Recap / The Venture Bros S 4 E 4 Return To Malice

Episode - Season 4, Episode 4 (Production Code: 4-43)

First Aired - November 8, 2009

Two Monarch henchmen are arguing in the lounge area of the Cocoon about who would win in a fight: the Loch Ness Monster or Champ. #21, sitting at a table by himself in the corner, speaks up. He explains that neither of those monsters are real, but Ogopogo is. The two henchmen are shocked (and frightened) by "Two Ton 21." As he walks away, one of the henchmen whispers that he is glad no one mentioned the "car accident." 21 hears it and explains that it was a "car intentional." He demotes that henchman and orders him, and everyone ranked lower than him, to field duty.

In their mansion, The Monarch and Dr. Mrs. The Monarch are having dinner. The Monarch is pleased with the changes 21 has made, including hiring Monarch a personal chef. Dr. Mrs. The Monarch voices her concerns that something is wrong with 21, as he has conversations with 24's skull. The Monarch dismisses her concerns and explains that he himself still talks to his dead cat, Mr. Mostly Mittens, who is stuffed over the fireplace.

In his room, 21 undresses as he speaks to 24's skull as if 24 were alive. 21 has come up with a plan and a list of suspects in 24's murder. The first name on the list: the Venture Brothers.

At the Venture compound, Sgt. Hatred sneaks into the boys room while they sleep. He pretends to snap their neck, attempting to train them to respond to a surprise attack. The boys don't seem interested, explaining that they didn't need to be prepared when Brock was their bodyguard. Hatred, unable to tell the boys about their many clones, rants about their lack of planning. Dean goes back to sleep and Hank insults Hatred, saying that Brock never had problems protecting them.

Monarch and Dr. Mrs. the Monarch are in bed fooling around when Dr. Mrs. the Monarch suddenly stops. Monarch's face is swollen and he goes to the bathroom to investigate, staying there once he sees it to hide his face. Dr. Mrs. the Monarch convinces him to come out, revealing that his face has gotten even worse. Apparently, Monarch was allergic to the fine cuisine his personal chef prepared for him for dinner.

A person enters the boys' bedroom and Hank hits the panic room button, thinking it is Sgt. Hatred again. It is actually 21 dressed as Hatred, and several other Monarch henchmen are already waiting in the panic room to capture the boys.

Hatred wakes Dr. Venture up, dressed only in his underwear, having found a Monarch dart in his neck. He explains to Venture that it is against Guild rules to kidnap underage boys from their bed, and he knows because he is a recovering pedophile and former supervillain. Hatred calls the Monarch to demand the boys back.

Dr. Mrs. The Monarch answers the phone, with the Monarch still in the bathroom hiding his swollen face. After he threatens her, she assures Hatred that they had nothing to do with the abduction. Hatred thinks she is lying, because he found a Monarch dart in his neck. She agrees to meet with Hatred and Venture at the old observatory. She lies to the Monarch about where she is going, saying that she is being interviewed by a magazine.

Hatred and Venture get to Malice, but are stopped by a security guard at the gate. Hatred shouts a series of nonsensical words and phrases, causing the guard, who is actually a robot, to short circuit as he wasn't programmed to answer them. They go to Hatred's former home (taken by Princess Tinyfeet in the divorce) to acquire weapons from Hatred's armory. They look through the window and see Princess Tinyfeet engaging in BDSM sex with multiple partners. Hatred breaks down and cries, lamenting his lost relationship.

Hank and Dean awaken strapped to a table, undergoing Chinese water torture. The torture isn't going well, and 21's interrogation attempts fail. The boys are bored, pointing out that this is a lame torture. 21 wants them to confess to 24's murder, but Hank points out that the day 24 died caused them a lot of grief too, watching clones of themselves die and having Brock leave. 21 tells the boys how his life has gone since then, training with a team of LARPers to train, makeshift exercise, and video simulations of battles in the Cocoon. He vowed never to lose another man to his cowardice like he did 24, and realizes that he is responsible for 24's death. With that, he releases the boys and sits alone in his "tree fort" to contemplate.

The Monarch, unrecognizable due to the swelling in his face, sits at the bar in the Cocoon lounge. The bartender refuses him a drink since it is after midnight, a rule enforced by "General 21." Pissed at 21, The Monarch seeks him out to confront him. He passes by the Venture boys after their release. They mistake him for a "kindly old groundskeeper" at first, not recognizing him due to his swollen face. The Monarch, in no mood to deal with them, calls a cab to take them home.

Dr. Mrs. the Monarch and Dr. Venture sit at the old observatory, chatting about their past. Dr. Mrs. the Monarch ensures him that she hasn't seen the boys, and suggests calling them on their communicator watches, something Sgt. Hatred didn't even think to do. Venture gets right through to Hank who explains that they were in "Gary's tree fort" and have been back home for the past hour.

The Monarch confronts 21 in his tree fort. He accuses 21 of trying to take over, but 21 denies it, saying that he isn't cut out to be a supervillain and praises the Monarch for being so good at it. He asks the Monarch if he wants to hang out like he and 24 used to, but Monarch declines. Monarch does half-heartedly threaten to burn the tree fort down, acknowledging 21's grief over losing 24.

The Stinger shows a hand crossing off the Venture boys name on 21's list of suspects for 24's murder. 21 enters the room to show 24 a magazine with revealing pictures of Dr. Mrs. The Monarch. 21 turns around and asks 24 "what are you doing over there?"... as the skull had apparently moved from the last place 21 had it.

Tropes:

• Arbitrary Skepticism: 21 judges Champ and Nessie to be fake, but firmly believes in Ogopogo.
• Artifact Name: Gary still goes by "21" despite now ranking up to be the Monarch's #1 henchmen. He refuses to go by anything else.
• Berserk Button: Mentioning "the car accident" in "Two Ton" 21's presence.
  21: Car accident? The car accident?! There was no car accident - 24 died in a car intentional!
• But for Me, It Was Tuesday: Henchman 21 kidnaps Hank and Dean to try torturing them enough into confessing to having killed off his best friend Henchman 24, to which the two are utterly confused.
  Hank: Your friend was murdered?
  Henchman 21: You don't remember a car blowing up in your yard, killing my only friend?
  Hank: (visibly angry) Oh, wasn't that the same day that a hundred gooey copies of me and my brother were mowed down by a lunatic in a spinning-laser suit? And the day that my best friend Brock left us forever? Oh how could I forget one of like a million guys who died on my lawn?
• Continuity Nod: Monarch's stuffed cat, Mr. Mostly Mittens, was mentioned by 21 in I Know Why The Caged Bird Kills. 21 apparently killed the cat by falling onto it.
• Cool and Unusual Punishment: 21 uses the Chinese Water Torture on Hank and Dean, which just proves to be kind of annoying at worst. Doesn't help that he neglected to keep them completely isolated and keeps telling them that they're going insane.
• The Dreaded / Drill Sergeant Nasty: 21 has become this to any rank and file henchmen unlucky enough to earn his displeasure.
• Forgot About His Powers: Lampshaded when Sergeant Hatred didn't try to just contact the boys on their wrist communicators.
• Hypothetical Fight Debate: Discussed with Nessie vs. Champ (vs. Ogopogo).
• Logic Bomb: Sgt. Hatred disables the security guard robot with a string of nonsensical words and phrases.
  Sgt. Hatred: Robots. Programmed to respond to over 700 questions, none of which include chicken fingers.
• Shout-Out:
  • While torturing the Venture brothers, 21 makes reference to himself appearing as various things in the boys delusions. (The torture is not working, however.) Those things include a Centaur, Marvel Comics villain Sin-Eater, and Wolverine.
• Stock Ness Monster: The two henchmen at the beginning discuss who would win in a fight between Nessie and Champ. #21 interjects that they are both fake, but Ogopogo is real.
  21: Champ is a picture of a log. Nessie is a toy submarine with a head made out of plastic wood. Ogopogo is a plesiosaur. A FUCKING plesiosaur. Are you going to tell me that a log, or, at best, a beaver, could kick the ass of a plesiosaur?
  86: Seriously, who is this guy, a cryptozoologist?
  87: Shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up.
  86: Or is he Scully and Mulder's kid?
  21: OGO. POGO.
  87: Uh... eh, heh. Of course! It's no contest
  21: (pops out his wrist blade) PLESIOSAUR!
  86: Well, uh, case closed, then.
• Took a Level in Badass: 21 explains how he trained during the year between 24's death and the present in order to become bigger, stronger, and more badass. It's mentioned early on that he is now de facto Number 1 henchman in The Monarch's employ but refuses to change his number. Likewise, his Monarch henchman uniform has been modified to be more practical and durable in combat, including the addition of utility pouches, chest armour and wrist-mounted retractable blades.