The Venture Bros./Fallen Arches

Fallen Arches
Season 2, Episode 8
Airdate	September 3, 2006
Written by	Doc Hammer
Directed by	Jackson Publick
← 2x07 Love-Bheits	2x09 → Guess Who's Coming to State Dinner?
The Venture Bros. — Season Two

Fallen Arches is the eighth episode of the second season of The Venture Bros., and the twenty-third episode overall. The Guild of Calamitous Intent finally gives Dr. Orpheus his own arch-nemesis.

Voice Talent: James Urbaniak (Dr. Venture), Patrick Warburton (Brock Samson), Michael Sinterniklaas (Dean Venture), Chris McCulloch (Hank Venture/The Monarch/Henchman 24/Watch/Torrid), Doc Hammer (Henchman 21/Ward/Lady Au Pare), Steven Rattazzi (Dr. Byron Orpheus), Charles Parnell (Jefferson Twilight), Dana Snyder (The Alchemist), Lisa Hammer (Triana Orpheus), Nina Hellman (Prostitute)

Plot Overview

Dr. Orpheus receives a video from the Guild of Calamitous Intent, notifying him that he is eligible for his own costumed nemesis. The villain screening is that day, so Dr. Orpheus sets off immediately to assemble a team.

In the Venture lab, Dr. Venture is showing off his new invention, the Walking Eye. Outside, the Guild rolls onto the Venture property.

Elsewhere, in New York City, vampire hunter Jefferson Twilight is fighting a black vampire, when another vampire behind him is zapped by Dr. Orpheus. Orpheus lets Jefferson know that they've been approved for an arch-enemy.

At the Monarch's cocoon, Henchman 21 is forging his own credentials to become a full-fledged villain. He tries to coerce Henchman 24 into joining him. Meanwhile, the Monarch has a hooker in his room, trying to make her look and sound like Dr. Girlfriend.

Back at the Venture Compound, two of the Guild henchmen are talking to Dr. Venture, impressed at being inside the lair of Dr. Jonas Venture Sr.. They are not terribly impressed by T.S. Venture.

Dr. Orpheus and Jefferson meet with the third member of their team, the Alchemist. Though he is working on a cure for AIDS, the Alchemist agrees to rejoin the team for the publicity.

Dr. Venture tells Dean that he has to look after Triana while the villain screening is going on, and then gives him the birds-and-bees talk. Dean goes through a variety of reactions; most notably horror, embarrassment, and confusion.

Henchman 21 reveals a set of jetpacks to Henchman 24 and the two go out to try them. The test is less-than-stellar, as they cannot control either jetpack.

The Monarch finishes with the hooker, and instead of just letting her leave, drops her into the labyrinth of the cocoon, to be possibly killed by the many traps throughout.

The villain screening begins, with the Order of the Triad interviewing a number of candidates. Meanwhile, Dean is putting on a production of Lady Windermere's Fan with Hank and Brock. Hank wanders into the bathroom to apply more acne cream, where a villain named Torrid is using the toilet. Torrid disappears, leaving a nasty smell in the room that Hank is horrified by. He calls Dean in to check it out.

Dr. Venture decides to take his Walking Eye outside, and begins to wash it with a hose in front of the villains.

Triana goes into the bathroom to see what the boys are doing. They decide to re-enact the events leading to Hank finding the smell, but when Triana sits on the toilet seat, she disappears.

Back at the cocoon, the whore is still trying to get out of the traps while the Monarch narrates over a loudspeaker.

The villain screening continues, with the Order of the Triad interviewing Lady Au Pair, aka Dr. Girlfriend. They keep asking her why her voice is so deep.

Hank and Dean try to figure out what happened to Triana, when Dean gets the idea to turn the shower on. The steam reveals a message written on the mirror, saying Triana is in the Torrid Zone.

The Order of the Triad interviews Torrid, who informs them that he kidnapped Triana. Dr. Orpheus attacks him, and they pretty much decide that Torrid is now their arch-nemesis.

The villains outside are busy fighting Dr. Venture's Walking Eye while T.S. gloats in the kitchen, eating a sandwich. Brock heads outside to join in on the action. The Order of the Triad walks in, and reveals that Triana is perfectly safe on an island belonging to Dr. Orpheus, which happens to be in the Torrid Zone. Dr. Venture tells them to get out.

Henchman 24 has given up on the jetpack and arch-villainy deal, and flags down a car to hitchhike. His powder-blue Stanza stops, driven by the whore. When she sees him dressed in a butterfly costume, she speeds off.

Arc Advancement

Happenings

• Dr. Orpheus is approved for his own arch-nemesis, so he reassembles his old team, the Order of the Triad. A villain named Torrid kidnaps Triana, and they pick him as their official enemy.

• The Monarch invites a prostitute over to his cocoon and presumably has sex with her. When done, he refuses to release her outright, dropping her into the maze of the cocoon instead, which is filled with deadly traps. The prostitute manages to escape, stealing Henchman 24's car in the process.

• Henchman 21 tries to start up his own villain career, but it never gets off the ground when his two jetpacks malfunction and Henchman 24 quits.

• Dr. Venture creates a new invention that he prompts the Guild villains gathered at the compound to attack. It holds up rather well under their onslaught.

Characters

• Brock has an herb garden.

• Dr. Orpheus was part of a hero team once, called the Order of the Triad. The other members were Jefferson Twilight and the Alchemist. The team disbanded when Dr. Orpheus went into semi-retirement to raise a family and guard the cosmos.

• Dr. Orpheus receives a video from The Guild of Calamitous Intent informing him that he is eligible for his own guild-licensed, name-brand villain. The video states some facts about the Guild:
  • It was founded in 1910.
  • It is the largest organization of villainy. The second and third-largest are the Fraternity of Torment and the Peril Partnership. There is also a large subset of unlicensed villains.
  • Villains seen in the video include Midnight Star, Green Glory, Wild Fop, and The Naked Ape.

• The Alchemist is trying to find a cure for AIDS. He decides to rejoin the Order of the Triad for the publicity.

• Dr. Venture creates a machine called the Walking Eye with no particular purpose in mind, except to prove that he's still got it. Features include (after stealing ideas from Brock, Hank, and Dean):
  • Camera in the eye
  • Iris-mounted lasers
  • Silent-stealth design
  • Monkey-proof welding

• Dr. Girlfriend has gone back to her former alias of Lady Au Pair. She shows up at the villain screening for Dr. Orpheus with two of her "murderous moppets." After the Order of the Triad keeps asking about her deep voice, she storms off, leaving the moppets behind.

• Henchman 21 tries to become a villain on his own, with the help of Henchman 24. He forges credentials for both of them and has jetpacks, but on an initial test nothing goes right. Henchman 24 quits.

• Dr. Orpheus owns an island in the Torrid Zone, the latitudes on Earth between the Tropic of Capricorn and the Tropic of Cancer.

Referbacks

• 1x12 - The Trial of the Monarch: The Phantom Limb promised Dr. Orpheus his own arch-nemesis during the trial; as Dr. Orpheus was under hypnosis at the time, he doesn't remember this clearly so being approved for a supervillain comes as a surprise.
• 2x01 - Powerless in the Face of Death: Henchman 21 previously expressed a desire to become a supervillain on his own during a support meeting for former henchmen.

Trivia

Allusions and References

• Splash and Netflix:
• Tetris:
• Blade:
• Aquaman:
• F. Murray Abraham and Edward James Olmos:
• David Coverdale, Whitesnake, Tawny Kitaen:
• Red Dragon:
• Deadman:
• Family Double Dare:
• Blacula:
• Lady Windermere's Fan:
• Franco-American:
• Lost:
• Jetboy and Jetgirl and The Damned:
• James Bond: