"Home Is Where The Hate Is" | |||
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The Venture Bros. episode | |||
Episode no. |
Season 3 Episode 4 | ||
Directed by | Jackson Publick | ||
Written by |
Jackson Publick Doc Hammer | ||
Production code | 3-37 | ||
Original air date | 22 June 2008 | ||
Episode Chronology | |||
| |||
List of The Venture Bros. episodes |
Home Is Where The Hate Is is the fourth episode of Season 3 and the overall thirtieth episode of The Venture Bros.
Plot[]
The Monarch and Dr. Mrs. The Monarch have moved into Phantom Limb's former home. However, as they are moving in, The Monarch seems especially peevish. When Dr. Mrs. The Monarch asks the Monarch what is wrong, he reveals his dissatisfaction with their new neighborhood called "Malice", a gated community for supervillains. The duo order the Henchmen to leave their house, as they have decided to keep "work" and "home life" separate. Meanwhile, it is revealed that she and the Monarch have been invited to a Supervillains Party, thrown by Sergeant Hatred, Dr. Venture's new arch enemy.
Meanwhile Sergeant Hatred arrives at the Venture Compound, making a seemingly villainous entrance which immediately turns out to be genial—he presents Dr. Venture with a gift basket of okra and some minor paperwork regarding their new adversarial partnership. Indeed, the whole visit comes across more as a social call (a "meet and greet" as The Sarge calls it) and he invites Dr. Venture and Brock to a party he is hosting that evening.
The party proves to be a dreary bore to all concerned, until Hatred shows Monarch a miniature explosive the size of a postage stamp. Monarch steals it and secretly places it on Venture's spine. During the party, Dr. Mrs. The Monarch is caught out back smoking, revealing where her unusually deep voice originated. Hatred and Monarch get into a hot tub together, and Hatred tells Monarch that he knows he has been stealing from him, so he treats Venture with kindness to get revenge on Monarch. The Monarch counters by revealing that he has planted the explosive on Venture, and will thereby both kill his hated foe and frame Sergeant Hatred for the murder in one devious act. Venture enters the hot tub, much to the terror of the two supervillains. The explosive goes off, causing an explosion so small and mild Dr. Venture misinterprets it (and cheekily laughs it off) as flatulence.
An interesting subplot is introduced when Henchman 21 and Hank overhear the two Moppets, while watching the movie and eating popcorn, discussing using gas as means of murder in a plan they are concocting. Admittedly, one states, it is not as satisfying as hearing them scream, but it will kill them in their sleep and make it look like an accident. These comments close with the line, "and The Monarch won't be expecting it when we..." which is cut off when they realize that 21 and Hank are looking at them through the window. Thinking that it is 21 and 24 (who they had earlier put in The Monarch's sickbay due to their skirmish), they take off after them with murderous intent. Henchman 21 and 24 are trying to escape them with the help from Hank and Dean but things are getting complicated when the Moppets manage to track them with tracking device (a fact that 21 doesn't know about). They run into green maze and stumbled at dead end, the Moppets found the two henchmen eventually and seemingly stabbed them to death. But much to their disappointment, they only stabbed 21 and 24's discarded costume. The two henchmen later shows running naked in Hatred's backyard, crying for help after the scene between Monarch, Hatred, and Dr. Venture.
In a post-credits scene, most of the guests are leaving while Hank and Dean give 21 and 24 a pair of bathrobes to cover themselves, Dean gives 24 a life advice until Brock told the boys it's time to go. Sergeant Hatred attempted to persuade the Venture brothers to stay with him as his wife are out of town, which the boys are not responding his offer and leaves the house.
Episode Cast[]
- James Urbaniak: Dr. Venture
- Patrick Warburton: Brock Samson
- Mike Sinterniklaas: Dean Venture
- Chris McCulloch: Hank Venture, The Monarch, Sgt. Hatred, Henchman 24, Tim-Tom Moppet, Additional Voices
- Doc Hammer: Dr. Mrs. The Monarch, Henchman 21, Kevin Moppet
Hatred's House Party[]
Sergeant Hatred throws a house party at his home in Malice. The attendees play a party game where a tag bearing the name of a famous person is attached to their back; whomever guesses their given celebrity wins a prize at the end of the evening. Among the attendees:
- Alien Villain
- Brock Samson (celebrity: Harry Dean Stanton)
- Chairman Wao
- Dr. Mrs. The Monarch (celebrity: Jacqueline Onassis)
- Dr. Thaddeus "Rusty" Venture (celebrity: Mariah Carey)
- Galacticon
- Hammerhead Abomination
- Intangible Fancy
- Joseph and his Amazing Technicolor Nightmare Coat
- Mentalist Villain With Purple Cape (celebrity: Joan of Arc)
- Omega-Ape
- The Egoist (celebrity: Lady Godiva)
- The Monarch (celebrity: Mark Knopfler)
- Tunnel Vision
- Unnamed Magician Villain With Hazmat Hat
- Vain Gloria
Connections to Other Episodes[]
Shadowman 9: In the Cradle of Destiny
- The Monarch seems to forget who Henchman 24 is, only remembering that he sounds like Ray Romano. Both of them previously served together as Shadowmen, the henchmen for Phantom Limb, as seen in Shadowman 9: In the Cradle of Destiny.
- The Monarch burns a painting of Phantom Limb's grandfather Fantômas, seen in the previous episode in Professor Fantamos' office at State University.
Cultural References[]
Birdman of Alcatraz (1962)
- Dr. Mrs. The Monarch guesses that Dr. Venture is pantomiming the title to Birdman of Alcatraz during the charades game at Sergeant Hatred's house party.
Birdy (1984)
- Dr. Venture attempts to pantomime the title of the film Birdy during the charades game at Sergeant Hatred's house party.
- When referring to the abundance of retired supervillains in his new home in the gated community of Malice, The Monarch says "It's like Boca Raton on Halloween!"
Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo (1984)
- Dr. Mrs. The Monarch correctly guesses that The Monarch is pantomiming the title to Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo during the charades game at Sergeant Hatred's house party.
- Sergeant Hatred says he's going to stop by Costco to pick up some party platters on his way home from the Venture compound.
- Phantom Limb's former home in Malice is modeled on the Storer House by architect Frank Lloyd Wright.
- During the party game at Sergeant Hatred's house, Dr. Venture tries to guess his celebrity identity. The Monarch, directly insulting Dr. Venture, tells him "You're a brainless failure and live entirely off your father's name and fortune!" In response to this Dr. Venture guesses that he's former president George W. Bush.
- The title of the episode may be a reference to the song "Home Is Where The Hatred Is" by Gil Scott-Heron.
- During the party game at Sergeant Hatred's house, Dr. Mrs. The Monarch tries to guess her celebrity identity. When Vain Gloria says she's "married to a very powerful man", she guesses "Mrs. Hulk Hogan".
- During one of the party games at Sergeant Hatred's house Dr. Mrs. The Monarch is given the celebrity identity of Jacqueline Onassis. She does not recognize the former first lady, which is ironic since her Dr. Girlfriend outfit was heavily modeled on Jacqueline Kennedy's iconic pink pillbox hat and matching pink Chanel suit.
- Sergeant Hatred admires the lawn of the Venture compound, calling it "lush" and asking if it's Kentucky bluegrass. Brock Samson replies it's his own special blend of Blue Ridge and Creeping Red.
Leonardo's Dream Machines (2003)
- Brock Samson slips away from the party to watch a PBS special about giant crossbows. PBS has aired the ITN documentary Leonardo's Dream Machines, which recreated and tested a giant crossbow from original designs taken from the drawings of Leonardo da Vinci.
- During one of the party games at Sergeant Hatred's house The Monarch is given the celebrity identity of Mark Knopfler, the singer-songwriter-guitarist from English rock band Dire Straits.
Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)
- While Hank & 21 are spying on the Murderous Moppets, Hank is surprised that 21 is afraid of them, and exclaims: "You got me all worked up!" This is the same line said by King Arthur, in Monty Python and the Holy Grail, when Tim The Enchanter leads King Arthur and his knights to what appears to be a "harmless little bunny!" (with similar end results.)
- After Sergeant Hatred sees how much Dr. Venture bleeds from a simple rubber bullet wound, he instructs his "Malice troop" henchmen to switch their nonlethal arms to NERF guns instead. NERF is a toy brand that features a variety of harmless foam-based weaponry.
Nell (1994)
- When Henchman 21 and Hank are spying on the moppets Hank says that lady (Jodie Foster) is in her birthday suit and claims they are watching a porno but Henchman 21 corrects him saying it's his DVD of the movie Nell.
One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest (1975)
- The Monarch guesses that Dr. Venture is pantomiming the title to One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest during the charades game at Sergeant Hatred's house party.
- Dean asks if the sound they're hearing is Pac-Man when he, Hank, Henchman 21, and Henchman 24 run into a hedge maze to escape Tim-Tom and Kevin. It was actually the pinging sound from the "Monarch-issued radar troop tracker" the Moppets were using to follow the Henchmen via tracking chips in their uniforms.
Patch Adams (1998)
- When Dean visits Henchman 24 in the sick bay of the Cocoon, he carries a doctor's bag and wears a red clown nose like Robin Williams' character in the semi-biographical film Patch Adams.
- When Henchman 21 asks The Monarch to sign a card for Henchman 24 he seems to only remember him for being the henchman who sounds like Ray Romano.
- Sergeant Hatred has a framed poster of former president Richard Nixon over the mantle of his fireplace.
Schindler's List (1993)
- While watching the movie Nell, Hank says that he saw Schindler's (Liam Neeson) dingus, a reference to Schindler's List.
The Burning Bed (1948)
- When The Monarch is burning all of Phantom Limb's things Dr. Mrs. The Monarch asks him what's he doing and he says sarcastically that he is pretending to be Farrah Fawcett making a comeback. Farrah Fawcett starred as battered wife Francine Hughes in the 1984 tv movie The Burning Bed, a role that earned her the first of four Emmy Award nominations.
- This episode shares a title with UK pop punk band The Fight's 2003 debut EP, Home Is Where The Hate Is.
- The gated supervillain community of Malice is a reference to the song "Town Called Malice" by English mod revival/punk rock band The Jam.
The Scorpion King (2002)
- Dr. Venture incorrectly guesses that The Monarch is pantomiming the title to The Scorpion King during the charades game at Sergeant Hatred's house party.
The Secret (2006)
- The Monarch mocks Dr. Mrs. The Monarch's ex-boyfriend Phantom Limb as "pathetic" for having read best-selling self help book The Secret.
The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
- The Moppets seem to be confusing the dramatic film they're watching, Nell, with an earlier Jodie Foster film, The Silence of the Lambs. Kevin and Tim-Tom wonder when Jodie Foster is going to meet Hannibal Lecter.
- When Sgt. Hatred asks Hank and Dean's age, Dean responds "We're sixteen", with Hank quickly adding "Going on seventeen." "Sixteen, Going on Seventeen" is a showtune from the 1959 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical The Sound of Music.
Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me (1992)
- During the party game at Sergeant Hatred's house, The Egoist gives Brock Samson clues about his secret celebrity identity (Harry Dean Stanton), saying that he loved him in Fire Walk With Me.
Production Notes[]
Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Home Is Where The Hate Is |
- One of the animation directors (Kimson Albert) has a "nickname" inserted into his credits. The nickname is an unusual line or word from the preceding episode. For Home Is Where The Hate Is the credit reads Kimson "Full Nerf" Albert.
- This episode was originally titled "My Dinner With Hatred", although it was later revealed to only be a tentative title and not the final title.
Goofs[]
- Half way through the episode there is an animation goof where Hank has two pairs of eyes. As Hank and 21 observe the moppets through a window, Hank turns to talk to 21 but his eyes do not move with his head, leaving two pairs of eyes on screen.
- In the first shot of the party scene the Unnamed Magician Villain With Hazmat Hat appears in two places at once: sitting on the couch with the Hammerhead Abomination and standing next to Omega-Ape by the fireplace.
- During the party scene, The Monarch's celebrity name is “Mark Knoppler”. While this is a reference to the front man of Dire Straits, Mark Knopfler, his name is misspelled. It is unclear whether this is a mistake or an intentional joke on the part of Doc and Public, as it is a common misspelling and would fit well in their comedic failure motif.
Preceded by: "The Invisible Hand of Fate" |
The Venture Bros. episodes Original Airdate: June 22, 2008 |
Followed by: "The Buddy System" |