Tanks for Nuthin'

"Tanks for Nuthin'"
The Venture Bros. episode
Episode no.	Season 6 Episode 5
Directed by	Jackson Publick
Written by	Jackson Publick
Production code	605
Original air date	February 28th, 2016
Episode Chronology
← Previous "Rapacity in Blue" Next → "It Happening One Night"

Tanks for Nuthin' is the fifth episode of Season 6 and the overall sixty-seventh episode of The Venture Bros.

Plot

In the aftermath of the previous night, The Monarch is awaken by the sound of his wife leaving for work. The couple get into an argument over the monarch's lack of villainy which he accounts for not letting her arch Dr. Venture but she tells him Venture is at higher level of arch enemies. She states that he should arch someone else for a change or do something else evil instead of lazing about and goof off with Henchman 21. When the Monarch states she married him for better or for worse, she states she married the person he used to be before leaving her husband in silence. Henchman 21 asks The Monarch does he need comfort but the latter yells they are going to the Morpho Cave.

At Tophet Tower, Brock Samson (no longer under the influence of the mind control gas) awakens to find himself in the apartment of Warriana. He attempts to sneak out only to find that she is already awake, telling him there is coffee in the kitchen. Brock attempts to explain his actions over the previous night but she is uninterested in talking and has Brock leave.

At VenTech Tower, The Guild of Calamitous Intent has collected the body of Haranguetan. Dr. Mrs. The Monarch then speaks with Dr. Venture, where she accuses him of ordering Brock to kill the villain. Venture and the arriving Brock deny any involvement with the latter's death and refuse to allow the councilwoman to see their tapes. She leaves as Watch and Ward give Dr. Venture papers for him to sign and contact them if he has any questions and give him a free pen. The Guild members leave as The Sea Captain arrives and tells Dr. Venture stocks have fallen due to a video being uploaded on the Internet.

At unknown location, Pete White, Action Man, Colonel Gentleman, and Rose Whalen are laughing at a video of Billy Quiz-boy under the influence of the mind control gas while eating a fast food burger. When Billy (also free of the gas' influence) sees them watching the video, he demands they take it down but they refuse since it has already become so popular. Colonel Gentleman teasingly offers Billy the same restaurant's burger. Billy complains until his mother tells him he has a guest- it is Dr. Mrs. The Monarch.

In the Morpho Cave, Henchman 21 and The Monarch are going through the list of villains in line to arch Venture but decide to get the Morphomobile out of the impound first.

At Meteor Majeure, The Council of 13 (with Phineas Phage as their newest member) are discussing the matter of Haranguetan's death and the issue of the vigilante posing as the new Blue Morpho. Dr. Mrs. The Monarch (communicating via hologram) mentions not being able to obtain Venture's surveillance tapes. Wide Wale (also a hologram) states that when he invaded a few days ago he left his own surveillance devices there. He states the Ventures can't hide anything from him, unaware that his waiter in the restaurant where he is eating is Hank Venture in disguise. Dr. Mrs. The Monarch tells him to e-mail her the video while she goes to inform Haranguetan's widow of his death.

The Councilwoman goes to the bar of Haranguetan' widow Battleaxe, who latter breaks down in tears after hearing of her husband's death. She then inquires about the status of the Haranguetank which she is all she has left of her late husband. Dr. Mrs. The Monarch agrees to help her retrieve it.

At Stuyvesant University, Dean is in class listening to a lecture from his class Professor Nidaba who is secretly revealed to be the super-villain Think Tank (who has just earn the rights to arch Dr. Venture). He ends the class but asks Dean to stay behind, telling him how terrible his paper is. Nidaba accurately deduces everything about Dean's home life and he tells him to stay away from home in order to be away from potential distraction. Dean takes his advice as the Professor evilly laughs to himself.

At Battleaxe's bar, Dr. Mrs. The Monarch has located the Haranguetank at an impound lot due to it having many unpaid parking tickets. She then offers to take the crying widow to retrieve it, which the latter graciously accepts. She goes to change as Dr. Mrs. The Monarch checks her e-mails and finds the link Wide Wale promised her but Battle-axe (in costume) returns before she can watch it.

At the city impound lot, The Monarch and Henchman 21 (in their Blue Morpho and Kano costumes respectively) tranquilize the guard and go in search of their car.

Meanwhile, at VenTech Tower Brock is watching a TV news talk show where the Sea Captain is being interviewed by Alexis Warrington (Warriana's civilian identity) about the recent video showing Billy under the influence of mind control gas. Unknown to Brock, Think Tank arrives and surrepticiously drives up the side of the building to get to Dr. Venture (after analyzing the degree of danger that Brock poses). At that moment, Dr. Venture is on the phone scolding Billy for his recent action despite Billy stating it was Venture's idea for the gas' creation. Venture then notices Think Tank pointing a laser beam at him before it goes off and destroys most of his den. The explosion alerts Brock who runs to investigate the cause.

Back at the impound lot, The Monarch and 21 are searching for the Morphomobile as the tranquilized guard awakens just in time to be assaulted by Battleaxe, who has just arrived with Dr. Mrs. The Monarch.

Think Tank has now come face-to-face with Dr. Venture, who immediately calls Brock on his communicator watch for help. Brock tells Venture to run but he is unable to do so due to the villain being right in front of him. Think Tank then apologizes to Venture, explaining that lately he has been forced to arch muscle-headed or foolish heroes and states with Venture he may have a worthy adversary. He offers a game of chess only to be disappointed that Rusty does not play. Momentarily, Dr. Venture ignores him to contact the Guild to complain about these circumstances, but he is repeatedly pranked by Watch and Ward. As this happens, Brock arrives and gives the now-delighted villain a challenge that ends with him being blasted out the building. Brock is caught by a flying Warriana who apologizes for her dismissive behavior and the two make up before Brock tells her he is dealing with Think Tank. At the mention of Think Tank, Warriana becomes angry and flies back to the tower and deal with him.

At the impound lot, Dr. Mrs. The Monarch and Battleaxe have located the Haranguetank as the councilwoman takes notice of The Blue Morpho (her disguised husband) but is unable to identify him. She gives chase just as Henchman 21 finds the Morphomobile but they are unable to escape due to it having a boot on the front tires. While she is dealing with this, Battleaxe goes through her laptop and sees her husband's invasion of Ventech Tower. After getting drunk, she sees her husband's death and mistakes Dr. Venture for the Blue Morpho. Dr. Mrs. The Monarch finds the Morphomobile and threatens the two, which causes the Monarch to accidentally press a button that frees the car of its boots, enabling it to fly away. Dr. Mrs. The Monarch shoots after the car. She soon witnesses Battleaxe driving off, determined to avenge her husband who she thinks Venture had killed. Dr. Mrs. The Monarch then runs to the Guild limo where she orders Watch and Ward to go after the flying Morphomobile.

At Ventech Tower, Brock and Warriana have defeated Think Tank who leaves while his opponents decide to become a couple and head back to her apartment to make it official. Elsewhere, flying in the sky is The Monarch who is amazed by his father's car and has 21 drive over the Venture's house so he can prank them by defecating in their pool.

Meanwhile the Guild limo has located the Morphomobile flying over the Ventures' building and nearly crashes into both Hank and Dean's hover-car and the Haranguetank. The Haraguetank veers out of control and strikes the unarmored Think Tank, sending them both through the building and into the hole in the lobby where it explodes. Dr. Mrs. The Monarch then spots Dr. Venture on the balcony looking over the proceeding events and she gives off an angry glare, making it clear that (like Billy) she believes that Rusty is the new Blue Morpho.

The exhausted councilwoman goes home to find that the front room has been fully repaired and decorated. She goes up to bed where she speaks with her husband and apologizes for her actions stating he is not her enemy, before ominously stating "I know who my enemy is", which worries the Monarch.

Connections to Previous Episodes

• Various references to the previous episode are made.
  • The Monarch's decision to become the new Blue Morpho.
  • Brock fighting against Harangutean.
  • Harangutean's death at the hands of Henchman 21.
  • The Morphomobile being impounded.
  • Sergeant Hatred being hospitalized after getting attacked by Haranguetan
  • Billy and Brock's exposure to the mind control gas.
  • Brock's one-night stand with Warriana.
• References to Faking Miracles.
  • The council deciding to re-instate Dr. Phineas Phage and it is shown they have acted on their promise.
  • Hank has a job at Vincenzo's, Wide Wale's favorite restaurant.
  • Dean attending class at Stuyvesant University after being accepted.
  • Hank driving the hover-car which was in the Company's basement.
  • Dr. Venture having to go to the science conference.
• Wide Wale mentions his attack on VenTech Tower which occurred in Maybe No Go.
• Wide Wale being Dr. Venture's primary arch-enemy which he gained in Hostile Makeover.
• Manolo's truck is still crushed from where Warriana fell on it in Hostile Makeover.
• In The Devil's Grip, Colonel Gentleman had offered to let Action Man and Rose Whalen to move in with him.
• In All This and Gargantua-2, Dr. Phineas Phage stated he would like to work Dr. Mrs. The Monarch again as of this episode he is able to work with her once more.
• Dr. Venture's attraction to Dr. Mrs. The Monarch which was last seen in Return to Malice (though he also attempted to flirt in The Devil's Grip).
• Brock still has a metal plate in his chest to due to injuries he suffered in The Family That Slays Together Stays Together (Part II)
• Dr. Mrs. The Monarch refers to "Death by Samson" a common cause of supervillain/henchman death as established in The Lepidopterists. Additionally, she assures Rusty that Haranguetan was not "some anonymous henchman that you could bury in your flower bed", referring to the Potter's Field that exists on the Venture Compound where various dead henchmen and enemies have been buried (as revealed in A Very Venture Halloween).
• One of the vehicles in the impound lot has long bull horns and a nose ring, most likely a reference to Manotaur from Shadowman 9: In the Cradle of Destiny.

Trivia

• Brock and Warriana become a couple.
• Dr. Mrs. The Monarch assumes that Thaddeus Venture is The Blue Morpho, similar to Billy's assumption.
• The Sea Captain now calls Thaddeus "Chairman" similar to how he addressed Jonas Jr.
• Phantom Limb seems certain that the original Blue Morpho is long dead, perhaps indicating that he may have had a role in the hero's demise.
• It is not explicitly stated in this episode (or the subsequent one) if Battleaxe died in the Haranguetank's explosion, but given the running-gag in Season 6 of villains dying at the end of the episode, it is reasonable to presume that she and Think Tank were both killed.

Cultural References

• Dr. Venture asks Brock if he is experiencing "anal leakage". This is a side effect often referred to in commercials for prescription medication, but was most notorious as a side effect of the fat substitute Olestra.
• The embarrassing video of Billy mimics a leaked video of the actor and TV personality David Hasselhoff sloppily eating a hamburger while apparently intoxicated.
• Think Tank (as Prof. Nidaba) refers to having a certificate of completion from the Evelyn Wood Program. This was a well-known speed-reading course that was partially inspired by U.S. President John F. Kennedy and endorsed by entertainer Steve Allen.
• Dean's outfit at Stuyvesant University strongly resembles the outfit worn by Peter Parker in the 1960s Spider-Man cartoon show.
• Nidaba was the Sumerian goddess of writing, learning, and the harvest.
• Dr. Nidaba's inability to hail a cab after his failed arching attempt may be a reference to the urban notion about a Black man not being able to hail a cab late at night in the city.