Episode - Season 5, Episode 5 (Production Code: 505)
First Aired - July 14, 2013
The episode begins on a somber note: A funeral, for the recently-deceased "Clue Clown", dead from a heart attack in his own Clown Car (which, while the Clue Clown survived the heart attack initially, was packed so full of hench-clowns that he died in the time it took for responders to extract enough hench-clowns to reach him). Also attending is Captain Sunshine, Clue Clown's heroic arch, who is convinced the funeral is just another riddle by Clue Clown to get the last laugh—and he is right, when Clown's corpse springs out of the coffin like a demented jack-in-the-box before he is lowered into the ground, much to Sunshine's grief. Nearby, OSI agents Brock and Shore Leave, along with Snoopy and Headshot, watch the villainous proceedings from their hiding place, attempting to identify the attending GOCI Council of 13 members by the silhouettes provided by Monstroso. Unfortunately, they're unable to positively identify any of the Council, until Red Mantle & Dragoon calls one out by name: Vendata, a half-human cyborg who apparently leads a struggling social/love life thanks to his stunted emotions and complete lack of tact.
Upon researching Vendata, Hunter Gathers recognizes him, revealing that he was a project of Dr. Thaddeus Venture himself, named "Venturion", that was abandoned after Venturion proved erratic and violent towards little Rusty, though how he ended up in the Guild is unknown. After finding an online classified written by Vendata seeking companionship of another robotic creation such as himself, OSI seizes the opportunity to gain intel on Vendata's fellow Councilmembers, and recruits Ghost Robot, disguising him as the villain Galacticon to accept Vendata's classified and take him on a date.
Meanwhile, at the Council of 13, the Council welcomes its newest member, Dr. Phineas Phage. Despite the Sovereign forbidding any official celebrations, Don Hell invites the Councilmembers to an unofficial party at his club, which caters exclusively to supervillains. Vendata declines to attend, having arranged a date with "Galacticon" at Chairman Wao's Chow House, earning him some razzing from the other members before they depart for Don Hell's.
At Chairman Wao's, Brock briefs Robot Ghost one last time before his "date" with Vendata, but Robot Ghost is...distracted by his new fingers and does not seem to understand the risk he is actually taking. Nevertheless, OSI sends him on his way. The date goes awkwardly, with the two emotionless robots having...about as engaging a conversation as a pair of emotionless robots. Still, Vendata, seeking a livelier scene, invites "Galacticon" to Don Hell's, which Robot Ghost naively accepts, much to Brock's chagrin as he tries to discourage him.
OSI's setbacks do not stop there, however: As soon as Vendata and Robot Ghost enter the club, they completely lose Robot Ghost's signal. Thinking quickly, Brock drives to the Venture Compound and retrieves a pair of uniforms for himself and Shore-leave, unfortunately attracting the attention of Rusty, who believes Brock is attending a costume party, and "invites" himself to it, picking up Billy Quizboy along the way.
Brock, disguised as "Yeti Mummy" and Shoreleave as the "Sri Lankan Devil Bird" (though he can't remember the former villain's name), manage to get into the club, unaware that Rusty has followed them. Shore Leave takes up a post at the bar, while Brock goes to seek out Robot Ghost, intending to inform Ghost of the mission's abortion and extract him. Brock locates Robot Ghost, but Vendata, who briefly got up to go talk with his fellow councilmembers, sees the two conversing, and is led to believe that "Galacticon" is ditching him for "Yeti Mummy." Up on the surface, Billy and Rusty arrive, in their own "costumes", but are unable to find a door until the bouncer confronts them for snooping around; he initially seems to assume that Rusty and Billy are the entertainment, which the latter play along with to get access.
As if OSI's mission couldn't become any more compromised, who shows up but none other than the actual Galacticon, which Shore Leave takes notice of and informs Brock, who hastily takes Ghost Robot to the bathroom to get him out of the disguise before Galacticon notices his doppelganger. Their flight is noticed by Vendata, who, assuming they are going into the bathroom for a quickie, follows to confront them. Meanwhile, the bouncer pulls Don Hell aside to inform them that Dr. Venture and Billy just walked in, still selling the "Dr. Ventriloquist" act—despite the fact that apparently the bouncer didn't buy it.
Vendata enters the bathroom, seeking out Galacticon—and finds Ghost Robot and Brock halfway-dressed. Before he can confront "Galacticon" on this apparent case of infidelity, Brock dispatches him with a swift kick, knocking the cyborg out cold...er...colder. At the bar, Shore Leave's disguise is nearly blown by the Flying Squid, who was apparently a good friend of the late, real Sri Lankan Devil Bird. Thankfully, the situation is defused by Brock...now wearing Vendata's getup, while Robot Ghost is in the Yeti Mummy getup. Just as they prepare to leave, Don Hell takes the stage with tonight's "entertainment": Dr. Venture and Billy Quizboy, tied to a wheel of tortures and about to be raffled off to one lucky villain to execute the two for their intrusion. Against Shoreleave's advice, Brock resolves to rescue the doctor, despite, you know, being in a club filled with those who would like nothing more than to kill the lot of them in a million different painful ways. Elsewhere, the Flying Squid gets to a payphone and makes a call, informing the person on the other end of the events, and saying they have to get down there, now.
On the stage, as everyone gets their raffle token, Shoreleave covertly climbs on top of the giant disco ball and begins cutting through the cable suspending it. Don spins the Wheel of Tortures with Venture and Billy attached; around and around it goes, eventually landing on: Acid Dip. Brock...uh..."wins" the raffle but finds himself between a rock and a proverbial hard place: Saving Rusty would surely blow his cover, exposing the both of them to the wrath of an entire nightclub full of enemies with no discernable way out, but letting Rusty die, let alone killing the man itself, to maintain his disguise just isn't an option. Thankfully, a resolution presents itself before he has to make that choice. In walks a thoroughly enraged Monarch, having been tipped off by Flying Squid. Arriving with him is his wife Dr. Mrs. The Monarch, wielding one of the most powerful weapons in the Guild arsenal: The GOCI rulebook.
Dr. Mrs. The Monarch quickly cites the rule that a villain may not attack another villain's arch nemesis without seeking the prior villain's approval. Phineas Phage asserts that a Villain Team-Up against a specific target supersedes that single villain's arching rights, but Dr. Mrs. The Monarch retorts that in such a situation, the team-up must still offer the arch's assigned villain first dibs on the arch. Since neither this nor original consent was sought, Don Hell reluctantly calls the torture off, and Rusty and Billy are set free. As the party disperses, Vendata, now lacking his costume, confronts Brock...however, he is incoherent, babbling about his wife and a plane going down, before falling unconscious again in a heap.
Brock leaves with Ghost Robot and Shoreleave, confident that someone like the Monarch couldn't possibly harm Rusty seriously. For his part, the Monarch is confident in his victory, believing he finally has Rusty right where he-
At this moment, the disco ball, its cable already loosened by Shore Leave, makes its prescience known by smashing down upon Rusty, and so the episode ends.
The Stinger has the Sovereign, in "acknowledgement of [their] expertise and extensive history of service" to the Guild, inviting someone to join the Council of 13. The camera cuts to show the "someone" is Dr. Mrs. The Monarch, who requests a day to think about it and talk it over with her husband. Observing the proceedings on television is the Revenge Society, accompanied by Dr. Killinger, who offers them some popcorn.
- Antagonist in Mourning: An inconsolable Captain Sunshine hurls himself onto Clue Clown's coffin during the burial.
- Big Damn Heroes: The Monarch and Dr. Mrs. The Monarch come out of freaking nowhere to rescue Doctor Venture and Billy at the end. Immediately subverted when the rescue results in disaster anyway.
- Black Comedy: Invoked during the funeral. Clue Clown, who just died, has the man doing eulogy make a "jack in the box" joke with his own casket because said villain wanted "the last laugh". The mourners are unamused, especially Dragoon who openly dismisses the joke (but never liked the man's jokes to begin with).
- Call-Back:
- The new member of the Council of Thirteen is Dr. Phineas Phage, previously seen arching Prof. Impossible before his Face–Heel Turn in Pomp and Circuitry.
- OSI's civilian informant for their Honey Trap is Ghost Robot, previously seen in Any Which Way but Zeus.
- Clown Car: Clue Clown died when he had a heart attack while driving. Per Shoreleave, it took 20 minutes to pull out his hench clowns before they could get to him, contributing to his death.
- Conflicting Loyalty: Brock's first reaction to seeing Rusty and Billy captured by Don Hell is to try to save them, despite being on his own highly secretive and dangerous mission for the O.S.I. (with a civilian informant no less). Shore Leave has to physically hold him back and remind him of this.
- Continuity Nod:
- Brick Frog can be seen when Brock and Shore Leave enter the club. Other previously introduced villains like Curse can be seen in the crowd.
- When finding costumes to sneak into the Guild nightclub, Brock wears the "Yeti Mummy" costume from The Buddy System while Shoreleave wears the Sri Lankan Devil Bird costume from The Doctor Is Sin.
- When Rusty picks Billy up to go to the villain club, Billy mentions that Pete couldn't go because he's still mixing the "Jacket" single from "The Shallow Gravy Story".
- The entire episode is one for Brock in relation to the flashbacks seen in The Invisible Hand Of Fate. Brock let a civilian be put in danger for the sake of a mission before, and he's not gonna let it happen again.
- A Day in the Limelight: For the Council of 13.
- Den of Iniquity: Don Hell's nightclub for villains is the setting for most of the episode.
- Dude, Not Funny!: Clue Clown's own sick last joke — popping out of his grave like a jack-in-the-box — earns a "Too soon!" from Red Mantle.
- Foreshadowing: Upon coming to after Brock attacked him, Vendata starts talking gibberish about having a wife and a plane going down, setting up the reveal that Vendata is the Monarch's father.
- Freeze-Frame Bonus: Brock and Shore Leave's phony Guild IDs only flash on screen for a moment, but are full of interesting tidbits. Brock is apparently seven-feet tall and weighs 390 lbs, while Shore Leave put "Yes" for "Sex". It also lists their disguise "themes" ("Cryptid" and "Avian" respectively).
- The Friend Nobody Likes: Downplayed. While nobody on the Council can stand Vendata's mechanical bluntness, they still seem supportive, if still teasing, of him finally trying to reach out and have some form of social contact and are even sympathetic and supportive when it appears Vendata's date has ditched him.
- Leaning on the Fourth Wall: As the Revenge Society watches their spy camera into the Guild's headquarters, it appears as if they've been watching the events of the entire episode, making Phantom Limb's comment, "Best. Show. On. Television." a little more self-congratulatory.
- Mundane Utility: Red Mantle uses his Dishing Out Dirt ability to bury Boggles' the Clue Clown's coffin at the end of his funeral.
- The Only One Allowed to Defeat You: Both played straight and invoked by The Monarch, who cites the part of Guild regulations that establishes this rule to make the other villains let Rusty go.
- Shout-Out:
- The Clue Clown is a mash-up of The Joker and The Riddler.
- Vendata has similarities to the titular character from RoboCop (1987), with Brock even referring to the film.
- Shoreleave refers to Vendata as Bicentennial Man.
- On the way to a party, riding in a car that resembles the The Munster Coach, the members of The Guild talk about their past and mention how they apparently used to get together and race cars around. Dragoon gets their past confused with Wacky Races, mentioning a racer with a mustache and a snickering dog.
- Vampires Own Nightclubs: Don Hell is never stated to be a vampire but there's a distinct gothic theme to him, his hostesses, and his club. He even wears the sort of high-collared cape that Orpheus is constantly compared to Dracula for.
- Ventriloquism: Rusty and Billy are able to get into the Guild club pretending to be "Doctor Ventriloquist" and his dummy, respectively. (The bouncer sees right through it but lets them in anyway so they can be arched.)
- Villainous Rescue: Downplayed in that Brock was about to rescue Rusty and Billy himself, but they were surrounded by so many bad guys that things still could have gotten ugly fast. Instead, The Monarch arrives in a towering fury, and Dr. Mrs. The Monarch cites Guild law that states that, because the Monarch is Dr. Venture's primary archnemesis and this torture of him was happening without the Monarch's approval or consent, the other villains have to let him (and by extension, Billy) go. Phage attempts to one-up her with his own new Council of Thirteen knowledge on team-ups, but she finds the correct clause to counter his argument, thus ending the entire spectacle.
- Wham Shot: The stinger has the Sovereign asking another person to join the Council of Thirteen (replacing Vendata who is rendered inactive by Brock earlier in the episode), but the camera angle does not show their identity. Then we see it's Dr. Mrs. The Monarch. Then we see the Revenge Society is spying on her from inside a dilapidated house (which we later learn belonged to the Monarch's family). Then we see Henry Killinger walk out of the kitchen with popcorn.
