With "The Unicorn in Captivity" the jokes fly fast and furious, although the plot is taken more from Ocean's Eleven rather than The Fast and the Furious. Nothing really goes anywhere... yet. But we've still got a few more episodes to go until the season wraps up and we wait (another two years?) for season 8.
The episode boils down to two major plotlines. First, Rusty, Billy, and Pete build a working teleporter. Rusty is ready to cash in for fame and sex, but Brock takes him to the new OSI HQ in the Ven-Tech Tower (using the cover name of "Dummy Corp"), and Gathers tells Rusty a teleporter is a game-changer that could change the world. Rusty doesn't care, so Gathers brings in the secret Illuminati. they invite Rusty to a Eyes Wide Shut-type sex party so he can see what he'll get if he joins them and hands over the teleporter.
There's lots of pixelated animated nudity. In the end, Rusty joins the Illuminati... and in the end tag we find out that OSI strapped him into a sex machine and put him in a VR simulation.
In the second plot, Girlfriend convinces Monarch to join a team of super-villains who plan to break into Ven-Tech and steal the teleporter. The team already lost their scout, Tiny Eagle (Brock crushes him in the opening tag), so they need Monarch as a replacement. The previously seen Copycat leads the team, and the members are Presto Change-O (Mark Hamill? Yes, Mark Hamill), Dot Com, Ramburglar, Tunnel Vision, and Driver X.
Monarch is upset they're not arching Rusty properly, and wants to take command of the team Copycat puts the kibosh on that and assigns Monarch to aerial reconnaissance. The plan goes sideways pretty quickly. Copycat is actually selling out his own team, with the help of the dozens of clones of himself he can create. Including one that is disguised as Driver X and dissolves himself at a critical moment.
Copycat's real plan is to use the villains as a distraction, trigger the emergency alarm so that the automated claws put the two teleporter pods in the Venture saferoom, then airlift the saferoom out by helicopter. The plan goes almost without a hitch, until it hitches. A lot. Monarch didn't bring his flying wings, so by the time 21 brings them to him, Monarch ends up flying into Rusty's bedroom and the bed dumps him into the saferoom.
Meanwhile, Brock has caught Presto who grabbed the second pad before it was taken to the saferoom. Ramburglar and Tunnel Vision arrive and knock Brock out. Hatred opens fire on Monarch, and the bullets go through Monarch's teleporter pad and kill Ramburglar. Who then falls into his teleporter pad and teleports his pad to Monarch. 21 tries to warn the team in a waiting van, and the Copycat clone disguised as Driver X merges with the original. Brock arrives, takes out Tunnel Vision, and kills Presto after the shapeshifter uses his powers to turn into an elliptical machine and keep Brock occupied for a few seconds.
A stray shot from Hatred hits Copycat's helicopter and brings the saferoom--and Monarch--falling down. Monarch gets both teleporter pads and escapes with 21.
The whole episode is a web of intrigue, with betrayals and double-crosses and heists and counter-heists and it's a bit hard to keep track of it all. And it's even more confusing to watch then it was to write above. There's no sign of Hank and Dean, although Hank gets a mention when Rusty wants to use him as their first human subject with the teleporters.
The villains are nothing to write home about. Hamill's Presto Change-O is basically a much tamer version of Hamill's Joker. We've seen Dot Com and Tunnel Vision before in brief background shots. Ramburglar is probably the most impressive: he's a burglar with ram horns, who seems to have a grudge against Brock. Pity he gets shot and decapitated before he gets to do much. Tiny Eagle could have been the next Slipknot from the Suicide Squad movie. His candle burned brief but bright before his ignominious death.
Copycat is pretty much the same guy we saw in season 6. A 60s Rat Pack-style hepcat who can create clones of himself. As with many Venture episodes, the fun is in the little bits and pieces. Like 21 delivering Monarch's wings in a package of adult diapers. Because nobody asks too many questions when male diapers are involved. The The Fly jokes involving the teleporter pads. The various Eyes Wide Shut jokes at the Illuminati orgy, Presto briefly thwarting Brock by turning into an elliptical machine. It all adds up.
There's also the general parody of comic book tropes: we get goofy super villains and elaborate Guild rules--Monarch is doing the job to boost his EMA level in the Guild. There's a bit of NWO conspiracy thrown in for good measure. Like several episodes this season, the basic story isn't a comedy. The whole thing could have been done seriously and would make a decent comic book issue. But Chris McCulloch (under his Jackson Publick pseudonym) tosses in the typical comedy touches that make most Venture episodes.
Speaking of McCulloch, I typically don't mention it but I'm always amused and impressed by the number voices that he and co-creator Doc Hammer do each week. This episode McCulloch voices six different characters. Maybe my hearing is going, but for the most part they sound nothing alike. Maybe they're altered in the sound booth: I don't know. Mark Hamill is an excellent voice actor, but all of his characters sound like... Mark Hamill. I wouldn't know who McCulloch voices without the end credits.
So "The Unicorn in Captivity" is another keeper. What repercussions it will have on the future, who knows? Monarch now has a working teleporter, and Rusty is on his way up in the world even if at the end he gets screwed. Literally. Will it pay off down the road? We'll see.
But that's just my opinion, I could be wrong. What do you think
Written by Gislef on Sep 17, 2018
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