Venture Brothers – “Handsome Ransom” Venture Bro
The episode opens with Hank and Dean tied up in cocoons, being menaced by robot caterpillars. They’re in the Monarch’s lair! The Monarch contacts Doc over the giant viewscreen and demands ten million dollars for their return. Everybody’s surprised that the Monarch is not asking for money, but he thinks the best way to hurt Doc is to aim for the pocketbook. The superhero known as Captain Sunshine kicks in the roof and uses his sunshine powers on the henchmen. He flies Monarch out through the roof and vows to make him pay for what he “did to Wonder Boy”.
–This kind of opening is reminiscent of the early episodes. Having the boys already in a death trap when the episode opens is a nice callback to Season One. I absolutely love that Doc tries to haggle here, offering five million dollars for just Dean. As he says of Hank: “You know what Mr. Smartmouth called me when he stormed out of the house? A Honky!” Ha! Hank can’t quite get rebellion right. And it’s weird to think that the Monarch’s threat is much more serious now than it would have been a year ago. Brock Samson would have kicked everybody’s ass to save the boys, and if there was any problem, Doc had those backup clones ready to go. No more clones, no more Brock.
We’ve never actually seen a superhero in this series before. Supervillains, sure. We’ve seen dozens of them. But they always end up arching for super-scientists or magic users. Still, there have been 
references, and Captain Sunshine has been mentioned several times. When Monarch was in jail at the end of Season One, he directed Henchman 21 and 21 to “send Captain Sunshine the remains of his beloved Wonder Boy”. Who knew they were going to build an episode around that line? I’ll just say right here that I love how Monarch and Dr. Mrs. The Monarch are sunburned through the rest of the episode, though they got off easy. We see some Henchmen whose eyes catch fire. And Sunshine is voiced by none other than Kevin Conroy, who voiced Batman in Batman: The Animated Series, two spinoff shows, a theatrical movie and half a dozen video releases, and the recent Arkham Asylum game. This is very exciting for me.
references, and Captain Sunshine has been mentioned several times. When Monarch was in jail at the end of Season One, he directed Henchman 21 and 21 to “send Captain Sunshine the remains of his beloved Wonder Boy”. Who knew they were going to build an episode around that line? I’ll just say right here that I love how Monarch and Dr. Mrs. The Monarch are sunburned through the rest of the episode, though they got off easy. We see some Henchmen whose eyes catch fire. And Sunshine is voiced by none other than Kevin Conroy, who voiced Batman in Batman: The Animated Series, two spinoff shows, a theatrical movie and half a dozen video releases, and the recent Arkham Asylum game. This is very exciting for me.Doc waits for the Monarch’s drop-off. Sgt. Hatred is hiding in a spider-hole under the asphalt, and is pretty darn uncomfortable. Back in the cocoon, the Monarch returns. He sends 21, who’s looking kind of badass, out to kill his cab driver. Monarch reveals that Sunshine threw him in jail – literally dropped him off in the middle of the yard and flew away. What with due process being a thing and all, they had to let him go. Dr. Mrs. The Monarch explains that Captain Sunshine returned and rescued Hank. (Dean’s hanging out with the henchmen.) 21 pays the cabbie, and asks that they keep it quiet – “I have a rep to protect”. Captain Sunshine flies Hank over the city, and thanks to some misinterpretation, decides Hank is an orphan. Sunshine brings Hank back to his mansion.
–There are some killer lines in here. I love Hatred comparing his testicles to Silly Putty as he sweats away – “I’m afraid they’re gonna have Popeye comics on ‘em when I peel them off my legs.” My favorite might be the Monarch talking about Captain Sunshine’s appearance “Up close, he’s getting to that age where men start to look like somebody’s aunt”. Also good is the way that Dr. Mrs. The Monarch is sunburned right down the middle.
So, 21 is still henching for Monarch. That wasn’t clear from last week. He’s looking grizzled and (by his standards) kind of buff. He also has a Wolverine claw. It’s the new, darker 21. Of course, since he pays the cabbie instead of slaying him, he’s not really all that dark yet. And in the Cocoon, this scene alludes to the history between Monarch and Captain Sunshine. So even if you don’t remember the episode that mentioned him years ago, you get all the backstory you need.
This is where Sunshine starts to get creepy, with even the pedestrians mocking what they believe to be his proclivities. This is much funnier than it was on the first viewing. And his flight with Hank is based on Superman and Lois Lane in the first Superman movie. And note that his mansion has a statue commemorating “Wonder Boy III” in the front yard.
The Monarch and his crew bring Dean to the drop point. Monarch immediately figures out that the ten million dollars in Doc’s satchel is just photocopies (he didn’t even spring for double sided printing), and it takes Doc alarmingly long to notice that Hank’s missing, though Monarch claims he was hedging his bets for a double-cross. Sgt. Hatred fails to spring into action because there are Henchmen standing on his hatch. Once he gets to the surface, he collapses from heat exhaustion. They call a do-over and agree to meet again tomorrow. Monarch lets Doc have Dean back as a gesture of good faith, before remembering that he doesn’t actually have Hank.
–Not much to say about this scene, but it’s great to see Doc and the Monarch go back to their old ways and respective levels of incompetence.
Captain Sunshine returns home and introduces his butler, Desmond, to Hank. Sunshine offers Hank the chance to become his new sidekick, and Hank accepts. Meanwhile, Doc calls his brother to help rescue Hank, but Jonas Jr. is “building his Gargantua 2 in the, whattayacall, stratsosphere”. Over at Conjectural Technologies, Billy Quizboy and Pete White are wearing neck braces and celebrating their $10 million insurance settlement, until they get a phone call from Doc.
–In Captain Sunshine’s headquarters, there’s a giant penny with the Monarch’s face on it. This is a reference to the giant penny in the Batcave, probably the most recognized trophy in Batman’s collections. It also seems like Sunshine and the Monarch go way back, and I’m curious whether the Guild covers superhero relations. It doesn’t seem like the Monarch could fight Sunshine in any kind of official capacity if he’s arching for Dr. Venture.
We don’t know exactly how Pete and Billy got their ten million dollars, but it’s clearly the result of a settlement. I think it’s worth noting that their check is from General Consolidated Insurance. GCI – Where have I seen those initials before? Oh yeah, the Guild of Calamitous Intent… There might be more to this.
Desmond grooms Hank and gives him some lube to apply to his “buttocks and inner thighs”. Sunshine puts Hank to bed, and there’s a really creepy vibe to this scene.
–This is the point where, on first viewing, I thought they had gone too far into Family Guy territory. It turns out, there’s a clever payoff to the lube, though. I apologize for doubting Jackson and Doc.
Billy and Pete turn over their check to Doc so he can get Hank back. That morning, Hank wakes up and puts on the Wonder Boy costume for the first time. Sunshine’s super team calls and tries to get him to go out adventuring with them, but he refuses.
–First off, I think it’s pretty great that Billy and Pete are willing to let Doc use their money. As cynical and dysfunctional as this show is, the characters have real affection for one another. Also, note how excited Hatred is to find out that the midget Billy is actually 37 years old, and thus, legal.
Hank actually slides into his costume when he rides the chute to the Sanctum Solarium; that’s what the lube was for. He eased right into it, wedgie-free. We meet Captain Sunshine’s team – Barbie-Q, U.S. Steel, an unnamed Bird Guy, and Ghost Robot. Seriously, I couldn’t stop laughing at Ghost Robot. He’s a robot with a sheet over his head!
Doc and the Monarch attempt to complete their ransom one more time. Monarch leads out somebody in Hank’s old clothes with a bag over his head. Doc figures out that Hank wouldn’t take off Brock’s jacket, and he’s being scammed. Sure enough, it’s a henchman in Hank’s clothes. Monarch kicks Doc in the balls and takes his money. From afar, Billy tries to fire a shot, but the weapon doesn’t work. Dr. Mrs. The Monarch reminds her husband that Guild Rules require him to return Hank, now that he has the money. We get a quick glimpse inside the satchel, where a Tiny Sgt. Hatred, painted to look like money, is hiding.
–The weapon Billy is trying to fire is Doc’s old shrink ray, previously seen in Season One’s “Tag Sale, You’re It” and Season Two’s “Escape to the House of Mummies, Part Two”. It works about as well here as it did on those occasions. And I think Sgt. Hatred’s money camouflage is hysterical.
Captain Sunshine takes Hank out for a drive in his Sunshine-mobile. He passes an old enemy, Scorpio. They taunt each other, until Scorpio goes too far and Sunshine beats Scorpio to death with his own car. Back in the cocoon, Dr. Mrs. The Monarch analyzes the Monarch’s sunburned skin to track Captain Sunshine’s energy signature back to his headquarters. Hatred gives Doc the location, too – if Doc finds Hank first, Monarch has to give the money back.
Captain Sunshine puts Hank to bed, and Hank doesn’t know why they don’t patrol at night, when there’s crime. Sunshine explains that at night, he sees “action with a different team”. Cut to a promo for Action News 5, where the entire news team is made up of superheroes in their secret identities.
–Damn, that’s funny. Sunshine is “Chuck Scarsdale” – a parody of New York local news anchor “Chuck Scarborough”. Also, his real name and hero identity have the same initials. We also see that Barbie-Q is “Barbara Quantas”, U.S. Steel is “Sam Turgen”, the unnamed Bird Guy is “Neville Brown”, and Ghost Robot takes off the sheet to appear as “Weatherbot 5”.
Pete and Billy arrive at Sunshine’s house. They create a diversion while Doc gasses Desmond. Before passing out, Desmond hits an alarm button to summon Captain Sunshine. And at the same time, News 5 does a story about a mysterious flying object hovering over a mansion. Yep, it’s the Monarch’s cocoon and Captain Sunshine’s house. Scarsdale goes into a panic, and the producers cut to a promo for the newscopter. Chuck steals that same newscopter to fly home.
–It’s worth noting that the newscopter promo is really funny. Also, it seems odd that Sunshine needs a helicopter to get home when he can fly, right? Just hold on…
The Monarch and his crew enter Sunshine’s mansion. As Wonder Boy, Hank stands up to them. He knocks over the Monarch with a bolo and kicks 21 in the face. Tiny Sgt. Hatred, still painted to look like money, is running around and trying not to get stepped on. Chuck Scarsdale arrives home and freaks out Doc.
–Nice stuff here – Hank is actually kind of effective, and he has a nice little moment with 21. They were getting to be buddies last season, and their interaction is hilarious. “I’m sorry I had to pop you one, but you’re being a little dick.” And I love that Doc and friends panic when they see Chuck Scarsdale. “Shit, it’s Chuck Scarsdale! Hide or we’re gonna be on the news!” And you have to wonder how this secret identity thing works here – I mean, from the outside, this is clearly where Captain Sunshine lives. There’s a giant sundial, and a monument to Wonder Boy. Everybody breaking in knows that it’s Captain Sunshine’s house, and the one they’re surprised to see is Chuck Scarsdale. He must go around the neighborhood in costume all the time, and Chuck Scarsdale is the secret identity that nobody knows.
The Monarch chases Hank and ends up falling down the chute to the Solarium. He ends up in a Wonder Boy costume and taunts Sunshine, saying it would fix all his problems if he had sex with Wonder Boy and his greatest enemy at the same time. Monarch also reveal the hero’s greatest secret – his powers don’t work at night. The Monarch unveils his new weapon, a gun that mimics Sunshine’s own powers. Of course, shooting him only powers him up, and the Captain starts melting faces.–See how much it hurt for the un-lubed Monarch to slide into that costume? He got an atomic wedgie and everything. Of course, there’s a real irony to Monarch using sublimated sexual desires to taunt an enemy. This is the guy, after all, who once humped a robot with Dr. Venture’s face as a means to get revenge on Doc. How that was going to work, we don’t know. The point is, lust and enmity sit right next to each other on the emotional scale here, and nobody knows that better than Monarch.
When Captain Sunshine realizes that Doc is Hank’s father, and thus he’s not an orphan. Hank knows he can’t be Wonder Boy. As Hank goes to leave, he asks Sunshine to put in a good word with Batman. And then Captain Sunshine throws them out.
–Ha! As mentioned earlier, Captain Sunshine is voiced by a longtime Batman actor. Hank is actually sort of mature in this scene, which is weird and confusing.
In the tag, the Monarch, Dr. Mrs. The Monarch and 21 get out of a cab, thoroughly defeated. The same cabbie as before asks for his fare, and the Monarch shoots him without looking back.
–It just occurred to me, I have no idea where they are in this scene. They took the cocoon to Scarsdale’s house, so I’m not sure where they took a cab to. I mean, their house was floating right there. It’s possible that Sunshine dropped all three of them off in jail, and they had to take a cab back to the cocoon. That makes sense, actually.
By the way, Jackson Publick said in an interview that this episode will have ramifications throughout the rest of the season, but we won’t see Captain Sunshine again. They couldn’t afford to pay Kevin Conroy for more than one episode. Word is that John Hodgman will be voicing one of many former Wonder Boys, though. This is the kind of thing that I like to see on my TV.
So, there’s been some debate as to whether this episode happens after “Blood of the Father, Heart of Steel” or in the middle of it. That last one spanned about a year, after all. I tend to think it’s after, if only because there’s no evidence of Giant Boy Detective around the Venture Compound. Also, 21 has buffed up a little and gotten even darker, what with his new claws and all. He was his usual pudgy, whiny self when we saw him in the season premiere.
As mentioned, I’m thrilled that we got to see superheroes in the Venture Universe. It always seemed like there were too many villains out there to just be fighting scientists and necromancers. 
There were some neat story mechanics here, with clever payoffs to what could have been crude, cliché gags. It was really good to have a showcase for Hank, too. The boys are growing apart, which is both interesting and sad. All in all, it wasn’t nearly as ambitious as the premiere, but it was a really funny episode that brought back a lot of the Season One tropes, but cast them in an altogether new light.
There were some neat story mechanics here, with clever payoffs to what could have been crude, cliché gags. It was really good to have a showcase for Hank, too. The boys are growing apart, which is both interesting and sad. All in all, it wasn’t nearly as ambitious as the premiere, but it was a really funny episode that brought back a lot of the Season One tropes, but cast them in an altogether new light. So, did White and Billy really get a payout from one of the Guild’s front companies, or was it just a coincidence? Are rivalries with superheroes covered by the Guild? What happened to all of the other Wonder Boys? And most importantly, how soon until we get another appearance of Ghost Robot? That guy is awesome!
