TVSquad

(S02E12) Did I enjoy this episode? To put it simply... I think my brain exploded before the title sequence was over.

Even God couldn't handle the extreme levels of awesome... He attempted to delay the episode by throwing some lightning and striking the plane carrying the episode (if you didn't believe the bump explaining the situation, Jackson Publick commented on it here). Needless to say, even God Himself couldn't take down The Venture Bros.

By the way, this episode didn't premiere on The Fix (maybe for the reason mentioned above?), but it's on there now.

The episode started with the revelation that Dr. Girlfriend and The Monarch have been secretly meeting in shoddy motels and sleeping together. AHH! Killinger was successful! Apparently, this had been going on for several weeks because Dr. Girlfriend was growing tired of cheating on Phantom Limb and desperately wanted something more permanent with The Monarch. After posing a bit in his tiger underwear (eww), The Monarch gave in and proposed to Dr. Girlfriend. DOUBLE AHH! Dr. Girlfriend -- sorry, Dr. Fiancée -- pulled out a list of conditions (where she hid the list on her seemingly naked body is still disputed) before saying yes. The biggest item on the list: No more arching Dr. Venture. Reluctantly, The Monarch agreed and the two embraced (and had hot, ass-thumping sex, I'm sure).

When I saw the super-rushed title sequence, I got a little excited because it usually means that the episode is busting from the seams with goodies. But then, when the opening credits started running over the scenes, I almost fell out of my chair. "No time for normal credits?! Oh man, they must be serious." Anyway, I liked the effect that the credits gave because it looked like a feature film.

Just when I thought that Phantom Limb couldn't get any more vicious (with his deadly arms and all), he practiced shooting/killing The Monarch's former prisonmates (and Tiny Attorney, from Season One's "The Trial of The Monarch"). Of course, this wasn't exactly comforting background for the wedding conversation The Monarch tried having with P. Limb. Surprisingly, P. Limb said that he didn't mind their reunion. Rii-iight.

The Order of the Triad fellows were fighting Torrid (the angry Australian villain from "Fallen Arches") for the All-Seeing Orb, a giant eyeball thingy. The Alchemist's line about The Residents was hilarious. Their whole storyline in this episode was kind of weird because, whereas everything tied together, they seemed relatively aloof. I guess they'll jump in and have a significant role in "Part II".

The Monarch returned to The Cocoon, only to face a bunch of battered Henchmen and the Ventures in a holding cell. Just like The Monarch, I was really surprised that the henchmen managed to pull that off. According to 21 and 24, the henchmen got a wee bit drunk and stumbled into a tattoo parlor (oh man, 21's lower-back butterfly tattoo). There, they saw Brock getting the image of Icarus tattooed on his bicep, so they jumped him. After the regular casualties happened, they managed to capture Brock. Of course, the rest of the Ventures were easy pickin' after that. Unfortunately, The Monarch was horrified by the news (because of his marriage agreement) and had to lie to Dr. Girlfriend/Dr. Fiancee/Dr. Mrs. Monarch, explaining that Doc Venture showed up to be the Best Man, a demonstration of a truce. Dr. Girlfriend fell for it and left, but not before Doc recognized her as Charlene (the woman he fell for in Season One's "Mid-Life Chrysalis").

Meanwhile, an unusually calm P. Limb conversed a bit with The Sovereign (after another look at his head, I think it's Jackson Publick... It's a pretty impressive forehead) and, again, agreed to not stir up any crap during the wedding. Of course, as soon as The Sovereign disappeared (to get ready for the wedding), P. Limb broke out the troops.

Dr. Girlfriend started getting into her lovely wedding dress, with the help of her Murderous Moppets, but was promptly interrupted by Doc Venture. Slimy Doc Venture was almost too much for me to handle. Ew. Just... ew. He attempted to come on to Dr. Girlfriend because he was convinced there was some genuine spark in their night of fiery passion. Dr. Girlfriend was disgusted and absolutely refused. You go, Girlfriend. Hank and Dean, on the other hand, were paired with 21 and 24, respectively. I loved the henching uniform with the fuzzy turtleneck. Amazing. 21's Rusty Venture alarm clock was also a nice touch.

Over at the wedding, the guests started piling in. I gasped when I saw "Sergeant Hatred" during the opening credits, but I gasped again when I saw him at the wedding. I knew there was going to be some sort of Hank/Hatred interaction, but it wasn't as creepy as I expected it to be. I mean, Sergeant Hatred licking the feet of his guest was pretty gross, but I thought he was going to start coming on to Hank. David Bowie (voiced by James Urbaniak, I'm pretty sure) popping up with his posse (Iggy Pop and Klaus Nomi) was absolutely hysterical. After the numerous Bowie references throughout The Venture Bros. (example: Brisby's panda belonged to Bowie), it was high time for an appearance from the man himself. He was there to give away Dr. Girlfriend, which was kind of surprising. The wedding started quite smoothly, with Henry Killinger performing the ceremony and 21 and 24 doing musical duties (scroll to the bottom of the post for some fun info).

Of course, there was no way the episode would have ended without a bang. P. Limb and his troops interrupted and demanded the return of Dr. Girlfriend. "To Be Continued" flashed on the screen and Venture Bros. fans everywhere collapsed from holding their breaths for a bit too long. Is it next week yet?

A few things: They never really resolved what happened to Dean once he got into the Engine Room, right? Holy shit, maybe the whole Cocoon is going to blow up. Like, there's gonna be a huge fight during the wedding, but just as someone is about to get killed, EVERYONE dies in a blazing inferno. Okay, maybe not. But I'm pretty sure someone's going to die in the finale. Oh, and here's some more original Venture Bros. music, folks! You can download 21 and 24's lovely wedding song from Quick Stop Entertainment. As some other fans have mentioned, I'd kill (Samson-style) for a Venture Bros. soundtrack.