Well, this is taking an interesting turn. New opening sequence (was that a riff, I can’t be sure), Dr. Girlfriend and the Monarch having nooners together, the henchmen getting drunk and finally managing to successfully nab Brock. Still no clue as to why the Monarch hates Dr. Venture, but it’s interesting to know that Dr. Girlfriend and Rusty have a history together.
That was from an episode during the first season.
“Ohhh, dick move!!”
I’m wondering more and more if, as other Dopers have suggested, we’re going to find out that the Monarch and Dr. Venture are related. If not next week, then some day.
I loved that 21 had a Rusty Venture alarm clock.
Earlier this season, they showed that Master Billy Quizboy had a vintage Rusty Venture lunchbox.
And Tuckerfan, there was an episode from season 1 where the Monarch sent Dr. Girlfriend undercover as “Charlene” in order to seduce Dr. Venture and slip him a poison that turned him into a giant caterpillar. Eventually she felt sorry for what she had done and gave him the antidote. Rusty didn’t realize it was her until tonight’s episode, and she had obviously forgotten that even happened.
Sorry I missed that ep. Wouldn’t happen to know the name of it would you?
Marley23, in the last season ep where Dr. Venture, Brock, Baron von Underbieght (or however you spell his name), Master Billy Quizboy, and the albino guy, go to a funeral of a college friend, it’s revealed that they and the Monarch all knew each other in college. (Monarch didn’t appear in the ep, but in one of the flashbacks, one of the guys mentions that his new roommate has these insanely long eyebrows, so he can only be the Monarch.) Given that it was the events that happened in college which turned them into who they are now (Brock accidentally killing a guy on the practice field, Venture doing something to cause Underbeight to lose his jaw, etc.), I don’t think that they’re related (though it would give them an Austin Powers riff, if it turned out that they were). We know the Monarch’s parents were killed in a plane crash in NJ and the Monarch was briefly raised by Monarch butterflies, so it seems unlikely to me that they’re brothers, but then again, we don’t really know what happened to Rusty’s dad. . . .
“Midlife Chrysalis.”
That’d be Mid-Life Chrysalis. It features some wonderful Rusty patheticness with women.
I know. Then again, they look a little alike, and there aren’t a lot of coincidences in this show, are there? 
I did say that they might be related, not that they were brothers, which would take care of the parent issue.
Other things I liked: Dr. Girlfriend calling The Monarch “Mr. Girlfriend,” and the continuing ‘increasing lethality’ thing. Not only is The Monarch less inept these days, but so are his henchmen (when they’re drunk, anyway). Not that any of them compared to Phantom Limb, who was absolutely stone-cold the whole episode.
Even Brock thinks that the Phantom Limb is a badass. He was practically drooling over Limb’s killing ability in one ep.
Ooh, a cliffhanger. I wonder what Dean’s up to in the engine room.
Other things to notice, Hank was wearing the fluffy butterfly costume from the pilot episode.
How cool is it that David Bowie is the one person in the world who isn’t afraid of Brock? And we saw another facet of Brock’s skills - wedding planner!
This episode highlights (for me) a key item that makes the series hilarious: Costumed superheroes/villains engaged in everyday activities, and how this buts-up against the more traditional comic-book image of these characters. Phantom Limb is decidedly old-school, as vicious as anything dreamed up in Marvel of DC, but his flaw is that he is entirely out of place in a world of drunken bachelor parties, annoying teenagers, and the host of little details that clutter the lives of the main characters.
Take the scene where Phantom Limb is killing ex-con super-villains. It plays like something from an old movie, or “The Most Dangerous Game”; it’s an anachronistic response to the loss of Dr. Girlfriend and a need to intimidate the Monarch “according to the rules”. When the Monarch calls him on it, it reveals just how silly the heroic notion of superheroics/villany really is.
It will be interesting to see next week how this gets resolved, but I am certain a lengthy direct confrontation will not occur because that’s not how this series works. I’m banking on some event forcing Phantom limb to acknowledge what a “d1ckhead move” it was, a way that completely punctures his yesteryear bravado. Maybe his henchmen start talking with 21 and 23, a la “Home Insecurity”.
Or Brock could just kill him with a toothpick…either way.
The scene with Phantom Limb hunting the supervillains was some chilling shit. Every so often Jackson and Doc have to remind everyone that Venture Bros. isn’t a straight comedy cartoon.
Over on another message board I go to, everyone is speculating that either the Sovereign will be revealed as Jonas Venture Sr., Dr. Girlfriend’s father, or both, or that Rusty and the Monarch will find out they are somehow related. I am definitely expecting a final showdown between Brock and Phantom Limb due to their continued mutual respect, and something crazy happening with Dean in the flying cocoon’s engine room (either saving everyone or doing something stupid and killing everyone – or at least ending the season on a more ridiculous cliffhanger than the last). Dr. Girlfriend may also sacrifice herself to save Rusty after feeling bad for her part in the “Charlene” deception, prompting the Monarch to resume his arching of Dr. Venture.
It’s probably the only way they *could * take Brock. It requires insane courage or drunken idiocy.
Were there any movie/TV/other pop references in this episode? The “Most Dangerous Game” motif was there with phantom limb and The Monarch, but I don’t think I saw any others.
I loved the gag where Dean is wandering the halls while #24’s voice is saying, “Don’t touch anything. You know I’m the PA, not in your head, right?” That had such a Mel Brooks feel to it.
I predict that Rusty is going to ruin the wedding with his news about banging Dr. Girlfriend. This will dirve The Monarch insane and he’ll drive her back to Phantom Limb. Then The Monarch will really have a reason to hate the Ventures.
Considering the similarities of Rusty and The Monarch, it’s not really surprising that Dr. Girlfriend would like Dr. Venture.
And it was quite a surprise to hear The Monarch call her, “The hottest piece of ass in super-villainry.”
What a great episode! This season has been hit after hit. It makes me very happy to say that I don’t have a fucking clue where they’re going with this. My only prediction: a Molotov Cocktease cameo in part two, probably in the employ of David Bowie, “fighting” Brock.
Clearly you and I have a vastly different interpretation of the show. For me, it IS a straight comedy cartoon; the various bits of super-villainy (and the tattered remnants of Dr. Jonas Venture’s heroics) are played almost entirely for the sake of irony.
What is the title of the creepy Supreme Leader who debriefed Phantom Limb after having his request denied by the Council of Twelve? I notice that I didn’t see anyone resembling him in the cocoon during the wedding. I wonder if he is David Bowie.
'Cos that would be so COOL!
He is called the Sovereign.
And CJJ*, I don’t think our interpretations are too different. But I can’t help but feel there’s a difference between the dark and disturbing stuff (the boys’ death montage, the twisted Scooby Doo analogues, Phantom Limb hunting, Brock’s cold-blooded murderous rampages) and the more lighthearted, zany, and referential humor on the show.
Preferably both. I can’t imagine how drunk and stupid you would have to get to forget what happened a “THEY HIT ME WITH A TRUCK.” That was my “this show rocks!” moment.
What made it really hilarious is that 24 actually said “Don’t touch anything… anything… anything…” like it actually was an echo in Dean’s head.
Although, of course, they didn’t. But it sure would ruin things.
The Monarch knows all about Dr. Girlfriend’s romp with Rusty. It was his idea, after all, and he was listening to the whole thing. Still, he wouldn’t want to be reminded.
I also think that the Thin White Duke is the Soverign.
I gotta say, I nearly wet myself when the Sovereign was signing off from Phantom Limb with “I’ve got a wedding to get to – oh.” And then that wince!
