The Revenge Society

"The Revenge Society"

"The Revenge Society" is the 44^th episode of The Venture Bros..

Plot

The episode begins with the mysterious Highwayman-themed villain calling himself "Revenge" infiltrating the lair of the Guild of Calamitous Intent. During an inquisition held by the Guild's Council of 13 of the Intangible Fancy, Revenge unmasks, attacks and kidnaps two members of the Council, knocking out Councilman 3 and almost killing Councilman 8 while said Councilman was valiantly attempting to strangle him. The other Councilmen, unaware of where each of their chambers is situated, are helpless to stop Revenge from escaping.

Revenge takes them to a secret hideout where they are operated on by another hostage - Master Billy Quizboy - and Revenge reveals himself to be a deranged Hamilton G. Fantomas, aka the former Phantom Limb, who has replaced his missing limbs with prosthetics and grown out his hair and mustache to resemble that of Samuel Clemens. Billy has been forced to work with Fantomas given their previous history together. Councilman 3 ('Red Mantle') awakens to discover that Fantomas has had the head of Councilman 8 ('Dragoon') sewn onto his shoulders in order to save 8's life, an arrangement that neither of them are happy with. Recognizing Fantomas, the Councilmen become angry, but the villain tells them that he has information which will make them willingly help him.

Meanwhile, the Guild's Sovereign (aka David Bowie) is informed by Watch and Ward that Revenge has not only kidnapped the Councilmen but also stolen their official Charter; he orders them to go into action. In Revenge's lair, the Councilmen are forced by Revenge to muddle over the Charter, which tells the history of the Guild, in order to disclose his grandfather's role in its origin (his grandfather being the original Fantomas, a co-founder of the Guild). Being the oldest members of the Council, they are readily able to disclose their stories of meeting the legendary Fantomas to Revenge and Billy. Though they claimed to be washed-up musicians in 1959 - they seem to be referencing J. P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson and Buddy Holly, the two were approached by an elderly Fantomas who claimed he was organizing a Rock and Roll orchestra. Accepting the offer of the legendary figure, they discovered that in fact he had merely kidnapped several musicians in order to obtain a backing group for his terrible sousaphone playing. In the present, Revenge is uninterested in his grandfather's musical failure, more concentrated on the Guild's relationship with the powerful Orb. In order to try and buy his freedom, Billy lets slip that he knows where the Orb is.

At the compound itself, Sergeant Hatred - to the annoyance of Dr. Venture - has sunk back into his terrible depression due to continual rejection from Hank and the wearing-off of his OSI anti-pedophiliac drug treatments, locking himself in the bathroom and downing bottles of cologne for their alcohol content. Venture is momentarily distracted and leaves Dean to try and talk to him. While Dean succeeds in managing to calm Hatred down, Hank announces that the Guild's troops have gathered outside the compound in full force; assuming his military demeanor, Hatred - convinced that the Guild are after him for betraying their secrets to OSI - snaps out of his depression and immediately orders Dean and Dr. Venture to the panic room, saving Hank due to the situation being a potential opportunity to bond with the boy.

As the Councilmen fight over their shared body, Revenge reveals his plan to storm the Venture compound and introduces the other members of the titular "Revenge Society": 'Wisdom' (a coffee mug with the word 'Wisdom' printed on its side), 'Chuck' (a small toaster), and 'Lady Nightshade' (a black Ferragamo heel shoe previously owned by Doctor Girlfriend). Concluding that he is totally insane, but will murder them if they don't co-operate, Billy & the Councilmen agree to help him storm the Venture compound.

Unable to think of any defense against the mass army, Hank and Hatred have fun taunting the Guild's representatives via the compound's intercom, even managing to briefly convince them that they have the wrong compound. Meanwhile, in the panic room, Dr. Venture comforts a traumatized Dean and reassures him that they will live through this escapade as they had through many others. Dr. Venture tells Dean how Action Man would repeatedly would watch him in his bed when he was a child, put a gun to his head and pull the trigger. After the click of the hammer he would tell Rusty "Not tonight." Encouraged, Dean decides that they will find out what the Guild are after. As Revenge carries out his plan, the Sovereign sends in backup in the form of Brian Eno, Dean and Dr. Venture perform reconnaissance, and Sergeant Hatred races Hank on the boys' hoverbikes in the sewer system below the compound. Discerning that Hank has no plan and is merely doing whatever he wants without the controlling influence of his father, Hatred encourages Hank by telling him that he takes after his hero, Brock; they turn back and resume their attempts to save the compound.

Carrying Billy into Doctor Venture's study, the Councilmen use 'Chuck' to knock out a guild blackout guard and retrieve the Orb, leaving the unconscious Billy on the floor in a sack. Meanwhile, from his perch above the compound, Revenge recalls that as the Sovereign, David Bowie is a shape-shifter and thus could be anyone; he destroys 'Wisdom' out of paranoid suspicion. In the compound, Dr. Venture and Dean encounter the actual Bowie, who asks for their help. Hank & Hatred return to the study, finding Billy unconscious in his sack; Hatred, believing Billy to be a small child, breaks down at the thought that the Guild are preying on his pedophiliac weakness in order to destroy him.

Outside, the Councilmen are forced by Revenge to read out a manifesto stating that he will assume Guild leadership by right of birth. When the Guild try to kill him, he uses 'Lady Nightshade' as a boomerang-like defence. Bowie appears, and Revenge demands that the Guild be handed to 'its rightful heir', or he will use the Orb on them all; Bowie concurs, and hands the heraldic sword of the Guild to Dean Venture, bloodline descendant of the Guild's original founder, Colonel Lloyd Venture, whose position was usurped by Fantomas during the Guild's schism. Deciding to do the decent thing and get rid of the Guild, Dean officiates Bowie's position as Sovereign, making him the leader of the Guild on the Venture family's behalf. Incensed, Revenge prepares to unleash the power of the Orb.

In a flashback, it is revealed that, contrary to what was implied in the 3rd-Season episode "ORB", Col. Venture was not executed by his bodyguard, Eugen Sandow, in order to prevent him from activating the Orb. Having a soft spot in his heart for the Colonel, Sandow instead broke the Orb irreparably, preventing its centuries of carefully-assembled art and science from ever being used. As thanks for saving his life, Venture promised to keep the incident quiet, and repaired the Orb's casing, never revealing that it had been internally damaged. In the present, Revenge fails to achieve anything with the Orb, and collapses, defenseless, to be seized by the Guild. The Orb rolls away and is picked up by the merged Councilmen who mentioned "two heads are better than one", a saying Councilman 3 had been dying to say all day.

In the post credits sequence, Billy Quizboy wakes up believing the entire thing to have been a horrible nightmare...only to discover that he is in bed with a relaxed Sgt. Hatred, having spent the night with him in his quarters. Anguished, Billy asks to be put back in his bag.

Connections to other episodes

• Revenge uses a shoe stolen from Doctor Girlfriend as a member of his team, calling it 'Lady Nightshade' and pretending that it is his lover; in "The Trial of the Monarch", it is shown that he similarly kept her old 'Queen Etheria' costume and implied that he masturbated over it.
• Phantom Limb/Revenge's vehicle is a turquoise Honda Accord with a ghost painted on the hood, which he recalled using early in his career in "Victor. Echo. November.".
• The episode is a sequel of sorts to "ORB", revealing some of the true fate of the Guild and its members following the schism that took place in that episode; the flashback to the Orb's destruction leads directly out of the flashback seen in "ORB", where Sandow claimed to have killed Lloyd Venture rather than reveal that the Orb had been neutralized.
  • When Revenge threatens to use the Orb, everyone except Dr. Venture is shocked, Thaddeus Venture himself remaining unimpressed; this would suggest that he knew that the Orb was useless, having tested it following the events of ORB.
• The Council of 13 hold a trial/crucible similar to the one they previously held in "Shadowman 9: In the Cradle of Destiny". Whereas in that episode they are shown as obscured silhouettes, here two of them are unmasked and named.
  • Phantom Limb's last appearance previous to this episode was also in "Shadowman 9: in the Cradle of Destiny", which revealed that he had stopped shaving and built himself a prosthetic arm as well as having descended into insanity and vindictive paranoia.
• Under the name Revenge, the Phantom Limb blackmails Billy Quizboy into working with him by citing their previous history together, as shown in flashback in "The Invisible Hand of Fate". It is revealed that, despite the attempts of White to prevent him from doing so during that episode, Billy is able to recall what happened between he and Limb. Later, Councilmen 3 & 8 point out that the idea of Billy having amnesia from one knock on the head, as "The Invisible Hand of Fate" implied he would, is entirely ridiculous.
  • In order to encourage Hank, Sgt. Hatred compares him to Brock Samson, citing his own previous work with Samson, who he claims impressed him. This previous experience was also shown in "The Invisible Hand of Fate", where as Samson's commanding officer he pretended to think Samson incapable, but as a secret member of the Guild feared Samson's capability and gave him the dead-end position as the Venture family's bodyguard to prevent him from exposing the Guild's existence to the world.
• Dr. Venture mentions to Dean that Hank locked himself in the research lab after watching the film "Dog Day Afternoon." In Perchance to Dean Hank can be heard shouting "Attica!" a reference to the infamous chant of the character played by Al Pacino.
• The Intangible Fancy is tried by the Guild not for casually murdering two associates ("We've all been there", mentions one Councilman), but for smuggling without Guild sanction. The character had previously appeared in short speaking roles in episodes such as "Tag Sale - You're It!", and "Fallen Arches".
• Revenge claims to have been the victor in the Battle of Cremation Creek, an event which took place in the second-season finale, Showdown at Cremation Creek (Part II). He was in fact soundly defeated, mutilated and forced to go into hiding following that battle.

Cultural references

• Brian Eno is shown to be working with the Guild alongside his friend David Bowie, as a negotiator. Whereas Bowie appears in his Heathen era (circa 2002) dress, Eno appears in his youthful, 70s-era body and costume. He travels in several large aircraft called the Warm Jets, after his debut solo album; upon their approach, Guild members shout "Here Come The Warm Jets!".
• When Councilmen 8 & 3 wake up after the operation, Councilman 3 asks Revenge: What are you, Ray Harryhausen?" in reaction to Councilman 8 being sewn to him. Ray Harryhausen is a movie special effects artist, known for his ability to create convincing monsters.
• Councilman 8 notices that a simple blow to the head is seemingly enough to knock out anyone; he compares this phenomenon to Gilligan's Island.
• Councilmen 8 and 3 are implied to be J.P. Richardson (The Big Bopper) and Buddy Holly. When they tell Revenge about their first meeting with his grandfather, Fantomas, they mention they were musicans about to take off in their private plane from Clear Lake, Iowa. They were apparently kidnapped by Fantomas on February 16, 1959 and declared dead to the rest of the world. In reality Buddy Holly and The Big Bopper were musicians who died in a plane crash, February 3, 1959. This is the second time in the series a musician who is dead in real life was revealed as being alive and in the guild; Klaus Nomi appeared in the final two episodes of season 2, as one of Bowie's traitorous bodyguards.
• Councilman 8 declares that he "accidentally" created hip-hop, an apparent nod to The Big Bopper hit Chantilly Lace. In which he speaks the verses and sings the chorus.
• As with previous David Bowie appearances, there are numerous references to Bowie songs and albums:
  • Bowie mentions that the robotic security dogs are called the Diamond Dogs.
  • The Sovereign refers to the Chant of the Ever Circling Skeletal Family
  • Revenge angrily calls Bowie "The Thin White Douche!" - a reference to the pop-star's self-created title, the Thin White Duke.
• When David Bowie hid behind the table and had the floating head state to ignore the man behind the table, his dialogue is a reference to The Wizard of Oz.
• "Siegfried's Funeral March" is playing when Dean "knights" The Sovereign, which is a reference to the film Excalibur.
• Councilman 8, Dubbed Dragoon, is literally dressed as a Dragoon (an infantryman deployed by horse).
• The Guild Directory (behind "Revenge" in the opening scene) includes:
  • Surgery: 3rd Floor, 3179
  • Security: 5th Floor, 5007
  • Executive Dept: Basement
  • Armaments: 5th Floor, 5560
  • Visas: 2nd Floor, 2604
  • Sports: 4th Floor, 4922
  • Community Outreach: 5th Floor, 5730
  • Library: 5th Floor, 5745
  • Guided Tours: 1st Floor, 1111
• Bowie mentions that the robotic security dogs are called the Diamond Dogs.

Reception

The Revenge Society received positive reviews. From the AV club, Zack Handlen gave the episode an A-, saying it was "a very strong piece of work, managing to re-connect with some characters we haven't seen in a while, giving us some cool back-story pieces, and, most importantly, balancing it all out with the character-based humor." Dan Pillips of IGN gave it a 8.2/10, saying "I got a good laugh out of watching Sergeant Hatred try to explain pedophilia to (Hank, who) continues to steal every scene he's in. Seeing Billy Quizboy do so much with his time in the spotlight was likewise a pleasant surprise. Still, I can't help but feel like there was a lot of unrealized potential in this story. I surely expected more from an episode that saw both Phantom Limb and David Bowie step back into the forefront."

Production notes

• One of the animation directors (Kimson Albert) gets to have a nickname inserted into his credits. For "Handsome Ransom" the credit reads Kimson "Noogie Patrol" Albert.