Yet again, I find myself thinking that the story of a Venture Brothers episode is kind of schizophrenic and unfocused, but it keeps making me laugh enough to where I can't give it anything below a passing grade. Everything from Dr. Venture waggling his rear end and telling his brother to crawl back inside, to The Monarch launching various prison goos, powders, and tiny henchman at the guards, to the incredibly hilarious montage of all the time Hank and Dean have died, there was just too much funny here to be too upset at the story being a little all over the place.
That big reveal--that Hank and Dean are constantly being cloned and having their memories and knowledge implanted--is hilarious in how dark it is, a fact that's driven home by the way Dr. Orpheus is aghast at the realization and Dr. Venture and Brock are nonchalant and even laughing about it. I think that segment had the best gags. Brock describing Hank and Dean as feeling like a pair of giant Stretch Armstrongs is some delightful wordsmithing. The two doing their mumbling zombie "Go Team Venture!" bit is ridiculous black comedy. And the entire exchange about whether Hank's angry soul said "crumb-bum" or "crampon" is the kind of weird conversational stuff that really tickles my funny bone.
The Monarch's schemes in prison had some laughs too, though again, suffered the most from everything being kind of stitched together. His compatriots on the inside -- seeming to be expies of Gorilla Grodd, Calendar Man, and Doctor Manhattan(?) were amusing in the show;s usual fractured takes on classic properties. His makeshift escape scheme was a little odd (including tiny joseph reappearing from the X-mas special!) but his general frustration and planning was amusing. And the brick joke of him running into Dr. Venture's torso on the outside was perfect.
Speaking of making it to the outside, the life of Number 21 and Number 24 trying to recover from their life of henching with a support group was a delightful premise. Watching the two of them getting to know each other beyond a criminal setting and Number 24 attempting to become his own supervillain much to his group leader's chagrin worked well in the show's usual great mix of fantastical four-color miscellany with regular life stuff.
Overall, maybe not my favorite episode of the show, but enough interesting ideas and good jokes to keep things humming.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParentSpoilers2016-04-29T04:56:24Z
Yet again, I find myself thinking that the story of a Venture Brothers episode is kind of schizophrenic and unfocused, but it keeps making me laugh enough to where I can't give it anything below a passing grade. Everything from Dr. Venture waggling his rear end and telling his brother to crawl back inside, to The Monarch launching various prison goos, powders, and tiny henchman at the guards, to the incredibly hilarious montage of all the time Hank and Dean have died, there was just too much funny here to be too upset at the story being a little all over the place.
That big reveal--that Hank and Dean are constantly being cloned and having their memories and knowledge implanted--is hilarious in how dark it is, a fact that's driven home by the way Dr. Orpheus is aghast at the realization and Dr. Venture and Brock are nonchalant and even laughing about it. I think that segment had the best gags. Brock describing Hank and Dean as feeling like a pair of giant Stretch Armstrongs is some delightful wordsmithing. The two doing their mumbling zombie "Go Team Venture!" bit is ridiculous black comedy. And the entire exchange about whether Hank's angry soul said "crumb-bum" or "crampon" is the kind of weird conversational stuff that really tickles my funny bone.
The Monarch's schemes in prison had some laughs too, though again, suffered the most from everything being kind of stitched together. His compatriots on the inside -- seeming to be expies of Gorilla Grodd, Calendar Man, and Doctor Manhattan(?) were amusing in the show;s usual fractured takes on classic properties. His makeshift escape scheme was a little odd (including tiny joseph reappearing from the X-mas special!) but his general frustration and planning was amusing. And the brick joke of him running into Dr. Venture's torso on the outside was perfect.
Speaking of making it to the outside, the life of Number 21 and Number 24 trying to recover from their life of henching with a support group was a delightful premise. Watching the two of them getting to know each other beyond a criminal setting and Number 24 attempting to become his own supervillain much to his group leader's chagrin worked well in the show's usual great mix of fantastical four-color miscellany with regular life stuff.
Overall, maybe not my favorite episode of the show, but enough interesting ideas and good jokes to keep things humming.