License to Kill... expired?! This episode opens with Brock being informed his Secret Agent License has expired and Doc being called "Grandpa," wounding his ever-fragile ego. Watch for that shot right before the smash to the titles, the look of heartbreak on Brock's face is amazing.
So Rusty decides what he needs is a new car and a piece of tail, showing up in the compound informing Brock of "Operation: Get Me Some." Brock meanwhile is having a difficult time adjusting to his new murderless existence, leading to the second greatest montage the show has yet produced (the first is in the season 2 premiere. You know what I'm talking about), as Brock reminisces about all the people he's killed and the various painful ways he's killed them (In the commentary, Jackson and Doc state that the one where Brock is purple is direct reference to an episode of Johnny Quest where Race makes himself purple with berries and pretends to be a god. Fun for the whole family!). This all leads to a strip club where Brock cockblocks Rusty (not that Rusty needs any help) and, due to his identity being removed from him, is unable to bang that stripper in the Unisex restroom.
Around this time the other part of the plot walks in: Dr. Girlfriend, disguised and sent by The Monarch, sends Rusty a drink and engages him in conversation. All a ploy, of course, she gets back to his place and before they can seal the deal as it were, she injects him in the neck with some no doubt horrible chemical, causing him to pass right out. When he comes to the next morning, "Charlene" is escaping to The Monarch's Cocoon, and he's left with what he assumes is a hickey (of biblical proportions).
So Dean and Hank set about helping Brock train to retake his secret agent test and Rusty sets about um... trying to talk "Charlene" into going on another date with him and turning gradually into an enormous caterpillar. Both men fail the tests put in front of them (although in Brock's case it could be said that he fails because he's too fucking good at his job) and both men are restored to normalcy through the actions of someone else (Dr. Girlfriend comes back and injects Rusty with the antidote; Brock's test administrator is General Treyster's son).
It occurs to me while doing this write-up that this is an episode with two A-stories. I would feel remiss in shortchanging either of these two plotlines. I also feel compelled to note that this is the episode during which Jackson and Doc discuss which of their characters they would bang (Doc: Dr. Girlfriend if it's just a one night stand, Trianna for a more long-term relationship, Dean if we're talking about the guys. Jackson: Pete White, because "I've never had an albino").
So, all in all, a solid episode, doing a number of the things that the Venture Bros will eventually be doing better than anyone else, the blending of mid-life failure and cartoon supervillainy, spy tropes and comic books. Not reaching for the stars, exactly, but a thoroughly solid outing.
Episode grade: 7.0/10
Notes:
"I'm all out of condom."
-Doctor Venture
"Why would you dress like that?"
-Brock
-The first mention of General Treyster, head of the OSI, is in this episode.
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