It is imperative that your read the recaps of Season One and Season Two to fully understand the insanity of what follows.
The conclusion of season two saw The Monarch marry his love Dr. Girlfriend in a grandiose, cocooned wedding that ended with Dr. Girlfriend’s ex – Phantom Limb – trying to crash the party and become the new sovereign for The Guild of Calamitous Intent. Like most evil, often contrived plans, Phantom Limb’s goal ended in a blaze of failed glory. But all was not well in The Monarch household. Dr. Mrs. The Monarch (or “DMT Monarch”) shocked her husband with important news. What was that news and how would it change the series? Lets find out.
Shadowman 9’s New Beginning
To the shock of many, Dr. Mrs. The Monarch’s big reveal wasn’t her carrying Phantom Limb’s love child, but the potential death of The Monarch thanks to his illicit, unauthorized arching alongside The Guild of Calamitous Intent’s traitor, Phantom Limb. How did The Monarch work with Limb, you ask? Thanks to Guild cameras placed almost everywhere, it was discovered that The Monarch actually “henched” for Phantom Limb during his “pupil stage” as a super villain. Everyone watched videos showcasing The Monarch’s ability to get the panties off then-Queen Etherea/future Dr. Girlfriend. It was love at “first” sight, and led to a Guild-approved marriage between The Monarch and Dr. Girlfriend. But all was not well.
To avoid being put to death for his illegal arching, The Monarch agreed to not arch Dr. Thaddeus Venture. Taking The Monarch’s spot as Dr. Venture’s rival was Sergeant Hatred – who The Monarch had been stealing from for years. As Hatred tried to stick it to The Monarch by treating Dr. Venture like a baby with Nerf-like tactics rather than threaten to kill his “nemesis”, The Monarch spent his time arching ponderously before snapping. Protagonists like Dr. Dugong – who fused himself with a sea cow to learn the essence of gentleness and kindness – were murdered by his enemy’s hand because of The Monarch’s fury for being stuck arching someone not named “Thaddeus Venture”.
Showing the same intelligence that convinced The Monarch to add a royal theme to his gimmick, DMT Monarch figured out a loophole that allowed someone to antagonize a target’s family members. With Dr. Jonas Venture, Jr. available for arching, The Monarch used a front to fake his defeat and return to antagonizing Dr. Venture.
Though the season started off with The Monarch confused, disappointed, and face-to-face with death alongside his new wife, the final episode ended the same way for The Monarch as the season began – with him looking like a buffoon as his henchmen died around him; including the once untouchable Henchman 24.
Invisible Hand of Fate
Though the majority of his time in the series had been that of a freak show side character, in the episode “The Invisible Hand of Fate” it was revealed that Billy “Quizboy” Whalen had a hand in two of the series’ biggest, unseen moments – the creation of Phantom Limb and Brock Samson’s reassignment as the Venture family’s bodyguard. After falling off the toilet, Billy’s lost memory returned, explaining his downfall as a Quizboy after performing a Ken Jennings-like streak on the show “Quizboys” before being caught for cheating during his final appearance under the watchful eye of the show’s host, Pete White. Yep, the same albino who befriended future-doctor Thaddeus Venture.
With no money to their names, White and Billy went on a road trip to the Venture Compound after Billy successfully won a series of underground quiz contests similar to something of a dog-fighting ring. Sadly for Billy, White accidentally set him up in an actual dogfight when “Rusty” Venture cast his old college friend off the Compound premises. The dog encounter ended with Billy getting his left hand torn off.
Seeing the young Whalen in bad shape, a stalking Brock Samson and Colonel Gathers picked up Billy after his “break up” with White, fixed his arm and hired the former Quizboy to watch a Professor Fantomos at State University. Why? The Office of Secret Intelligence (O.S.I.) believed Fantomos was recruiting students for The Guild of Calamitous Intent.
A good reason to turn evil
Billy Whalen, though disturbed over his position in this possible sting and trying to reveal his reason for taking Prof. Fantomos’ class, helped the professor in regenerating his atrophic limbs. Like any person mad with power, Fantomos wanted more and more strength during the experiment until his limbs went invisible, Billy’s left eye was ripped out of his head, and Gathers & Samson were held responsible.
By the episode’s end, a memory-wiped Billy was handed off to a disheveled Pete White – who was living in a trailer in the middle of the desert – Col. Gathers was transferred to Guam, and Samson was given the bodyguard position a little program called “Operation Rusty’s Blanket”. Pretty incredible to think one little cheater could have a hand in some of the series’ most profound circumstances. But that’s what happens when the invisible hand of fate grabs you.
New Kid in Town
Dermott Fictel
In hopes of gaining some money, Dr. Venture decided to create “Rusty’s Day Camp for Boy Adventures.” The event – held at the Venture Compound – allowed Rusty Venture fans to meet their hero, learn Judo from Brock, understand the dangers of simple household products thanks to The Order of the Triad, and be scared poopless by the disturbing questions and tales of Action Jonny.
“Maybe I did kill the dog. I was the lizard man who stole your wallet. Father!”
During the day, a teenager the size of a grown man came out of nowhere; scaring off Dean Venture while impressing Hank with his ramblings and delusions of grandeur about his fighting abilities. Dermott Fictel – Hank’s first friend not a family member or a bodyguard – did everything in his power to insult the sensitive Dean, push Brock’s buttons during a Judo session, and even hit on Triana Orpheus. The last aforementioned action was Dermott’s waterloo.
To the shock of everyone, including Action Jonny’s old childhood menace Dr. Z, Dean Venture became a Dr. Z-described, “…a spinning murder top,” in defense of Triana’s honor. The unleashed fury of Dean saw the youngest Venture hammer fist Fictel as tears and mucus spewed from his own orifices. Brock took great joy in watching Dean beat the literal blood out of Dermott.
The viewer discovered post-credits that Dermott attended the camp to meet his father. A few episodes later, Fictel informed an arching Henchman 21 that his missing daddy was none other than the man he angered the most, Brock Samson. But who’s to say Fictel’s mom was right about Mr. Samson (foreshadowing)?
ORB
Once again, the invisible hand of fate opened the mind of Billy Quizboy to the truth behind the Rusty Venture TV show. With the help of Pete White, The Order of the Triad’s Alchemist, and Brock Samson, Whalen’s belief that thirty years of watching the show proved he wasn’t crazy in thinking there was a hidden message in the series that would reveal something beyond imagination if decoded. That something was “ORB” – a device constructed by the greatest philosophers, artists, and scientists the world has ever seen believed to be either a great power source or a deadly weapon.
As Dr. Venture donned the old Rusty Venture attire with Billy Quizboy in tow for a trip to New York, Brock listened to an old audio cylinder dug up near the Venture Compound’s pool that revealed some interesting news about the hidden, unknown power source. Samson went on a mission to find the second, missing cylinder. Not long after coming into contact with original Team Venture member Kano, Samson met with his old mentor turned transgender stripper Col. Gathers to find out that the main point of him being put in charge of “Operation Rusty’s Blanket” or “ORB” was to stop Dr. Venture from using this machine of possible immense power.
During Brock’s travel to find Dr. Venture and Billy – a duo that had a hilarious encounter with the cops at Studio 54 (“…the house that coke built.”) where Billy had to play a baby being changed – Samson initiated hhis bodyguard “termination clause” that forced him to leave his Brock Samson-killing car behind and take a plane. Dr. Venture eventually found ORB, but refused to use the device because his father was afraid of its power; thus avoiding Brock’s hand in his grizzly murder. Locking ORB away in a safe, Dr. Venture questioned Samson’s whereabouts, not realizing that Brock was about to face his greatest enemy – his own government.
Brock’s Final Mission
So, Brock Samson accidentally terminated himself and became an enemy of the O.S.I. Three of the world’s greatest assassins were coming after Samson and he was stuck with the Venture family because Hank was too stupid to stay in the family’s experimental jet – the X-1 – when ordered. While it would take some creative planning (shark-assisted decapitation), the shaving of his beautiful mane, and even a breaking out of jail thanks to “The Cleaner” (a murderous version of Mr. Clean who had acidic spray bottles), Brock was able to avoid death.
As Samson assassinated the assassins, The Monarch, Dr. Mrs. The Monarch, and their henchmen invaded the now Guild-sanctioned arching grounds of the Venture Compound, encountering a suicidal Sergeant Hatred. Hatred believed his wife, Princess Tiny Feet, was about to leave him. Losing his wife after giving up his pedophilic lifestyle left Hatred with nothing but a giant cell phone and a need to die … until the Venture family returned and Hank did his best Brock Samson rally cry.
Word about Brock’s actions eventually got to the O.S.I., bringing forth a three-way confrontation between Brock Samson & The Venture Family, The Monarch in a full body murder suit that was too heavy for him to even walk in, and the O.S.I. With Sgt. Hatred ignoring his cries for help thanks to the motivational, almost insane ramblings of Hank Venture, the Venture brothers released their “Christmas presents” (the Hank and Dean clones from season two) onto the battlefield. Being nothing but mindless slugs, the clones were easily slaughtered by The Monarch’s uncontrollable shooting – with Dean reasonably comparing it to him being killed.
As this was going on, H.E.L.P.eR drove The Monarch Mobile in hopes of exacting revenge on The Monarch for taking him hostage and strapping some explosives to the robot’s frame. What H.E.L.P.eR also didn’t know was that in the backset of his ride was Monarch’s Henchman 24 – who buckled himself in the vehicle to listen to the war from the cocoon’s safety. Of course, the seatbelt buckle got stuck and 24’s plan to stay out of the crossfire became a failure.
Samson joined the battlefield, calling a cease-fire so he and Gen. Treister could talk. Come to find out, Samson was set up and the O.S.I. attempted to save Brock’s life, not end it. Sick and tired of his current espionage lifestyle, Samson quit “Operation Rusty’s Blanket”, the O.S.I., and everything being an agent entailed. Heading for The Monarch’s original vehicle (The Monarch had fallen from the sky and started choking on his own vomit thanks to his flying suit) Brock felt the day end just like this season – with a bang … literally. The Monarch Mobile blew up, noticeably killing Henchman 24 (with a decapitated, burning head flying through the air and landing in his best friend’s lap for good measure) and possibly Brock Samson.
Once again, a “Venture Bros.” season ends with a cliffhanger death featuring one of its lead characters. Is Brock really dead? How will Henchman 21 deal with his best friend dying? Who set Samson up? Well, actually we found out the answer to that final question during the finale’s post credits as the Molotov Cocktease and Col. Gathers-led team of Assassins – The Blackhearts – used Samson to rid them of their murderous competition. But there is one very important question left: Will Hank and Dean be able to live long enough to make it through another season now no clones are left? You’ll find the answers to these questions and more during the next edition of “The Venture Bros. Retrospective”.
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