The Venture Bros.: A Party For Tarzan

March 13, 2016 10:24 PM - Season 6, Episode 7

The Guild targets Dr. Venture for assassination, which ruins a party thrown for his fancy new friend. Dr Venture steals a suit from Enzo's. We find out about the Guild level system and everybody has flashbacks.
posted by GuyZero (31 comments total)

Fantastic episode. Just amazing.

Also, it seems like Battleaxe survived falling into the hole.
posted by GuyZero at 10:25 PM on March 13, 2016

And how old is Gary exactly? How long has he been henching for?
posted by GuyZero at 10:25 PM on March 13, 2016

This was supposed to be the finale, but they apparently had to swap the last two episodes for some boring continuity reason. Don't get your hopes up about the next episode resolving anything! We gotta wait another three years for that.

Loved all the voiceover narration!

21 almost certainly didn't kill that guy... but I saw some speculation that taking a Russian out to the Pine Barrens to be executed but then never showing the body might be a reference to the famously-unresolved scene in The Sopranos. So they might leave it similarly unaddressed.

Blue Morpho going missing in 1976 is supposed to be fodder for the theory that he became Vendata, as that was Vendata's construction date.
posted by painquale at 4:57 AM on March 14, 2016 [3 favorites]

It was really nice to see 24 again, even if it was just in a flashback.

Is it just me, or has the animation jumped up a level this season? That shot of the bullet at the end there was really impressive.

The oldest Gary can be is 37, Ben Nighthorse Campbell only became a senator in '93.

I'm going to really miss this after next week, it just gets better every episode.
posted by hobgadling at 6:00 AM on March 14, 2016

Also, it seems like Battleaxe survived falling into the hole.

Well, she was pretty drunk, which potentially increased her survival rate, and she was riding in the Harangotank, which looked pretty tough.
posted by filthy light thief at 7:12 AM on March 14, 2016

Maybe they can produce season 7 a little faster... I can hope at least.
posted by GuyZero at 7:49 AM on March 14, 2016

Also, the source for this week's title was ridiculous in the best way possible. Sad that it was not a beyond-death reappearance of King Gorilla.
posted by GuyZero at 7:52 AM on March 14, 2016

Maybe they can produce season 7 a little faster... I can hope at least.

I'm holding onto a tiny sliver of hope that they have another season secretly in the chamber and they'll be all, "Psych! Here's another 8 episodes starting next week." (The season preview had a bunch of scenes that haven't been shown yet... though they are probably all from episode 8.)

I know this is wishful thinking, but a man can dream.
posted by painquale at 8:03 AM on March 14, 2016 [1 favorite]

GuyZero: the source for this week's title was ridiculous in the best way possible

Can you elaborate? I'm dense, I missed the reference, and Googling about didn't help.
posted by filthy light thief at 8:07 AM on March 14, 2016

At the risk of losing my Rusty Venture Fan Club card, I wasn't too enamored by the start of this season. Maybe I was spoiled by "All This and Gargantua-2". And frankly I was getting a bit tired of the Monarch. But the whole Blue Morpho story line has reinvigorated the character for me and this episode was top notch, one of their best. The various narrations, the animation, the flashbacks, just fantastic.

And no way Gary killed *mumble spider guy*. I'm thinking we'll have a Miller's Crossing style flashback in a later episode to see what really happened.
posted by beowulf573 at 8:50 AM on March 14, 2016 [2 favorites]

I'm holding onto a tiny sliver of hope that they have another season secretly in the chamber and they'll be all, "Psych! Here's another 8 episodes starting next week.

Since one of them told there were a few characters left out of this season (Anyone OSI, Orpheus and the Triad, Dermott), I kind of expect there will be at least a xmas episode and maybe maybe a season next year.
posted by lmfsilva at 9:56 AM on March 14, 2016 [1 favorite]

Also, it seems like Battleaxe survived falling into the hole.

Are we sure? The bar is still there, but was she actually in there?
posted by hobgadling at 11:05 AM on March 14, 2016

Are we sure? The bar is still there, but was she actually in there?

You could see her through the window. Bandaged and beat up but behind the bar.
posted by beowulf573 at 11:59 AM on March 14, 2016

Yup, she was there.


*mumble spider guy*

That's Wandering Spider to you, probably named for the Brazilian wandering spider, "a genus of aggressive and venomous spiders of potential medical significance to humans."
posted by filthy light thief at 12:18 PM on March 14, 2016 [1 favorite]

Upon reading the comments in the A.V. Club review of this episode, the scene with Wandering Spider got much creepier:

Gary getting Walking Spider to "help" him move the furniture into his car was from Silence of the Lambs, but they even paid tribute to the line "What are you, a size 14?" when Gary asked "What are you, a Wandering Spider?"
posted by filthy light thief at 3:07 PM on March 14, 2016 [3 favorites]

TV Insider has a good interview with Hammer and Publick, talking about the troubles with mentioning a specific number or date, and plans for the next season.
posted by filthy light thief at 3:08 PM on March 14, 2016 [2 favorites]

Can you elaborate? I'm dense, I missed the reference, and Googling about didn't help.

I don't know if you're dense, but Lambert was Tarzan in Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes. But it's probably not the first role you'd think of when thinking of him. It seemed like a bit of misdirection in the episode's title.
posted by GuyZero at 5:49 PM on March 14, 2016 [1 favorite]

This might've been the best episode to date. This season has been grand slam after grand slam and this one was out of the park.
posted by Pope Guilty at 6:02 PM on March 14, 2016 [1 favorite]

Amazing episode and season. It has made me nostalgic for the Tick (animated) so I've been enjoying those on the side.
posted by juiceCake at 6:13 PM on March 14, 2016

So apparently Gary/21's full name is Gary Fisher? The same as Carrie Fisher's hilarious dog? THIS MEANS SOMETHING.
posted by Strange Interlude at 8:38 PM on March 14, 2016 [1 favorite]

Maybe they can produce season 7 a little faster... I can hope at least.

So say that, I dunno, Christina Hendricks or Tom Jones or Reanimated Herve Villachaize -- who it is isn't the point, the point is that it's some busy person you find just paaaaaainfully hot. Anyway, say that they show up at your place every couple-few years and give you a real motherfucker of a sexual workout and take you places... [zapp] erotic places [/zapp] you didn't know existed.

I put it to you that "I wish they'd come around more often" is not really the proper reaction.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 10:03 PM on March 14, 2016 [1 favorite]

GuyZero: I don't know if you're dense, but Lambert was Tarzan in Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes.

Ah, thanks! To be honest, I didn't know recognize Lamber(t)'s name without searching for pictures of him, and even then I couldn't place him in any movies without further prompting.
posted by filthy light thief at 7:09 AM on March 15, 2016

I put it to you that "I wish they'd come around more often" is not really the proper reaction.

I'm greedy in bed. There. You've dug out my darkest secret. I WANT MOAR. MOOOOOOORE.

On rewatch, because this whole season is very rewatchable: first, I don't think this is my favourite episode or the best episode but it may be the best written and/or put-together episode. Sadly it doesn't have a ton of laughs or crazy hijinks. As a character piece it's probably the best episode they've done. I'm torn - it's great but my reaction to it is that it's not the greatest. I think the parts of "The Devi's Grip" where The Monarch has Dr Venture kidnapped are possibly better. The shot of the bullet going by the moon was fantastic. The whole thing as a set piece was really tight. It's just hard to reconcile my intellectual and emotional reactions.

As for Lambert, since he's wearing a speedsuit that he clearly got from Enzo's ("maybe I know the tastes of this man, maybe not") is he in on the protagonist/antagonist scene? Does he get arched? QUESTIONS.

Also nice touch that the Wandering Spider seems pretty clearly Brazilian.
posted by GuyZero at 8:02 AM on March 15, 2016 [3 favorites]

Blue Morpho going missing in 1976 is supposed to be fodder for the theory that he became Vendata, as that was Vendata's construction date.

I dunno, the whole Vendata thing. Although "Bot Seeks Bot" was the second-last episode of last season and somehow in my mind it was seasons ago. I'm more inclined to think Vendata was just co-incident with the plane crash that killed the original Blue Morpho. Too bad he's dead.
posted by GuyZero at 8:07 AM on March 15, 2016

Blue Morpho going missing in 1976 is supposed to be fodder for the theory that he became Vendata, as that was Vendata's construction date.

Is it crazy to think that this is the date that Doc was talking about in that interview that they had to reconcile?
posted by hobgadling at 8:26 AM on March 15, 2016

I like the theory that Blue Morpho was the "great man" Kano killed.
posted by painquale at 9:59 AM on March 15, 2016 [3 favorites]

I've been confused about Gary's plotline this season because I swear he had a body count in earlier seasons, but in this one he talks like he hasn't killed before and doesn't want to start. This being Gary, I actually suspect that he's revising reality -- the bit where he talks about "earning his wings" when the doctor died of joy smacks of that. It's such a sudden right turn in the narrative, from "my first kill happened when..." to babbling about arcade games. Another of the dude's protective delusions, along with 24's ghost.

Gary has become one of my favorite characters, partly because we've watched him earn everything he has. He found his ambition when 24 died and stopped being afraid to give a damn. Also, we knew he started henching when he was kidnapped as a eighth-grader, but it didn't sink in for me that he was literally a child. 24 must've been a father figure for him as well as a best friend -- makes his death even more of a kick in the nads.

I think I spoke too soon when I talked about Dr. Mrs. The Monarch finding her place in the world this year. Wide Wale is fucking monstrous to her in this episode, taunting her in a way that makes it clear he's never taken her seriously. First she gets mocked by Battleaxe and then essentially hazed this week -- she's supposed to be too powerful to get this bullshit, but in practice that's not true.

Also, Dragoon is sliding into dementia, isn't he? I'm sure I'm the last to notice this. He's always been a crotchety old guy with bizarre perceptions, so I think I chalked it all up to that, but when Red Mantle patted his hand instead of giving him shit I realized what was up.

The butt laser was one of the Monarch's finest moments. Dude is such a bizarro artist of henching, he can improv anything.
posted by thesmallmachine at 1:00 PM on March 15, 2016 [4 favorites]

Hey, good observations, thesmallmachine! I didn't understand that arcade sequence at all, and I like your interpretation. I also didn't notice Dragoon slipping away... I'll have to check for that when rewatching earlier episodes.
posted by painquale at 2:00 PM on March 15, 2016 [1 favorite]

As for Lambert, since he's wearing a speedsuit that he clearly got from Enzo's ("maybe I know the tastes of this man, maybe not") is he in on the protagonist/antagonist scene? Does he get arched? QUESTIONS.

I assume he occasionally has to kill some rando low-level supervillain whose plan is "behead the Highlander".
posted by Pope Guilty at 6:24 PM on March 15, 2016 [3 favorites]

I think I spoke too soon when I talked about Dr. Mrs. The Monarch finding her place in the world this year. Wide Wale is fucking monstrous to her in this episode, taunting her in a way that makes it clear he's never taken her seriously. First she gets mocked by Battleaxe and then essentially hazed this week -- she's supposed to be too powerful to get this bullshit, but in practice that's not true.

On some level this whole season has been about Wide Wale's revenge against The Monarch and DMTM for the killing of Dr Dugong. He's really just fucking with both of them. Rusty is just caught up in it all.
posted by GuyZero at 9:19 PM on March 15, 2016 [2 favorites]

I am many years behind and just now catching up. I felt like this episode's structure, with the narration, really reminded me of something, but I couldn't put my finger on it. Am I just imagining things?
posted by DoctorFedora at 5:30 AM on January 27