Recap / The Venture Bros S 4 E 13 Bright Lights Dean City

Episode - Season 4, Episode 13 (Production Code: 4-52)

First Aired - October 10, 2010

(This episode takes place during the events of the previous episode, Everybody Comes to Hank's.)

Phantom Limb narrates his plan to get revenge on everyone who has wronged the members of the Revenge Society. Sabotaged equipment will kill Jonas Venture Jr, who stole Prof. Impossible's wife. Phantom Limb will use his powers to kill Girl Hitler, who usurped Ünderland from Baron Ünderbheit. Impossible Industries will purchase the bank where the Monarch keeps his trust fund money and steal it, while at the same time having double agents (the Murderous Moppets/Pupa Twins) kill Dr. Mrs. the Monarch while framing Henchman #21, thus getting revenge on them all for Phantom Limb. Impossible believes that Limb's plan is "a little killy," and then the trio argues over their organization's name. Ünderbheit tries to get his say in, but the other two say he must prove his loyalty first. They just wanted him to sign a form, but he has already broken Manservant's neck as a sign of his loyalty, per Ünderland tradition. Just then, there is a knock at the door. Ünderbheit and Limb drag Manservant's body away while Impossible answers the door. It turns out to be their new intern, Dean Venture, bringing them coffee.

A short time before, Dean arrives in New York City for his internship. He narrates the events as if writing for the "Venture Home News," his hobby newspaper. He mentions that Prof. Impossible was shocked to see him at first, and how every other employee at the company has either been laid off or quit. Impossible, however, has put Dean to work doing receptionist/secretary duties. Dean moves into a very-small, rent-controlled apartment but receives an unexpected visit from his father, Dr. Venture. Venture has gotten the idea to write a Broadway musical based on his life and promises not to get in Dean's way. However, he immediately takes over almost the entire department, forcing Dean to sleep in the bathtub. He keeps Dean awake by singing and writing the musical out loud.

Phantom Limb makes a commercial for the Revenge Society, and comments that the group needs to expand. He explains the "SPAWM" acronym, standing for "speed, power, air, wind/water/weather, and magic," the elements every good supervillain group needs. Ünderbheit mentions that having a "fire guy" would be cool, so Impossible shows his comrades his brother-in-law, Cody, screaming in flames hooked up to a generator. Harnessing his power has allowed Impossible industries to go "100% green." Limb is impressed with Impossible's evil, calling it the most evil thing he'd ever seen.

Dean, working as a receptionist/secretary, meets his father on his lunch break. Rusty is waiting for him outside of the Impossible building and tells Dean that he needs Dean to do some "industrial espionage" for him: making two dozen copies of the script for his new musical. Impossible is listening in with a stretched ear, but only overhears the "industrial espionage" part. The three assume that Venture is onto them, and realize that he is as responsible for their predicaments as anyone. They decide to get revenge by killing Dr. Venture.

Venture tells Dean that he will be staying a few more weeks to try to get his play picked up, much to Dean's annoyance. He hails a cab, which is being driven by a disguised Baron Ünderbheit. Phantom Limb appears on the cab's build-in TV, threatening Venture, but Venture is too busy listening to his Walkman to notice. Impossible remotely activates a sleep gas mechanism in the cab, but it is unfortunately placed in the front seat, only putting Ünderbheit to sleep. The cab spins out of control, but Venture is rescued by a web-slinging superhero called "Brown Widow."

The trio of villains discuss why their plan failed as Dean walks in. He freaks out when he sees Limb and Ünderbheit, blowing his rape whistle and knee-capping Ünderbheit with a self defense baton. Limb finally uses his death touch to knock Dean out. Dean wakes up in the Impossicar with Prof. Impossible. Impossible tells Dean that he is providing second-chance employment to ex-cons, since they can't get hired anywhere else. He assures Dean that Limb and Ünderbheit are reformed, and then promotes Dean to the Head of Human Resources before dropping him off at his apartment.

The next day, Dean organizes the supervillain applicants looking to interview with the Revenge Society. Mr. Polygamy (along with Mrs. Polygamy, Mrs. Polygamy, Mrs. Polygamy, and Mrs. Polygamy), a Native American who claims to have the power to grow, a silent man in a blood stained bear costume with a knife, and Brick Frog (a man in a frog suit who throws bricks) all fail. However, Fat Chance (who is a very large man with a portal to another dimension in his belly which dispenses utterly random objects) and Ladyhawk Johnson (along with her husband, Lyndon Bee) appear to pass.

Dean returns to his apartment to find that his father has rearranged the place so he could practice skating, as he plans to do his musical on roller skates to attract foreign investors. Dean becomes furious as Venture continues writing and singing, so he goes out on the fire escape. There, he meets Brown Widow. He explains the situation to the superhero who tries to console him, but becomes distracted by Venture's singing. He climbs into the apartment and joins in the singing. Brown Widow reveals himself to be a former stage actor with "perfect spider pitch," leading Venture to believe he has found his "Rusty Venture" for the play.

At Impossible Industries, the villains find a copy of Venture's script on the printer. Fat Chance, pretending to be a producer, calls Venture in for an interview at Impossible Plaza. Venture hurriedly takes a cab there, driven once again Ünderbheit.

As Venture arrives, Impossible shuts off the power. Dean, who was in the middle of typing his resignation letter, gets a flashlight and goes to investigate the power outage. Venture wanders through the dark halls until the members of the Revenge Society (Limb, Impossible, Ünderbheit, Fat Chance, and Lyndon Bee in human form with Ladyhawk in hawk form) close in on him. However, Fat Chance trips over Limb's invisible leg and onto Venture, causing Venture to fall into his belly portal.

Dean finds the control room and sees Cody in flames. He releases Cody, trying to put him out, but Cody runs through the halls in terror. Limb and Ünderbheit are pulling objects out of Fat Chance's belly portal hoping to retrieve Venture. As Cody and Dean run past, Impossible expands to hide his teammates. They flee the building while some of Cody's fire burns Venture's script.

The Stinger shows the same scene as the last episode: Hank and Dean in their bedroom discussing the events of their summer spent apart when suddenly, a portal opens and the more handsome Dr. Venture steps out. He drags out the Venture we know and berates him for trying to kill the more successful Dr. Venture in another dimension, hoping to usurp his life with "more hair, more money and a hit play on Broadway!"

Tropes:

• Alternate Universe Reed Richards Is Awesome: The Stinger at the end reveals what exactly happened with Rusty when Fat Chance landed on top of him, as another version of Rusty pops through a portal inside of Hank and Dean's bedroom to bring the version of Rusty we do know back to Hank and Dean in a pair of handcuffs.
  Alt!Rusty: Look you're the Dean of this dimension, right? Explain to the untalented Mister Ripley here he can't just waltz into my dimension and kill me with a rock and replace me. Just because I have more hair, more money, and a hit play on Broadway!
• Anticlimax: The Revenge Society, having spent the entire B-plot trying to kill Dr. Venture, finally have him surrounded and helpless, until Fat Chance trips and accidentally sends Dr. Venture to another dimension.
• Bears Are Bad News: The ultra-creepy interviewee in the bloody bear costume with a knife.
• Bread, Eggs, Milk, Squick: As the Revenge Society looms in on Rusty, they all deliver a menacing line. Richard instead musters up a less-intimidating "Boooo!"
• The Cameo: Nathan Fillion as Brown Widow.
• Comically Missing the Point: Richard's main concern with their first botched attempt at killing Rusty is that he neglected to pay the cab fare.
• Continuity Nod:
  • Phantom Limb mentions the Moppets/Pupa Twins being his sleeper agents. Whether or not they actually work for Limb is unknown, but they were seen in Home is Where the Hate is plotting to kill someone within the Monarch's organization.
  • Some of the villains waiting to be interviewed by the Revenge Society have been seen before: Brainulo, Curse, Mommy Longlegs, Power Plug, Vain Gloria, and Omega Ape.
• Credits Gag: A techno arrangement of one of the songs from Rusty's Broadway musical plays during the credits.
• Didn't Think This Through:
  • The Revenge Society's plan to kidnap Rusty by having Ünderbheit pretend to be a cab driver runs into an issue with Professor Impossible putting the gas machine in the front of the car. This still nearly kills Rusty because the cab nearly crashes.
  • The Revenge Society's second plan to kill Rusty almost succeeds, but because they shut off the lights, Fat Chance trips over Phantom Limb's invisible leg and sends Rusty to another universe. Fat Chance rightly points out that shutting off the lights had no practical purpose.
• Even Evil Has Standards: Dr Impossible, Phantom Limb, and Ünderbheit are terrified of Scare Bear.
  Dean: (also scared) He's not on the list. I'm sorry. I don't know how he got in here.
• Foreshadowing:
  • In the song that he's writing for a Broadway musical about himself, Rusty mentions a recurring nightmare involving "robot fingers". It is eventually revealed that the robot in Rusty's nightmares is real, with him strangling a young Rusty as a result of regaining fragmented memories of the son he had while he was still human.
  • The more well-adjusted and successful version of Rusty has a full head of hair. In season 5, it's revealed that androgenic alopecia is a side-effect of the cloning process and in season 7 it's revealed that Rusty himself has been cloned several times. The alternate universe Rusty had a better life and became a better person because his universe's father cared enough to not get him killed.
• Freak Lab Accident: Everyone in the Revenge Society.
• Freeze-Frame Bonus: When Lyndon Bee is seen waiting to be interviewed, Ladyhawk has a sticky note in her beak reading: "L.B. We Need Milk. XO, LJ."
• If You're So Evil, Eat This Kitten!: Ünderbheit thinks that Phantom Limb and Impossible want a demonstration of his commitment in order to join them, so he kills Manservant. (He's Wrong Genre Savvy however...they just wanted him to sign a contract)
• Killing Your Alternate Self/Kill and Replace: Rusty unsuccessfully attempts to do this with a more successful version of himself. With a rock.
• Neck Snap: How Ünderbheit kills Manservant.
• No Celebrities Were Harmed:
  • Ladyhawke and Lyndon Bee are based on Lyndon Johnson and his wife, Lady Bird Johnson.
  • Mr. Polygamy bears an uncanny resemblance to US Senator and onetime Presidential hopeful Mitt Romney (who is Mormon, like Mr. Polygamy is suggested to be).
• Nothing Is Scarier: There's clearly something very wrong with whoever was wearing that bloody bear costume. They weren't even on the list of interviewees. They just showed up with a knife.
• Powered by a Forsaken Child: The Impossible building is powered by harnessing the reaction of Prof. Impossible's ex-brother-in-law Cody's exposure to oxygen, which causes him to painfully burst into flames as a Blessed with Suck version of the Human Torch.
• Shout-Out:
  • Fat Chance is a reference to obscure The Flash villain, Chunk, as well as the Blob and the Spot.
  • Brown Widow is a more anatomically correct version of Spider-Man, complete with a web shooter above his ass. His interest in performing in Dr. Venture's musical is a reference to the failed Broadway play: Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark. The shot of Brown Widow catching the cab in a web recreates a shot from the opening credits of Spider-Man (1967). There are several other Spider-Man references in this episode as well.
  • The episode title is a reference to Bright Lights, Big City.
  • The forced transformation powers of Lyndon Bee and Ladyhawke are a reference to the movie Ladyhawke.
  • The play Dr. Venture cites as the reason he wants to have his play performed on skates is Starlight Express.
  • The Native American with supposed "growing" powers who interviews for the Revenge Society is based on Apache Chief.
  • When Rusty first arrives at Dean's run-down apartment, he asks if Dean is waiting for "Jacob Riis to take [his] picture." Jacob Riis was a 19th century photographer famous for exposing extreme poverty in New York City.
• Stealth Pun: Brick Frog, a villain in a frog costume who throws bricks from a sack, attempts to interview with the Revenge Society. It sounds like the same type of Punny Name most other villains in the series have, but it has an extra layer - the "frog" of a brick is the indentation in its center.
• Synchronous Episodes: With Everybody Come to Hank's.
• Take That!: A dig is made towards Spawn and it’s infamous movie adaption when Ünderbheit and Richard mishear S.P.A.W.M.
  Baron Ünderbheit: That awful comic book?
  Richard Impossible: Oh and that movie? What was Martin Sheen thinking?
• Terrible Interviewees Montage: The majority of those who apply to the Revenge Society.
  Phantom Limb: I thought Manhattan was the epicenter of supervillainy. It's more like the island of misfit toys out there.
• What Kind of Lame Power Is Heart, Anyway?: Most of the villains in the Terrible Interviewees Montage have very lame powers, if they have powers at all. Mr. Polygamy has the power of polygamy (and an extra set of arms), Giant Indian can "grow" by barely an inch (Prof. Impossible has to squint to even notice the difference. It turns out he was standing on his toes), and Fat Chance (who they actually hire) can pull random items out of his belly button.