Recap

The episode begins with a Guild of Calamitous Intent trial. The Guild Council members are conferring, in silhouette form, via screens around the room housing guild member Intangible Fancy, who has been accused of theft. A rogue named “Revenge” shows up and captures two of the Councilmen. Revenge is soon revealed to be Phantom Limb (though his voice belied his identity from the beginning). Back at his hideout, Revenge has also captured Master Billy Quizboy and forced him to sew the head of one of the captured councilmen, Dragoon, onto the body of the other, Red Mantle (who still has his head as well). He has done this to enlist their help, as well as the help of three other agents –- a mug, toaster, and high-heel shoe that he believes are sentient -– in order to retrieve the doomsday Orb locked away at the Venture compound. David Bowie is alerted to the problem and sets out to stop Revenge.

Back at the Venture compound, Sergeant Hatred has locked himself in the bathroom and is guzzling cologne because Hank hates him. He eventually comes out and, when Revenge’s minions show up, puts the compound on lockdown. Hatred thinks it is he who the enemy has come for and hides out with Hank. Hank claims to have a plan, but after riding hover scooters with Hatred for an hour, it becomes clear that Hank wants only to get an ice cream cake and look through his dad’s Playboys while he’s not there. When Hatred briefly questions his motives, then lauds Brock Samson’s honesty, Hank decides to abort his snack-and-Playboy quest and begin actually investigating what is going on. In the meantime, Dr. Venture and Dean scope out the front lawn to assess the situation. While doing so, Bowie shows up to help them out.

Red Mantle and Dragoon, who are traversing the venture compound while carrying Billy in a sack, come across one of Revenge’s low-level “blackout” soldiers, who has found the orb. Dragoon’s side of Red Mantle’s body throws the toaster at him, knocks him out, and the two drop Billy, who is then also knocked out. They take the Orb and return it to Revenge on the front lawn. Hank and Hatred show up shortly afterward to find Billy unconscious in his sack. Hatred, the recovering pedophile, believes Billy is a trap, thus reinforcing his thought that he is the target of the attack.

Back on the lawn, Bowie, Dean, and Dr. Venture confront Revenge, who is claiming to be the rightful heir to the Guild and is demanding it be turned over to him. Bowie explains that it was a Venture ancestor who was the true Guild Sovereign, therefore meaning that Dean, not Revenge, is the Guild heir. Dean then appoints Bowie to Guild Sovereign. Revenge, with no hope left of running the guild, attempts to destroy them all with the Orb. However, the Orb is broken and will not activate.

Review

For The Venture Bros., this episode was so-so, which for any other TV show is solid. The events seem to be building to a big climax, but the peak of the climax is merely the revelation that Dean is the Guild heir. This is passed over almost as quickly as it is mentioned as we move onto Bowie becoming Sovereign once again and taking over the Guild. In a final analysis, nothing really happens in this episode. Revenge makes an attempt at subversion, fails, and everything goes back to how it was.

There are some hilarious lines as usual. While hiding out with Hank, Hatred explains his past deviant propensities in a “birds and bees” method, explaining that he likes “eggs” but doesn’t want to like eggs. Hank responds, “So, what, these guys are here to kill you because God forgot to?” At the end of the show, in the post-credits sequence, we see the relapsed Sergeant Hatred wake up in bed with Billy and say, “Good morning, Sunshine!” A distressed Billy responds, “I wanna go back in my bag.”

Overall, this is another fun episode, but if you missed it, you’re not left out on anything important. There’s a little more father-son bonding with Dr. Venture and Dean, there’s a little more of Hank clearly missing Brock, and we also get to see Hatred once again proving to be a sub-par bodyguard. It’s definitely worth watching, but it’s not a must-see by any means.