"The Rorqual Affair" – The Venture Brothers S07E02 Review

First of all, apologizes for the relative lateness of the Venture Brothers review. My DVR wouldn't record the show for some reason. It was on OnePass, but I think they changed the title from "Venture Brothers" to "Venture Bros." and it screwed up the OnePass. So if anyone else was having that problem, learn from my mistake.

Second, a "rorqual" is the name of the family/species of baleen whales. Since Wide Wale is a human with whale DNA, I suppose it's in reference to that. The more you know...

So to recap, "The Rorqual Affair" is the second of three parts of "The Morphic Trilogy". At least, that's what Adult Swim calls it at the end. But rather than part 2 of last week's episode, it takes place more or less concurrently with it. So there's no Dean or Brock, and Rusty only appears in a dream. But since Monarch (James Urbaniak) and his wife Girlfriend (or Dr. Mrs. the Monarch if you prefer, but "Girlfriend" is easier to write and read) weren't in last week's episode, that means they get a lot to do this week.

Monarch, posing as Blue Morpho, goes to confront Wide Wale. Henchman 21, who has been passing himself off as Blue Morpho's chauffeur Kano (see also Green Hornet and Kato), oversleeps so Monarch gets captured.

Meanwhile, the Guild of Calamitous Intent is in a panic because Morpho is killing off its members. Red Death (Clancy Brown) offers to kill Morpho in return for a seat on the Guild board. 21 and Girlfriend pay Red Death a visit and convince him to help them save Monarch in return for a guaranteed seat on the board. They break into an OSI shell corporation and steal a file, and Girlfriend sends Red Death off on an errand.

Meanwhile, Wide Wale and his whale lice henchman Rocco have easily realized Monarch is Morpho. Monarch killed Wide Wale's brother Dr. Dugong, so Wide Wale is looking for revenge. Hank arrives posing as an Italian hitman, and his disguise is just as bogus as Monarch's so everyone knows who he is. However, before he can shoot Monarch, Girlfriend and 21 barge in. Red Death also flies in with the file subject: Dr. Dugong, who faked his own death years ago (his regenerative starfish powers let him regrow the head that Monarch blew off).

Dugong, who sounds like Jimmy Stewart for some reason, has no idea Wide Wale is a super-villain. Wide Wale and Monarch join forces to convince Dugong they're just playing hide-and-seek. And then the Ventures' tower across the street starts shaking, and the Morpho Mobile flies in and another Blue Morpho gets out. And we end with Monarch figuring that he's off the hook. And this brings part 2 up to speed with part 1, so we can have next week's earth-shattering conclusion.

I've been a fan of Venture Brothers since day one, and the Monarch is the main reason why. The show started as a weird half-assed Jonny Quest parody, but the real humor has come from the weird comic book antics of the secondary characters. Poking fun at Jonny Quest has never been as humorous as poking fun at the over-the-top comic book villains, secret societies, homicidal killers, and occasional heroes. It all makes the Ventures look rather weak by comparison.

And so we get Monarch, an incompetent bungling villain with a butterfly monarch motif. And his wife Girlfriend, who is trying to hold the Guild together and figure out who Morpho is because Monarch hasn't told her that he is. And you have Clancy Brown as Red Death, who plays the villain as sorta-kinda trying to retire. He sits at home in a sweater playing with his little red-skulled girl. But then flies into homicidal rages at the first sign of trouble even though he's trying to retire.

You get more characterization in a half-hour of Venture Brothers than you do in most hour-long superhero shows. Yes, that means you, Flash and Arrow and Supergirl. DC's Legends of Tomorrow mostly goes the Venture Brothers route, not taking itself too seriously. Flash has moment of inspired insanity, sure. But it doesn't maintain it the way that Venture Brothers does.

So we get Monarch who can go from surprisingly competent one moment, to surprised at his own competence the next. Look at the scene where he flips a knife off of Wide Wale's desk and throws it at Rocco. Yes, the knife flies the wrong way and has no effect. But then you get Monarch looking insufferably pleased with himself for something he's doing going right.

Venture Brothers also manages to cram in more subplots and side characters than some shows do with 60-minute episodes and 22-episode seasons. This episode alone we get the Guild board, even though only a few members (including James Urbaniak doing Phantom Limb) with speaking roles. And other weird-ass characters like Tunnel Vision, Flying Squid, Wandering Spider and his wife, Dr. Dugong, and a lot of others. While creators Chris McCulloch and Doc Hammer poke fun at the comic book tropes.

Like when Wide Wale and Rocco do a routine about how wearing a mask around the eyes does nothing to conceal a superhero's identity. "That's the only way we can identify each other: eye sockets."

Unfortunately, unless you go back to the beginning to start watching, a lot of the jokes and subplots are likely to go over your head. They're using characters like Dugong who died back in season 3, in 2008. That's ten years ago: let's see Flash keep up that kind of continuity.

But hey, that's what DVD collections and endless late-night reruns are for. And if you like weird humor meta-references, and general wackiness, you can jump into Venture Brothers anytime. 12/11 pm on Sunday nights. Be there. Aloha.

But that's just my opinion, I could be wrong. What do you think?