History Recap / TheVentureBrosS3E3TheInvisibleHandOfFate

Billy finds that his roommate Stevie, who is Fantomos' lab assistant, has committed suicide. Billy is too busy talking to the police about the suicide to write his term paper, so he seeks out Fantomos for an extension. When Billy arrives at Fantomos' office, another student (a young Dr. Girlfriend,) is being denied an extension. Before Billy can explain the situation, Fantomos surprises Billy by offering him the position of lab assistant based on the excellent paper Billy submitted. Billy tries to explain that he never wrote the paper but Fantomos sweet talks him into accepting the position, revealing that Fantomos himself is a "freak" like Billy, having malformed limbs from birth.

* RealityEnsues: The sequence with the OSI fighting SPHINX is this to their roots as a ''Franchise/GIJoe'' pastiche. What happens when professional soldiers with all the attitude and bloodlust of the American military go up against Saturday morning cartoon villains, freed of the restrictions of children's broadcasting? Well, five or six war crimes later, the cartoon villains get completely slaughtered.

* SoundtrackDissonance: The OSI fighting SPHINX is overlaid by an upbeat theme about fighting evil, even while it depicts OSI troopers committing multiple war crimes.

* MeaningfulEcho: White's "Us freaks have to stick together," and "The invisible hand of fate has pushed us to this point, Billy," are echoed by Professor Fantomos (note that they both do some pretty terrible things in the episode, ''and'', as Billy points out when White tries it, the "freak" solidarity doesn't work too well when they're both a lot closer to normal than he is):

* {{Expy}}: A very obvious one with O.S.I. as ''GIJoe'' and SPHINX as COBRA. There is even a satirical version of the GIJoe theme song and the "Yo Joe!" battlecry is replaced with "YO!S.I.!" Although they're also a parody of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Billy finds that his roommate, who is Fantomos' lab assistant, has committed suicide. Billy is too busy talking to the police about the suicide to write his term paper, so he seeks out Fantomos for an extension. When Billy arrives at Fantomos' office, another student (a young Dr. Girlfriend,) is being denied an extension. Before Billy can explain the situation, Fantomos surprises Billy by offering him the position of lab assistant based on the excellent paper Billy submitted. Billy tries to explain that he never wrote the paper but Fantomos sweet talks him into accepting the position, revealing that Fantomos himself is a "freak" like Billy, having malformed limbs from birth.

Brock and Gathers, meeting with Billy, reveal that the O.S.I. had Creator/StephenHawking write the paper for him. Brock and Gathers also reveal that Billy's new eye and arm are actually recording devices, and that he is providing them with valuable intel. Tired of being used, Billy punches Brock in the balls and flees to Fantomos' lab where Fantomos is preparing an experiment to restore his limbs.

** Shoreleave and his team of O.S.I. soldiers are dressed like the VillagePeople.

** "Quizboys" is pretty clearly based on ''{{Jeopardy}},'' complete with answers in the form of a question and a final round where the contestants write down their answers.

** When using code names at the start of the episode to report that Billy has regained his memories, White calls himself [[WesternAnimation/CasperTheFriendlyGhost "Casper"]], Billy "ComicStrip/LittleNemo", and Brock {{Goldilocks}}.

* DeletedScene: There is a FreezeFrameBonus showing a worker removing Prof. Impossible's name from the door of Fantomos' office. A planned scene had Impossible being fired from the university after a scandal involving a student named Sally. However, Creator/StephenColbert did not return to voice Impossible for this season, so that scene was cut.

Brock and Gathers, meeting with Billy, reveal that the O.S.I. had StephenHawking write the paper for him. Brock and Gathers also reveal that Billy's new eye and arm are actually recording devices, and that he is providing them with valuable intel. Tired of being used, Billy punches Brock in the balls and flees to Fantomos' lab where Fantomos is preparing an experiment to restore his limbs.

Meanwhile, the O.S.I. wages a war on the criminal organization SPHINX. Aboard the O.S.I. helicarrier headquarters, a team of O.S.I. agents (who look a lot like the VillagePeople,) comes aboard to poke fun at Col. Hunter Gathers and Brock Samson for not participating in the battle, preferring to chase around a shadowy organization known as "The Guild of Calamitous Intent." Gathers tells them not-so-politely to fuck off, and reveals that they're close a breakthrough in their investigation.

* DeletedScene: There is a FreezeFrameBonus showing a worker removing Prof. Impossible's name from the door of Fantomos' office. A planned scene had Impossible being fired from the university after a scandal involving a student named Sally. However, StephenColbert did not return to voice Impossible for this season, so that scene was cut.

** Gathers at one point calls Billy {{Woyzeck}}.

* ContinuityNod: Several, as is par for the course with Venture Bros. flashbacks. [[JonnyQuest Race Bannon]] is shown aboard the O.S.I. headquarters torturing a SPHINX agent, [[Series/TheSixMillionDollarMan Steve]] [[Series/TheBionicWoman Summers]] is seen aboard the helicarrier as well. Myra Brandish is shown being removed from duty as Dr. Venture's bodyguard after going crazy.

* {{Expy}}: A very obvious one with O.S.I. as ''GIJoe'' and SPHINX as COBRA. There is even a satirical version of the GIJoe theme song and the "Yo Joe!" battlecry is replaced with "YO!S.I.!"

** Billy hitting his head in the bathroom to recall his wiped memories is similar to how [[BackToTheFuture Doc Brown]] got his inspiration to build the flux capacitor.

* ShoutOut:
** When using code names at the start of the episode to report that Billy has regained his memories, White calls himself [[CasperTheFriendlyGhost "Casper"]], Billy "LittleNemo," and Brock {{Goldilocks}}.

* ContinuityNod: Several, as is par for the course with Venture Bros. flashbacks. [[JonnyQuest Race Bannon]] is shown aboard the O.S.I. headquarters torturing a SPHINX agent, [[SixMillionDollarMan Steve]] [[BionicWoman Summers]] is seen aboard the helicarrier as well. Myra Brandish is shown being removed from duty as Dr. Venture's bodyguard after going crazy.

While reaching for a new roll of toilet paper (and berating Pete White for not replacing it in the first place,) Billy Quizboy slips and falls in the bathroom, hitting his head. A flood of long-forgotten memories returns to Billy who begins explaining them to White. When Billy remembers White being there in his past, he starts shouting accusations at White. White uses the gaming console he was playing to knock Billy unconscious and then calls someone with the code name "Goldilocks," revealing that Billy ("little Nemo") has recovered his memories.

** When using code names at the start of the episode to report that Billy has regained his memories, White calls himself [[CasperTheFriendlyGhost "Casper"]], Billy [[FindingNemo "little Nemo"]], and Brock {{Goldilocks}}.

* {{Expy}}: A very obvious one with O.S.I. as ''GIJoe'' and SPHINX as COBRA.

Billy and White make their way across the country on White's scooter, earning money by participating in underground quiz show competitions. (Billy's winnings were frozen by the FCC after he was accused of cheating.) They finally arrive at the Venture compound just in time to see a crazed Myra Brandish being hauled away by O.S.I. agents.