Return to Malice
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| "Return to Malice" |
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"Return to Malice" is the 43rd episode of The Venture Bros..
Plot
The episode begins in The Monarch's cocoon, where two Monarch Henchmen (86 and 87) are discussing the relative fighting prowess of lake monsters The Loch Ness Monster and Champ. This draws the ire of Henchman 21, who is no longer the bumbling awkward nerd of past seasons; he is now an imposing, intimidating loner who garners respect and fear from his fellow henchmen. He makes his way to their table and says, simply, Ogopogo. When Henchman 86 protests, Henchman 21 demotes him to Henchman 87 and orders him to report for field duty.
At The Monarch's residence at Malice (a gated community for supervillains), we find that 21 has also improved in efficiency, with The Monarch bragging over dinner about his portly minion's latest services. However, an allergic reaction to a salad of rocket and sunchoke makes The Monarch's face swell grotesquely, which distresses him because he is scheduled for a high-profile interview in a supervillian magazine.
Meanwhile, we find that #21 has developed an unhealthy obsession with his deceased friend, 24, and is talking to his charred skull in his quarters. 21 reveals that he is on a mission to find and slay the person(s) responsible for 24's death.
21 begins by kidnapping Hank and Dean Venture (without permission from The Monarch) and interrogating them with Chinese water torture. The boys are not at all bothered by the "torture", but freely inform 21 that they don't know anything about 24's death. Upon hearing this, 21 realizes that he himself is the person most responsible and so he lets the Ventures go.
Meanwhile, at the Venture compound Doc Venture and Sergeant Hatred deduce (wrongly) that The Monarch was behind the kidnapping. Hatred claims to be an expert at "kidnapping boys out of their beds in the middle of the night" as he is a former Guild member and a recovering pedophile. The Sergeant calls Dr. Mrs. The Monarch and threatens to blow up the Monarch Mansion unless she returns the boys. Dr. Girlfriend agrees to meet with them and discuss the matter, though she does so without informing the Monarch.
The Sergeant drops by his old mansion (where Princess Tinyfeet still resides) to gather supplies for the mission, only to peer in and find her having group sex with some of his former soldiers. Shattered and losing all interest in the mission, Hatred curls to the ground and weeps in despair as Thaddeus goes on to meet Dr. Girlfriend at the rendezvous point.
The Monarch -- whose face is still swollen from his allergic reaction -- is now left alone. When he attempts to make a trip to the Hive he is confronted by the Moppets who have been ordered to keep him busy. The Monarch tells the murderous duo that if they ever presume to order him about he will kill them both and feed their remains to the neighbor's dogs. The Monarch, now sitting at the Hive Bar, is told that he has to leave because they no longer serve drinks after midnight due to orders from "General" 21. The Monarch tries to re-assert leadership but no one recognizes him and he is thrown out. After leaving the Hive he meets up with the Venture Brothers who were just released from Gary's treehouse (the brothers also do not recognize the Monarch). When the twins ask where they are he claims that they're in "the magical land of Narnia" and calls a cab to take them home.
Dr. Girlfriend and Dr. Venture chat amiably for a while after determining The Monarch had nothing to do with the kidnapping. When Dr. Girlfriend suggests Dr. Venture try calling the boys on the two-way wrist-radio, he finds they are already safely back at the compound.
The Monarch deduces what 21 has done and confronts him for breaking the chain of command. The two have a heart-to-heart talk, and the Monarch is moved both by 21's admiration of him and loyalty to his friend. He does however forego a chance to hang out with 21.
In the post credits sequence, an unknown person checks off "The Ventures" on 21's list of possible murderers, yet when 21 enters his room we see that no one is there and 24's skull has been moved to the other side of the room.
Connections to other episodes
- The three most well-known of the "lake monsters" The Loch Ness Monster, Champ, and Ogopogo are analyzed for which would win in a fight. (This is also an oblique reference to an argument that Henchman 21 and Henchman 24 had in the first season episode "Tag Sale — You're It!" over "who would win in a crazy fantasy fistfight between Anne Frank and Lizzie Borden and their argument over whether Smurfs are mammals or not in "Are You There God? It's Me, Dean".)
- The Monarch's mansion is shown again, first seen in "Home Is Where the Hate Is".[1]
- Dr. Mrs. The Monarch mentions The Monarch's cat, Mr Mostly-Mittens, whom Henchman 21 had sat on and killed at some point prior to "I Know Why The Caged Bird Kills".
- Henchman 24, whose death sparked 21's vendetta against the Venture brothers, was blown up in the Monarchmobile in "The Family That Slays Together, Stays Together (Part II)"
- Number 21's LARP group, aka "the Orchard Street Wolfpack" appears in a flashback. They first appeared in "Blood of the Father, Heart of Steel" helping #21 return the X-1.
- The Venture Brothers reference the destruction of their clones in the season three finale.
- Confronted with his ex-wife's orgy, a distraught Sergeant Hatred shouts, "what would giant boy detective do?" echoing Dean Venture in Careers in Science.
- Dr. Venture & Dr. Mrs. The Monarch finally resolve the tension that had existed between them ever since "Mid-Life Chrysalis" (when she pretendd to be in love with him in order to stage a secret attack on his person) and surfaced in "Showdown at Cremation Creek (Part I)" and "Home Is Where The Hate Is".
Cultural references
- The Monarch and Dr. Girlfriend reference the popular children's poem This Little Piggy as they start to become amorous in bed.
- The Monarch, after finding his massive facial deformity, refers to himself as John Merrick, the frequent-used misnomer of Joseph Merrick, also known as "The Elephant Man".
- Henchman 21's plan to avenge the death of Henchman 24 is called, "An Eye for an I". Coincidentally, the Book of Exodus 21:24 is the well-known, much-quoted "eye for an eye" line.
- Hank and Dean are seen for the first time since their apprehension by Henchman 21 being subjected to Chinese water torture.
- When the robot officer walks up to Dr. Venture and Sergeant Hatred, a scene plays out which is a possible reference to the internet meme "trollface".
- Henchmen 21, as he "tortures" Dean and Hank, suggests that they imagine him as if "his bottom half [is] a horse, and on top [he's] Sin-eater,".
- 21 Also asks the brothers if they are imagining him as Wolverine but with bat wings. This may be in reference to the fact that the Monarch Henchmen and Wolverine costumes have similar features (both have pointed eye pieces and are mostly yellow, and 21's new costume includes wrist-blades similar to Wolverine's claws).
- In the flashback to 21 training with his LARP team, his opponent repeatedly yells "lightning bolt" while throwing objects at him. This is a reference to a popular Youtube video seen here.
- When Dr. Venture is asked by Sgt. Hatred to describe the orgy his ex-wife is in, the former can only describe it as a non-musical take on the theater production Oklahoma!.
- When Henchman 21 faces a dinosaur in a simulated battle, its roars are the same sound of the Imperial TIE Fighter from Star Wars.
- When Hatred states that in the future the cavemen below ground will use the Eloi above ground for food, this is a reference to the novel The Time Machine.