Episode - Season 4, Episode 6 (Production Code: 4-45)
First Aired - November 23, 2009
Dr. Venture is being pursued by The Monarch in his Cocoon. Venture makes it to the roof of the compound but is snared by ropes attached to a giant robotic hand coming out of the Cocoon, the "Scarionette" according to the Monarch. The Monarch uses the hand to move Venture around like a puppet. As he celebrates finally capturing Venture, an alarm goes off on Venture's communicator watch. It turns out that he has a therapy session, and that the Monarch has to let him go due a new "Mental Health Clause" in the Guild's rulebook. Dr. Mrs. The Monarch confirms this, and the Monarch is forced to let Venture go. The Monarch also calls off his henchmen, who are battling with Sgt. Hatred, Hank, and Dean on the compound lawn. As Hatred and Henchman #21 break off their fight, 21 tells Hatred that he got lucky this time, and that 21 owes him one.
In a Flashback, a young Rusty Venture is talking to his therapist. He talks about wanting to make friends his own age, adults who are always kidnapping him, and how he doesn't even want to be a super scientist. As he speaks, Jonas Venture Sr., acting as Rusty's therapist, sneaks back into the room and acts like he has been listening for the entire time. He criticizes Rusty for blaming all of his problems on his father and that he should be more appreciative of the life he has.
In the present, Dr. Venture is attending a group therapy session for former "boy adventurers." Also present are Action Johnny, brothers Lance and Dale Hale, an aged former Wonder Boy, and a robot named Ro-Boy. The effeminate therapist has them introduce themselves to Rusty. The Hale brothers were boy detectives whose father was murdered (it is strongly implied that they did it.) The aged Wonder Boy now has an eating disorder and has lost the right to call himself Wonder Boy at public appearances in court; Ro-Boy is there due to overwhelming and disturbing urges to fight (and burn) giant robots.
Meanwhile, Sgt. Hatred has taken Hank and Dean to see a fantasy movie. The Monarch's henchmen, including 21, are also there and sit directly in front of Hatred and the Ventures, obscuring their view with their butterfly wings. Hank argues with the henchmen over his obscured view while Hatred begins to panic because so many young children are in the movie theater, causing his pedophilia to flare up.
The therapist is using puppet therapy to help his patients when he suddenly collapses to the floor, spasms, and dies in the middle of Rusty's treatment. The boy adventurers inspect the body, as a "Vietnamese Two-Step Viper" slithers out of the therapist's pants. It gives chase to Rusty, who is holding the therapist's coffee cup. He realizes that it contains snake pheromones and spills it on Wonder Boy. Ro-Boy destroys the snake with his eye lasers, and the group decides to solve the therapist's murder.
Sgt. Hatred has left the theater, overwhelmed by his pedophilic urges. He has run out of "Nomolestol," a drug given to him by the O.S.I. to curb his tendencies. He has fled back to the compound and locked himself in the panic room.
The therapy group finds an incongruous titty-bar matchbook in the therapist's office. Johnny knows the place, and there, the group sees a former henchman of Dr. Z, who arched Johnny in his youth. They get into a fight with the henchman but are soon beaten up by the bar patrons. Afterward, they decide to visit Dr. Z and confront him in person. After initially mistaking the group for Halloween trick-or-treaters, Dr. Z denies killing their therapist. He invites the group in for dinner and tells them that they need to stop living in the past. They're no longer "boy adventurers" and are free to do whatever they want now. He introduces the group to his wife and laments the fact that they cannot have children. Ro-Boy asks if they would adopt him as Venture declares that he doesn't need therapy, having moved on from his unhappy childhood.
Hank and Dean try unsuccessfully to get Hatred out of the panic room. He explains how it was Princess Tinyfeet who helped him get over his alcoholism and pedophilia in the past, which gives the boys an idea. Hank dresses up like Princess Tinyfeet to lure Hatred out of the panic room. As he emerges, 21 and a group of Monarch henchmen tranquilize Hatred. The boys thank 21 for his help and 21 thanks them for letting him get a shot at Hatred, repeating that "I owed him one."
The Stinger shows 21 talking to 24's skull in his bedroom at the Cocoon. 21 tells 24 about the movie he just saw when the Monarch arrives. 21 quickly covers the skull but the Monarch swears he heard 21 talking to someone. 21 lies and says he was podcasting about the movie, which he and the Monarch discuss. Before Monarch leaves, he asks if 21's mission was a success. 21 confirms that it was, revealing that he was responsible for planting the snake that killed the therapist. With no more distractions, the Monarch is free to return to arching Dr. Venture.
Tropes:
- Abusive Parents: Beyond the usual examples of Rusty and Action Johnny, this episode introduces the Hale Brothers who are heavily implied to have murdered their father in revenge for his psychological abuse. (Dale hints that they did it, but it could just be Survivor Guilt).
- The Bad Guy Wins: Albeit not in the way he intended. 21 kills the therapist under orders from the Monarch so that Rusty won't be able to use his therapy sessions as an excuse to get out of being arched anymore. 21 pulls off the assignment with none of the therapist's patients finding out who the culprit was. However, in the course of the former boy adventurers' investigation, Rusty realizes that compared to his counterparts he's downright well-adjusted, deciding he doesn't need therapy anymore.
- Bar Brawl: After following the matchbook clue to a bar, the boy adventurer group gets into one with the patrons. It goes poorly for them...
- Book Ends: 21 telling Sgt. Hatred that he "owes him one."
- Cameo Cluster: The "boy adventurer" therapy group includes the voices of Patton Oswalt, Seth Green, and John Hodgman; all avowed fans of the show.
- Cold Turkeys Are Everywhere: Hatred runs out of his "Nomolestol" medication, on exactly the same day he has to go to a movie with the boys, with said film having an audience consisting mostly of younger boys, and the film featuring child actors playing century-old immortal beings.
- Deconstruction: The series has always been one for the "boy adventurer" genre, but this episode takes it up to eleven. Rusty is still jaded and impotent, Action Johnny still battles chemical dependency, the Hale brothers are (murderously?) resentful of what their father put them through, Wonderboy was forced into retirement when he grew too old and developed an eating disorder, and Ro-Boy battles PTSD from his many battles. It all serves to make the actual Venture Bros. seem well-adjusted by comparison.
- Expy: Everyone in the "boy adventurer" therapy group. Action Johnny is still Jonny Quest, Lance and Dale Hale are The Hardy Boys, aged Wonder Boy shares a number of similarities (saying "Holy!" in front of random words, etc.) with Robin from the Batman TV series, and Ro-Boy is Astro Boy.
- Fake Crossover: Several mentions have been made throughout the series to this point that imply the gang from Scooby-Doo exist in the Venture-verse. Action Johnny mentions Daphne and Velma as if they are real, with Action Johnny having slept with Velma, much to the surprise of his companions who all thought she was a lesbian.
- Going by the Matchbook: The therapy group assumes the Nightin' Ale's matchbook is a clue.
- Shout-Out:
- Action Johnny mentions having sexual encounters with Daphne and Velma, catching herpes from the latter.
- Snake pheromones are used to kill the therapist, just like in Snakes on a Plane.
- The animated captions during bar fight are another reference to the Batman TV series.
- The movie the Venture brothers, Hatred, and the henchmen went to see (Rings of the Realm) sounds like a cross between The Lord of the Rings and The Chronicles of Narnia. Hatred also claims to be reminded of the works of Henry Darger.
