The Venture Bros./Victor. Echo. November.

Victor. Echo. November.
Season 2, Episode 6
Airdate	August 13, 2006
Written by	Doc Hammer
Directed by	Jackson Publick
← 2x05 20 Years to Midnight	2x07 → Love-Bheits
The Venture Bros. — Season Two

Victor. Echo. November. is the sixth episode of the second season of The Venture Bros., and the twenty-first episode overall. The Venture Brothers go on their first big date, while the Monarch must deal with his ex Dr. Girlfriend and her sort-of boyfriend Phantom Limb.

Voice Talent: James Urbaniak (Dr. Venture/Phantom Limb/Mafioso Art Enthusiast), Patrick Warburton (Brock Samson), Michael Sinterniklaas (Dean Venture), Chris McCulloch (Hank Venture/The Monarch/Henchman 24/Watch/Guild Commando), Doc Hammer (Dr. Girlfriend/Henchman 21/Master Billy Quizboy/Ward), Steven Rattazzi (Dr. Orpheus), Lisa Hammer (Triana Orpheus), Nina Hellman (Kim/Jollyrancher82)

Plot Overview

Dean is shaving his face, while Hank puts on his "best" outfit — a Batman costume. Brock forces Hank to change. It turns out the pair is going on a double-date with Triana and her friend.

Phantom Limb is in the middle of trying to sell a stolen Rembrandt painting, but Dr. Girlfriend is not amused, feeling that he's not really committing any supervillainy. In response, Phantom Limb kills his client, and then complains about staining the carpet. The two of them have to get ready for a meeting with the Monarch.

Dr. Venture wants to stay home and watch a dirty movie (at least, he thinks it is) so Brock drives the boys to their date, while everyone else is also en route. Triana describes the Venture Twins to her friend Kim. The Monarch gets a ride from his henchmen, and describes how he met his date through LiveJournal. Brock gives the boys advice on how to be good, non-dorky dates. Dr. Girlfriend says nothing on her ride with Phantom Limb.

The boys arrive at the restaurant first, and when they see the girls, Hank becomes convinced that Kim is a supervillain based on how she dressed. When Dr. Girlfriend arrives, the Monarch's date "JollyRancher82" is impressed, and the Monarch ends up describing the Phantom Limb's origin (at least, the version he knows). The Henchmen and the Ventures also end up doing the same.

Phantom Limb and the Monarch start filling out the paperwork to renew the Monarch's guild membership. Limb offers a number of plans, but the Monarch is only obsessed with Dr. Venture. Limb is unimpressed by the Monarch's ambitions, and accepts the challenge of trying to take out the Venture Family himself. He orders the Guild to go after the three Ventures, Brock, and HELPeR.

While Dr. Venture is watching the movie, the Venture Compound goes into full lockdown. Brock comes in naked and covered in blood. When the lights go out, Brock orders Dr. Venture to go into the panic room.

Back at the restaurant, Dr. Girlfriend is pissed off at both men, so she storms off into the bathroom. The Monarch finishes filling out his paperwork, and Phantom Limb tells him to let go of his feelings for Dr. Girlfriend.

Brock stabs one of the Guild operatives and gets him to admit his mission to kill the Venture Family. Brock orders HELPeR to retrieve the boys, but the robot is in pieces and Dr. Venture is missing an arm. Brock heads to the restaurant to get the twins himself. He manages to contact Dr. Venture, who has tied off his bleeding stump of an arm with a Christmas tree stand. Dr. Venture tells Brock to come back, but the bodyguard ignores him.

The boys are in the bathroom urinating, when Hank gets a stain on his pants. Hank decides to use the hand drier to clean his pants, but ends up lighting them on fire instead. The henchmen walk in, surprised that the boys are hard to kill. Everyone in the stalls (and Brock over the comm) overhear Phantom Limb in the next stall, telling the blackout teams to back off, since Limb can kill the boys himself.

In the women's room, Triana and Kim run into Dr. Girlfriend, who mistakes Kim for a supervillain and offers to work with her. After Triana points out what just happened, Kim decides to go for it.

Brock arrives at the restaurant and makes his way over to the bathroom stall where Phantom Limb is hiding. He threatens Limb, who agrees to back off.

The boys head back to the table where the girls are waiting, and Triana asks if they want to get dessert. The boys do their V finger stance, to which Kim comments that she just found her first arch-enemies.

Dr. Venture gets his arm reattached by Billy Quizboy. Dr. Venture asks how Billy got his mechanical arm, but Billy has no idea.

Notes

• This episode takes place before Assassinanny 911, as this is the first time Kim meets Hank and Dean. In that episode, Kim refers to Hank as "that Scooby-Doo kid," which is how Triana described him here.

Arc Advancement

Happenings

• Hank and Dean go on a double-date with Triana and her friend Kim. Despite Hank accidentally lighting his pants on fire in the bathroom, the date ends decently with Triana asking if they want dessert.

• The Monarch meets with Phantom Limb and Dr. Girlfriend about being reinstated in the Guild of Calamitous Intent. To prove that the Monarch has small ambitions and that the Ventures are pushovers, Phantom Limb orders the assassination of the entire family. Brock manages to fend off the Guild operatives and gets Phantom Limb to call them off.

• The Monarch goes on a date with a girl he met through LiveJournal. When the Phantom Limb orders the Ventures killed, she runs off crying.

Characters

• Phantom Limb: Three different origins are floated about for his powers and villainy.
  • Monarch's version: In college, had Billy Quizboy build a machine to enhance his muscles quickly, but it malfunctioned. (Out of the three origins, this is the closest to matching the hints given in 2x02.)
  • Henchmen's version: Phantom Limb and Billy built a time machine that ended up teleporting the Limb's arms and legs, along with Billy's hand, forty years into the future.
  • Hank's version: Phantom Limb teleported his arms and legs onto the moon while performing a magic act for the Queen of England. Dean says it never happened. Hank also mentions that Phantom Limb sliced off Billy's hand.

• Billy Quizboy: Personally, Billy has no idea how he lost his hand and ended up with a mechanical one.

• The Monarch: The Monarch is reinstated in the Guild of Calamitous Intent, under the same terms as before.

• Dr. Girlfriend: She is getting increasingly annoyed at both the Monarch and Phantom Limb, and expresses a desire to strike out on her own.

• Kim: Triana's friend is introduced for the first time (despite being seen previously in 2x03). Her outfit gets her mistaken for a supervillain by both Hank and Dr. Girlfriend. After going on a double-date with Hank and Dean and then running into Dr. Girlfriend in the bathroom, she decides to become a supervillain for real.

• Dr. Venture: His "syndicate number" is VEN79. It is unclear what the "syndicate" is or what the "79" refers to (possibly T.S. Venture's 18th birthday).

Referbacks

• 1x13 - Return to Spider-Skull Island: Dean is using Jovan Musk aftershave, as Hank speculated they would receive in a gift basket from their uncle Jonas.
• 1x13 - Return to Spider-Skull Island: Henchmen 21 and 24 mention having to ditch the Monarchmobile after killing the Venture Brothers.
• 1x09 - Are You There God? It's Me, Dean: Hank mentions that Billy Quizboy performed surgery on Dean's testicles.

Trivia

Allusions and References

• Batman:
• Daisy razor:
• Rembrandt and Raphael:
• Mona Lisa:
• TV Guide:
• The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas:
• Buddy Holly:
• Scooby-Doo:
• LiveJournal:
• Jolly Rancher:
• Cosplay:
• Republica:
• Card Sharks:
• Technotronic:
• MAC lipstick:
• Empire Strikes Back: