| "A Party for Tarzan" | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| The Venture Bros. episode | |||
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| Episode no. |
Season 6 Episode 7 | ||
| Directed by | Jackson Publick | ||
| Written by | Doc Hammer | ||
| Production code | 607 | ||
| Original air date | March 13th, 2016 | ||
| Episode Chronology | |||
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| List of The Venture Bros. episodes | |||
A Party for Tarzan is the seventh episode of Season 6 and the overall seventieth episode of The Venture Bros.
Plot
The episode opens with Dr. Mrs. The Monarch shooting Dr. Venture, at Wide Wale's urging, with sniper rifle, while Venture is dressed as the Blue Morpho. A series of flashbacks to the day beforehand occur, revealing that Dr. Venture was throwing a party to entertain celebrity Christopher Lambert who he befriended at a party. Meanwhile, aware that The Council of 13 preparing to eliminate their new nemesis, 21 has The Monarch take up a new arch enemy in effort to divert suspicion from them as well as revealing he had the Monarch's suit sent to a tailor who works on villain and hero clothing. The Monarch reluctantly agrees to this arrangement while having 21 dispatch The Wandering Spider who is next in line to arch Dr. Venture. He tells 21 there is an eclipse occurring that night, and, when it does, he is to call Dr. Mrs. The Monarch and have Wandering Spider state he has been captured by The Blue Morpho.
Elsewhere on Meteor Majeure, The Council of 13 are discussing on what to do about the vigilante who has taken up the identity of The Blue Morpho. Dr. Z reveals that forty years ago he had a sexual encounter with the original Blue Morpho, who had disguised himself as a woman in order to hold him hostage and foil Z's evil plan. Dr. Z states Blue Morpho was a loyal friend to Jonas Venture Sr., and from that experience he discovered the latter would do anything for the Venture family. He tells the other council members that if they want answers they would have to find them from Jonas' son Rusty Venture.
At Ventech Tower, Dr. Venture is making sure that everything in the house is ready for when his important guest arrives. He and Dean soon go to his tailor Enzo, where they tell him of the party. Rusty insists on having the perfect blue suit made for his party, but learns from Enzo that such a suit would take up to a few weeks to be completed. While Rusty complains, Enzo goes to the back of his store, and Rusty steals The Monarch's blue suit he noticed on the counter.
Back at the Monarch residence, The Monarch is leaving to face his new arch enemy to his wife's delight. As he leaves, Dr. Z arrives to speak with Dr. Mrs. the Monarch. He tells her to cast aside her doubts about Dr. Venture being the Blue Morpho, as the whole council saw the videos from Wide Wale's surveillance tapes. Dr. Z tells her something must be done about this growing menace before more villains are eliminated.
The Monarch is on his way to confront his new enemy, and rides a subway train while bemoaning his situation. He explains how the hierarchy The Guild of Calamitous Intent is measured and how it originated: decades ago, a villain tried to hold young Rusty at gunpoint in front of team Venture on the compound. The villain was beaten and killed by Action Man, and as a result the guild formed their hierarchy. The Monarch is angry that he is now at the lowest level.
Elsewhere, 21 goes to Ye Olde Battleaxe, where he stakes out the area. He finds and tricks the Wandering Spider into thinking he's having car troubles, and knocks him out with a sleeping gas gun. He then takes the unconscious Wandering Spider to the forest in Jersey Pines, while reflecting on his past. He reveals to the viewer that years ago, while he was still in school as Gary Fischer, he was kidnapped by the Monarch's henchmen, who mistook him for a senator they were supposed to kidnap instead. Though The Monarch ordered him to be released, Gary was allowed to stay in their ranks and grew to love the life of a henchman (but still got his GED in case the life failed).
As this occurs, Dr. Venture is at his home wondering why his party isn't ready yet, and reminds his family and friends that Christopher Lambert is coming. After a red drink is poured on him, he goes out on the veranda where, he is spotted by the Council of 13, atop Wide Wale's penthouse at Tophet Tower. They (incorrectly) deduce he is the Blue Morpho covered with the blood of his latest enemy. The Council decides to get their revenge by killing him and give Dr. Mrs. The Monarch a sniper rifle for her to do the job. Once given the gun, she is hesitant, but Wide Wale reminds her that the Blue Morpho has killed many of their comrades and must pay.
As this happens, 21 has awoken Wandering Spider, who is deeply scared at his situation and begs to be spared. 21 uses Wandering Spider's phone to call Dr. Mrs. The Monarch, and instructs him to tell her he has been kidnapped by The Blue Morpho. Due to her cellphone being on vibrate and falling down she is unable to hear or reach it. Because of this, Wandering Spider is forced to leave of message as 21 hesitates on having to kill the terrified man.
Meanwhile the Monarch has confronted his new enemy and finds himself overjoyed as he tortures the proctologist.
Now The Council of 13 once again urge Dr. Mrs. The Monarch to shoot Dr. Venture. Overcoming her hesitation, she pulls the trigger and shoots him as the full story comes into circle. Dr. Venture falls over seemingly dead as the Monarch's voice begins to narrate an interesting twist: the blue jacket has a bullet proof vest, and Rusty is able to survive being shot. The Monarch states Dr. Mrs. The Monarch eventually checked her phone and finds the message Wandering Spider left, as well as her husband enjoying himself with his new enemy. She comes to the conclusion that neither Venture, nor her husband, are the Blue Morpho, and she shames her colleagues over their mistake. The Monarch reveals that Dr. Venture returned the suit the next day, but was forced to pay for the damages the suit collected. He also reveals 21 has (seemingly) killed Wandering Spider, and buried him in the forest before leaving in the Morphomobile.
At the end of the episode, as the Council of 13 depart Tophet Tower, they catch a glimpse of Christopher Lambert at the entrance of Ventech Tower. It is revealed the reason was unable to go to Dr. Venture's party was due to the entrance being locked.
Episode Cast
- James Urbaniak: Dr. Venture, Phantom Limb
- Chris McCulloch: Hank Venture, The Monarch, Pete White, Dr. Z, Dragoon, Action Man
- Doc Hammer: Dr. Mrs. The Monarch, Henchman 21, Billy Quizboy, Red Mantle, Ward
- Paul F. Tompkins: The Blue Morpho, Dr. Heinie
- Hal Lublin: Wide Wale, The Wandering Spider
- Mark Gagliardi: Enzo, Monarch Henchman
First Appearances
Connections to Other Episodes
The Terrible Secret of Turtle Bay (pilot)
- In Gary's flashbacks The Monarch and his Henchmen have the same outfits as they did in the pilot.
- Also Dr. Girlfriend's Old Outfit But with the Monarch Symbol that was also seen
- H.E.L.P.eR. is staring at the PROBLEM machine that was seen on Gargantua-1 in Careers in Science.
- In Home Insecurity, Gary mentioned the Monarch's henchmen kidnapped him when he was a teenager.
Showdown at Cremation Creek (Part II)
- Young Gary is seen wearing his old outfit, which Hank wore as "Russian Guyovitch" in Showdown at Cremation Creek (Part II).
- Henchman 21 wears the t-shirt that The Monarch gave him in The Devil's Grip.
- The Monarch not knowing Henchman 21's name was shown in The Devil's Grip.
- The Council of 13 mistake Dr. Venture for The Blue Morpho similar to how Billy did in Rapacity in Blue.
- Brock is still seeing Warriana after deciding to form a relationship with her in Tanks for Nuthin'.
- Gary continues to deal with his guilt over having killed a man, as shown in Tanks for Nuthin'.
- Battleaxe is shown to have survived the crash of the Haranguetank in Tanks for Nuthin' and is seen tending bar with bandages on her face, a black eye, and a neck brace.
- Dr. Mrs. The Monarch and Dr. Z mention the surveillance video Wide Wale gave them in Tanks for Nuthin'.
- Sergeant Hatred is still recovering after being released from the hospital in It Happening One Night.
- Gary continues to deal with his guilt over having accidentally killed a man, as shown in It Happening One Night.
The Venture Bros. & The Curse of the Haunted Problem
- H.E.L.P.eR. staring at the PROBLEM machine foreshadows the upcoming episode, The Venture Bros. & The Curse of the Haunted Problem, setting the stage for the "Morpho Trilogy" at the beginning of Season 7.
Cultural References
Batman(1989)
- Wide Wale's statement "It looks like that Blue Morpho there likes to dance in the moonlight after a kill." is a reference to Michael Keaton's Joker character. In the film, Joker asks "Have you ever danced with the devil in the pale moonlight?" to people shortly before he plans to murder them.
- While telling the tale of how he earned his wings Henchman 21 mentions the 1980 arcade game Berzerk, which has the distinction of being associated with the first ever "video game death". Jeff Dailey, a 19-year old, suffered a fatal heart attack in January 1981 shortly after playing the game.
- One of the Broadway plays advertised on 42nd Street is called Dogs, a parody of the musical Cats.
- Much ado is made in this episode about Christopher Lambert, who starred as the protagonist Connor MacLeod in the movie Highlander.
- Clancy Brown, who voices Red Death in the next episode (Red Means Stop), played the antagonist The Kurgan opposite him in Highlander.
- Col. Gentleman, who appears in the next episode, was modeled after Sean Connery, who played Juan Sanchez Villa-Lobos Ramírez in the first two Highlander films, dying at The Kurgan‘s hands in the first.
- One of the textbooks that Dean has on his desk during The Monarch's "Dr. Venture is dead" narration is The Gay Science by German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche.
- Henchman 21's real name is revealed to be Gary Fischer, which sounds identical to the name of Star Wars actress Carrie Fisher's famous dog, Gary Fisher.
Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes (1984)
- The episode's name refers to the fact that Christopher Lambert played Tarzan in the 1984 film Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes.
- One of the Broadway plays advertised on 42nd Street is called Sassy The Musical, a parody of the musical based on the 1988 John Waters film Hairspray.
- A billboard on 42nd Street advertises "LV" using a logo similar to the one for South Korean consumer electronics manufacturer LG.
- The Monarch performs his own version of "manspreading", the practice of sitting on public transportation with your legs spread wide enough to take up more than one seat: he opens his wings on the subway, taking up three seats to prevent anyone from sitting next to him.
- The voiceover narration and overall style of the episode is reminiscent of numerous Martin Scorcese films.
- A billboard on 42nd Street advertises "n&n's" using a near identical logo to the candy-coated chocolate M&M's.
- The stock exchange ticker on 42nd Street reads "NERSDERC", an ermahgerdic pronunciation of NASDAQ .
- One of the Broadway plays advertised on 42nd Street is called Lease: A Musical, a parody of the musical Rent.
- A billboard on 42nd Street advertises "MAMGUNS" using the same font as the logo for South Korean consumer electronics manufacturer Samsung.
Taxi Driver (1976)
- The shot of cars driving down 42nd Street in Manhattan is a modern recreation of the shot of Travis Bickle driving down the same street in the Martin Scorcese film Taxi Driver.
- One of the Broadway plays advertised on 42nd Street is called The Jungle King, a parody of the musical based on the 1994 Disney film The Lion King.
The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
- Henchman 21 kidnaps The Wandering Spider by asking for help to put a couch in a vehicle while faking a broken arm. This is a reference to Buffalo Bill in The Silence of the Lambs, and is similar to tactics used by serial killer Ted Bundy.
- One of the Broadway plays advertised on 42nd Street is called Cricket, a parody of the musical based on the 1995 novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, itself based on The Wizard of Oz.
Production Notes
- The Animation Direction Supervisor (Kimson Albert) has a "nickname" inserted into his credits. The nickname is an unusual line or word from the preceding episode. For A Party for Tarzan the credit reads Kimson "Always a Gloria" Albert.
- The song played over the end credits is "Ding Ding" by Daniel Farrant, James Knight, and Ray Gelato off the 2014 album Crooners & Swooners.
Trivia
- It is revealed Henchman 21's full name is Gary Fischer.
- Henchman 21 got his wings at the age of 16 after taking credit for the death of "hippie creampuff" Professor Vibrations. Vibrations spontaneously fell over dead after becoming too excited at the chance to kill 21.
- The Council of 13 come to believe that The Blue Morpho is not Dr. Venture.
- It is revealed that The Blue Morpho got most of his gadgets from Jonas Venture Sr.
- The Monarch gets a new arch-enemy.
- The Monarch's flashback at the Venture Compound is said to take place "50 years ago", which would make Dr. Venture a lot older than he actually is, although it is unknown if he was being literal or not.
- Dr. Venture introduces Billy, Pete, and Hank to a new "Doctail": the Ruddy Bottom, consisting of tall-glass grenadine with tomato juice and a jigger of rum.
- This episode's official introduction of The Wandering Spider makes him the fourth arachnid-themed character on the show (after Mommy Longlegs, Scaramantula, and Brown Widow).
- The Jade Dragon that the Blue Morpho steals from Dr. Z can be seen in Col. Gentleman's New York apartment to the left of the front window near the front door.
Gallery
.jpg "Time Square (A Party for Tarzan).jpg (291 KB)")
| Preceded by: "It Happening One Night" |
The Venture Bros. episodes Original Airdate: March 13th, 2016 |
Followed by: "Red Means Stop" |