Episode - Season 2, Episode 10 (Production Code: 2-23)
First Aired - September 24, 2006
It's a typical day in a typical office building, when suddenly The Monarch's Cocoon appears outside the windows. The Monarch's men break in through the windows, gunning down the office personnel, throwing bombs, and generally causing havoc. It is easily the most competent they've ever been when The Monarch marches in and demands to know the location of Dr. Venture from one of the captured office workers. 21 comes running up to inform The Monarch that a mistake was made: this isn't the "secret Venture Compound," it's The Monarch's accountant's office. Disgruntled, The Monarch orders his men out (but not before stealing some office supplies) and also wants the office security tape so he can post the video of his entrance on his homepage.
Dr. Venture enters Dr. Orpheus' apartment, fresh off a trip to Japan. Venture is being followed by an "oni," a Japanese demon spirit. Venture is relieved that Orpheus could see it, as Brock could not (and blamed it on Venture's use of "diet pills.") Orpheus attempts to dispatch the demon, but fails, necessitating a visit to his Master.
Back at the Cocoon, 21 and 24 are leading a meeting of Monarch henchmen. They conclude that the raid failed due to their weapons and try to convince The Monarch to improve their weaponry. They argue with The Monarch when they are approached by a masked man in black who states that the issue is not one of weaponry, but one of planning. He introduces himself as Dr. Henry Killinger and Monarch hires him as his new #2.
Hank and Dean are practicing driving on the compound's runway when they come upon a broken-down car. They investigate to find an unconscious woman, but she jumps up and sprays them with knock-out gas when they get close.
In the Master's Necropolis, the Master is re-enacting the (alleged) death of Catherine the Great via death by horse sex. He teaches Orpheus a lesson about biting off more than he can chew.
Killinger is making suggestions for changes to The Monarch, one of them being that The Monarch is overstaffed. The Monarch agrees and orders Killinger's new, more menacing Blackguards to kill two random regular henchmen. 21 and 24 complain to each other about the changes Killinger has made, while The Monarch opens up his classified files on Dr. Venture for Killinger.
Brock discovers the car abandoned by Hank and Dean and searches for the boys. Venture and Orpheus arrive, following the oni which leads them to the car. Venture tries to get rid of the oni by stuffing it into the trunk, but the oni takes control of the car and starts driving it around, dragging Venture behind (as he's still connected to the oni.) Orpheus and Venture agree to get in the car and allow the oni to take them where it wants them to go.
In a meeting, 21 and 24 try to rally the other henchmen against Killinger. When 24 goes too far, The Monarch orders him to be tortured, but Killinger asks for some time alone with 24 to change his mind, calling The Monarch's punishments too "Draconian."
The oni-driven car stops outside of a rural motel. Orpheus suggests that the oni wants them to rest there for the night, but Venture accuses Orpheus of trying to set him up for gay sex at the motel. Orpheus denies this and two argue about it.
Brock and H.E.L.P.eR are in Brock's car, arguing the merits of Led Zeppelin, while searching for the boys. Brock uses his wrist communicator to track the boys location to a dumpster. He digs through the trash within, but instead finds only the boys' watches flashing the message "The boys are mine!" Brock exclaims that "Myra's back," just as explosives connected to the watches detonate.
Hank and Dean wake up, bound with ropes, on a dirty mattress in a motel room. A woman is singing a lullaby and bursts into the room when she realizes that they are awake. The woman turns out to be Myra Brandish, a busty, fit woman with an aged face who claims to be the boys' mother.
21 convinces the Blackguards to let him visit 24, who is in his room happily reading a porno magazine. 21 says he plans to rescue 24, but 24 is thrilled with Killinger after having talked to him. 24 claims that Killinger talked him through some emotional issues and even cured 24's herpes. 21 believes that 24 has been brainwashed and leaves in a fury.
Myra tries to convince the boys that she is their mother, claiming that the boys are older than they believe themselves to be (19 instead of 16, thanks to all the cloning.) They also don't remember her from her claims of previous kidnapping attempts for the same reason.
Dr. Killinger is asleep with his "magic murder bag" handcuffed to his wrist. 21 enters the room and coats the magic murder bag in silly string from his toy wrist web shooters. Killinger wakes up and has a Blackguard drag 21 away (who screams "Semper Fidelis Tyrannosaurus!") Killinger corrects him by telling him the quote is "Sic Semper Tyranis", whereas what he just said translates into "Ever faithful terrible lizard".
In their motel room, Orpheus has acquired some snacks. He and Venture apologize to each other, and agree to rent a porno movie.
The Blackguard leads 21 to his room, where 21 reveals some details of his life. The Blackguard is revealed to be 24, much to 21's delight. 24 allows 21 to escape.
Myra tells Hank and Dean some of her back story: she was a an agent fresh out of the O.S.I. academy and was assigned to Dr. Venture as his bodyguard. They fell in love and, after saving his life, had sex in Venture's car. Myra claims that led to Hank and Dean being born 9 months later.
21 is explaining the situation with Killinger at the Cocoon to someone offscreen in a car, which is later revealed to be Dr. Girlfriend. The two are driving back to the Cocoon to set things right.
In the air, H.E.L.P.eR is carrying Brock with his helicopter blades, following the tire tracks of the kidnapper while H.E.L.P.eR uses his infrared to scan the area. They discuss Myra, who Brock reveals to be crazy, having kidnapped Hank and Dean several times in the past.
The following morning, the oni is backing the car up against the wall of Orpheus and Venture's motel room to wake them up. The motel they are staying at is revealed to be run by Myra, who is holding the boys in another room there. A dozen or more cats enter the boys room, which Myra call Hank and Dean's "brothers and sisters." She realizes that they must be hungry, as must the boys. She attempts to breastfeed them while the boys resist when an alarm goes off. Myra grabs a shotgun and leaves to investigate. Dr. Orpheus is at the front desk ringing the bell, and tells Myra that he and a friend are ready to check out, motioning to Dr. Venture in the car outside as he talks. Enraged at seeing Venture, Myra attacks Orpheus. Venture, listening to music in the car, is unaware.
Dr. Girlfriend and 21 infiltrate the Cocoon unnoticed. Dr. Girlfriend is able to slip through a laser grid security alarm, but 21 trips it right away. Several Blackguards attack, but Dr. Girlfriend easily defeats them. She leaves 21 behind to go find The Monarch.
Myra, having defeated Orpheus, has Rusty and both boys tied up in Venture's car. Myra wonders why Rusty won't talk to her, when he reveals that his lawyer has advised him not to. Angered, she knocks Rusty out with the butt of her shotgun. Brock and H.E.L.P.eR, having tracked down the boys, land in the motel parking lot. Myra runs them down immediately and speeds away. Brock recovers and walks into the middle of the road. Myra, seeing him in the rear view mirror, turns around to run him down again. At the last second before impact, Brock leaps into the air and crashes through the windshield on top of Myra, taking control of the car. Orpheus is shown back at the hotel surrounded by Myra's cats.
In a meeting with Killinger, The Monarch scoffs at Killinger's suggestion of a détente meeting with Dr. Venture. With little warning, Killinger pushes The Monarch aside just as Dr. Girlfriend drops from the ceiling above. When The Monarch asks what she is doing there, Killinger explains that she is there to rescue The Monarch from loneliness and pulls a bouquet of flowers out of his magic murder bag for The Monarch to give to her. Killinger also pulls out The Monarch's journal and explains that his love for Dr. Girlfriend is spelled out on every page. He tells the two that they will be locked in the room until they reach a compromise, then flies out of the room with his magic umbrella.
Brock explains Myra's background to Hank and Dean, and how she's insane and that, every couple of years, she breaks out of the mental hospital to kidnap the boys, try to kill Dr. Venture, or try to burn down the compound. When Dean questions why they don't remember her, Brock almost reveals that they are clones. Brock trails off without answering and Dr. Venture exclaims "Alright! I fucked her! What of it?," strongly suggesting that she is in fact the boys' mother.
The Stinger depicts Dr. Killinger floating in the sky with his magic umbrella, summoning the oni out of the trunk of Venture's car with a whistle. The oni seems unhappy, but Killinger explains that, while the oni failed to reunite Myra and Venture, he did manage to help save the boys, which is what is really important. Killinger says the following quote and flies off: "Compromise, my friend, is the essence of diplomacy, and diplomacy is the cornerstone of love."
Tropes:
- The Ace: Turned up to 11 (yet still played 100% straight) by Killinger. If there is something that can't be fixed by he and his magic murder bag, it's never shown.
- Affably Evil: Killinger's black garb and skull motif, as well as him helping a villain in The Monarch, implies that he is evil, but his actions are anything but.
- Cool Car: Myra's Bullitt Mustang is a nice complement to Brock's Charger. The car chase scene in Bulitt is between a Mustang and Charger and is often listed as the seminal chase scene.
- Cuteness Proximity: Since he wakes up with Myra's cats all over him, Dr Orpheus seems perfectly happy about waking up on the floor after she kicked his ass."Haha, they smell my cat!" *chuckles*
- Elite Mooks: Subverted by Killinger's Blackguards. They look much more impressive but are implied to just be The Monarch's regular useless henchmen in fancier costumes. Dr. Girlfriend bests several of them in a fight without issue.
- Inexplicably Awesome: There is no backstory or explanation provided for why Killinger is such an Ace at everything he does, but there is no denying his effectiveness.
- Intelligible Unintelligible: Brock has full blown discussions with H.E.L.P.eR, who only communicates in beeps and boops.
- Last-Second Word Swap: Attempted by Brock and Rusty when Brock almost tells the boys they're clones, but they can't come up with anything and just sit there going "clo- clo- clo- uhhh, clo- whoops!" for a while.
- Mistaken for Gay: Rusty initially thinks Dr. Orpheus brought him to Myra's hotel to try and get with him.
- No Celebrities Were Harmed: Killinger is implied to BE Dr. Henry Kissinger. He looks similar, acts similar, and sounds similar.
- Not-So-Harmless Villain: The Monarch's henchmen in the cold open are ruthlessly effective for perhaps the first time ever...too bad they attack the wrong building...
- Oh, Crap!: Brock utters this upon finding the note attached to the brick of C4.Brock: "Oh crap, Myra's back." BOOM
- Parasol Parachute: Killinger has one.
- Shout-Out:
- Along with Henry Kissinger as noted above, Killinger also shares a number of traits with Mary Poppins.
- The episode title is a play on I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou.
- Angelou is actually discussed by Brock and H.E.L.P.eR, when H.E.L.P.eR (apparently) quotes her. Brock thinks he is quoting Shel Silverstein.
- Henchman 24 bemoans the fact that Killinger had the Tekken 3 game removed from the Cocoon lounge.
- Myra's motel shares a number of similarities with the Bates Motel.
- H.E.L.P.eR argues with Brock that Led Zeppelin is "jock rock" and about Hobbits.
- 24 compares Killinger to Mr. Belvedere.
- Myra discusses breaking "the rules" for a bodyguard in falling in love with Rusty. The rules are very similar to the rules from The Bodyguard. ("Never let your guard down. Never let them out of your sight. Never fall in love.")
- Myra also quotes parts of the lyrics from Spandau Ballets '80s hit "True" while she's holding Hank and Dean prisoners.
- Prior to becoming a bodyguard, Myra was on American Gladiators.
- Small Role, Big Impact: This is the first major appearance for Killinger so far in the series, but in it, he rebuilds The Monarch's organization and reunites him with Dr. Girlfriend, setting him down the path to later become a Not-So-Harmless Villain and setting up the season 2 finale.
- Wilhelm Scream: One can be heard following an explosion during the raid in the show's cold open.
