Saw that Twitter post about how Dermott serves as Hank’s role model during Brock’s leave, and I’ve never thought about it that way before, but they’re literally right. Dermott was a crucial part of Hank’s development. Dermott is the first actual human friend Hank has ever had, and allegedly the first other teenage boy that Dean had ever seen/met. Dermott is also cocky as shit, and his endless stream of mendacity allows us to watch Hank, initially shamelessly ditzy and socially unaware, slowly but surely grow into someone who uses critical thinking skills and questions the logic behind what he’s told. Additionally, Dermott’s rebellious attitude really helped Hank come out of his shell to start sticking up for himself instead of taking it when Rusty started favoring Dean while still treating Hank like shit. Not to mention Dermott’s impact on Hank’s music taste, his sense of style, humor, etc. The genius of Venture Bros. is truly endless because I don’t think any other show director(s) or writer(s) could figure out what to do with newly introduced characters at all like Doc and Jackson can.
