“How The Venture Bros. Brilliantly Blurs the Line Between Hero and Villain”

If there’s a fundamental theme in The Venture Bros., it’s failure. If there’s a fundamental dynamic that dramatizes the element of failure, it’s self-involvement: All of the major characters in the series tend to cause their own problems, and this is as true of the first two episodes of Season 7 as any other episode in any of its other seasons. Everything the good guys and bad guys do ends up making their lives worse. We’re long past the point where “good guys” and “bad guys” are even meaningful qualifiers. Ultimately, they’re all a bunch of hapless schmucks.

I decide to explore this vital motif at length for Paste Magazine‘s TV section, so you can just go there if you want more of my brilliant thoughts.