Venture Brothers special: "All This and Gargantua II"

[c_nordlander]

Post your reviews and comments here!

First of all, love the title. (Glad they didn't go for "A Very Venture Space".) In fact, the whole episode is good. Maybe a bit too cluttered to be truly brilliant, but I enjoyed every second.

Now, since this episode was pretty much Shocking Twist Central, the rest of my scattered opinions will be placed under the spoiler tag.

Spoiler

That opening revelation when it turns out that the Revenge Society's hideout was the Monarch's family home all along. That alone would have been enough to lift the episode.

Pretty much everyone and their mum (sometimes literally) was in this one, weren't they? The only people I actually felt disappointed not to see were Triana and Molotov. OK, I can see that Triana would have been difficult to fit in (her mum and the Outrider weren't in it either), but it would have made sense to have Molotov in at least a bit part. Actually, now that I think about it, Amber's role as Brock's partner felt almost like she'd been shoehorned in instead of Molotov. Oh well. I also wish the Baron would have had more screentime, but seriously, this episode was packed to the gills with awesome characters (mixed metaphor!) already. One character who *did* get enough screentime was the affable Dr. Killinger, and he used it to the limit.

Dr. Girlfriend really shone in this one. She was almost the heroine of the piece. It's nice to see her in a big heroic role (I think the last time we really got that was when she broke into the Cocoon in "I Know Why the Caged Bird Kills"). The bit with her injury seemed a lot darker and heavier than this show usually gets - I didn't *quite* think she was going to get killed off, but it definitely put me in a "how the hell is she getting out of this?" frame of mind.

In fact, that was a thing about this episode. From about ten minutes in, we started getting shocking twists and revelations, which isn't anything new for this show, but at an unheard-of rate. The Revenge Society has been bunking in the Monarch's old house. JJ is dying. The Sovereign is killing off the Council of Thirteen and is the man behind Phantom Limb. The Investors show up. Then... we get an actual bit of canon, which is that Dr. Killinger is a rogue Investor, or at least has a history with those guys. Awesome! But then, two thirds in, the bodies started flying and things started getting dire and I was actually wondering whether this was going to be the series finale. The last glorious hurrah.

Fortunately, it wasn't. But pretty much every slate is wiped clean.

So now Fake Bowie is dead (?). Just like that. We never really got any explanation for who he was, other than a shapeshifter. Will we get any more background to him in Season 6? Who knows?

So did Amber and Deadshot break up or something? Because she was pretty clearly sleeping with Brock in this episode. Just saiyan.

Lots of minor or not-so-minor things I loved. The Monarch was brilliant throughout. Lighting the compound on fire with a petrol spill (in the shape of his trademark butterfly insignia, no less) was so him. The Revenge Society's new and better uses of their powers were awesome. I like how when Fat Chance (Fat Choice?) got knocked out, he lost control of where the portal went. And I like how Rusty and Dean keep getting a bit closer to each other through their talent for science. The Sovereign's death was funny in its total non sequitur nature. Also, yay, Dr. Girlfriend did join the Council!

And that ending. Not a deluge, but a wiping clean of the slate. That last scene on Majeure showed that this show can actually be epic as well as funny. Speaking of epic... Dr. Killinger battling the Investors? Chills every time. The Investors themselves were great in their creepy majesty.

If there's anything I didn't like about the episode, it's the fact that it was so packed, it was sometimes hard to follow all the plot threads. I'm still not quite sure how Dr. Girlfriend got from the escape boat on the lake to the Sovereign's private lair. Come to think of it, I felt a bit the same with "What Color Is Your Cleansuit?", which again was longer than a normal episode. You'd think that the longer format would lead to a slower episode, not a faster one.

Oh well, the slight cluttering is a minor issue.

EDIT: Would have been interesting if people had tried using Fat Chance's black hole portal thing to escape when the space station went into the asteroid field. I guess most people didn't know about it (except the Revenge Society themselves).

Also, I liked that little conversation between Professor Impossible and Sally. It's always nice when writers remember that just because you've conclusively broken up with someone, that doesn't mean that you want them dead.

A must-see for all Venture Brothers fans. There's just so much in there...

[gkscotty]

Good episode!
I enjoyed it.
But I'm trying not to think too deeply about it.

also, have you seen this Chris? Because you should probably see it.

[c_nordlander]

Whoa...

Spoiler

That was some massive destruction. So I guess now the Cocoon *and* the Compound have been totally destroyed. And, of course, Gargantua II.

I like JJ's memorial plaque.

[missy_misery]

Spoiler

Can we talk about how amazing this special is? IDK how the show manages to turn itself topsy-turvy every year and stay compelling, but it does.

The Monarchs are back in action! And it's wonderful! Dr. Girlfriend did indeed kick ass and then the show kicked me in the gut with Monarch/Dr. GF feelings. Their love reaffirmation was everything.

The lack of Molotov had me eyebrowing, too. Weren't they assigned to be partners via the OSI last time when she was presumed dead? Where did Amber come from? And is Sgt. Hatred's obviously developing guilt complex going to lead to Brock ending up back in the fold?

Also I'm going to miss JJ so much, and Sally totally broke my heart and was badass.

@Chris - well, it's not like Brock has a high moral code RE sleeping with people who're married/involved. I wouldn't be shocked if they're compartmentalizing work sex versus off-duty sex.

I have a thousand and one Rusty and Dean family feelings, too - and is it me or is it interesting that Hank's staying relatively childlike while Dean is growing up.

So next season: Ventures NYC! I hope we get more Dean-as-playwright adventures.

[c_nordlander]

It was indeed awesome. (All the VB specials have been awesome so far, IMO. In fact, I'm considering making a post in the OFF & Futurama discussion board about how I think they pretty much went the opposite route of the Futurama movies, and were all the better for it.) But this one was even more epic than usual.

I agree that Hank does seem to be the less mature of the brothers (mentally, not physically). Of course, they're both still teenagers, and that age can be... problematic.

Agree with everything else you said.

Spoiler

Also, glad that I'm not the only one who missed Molotov. I know she's supposed to be undercover even from the OSI itself, but given that Brock and his partner were in disguise anyway, that would hardly have been a problem at this assignment. I guess one explanation is that the writers decided they didn't have any particularly stand-out role for her in the plot, and decided that it was better to use a minor character like Amber rather than writing in Molotov to be Brock's arm-candy and say 2-3 generic lines. Just a hypothesis. Ehh, the writers don't have to justify themselves to me.

[missy_misery]

I'd actually be willing to say Wild Blue Yonder worked, but the rest of them aren't standing the test of time for me (And less said about BWABB the better).

It's interesting to me because it seemed like Hank would emotionally/mentally mature faster than Dean, especially after he entered into his sullen denim jacket phase while Dean was trying to attach himself to dog!Hitler. but then they reversed that when Triana and Dean broke up.

I'm trying to remember where Mol is even supposed to be stationed at this point. I need Season 5 DVDs in my life.