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by cpc65
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Does anyone else feel that the Hatred flashback with the Soldier X injection thing was kind of a cop-out? Doc and JP must know that some fans have issues with the man's past and are uncomfortable with Courtney being a main character now, so they're trying to engender sympathy towards him by showing that the pedo thing wasn't his fault.

Overall, I like the big lug myself but I too have had some reservations about the pedo thing. Although never a victim myself, I knew a girl who had been, and I'm sure I can't begin to even imagine what she has been through and how that will effect her for the rest of her life, so I just don't feel that it is an appropriate subject for humor. That's just my personal feeling. Not trying to preach.

I respect the fact that Hatred does seem to genuinely want to change and overcome his compulsions, and takes his job as Venture bodyguard very seriously, and seems willing to lay down his life to protect them. "Cheetah-Man is like crazy fast! What was I thinking?" But I still feel this was a bit of a cop-out excuse. They should have left it as is and have him be able to put it behind him, with or without the OSI's help.

Jun. 13, 2013, 7:39pm

by The Mysterious 'H'
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I agree with most of that. It's taking the easy way out a bit, making it some sort of side effect instead of something he was born with. Sometimes the best way to get through a difficult time or subject is through humor though. I know it's that way for me.

Jun. 14, 2013, 1:53am

by Lightning Lad
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"I still feel this was a bit of a cop-out excuse."

I agree. But as a cop-out, it's remarkably consistent with the themes/tone of the show. In an early interview, Jackson explained that real-life boy adventurers wouldn't "drop barrels on the frogmen" but would instead "get their throats cut." I think that sums up "The Venture Bros." nicely: it takes the adventurers, heroes, and villains we loved as kids and places them in the real world. Sgt. Hatred is no doubt a product of that approach. In the real world, two boys being dragged around the globe by their super-scientist father would run into at least one "bad-touch guy."

Placing the Captain America super-soldier experiment in the real world, one would expect some pretty terrible results. And that's what we see in flashback in "Venture Libre." So again, it was a cop-out, but it was one that remains true to the approach taken by Jackson and Doc from the beginning.

"I just don't feel that it is an appropriate subject for humor."

I agree, and I don't think we're alone in feeling so. Jackson and Doc have toned things down a bit, but if Hatred is going to remain a part of the show, I wish they'd just drop the subject. If "Friday Night Lights" could just act like a six-episode story about a sensational murder never happened, the guys can drop the Hatred-as-pedophile storyline!

Jun. 14, 2013, 3:31pm

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