

CaseCrash

Jul. 4, 2019, 11:34pm
It's a month old but there's not much news here for two years at a time, so whatever :) https://www.denofgeek.com/us/tv/the-venture-bros/281421/the-venture-bros-season-8-jackson-publick-doc-hammer

cpc65

Jun. 7, 2019, 9:33pm
Okay, Venturoos. Here's what ya get for the Extras, at least on the DVD version. I felt it was a little light, but that's just my opinion. Deleted Scenes (as always) - Some are B&W sketches with the dialog, others are animated with the dialog. Ghost in the Pro-Blem - An extended view of the distorted images of events from the Pro-BLEM's point of view. Maybe there are some clues hidden in it if you like frame-by-frame advancing. Maybe not. Sirena Goes Off... - Cristin Milioti ad-libbing way more dialog than the script calls for. Poor Rocco. Promo - Basically the season 7 promo. Maybe there's Easter Eggs to find. I haven't done any extensive searching yet. If anyone finds any feel free to post them here!

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