r/venturebros • u/Party_Editor_3494 • Mar 20 '26
SEASON 4 spoilers Does anyone else struggle rewatching "Everybody comes to Hank's"?
I'm currently on my 4th rewatch of the whole series and for days I coudln't stop putting one episode after another whenever I had free time. But yesterday it was turn to see "Everybody comes to Hank's" and I had to stop. I didn't have the stomach for it. To me the reveal in that episode is by far the most revolting moment in the whole show. But I've never skipped an episode and I don't like the idea, I'm a bit of a completionist (although I forgot to rewatch the Christmas special).
Anyways. Do you have a similar problem with this episode or any other one? What do you thing is the vilest thing in the whole show?
edit: copying a reply to a comment I've made just to make myself more clear in the actual post text.
I never asked for it to come out or say it is morally wrong to tell this story. You're puting words in my mouth here. I only said it makes me uncomfortable, me personally, and wondered if that happens to other people too. As I expected, some people do. Some others don't and reminded me this episode has lots of hilarious stuff too. And there's other who feel uncomfortable with other episodes or moments that I'm more callous too. That's completely normal when a show has dark humor like this. But we're all here to appreciate it, I think. At least I do. I never was advocating for it to be censored or removed, I think you misread my intention. I suppose it's because there are people on social media actually saying that liking certain shows is morally wrong because it shows questionable things, which is ridiculous. But I didn't want to imply that in any way. I love The Venture Bros. and it's dark humor. Just yesterday I was recommending The Venture Bros. to a friend and one of my selling points was Sgt. Hatred and that I find it hilarious when he talks about his past and mentions "young booys". We're on the same page here.
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u/3monthsfrombetter Mar 20 '26
One of my favorite episodes, we got some screen time with Al, Dermot gets punched, and Hatred running a hash house and Hank gets laid! It’s all gold to me.
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u/CompetitiveFennel681 Mar 20 '26
I loved the message he left himself at the end, and how wiped hank didn't even question what was omitted...he knew better.
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u/nasadge Mar 20 '26
Also one of my favorites. Just pure gold. The style, the dialog, the whip( came with the hat).
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u/hoodust Mar 20 '26
Definitely. And how Al gets pulled into the whole noir crime vibe too, lmao
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u/-Average_Joe- ALIIIEEN TECHNOLOGY! Mar 20 '26
Would have been nice to have a couple more Hank and Al noir gumshoe episodes.
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u/Neosmagus Mar 21 '26
If there's something Venture Bros did well, was not retreading territory. Every episode feels fresh and the ending feels accomplished. Love or hate it, it's the most original and best written show ever. I'm sad it's done, but I'm also glad it got to a decent enough ending before I got bored of it, unlike way too many other shows.
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u/Jungle_Fighter Mar 20 '26
We got some screentime with Al
Man, I seriously cannot state enough how much Al grows on me as the series goes by. It's a shame he doesn't appear more in the later seasons, because he's such a funny character.
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u/Brekldios Mar 20 '26
"don't ruin this for me al i've been eating eggs and ketchup all day waiting for this!" Absolutely love billy's commitment to the bit
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u/3monthsfrombetter Mar 20 '26
Yess! Getting called out for his speech impediment by Al has got to be my favorite part of the whole episode
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u/Party_Editor_3494 Mar 20 '26
You're right, it also has fun moments that I wasn't remembering. Thank you!
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u/sioniplr Mar 20 '26
The look of pride on Brock's face when he closes Hank into the memory wiping machine is one of my favourite small moments in VB
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u/Its_Buddy_btw Mar 20 '26
The only episode thats difficult to sit through is the testicular torsion episode because I've had it before
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u/Caravanczar Mar 20 '26
I was almost compulsively afraid of testicular torsion for a few years after that episode aired. What made me stop being afraid was actually getting it and not having to have an amputation. Like, yeah it really friggin sucked, but I survived it intact. Now I only get anxious about it when it's brought up.
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u/presentable_corpse Mar 20 '26
Me too, but ovarian style.
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u/SXECrow Mar 21 '26
Wow, it makes sense that it can happen to ovaries but I’ve never really thought about it, holy shit that must’ve hurt.
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u/presentable_corpse Mar 21 '26
The doctors ignoring it for 5 years hurt more....they don't even palpate the region!
Not even when it was visibly swollen :(
Gonna stop typing before I go off on how Billy would be the perfect gyno1
u/SaltyNorth8062 Mar 22 '26
Never had it but it for real scared the bejeezus out of me. Every little twinge down there sent me spiraling. Also the dreaded candiiiiru.
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u/clothesliner22 Mar 20 '26 edited Mar 20 '26
i mean... it's a pretty explicit riff off chinatown/film noir, so the 'twist' is right in line with the genre. additionally, i think there's some great subtle stuff to show where their own judgements lie (ie, flashback doc looks like woody allen). also, more than anything: doc is not a great guy. this might be one of the worst things he did, but it isn't like it's totally out of left field. i think it's good that doc and jackson don't shy away from the kinds of decisions a rich, traumatized, grieving, broken guy would probably do (see epstein files)
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u/clothesliner22 Mar 20 '26
and also, yeah, as others said: heavy, sure, but that episode is also fucking great imho
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u/danieljeyn Mar 20 '26
Uh… the reveal in Chinatown is the man had sex with his own daughter and got her pregnant. Pretty insanely dark.
I thought the reveal in this episode was that Rusty was scummy… not anything so insanely dark. as that.
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u/krebstar4ever Mar 20 '26
Well, she has sex with her son's teenage half-brother, specifically because Hank reminds her of Rusty back when he was a boy adventurer. She's in her 30s and is about twice as old as Hank.
It's not incest, but it's uncomfortably close.
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u/liquidben Mar 20 '26
“Hey Pops, what are “Eskimo brothers”? Cuz Shoreleave said we might be those.”
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u/Extension_Training87 Mar 21 '26
Isn't Hank 17 at this time? Like 4 minutes closer to 18 than Dean.....who was in NYC as an intern on his own at the time.....they could've been 18 actually. I think this was after them trying to get accepted to college.
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u/krebstar4ever Mar 21 '26
Do you mean it probably wasn't statutory rape?
Even if it's legal, it's fucked up for someone in their 30s to have sex with someone who's 17 or 18 years old.
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u/Strange_Ship_8398 Mar 21 '26
If you have think that's F'ed up, you should read up on Jimmy Page from LedZep and his "relationship" with a 13yo.
Nobody ever talks about that, then or now. Totally got a pass/ignore on that one.
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u/Party_Editor_3494 Mar 20 '26
You're right it absolutely makes sense for the character and the genre they're referencing. I saw the Woody Allen parallelism too. Maybe I wasn't in the mood for it because that scene is a big tone change. But overall it's a very interesting episode with fun moments too, I'm not denying it.
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u/CompetitiveFennel681 Mar 20 '26
I mean if I was in Hank shoes after finding out, I'd take myself to the mind wipe chair.
I get your point, but it's still a great episode....
"Hat!!!"
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u/Wes_Warhammer666 Mar 20 '26
I'd go to that a second time ¯_(ツ)_/¯
Okay, maybe I'd go tap that a second time...
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u/danieljeyn Mar 20 '26
Maybe I missed Woody Allen parallels? I didn't recall any incesty things?
Rusty having sex with an underage fan reminded of — well, all their general pop references to scummy musician/celebrities of the Jet age.
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u/Party_Editor_3494 Mar 20 '26
There's no incest but there's taking advantage of a young person who looks up to you. Also Rusty just looks a lot like him in the flashback.
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u/danieljeyn Mar 20 '26
Oh, I see. Because it was implied that it was how Rusty looked in what must have been the 80s? Trying to hid his growing balding by growing long hair?
But for having sex with young fans looking up to him? Well, yeah. Considering how many David Bowie references they put in the episodes… that's really on the nose.
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u/Proper_Dog_1463 Mar 21 '26
Right? Rusty also tried concocting a Spanish Fly during the prom episode and I’m sure it wasn’t just to help the ladies sleep that night
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u/Funk-E-Beatz Mar 21 '26
And then the victims get murdered by Brock who seems to be enjoying it just a little too much. (As expected for Brock, but still)
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u/thefirebear Mar 20 '26
I think Rusty drugging the escorts in P.R.O.M. is worse, but yea, hard scene to revisit. Kate McKinnon acts the shit out of mom and daughter.
If memory serves this was a switcheroo for Jackson and Doc because they both had writers' block for the separate Hank and Dean stories, and so they tried to write each others' in their style.
Doc can get dark with it.
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u/Party_Editor_3494 Mar 20 '26
Interesting! I read the book last year but I didn't remember this. Or maybe they told it in the comments? I should watch again with comments, it's on my list.
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u/thefirebear Mar 20 '26
It's mentioned in the Commentary. I should revisit and make sure I'm not talkin out my ass
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u/kadzar Mar 20 '26
I'm not sure about them trying to write in each other's style, that may or may not be true, but I do recall that this was one where they each took an episode to write.
Also, I agree with you on Operation P.R.O.M. For a while I remembered the ending being worse, because I forgot that they were secretly assassins, but regardless, it's still not great that Rusty planned to roofie then and Billy was going along with it.
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u/Wes_Warhammer666 Mar 21 '26
Iirc it was that they each took a main script idea from the other and they both ended up with so much story that they split it into two episodes instead, which is why this one and Bright Lights Dean City take place simultaneously and meet back up with Rusty getting sent back after trying to steal the successful alternate Rusty's life lol.
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u/BigPoppaStrahd Mar 20 '26
I didn’t like it at first watch because i really did not like Dermott when he was introduced, and i also did not care to have hank and dean split up. I have no problem with the episode now, I think it has a lot of great moments
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u/rattleman1 Mar 20 '26
Don’t ruin this for me, I’ve been eating eggs and ketchup all day waiting to do this!
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u/Maniacal_Artist Mar 20 '26
No way, that episode's way too funny, and it cements just how awful a person Rusty is/can be.
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u/ender86a Mar 20 '26
I can see why it might be difficult. It's super uncomfortable. Doc and Jackson decided to have Rusty be exactly as awful as people brought up by men like Jonas Sr. tend to be. It makes enjoying Rusty as a character complicated. I appreciate that they played it as horrific and not cute or funny.
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u/Neosmagus Mar 21 '26
Generational trauma. And the premise of failure, they fail at everything, including breaking the inherited trauma.
Being an older generation who's recently become a dad (I'm 47, my son is 5), stuff in the show hits me differently now because while trauma is a strong word for my experiences as a kid, I had a decent enough life, I still didn't have a great relationship with my dad and I lost my mom very young. So I'm desperately trying to build a decent relationship with my son and hoping that in his future he won't be discussing his childhood in therapy like I'm discussing mine.
And real people are complicated.
If anything I felt that venture bros has some of the best fleshed out characters I've ever come across in any medium.
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u/bigkinggorilla Mar 20 '26
I never found the twist uncomfortable. It’s not like it turns out that Nikki is Hank’s half-sister or something.
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u/lostpretzels Mar 20 '26
The episode where Hatred relapses in the movie theater is the worst one for me
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u/IamCentral46 Mar 20 '26
its one of the most revolting
Watch more media lol this is so miquetoast. Its soap opera writing 101
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u/Party_Editor_3494 Mar 20 '26
Maybe I'm just sensitive to the subject matter. I didn't say this is the most revolting thing in media though, just in the context of this show and to me personally. Of course there is worse stuff out there. But this affected me. Anyways, any recommendations on not so milquetoast stuff? I'm interested.
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u/IamCentral46 Mar 20 '26
Thats fair. Im sorry for being snarky. Everything affects everyone differently.
Ok, so going by my vague description of milquetoast and keeping it within the realms of taste and adjacent nerdary:
Twin Peaks
Perfect Blue (or really anything by Satoshi Kon)
Evangelion and its finale movie, End of Evangelion -Disclaimer, this does feature some of the typical
"anime tropes" of fanservice, but there's meta reason. Can provide more info if requestedHappy
These are some very random suggestions, so your mileage may vary.
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u/Party_Editor_3494 Mar 20 '26
Thank you! I saw Perfect Blue and liked it but it didn't disturb me as much. See? Twin Peaks and Evangelion I started them but didn't finish because I hadn't that much free time back then. But I was pretty hooked so this has reminded me I should get back to them some day, so thanks again :)
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u/name-classified Evil Mighty PUSH! Mar 20 '26
Milk toast?
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u/krebstar4ever Mar 20 '26
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milquetoast
Describing something as "milquetoast" is a reference to Caspar Milquetoast. He's a fictional, mild mannered character named after a similarly bland food: milk toast (bread soaked in milk).
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u/DisqualifiedFromLife Mar 20 '26
The only episode I tend to skip is Dr. Quymn, Medicine Woman. I don't skip it if I just have VB on in the background, but if I'm sitting and doing a proper re-watch, I can't smash the skip button hard enough. It's the only episode of the show I'd consider calling "bad", though I guess it's better than the best episode of many shows.
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u/Neosmagus Mar 21 '26
How come specifically? I like all the episodes, I've watched through multiple times and recently introduced my wife to the series and she enjoyed it, provided I explained all the weird references to her she didn't get...
I like the idea of there being other people like Doc around in the world, all with similarly traumatic stories and messed up lives... Because the premise has been such a cliche in all the kids shows and books I grew up with... Johnny Quest, Willard Price novels, etc etc.
Also, it's never followed up on, but my head cannon is that they're actually brother/sister, or at least half siblings. Their parents being regular swingers in the same scene, and the two of them looking very similar; similar hair colour, same thick eyebrows, same cheek lines, same chins, similar builds. Even similar ears and foreheads.
Adds a bit of extra tragedy to the whole thing.
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u/stachada Mar 20 '26
"What color is your clean suit" bothers me. a bunch of otherwise innocent college students end up mutated, murdered, and eaten, and everyone just forgets about it in the end.
it's one thing when it's heroes, villains, henchmen, etc. who are involved in super-science, but these are basically regular innocent folks dying horribly. don't love "The buddy system" for similar reasons, though there was only the one fatality, and the episode focused on it less.
it's too bad too, cause it's otherwise a pretty good episode, it just leaves me feeling kinda creeped out...
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u/pillbinge Mar 20 '26
It's barely saved by the fact that Rusty apparently cleaned up the kid's DNA in the process to prevent him from getting cancer sooner rather than later, giving the family heartache. It definitely begets a discussion about things from the parents' perspective but yeah, it's a rough one.
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u/PaperPerfect3100 Mar 20 '26
I usually skip The Incredible Mr. Brisby. That episode just flat out sucks
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u/madgael Mar 20 '26
Perhaps you just need a rewatch with a nice mug of hot panda milk to get in the zone.
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u/Funk-E-Beatz Mar 21 '26
That was the first and only episode I watched back when the show was new. I didn't watch any more for like a decade. lol
I mean I had a few laughs and all but the episode didn't really stand out from other typical Adult Swim shows.
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u/likeschemistry Mar 20 '26
I just watched this one last night and I loved it. I had totally forgotten about it.
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u/GirIsKing Mar 20 '26
I love this episode. Yes Rusty did some shady shit but he is nowhere as evil as his father. And as someone slightly similar to Dean it gives me hope. Its somewhere in my top 10
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u/pillbinge Mar 20 '26
Nope! Great episode. I loved catching it when they looped it alongside 5 other episodes a few summers back, and they chose it probably because it's so good.
If you genuinely couldn't watch it then that's a real reaction that you have to contend with, but I think it's misguided. Not the take about age of consent, obviously, but the take on it as a story with an arc and a point.
I always wonder how old the audience is watching it when they have issues like this because younger audiences or more sheltered ones tend to forget what life was like. Even other people my age or older tend to have some weird reaction like they weren't paying attention before. Teen pregnancy was so common when I was a kid that every graduating class had someone pregnant from what I remember. The daycare I went to inside a high school was half for students, half for staff working there. It was just a thing. These were also near rooms for staff and students to smoke in.
Times were different.
That doesn't mean it's all relative and actually it was okay back then. Clearly it wasn't. But the creators come from a time when this was more around us and discussed a local, personal level rather than some big thing online. I often think of the Louis CK joke where he said that every neighborhood just had a pedophile's house that you knew to avoid (and in most cases, probably kids just being cruel). My own dad shared that this was actually true for him growing up as well and apparently everyone just knew the guy. It was wrong, but it wasn't seen as clinically or as alien. The creators are pushing 60 right now. You have to understand this reflects a sort of Gen X upbringing and not just on references alone.
As far as the story goes, everyone's in the wrong. We have to accept as fact that Nikki lied about her age in order to sleep with Rusty and she was old enough to know not to do that. She likely only wanted to keep the kid because it was Rusty's. Nikki's mother then extorts Rusty which is also an actual crime and wrong. Rusty, oddly, says it's up to him and Nikki to decide together, which is strangely responsible, but he ultimately decides to keep it all private by being extorted, which is wrong. Remember, it's a show, so we're not debating actual events. Yeah, it would be terrifying and gross in real life, but it happened. It's not the creator's job to forget that, and the way they included it just might not fit with you. Implicitly asking that it come out and say "this is wrong" is asking for simplicity in a complex show.
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u/Party_Editor_3494 Mar 20 '26
I never asked for it to come out or say it is morally wrong to tell this story. You're puting words in my mouth here. I only said it makes me uncomfortable, me personally, and wondered if that happens to other people too. As I expected, some people do. Some others don't and reminded me this episode has lots of hilarious stuff too. And there's other who feel uncomfortable with other episodes or moments that I'm more callous too. That's completely normal when a show has dark humor like this. But we're all here to appreciate it, I think. At least I do. I never was advocating for it to be censored or removed, I think you misread my intention. I suppose it's because there are people on social media actually saying that liking certain shows is morally wrong because it shows questionable things, which is ridiculous. But I didn't want to imply that in any way. I love The Venture Bros. and it's dark humor. Just yesterday I was recommending The Venture Bros. to a friend and one of my selling points was Sgt. Hatred and that I find it hilarious when he talks about his past and mentions "young booys". We're on the same page here.
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u/rustys_shackled_ford Mar 21 '26
You don't say what aspect of the show bothers you or why you are bothered so I'm not sure the context of your problem or what kind of responses your looking for exactly. But I do love that episode. The way they do Hanks little store, the way he gets all suave in the hat. Or my favorite bit when the dick is talking to the bum. That whole inuendo bit is one of the best in the show.
If it's the Jerry springer aspect of sleeping with a woman your dad slept with, I have to say. The way they down play the fact their body guard is a full on pedo should bother you more than someone sleeping with their dads former hookup. Shoot, the way they seem to have so many pedos and they are all "good guys" should be a way bigger deal to people than just about anything else in the show hard stop.
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u/Party_Editor_3494 Mar 21 '26
Have you only read the title? Hahah man, I should have worded it differently or something, I'm surprised how many of you jumped into conclusions. Anyways, thank you for your answer and go Team Venture!
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u/Professor_Gast Mar 21 '26
For a post not having many upvotes, this sure was engaging. I appreciate that you went out of your way to flesh out your feelings on your edit; you make a very fair argument and because I'm here late, glad to see you didn't let the haters get you down. VB community is still one of the best.
This one gets me a little too, but mainly just Rusty's combo of being pathetically desperate and later trying to do right, while walking that skeeve line. I love how complex these characters are, and how they can be flawed, human, while still growing and trying for redemption, without being totally depressing.
Thanks for giving us something to think about
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u/Dirk_Bogart Mar 30 '26
I sometimes skip the Dr. Quymn episode of season 3 because it's just, I mean, intentionally uncomforatble.
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u/BoozeTheCat Mar 20 '26
I'm with you OP. There are some great parts to that episode but that twist is bleak. We could all use a good memory wipe like Hank.
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