Alas, this episode. Easily one of weakest episodes the show has produced, this episode features a fairly uninspired Walt Disney parody (though they don't go to the easy well of anti-Semite jokes that they could, so points for that), a couple of important first appearances, and a mostly forgettable plot.
Team Venture descends on Brisbyland in the X-1, Doctor Venture having important business with Roy Brisby, cartoon magnate who "built an empire on the back of a cartoon bee." The boys, realizing where they are, naturally spaz out and are left by Brock and Dr. Venture in the X-1 as punishment. This turns out to be a bad idea when the Orange County Liberation Front climbs on board and hijacks the plane with the boys still inside, for use in the fight against Brisbyland and Bizzy Bee ("the angel of death bringing darkness to this world"), taking the boys hostage and eventually brainwashing them. There are a couple of good character moments, like Hank demonstrating he is both more and less mature than his brother ("I got no problem figuring out which one's the male, bro"), and I get the whole "Disney-as-evil-empire" thing, but it's not terribly compelling.
Over in the slightly more interesting A-plot, Dr. Venture meets with Roy Brisby, a paraplegic stroke victim ("Six hours under an unstoppable metal Lincoln... it's enough to give anyone a stroke") who wants to live forever.
It's here that we get the first taste of the boys maybe being not quite exactly what they seem, when Dr. Venture practically chokes on the mention of clone research. We also get a few other pieces of information that color the series going forward, specifically, that "Doctor" Venture never finished school, Venture Industries has been losing money since Rusty took over, and his addiction to pills is perhaps a little more widely known than a pillhead might prefer. After Dr. Venture refuses to help Brisby, Brisby goes on the offensive, knocking Brock out with chloral hydrate and having his "companda" abduct Rusty. Brock wakes up in some nearby tar pits, only to be rescued by Molotov Cocktease, making her first non-hallucinatory appearance in what is almost certainly a nod to Sin City.
After a bit of fighting (hilariously overwrought fighting, to the point where both Molotov and Brock are basically indestructible. He bundles her in the bedsheets at one point and slams her into the walls and floor a few times to no discernible effect), Brock and Molotov break into the Brisbydome to rescue Doc (where he ended up after being abducted) and the boys (who are part of an attack by the OCLF on Brisbyland at that moment). Once inside the dome, Molotov reminds Brock that she is a mercenary and runs off to confront Brisby, as Brock is left to handle a battle between guys dressed like bees and a suburban guerrilla army.
I don't have much else to say about this episode after all that. It does feature, I believe the first real mentions of David Bowie, so that's important. And the information about clone research. But overall, it's a not-terribly-interesting one-off that has a handful of fun jokes but overall feels forced and falls flat. Luckily, the next three episodes are a master class in many of the things this show does well, and I'm really excited to be getting to them.
Episode grade: 6.0/10
Notes:
"Brock, is that you? Thank God! His freaking panda is trained to put me in a bag!"
-Dr. Venture
