Home Insecurity

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The Venture Bros. episode
“Home Insecurity”
"Intruder! Intruder! Destroy!"
Episode no.	Season 1 Episode 3
Writer(s)	Jackson Publick
Director	Jackson Publick
Production no.	1-07
Original airdate	21 August 2004
Episode chronology
← Previous	Next →
"Careers in Science"	"The Incredible Mr. Brisby"

"Home Insecurity" is the third episode in the first season of The Venture Bros.

Contents 1 Plot 2 Cultural references 3 Trivia 4 Goofs

[edit] Plot

Baron Ünderbheit, iron-jawed ruler of Ünderland, receives updates on the nation's status from his three trusted advisors. After their status reports, Ünderbheit informs them that each of them has betrayed him (and therefore the country). The Baron lulls them into a false sense of security before seemingly executing them. He then informs his manservant that he has only one objective left: the destruction of Dr. Venture.

At the Venture compound, Brock is packing for his annual vacation. Venture pleads with him to wait a few more days until he can complete the compound's security system, but Brock is unsympathetic and drives off in his Dodge Charger. Nearing his camping destination, he is stopped by an armed soldier who informs him that the area has been closed for reasons of national security. Brock ignores the guard and proceeds to his planned campsite.

That night, Venture falls asleep at his workbench. H.E.L.P.eR. finds him and carries him lovingly to bed. Returning to the lab, the robot notices the plans Venture had been working on: a new security construct named G.U.A.R.D.O. Assuming that the new project is intended as a replacement, H.E.L.P.eR. packs a few possessions and leaves the compound in "sadness."

Brock's peaceful evening by the campfire is disturbed by rustling noises nearby. He tracks the intruder until he finds a tall, hairy, humanoid creature and engages it in hand-to-hand combat. Soon he is attacked by a bionically augmented man in a red track suit, who Brock neutralizes by kicking him in the still-natural testicles.

Back at the compound, an Ünderland agent releases a scorpion into Venture's bedroom at the same time that one of The Monarch's henchmen gingerly drops a tarantula into another window of the same room. The two underlings spot each other and start arguing; Venture wakes up to find two venomous creatures fighting inches from his face and slaps a button on his nightstand. Steel shutters close over every door and window in the complex while Venture and his two sons are dropped into a reinforced panic room. Hank sees the spider and scorpion still crawling on his father and smacks Venture in the head with a nearby fire extinguisher. Dean exits the room to look for a first aid kit but encounters G.U.A.R.D.O. The massive robot warns Dean that he is an intruder and chases him back into the panic room. Venture awakens and explains that he fell asleep before programming G.U.A.R.D.O. to distinguish friends from foes. They are temporarily safe, since the door is made of tempered steel, but the robot is constructed of the same material.

Brock listens sympathetically to the track-suited man, who explains that he is former astronaut Steve Summers. A horrible accident left him gravely injured, but the government saved his life by grafting bionic parts worth six million dollars onto him -- and then expected him to repay the cost of the operation. Rather than spend the rest of his life doing the government's dirty work, he fled into the wilderness where he met Sasquatch, who became his domestic partner. When the group suddenly hears troops nearby searching for Summers, Brock agrees to help them escape.

The henchmen continue to argue over who gets to kill Venture until one of them suggests calling their respective bosses. They call a truce while The Monarch invites Ünderbheit to his cocoon headquarters to work out a compromise. After the ceremonial attempts on each other's life, the two villains begin discussing who should retreat. Their lackeys, who have grown bored while waiting for instructions, begin drinking beer together and discussing their respective bosses.

Driving away from his campsite, Brock is stopped by the same soldier. He indicates his passengers and explains that he is giving a couple of Vietnam vets a ride home. After the soldier lets him pass, a second soldier points out that the "vets" were a shaved Sasquatch and Summers wearing a wig of Bigfoot hair. Safe for the moment, Summers thanks Brock for his help. Brock grunts in acknowledgement, still disturbed by his discovery that Sasquatch is male (while shaving him).

The gathered henchmen trade stories and get progressively more intoxicated. Their restlessness and drunkenness win out as they decide to subject the Venture compound to childish vandalism. Just outside the fence, H.E.L.P.eR. stands at a bus stop and ignores Venture's pleas for help. The boys persuade their father to apologize, and the robot relents. H.E.L.P.eR. attempts to plug into the compound's security system but accidentally shorts out the power for a few seconds. This "reboots" G.U.A.R.D.O., who finally stomps away from the panic room door. As the steel shutters raise, the security robot spots the rampaging henchmen outside and begins attacking the newly-found intruders.

At long last, The Monarch and Ünderbheit reach an agreement: they will cooperate and share the glory of killing their mutual enemy. None of their henchmen respond to their calls, however. Back at the compound, dozens of uniform-clad bodies are sprawled in the aftermath of obvious violence. Brock pulls up in his Charger and, distracted by the carnage, hits G.U.A.R.D.O. and disables it.

After the ending credits are displayed, H.E.L.P.eR. stands outside the panic room, blocking Venture and his sons from leaving until they apologize further.

[edit] Cultural references

• G.U.A.R.D.O. seems modeled after the early Spider-Slayer robots J.J. Jameson employs in an early issue of The Amazing Spider-Man, complete with the employers screaming head emblazoned on the robots Tv face.
• Steve Summers is a parody of Colonel Steve Austin from The Six Million Dollar Man. His name comes from a combination of Steve Austin's first name and the last name of the Bionic Woman, Jaime Sommers. Several episodes of The Six Million Dollar Man featured a sasquatch, who was an ally of Austin.
• Dean and Hank both sport Underoos, a line of children's underwear that first became popular in the 1980s. Dean wears a Spider-Man pair while Hank wears an Aquaman pair. Both characters wear these Underoos in several subsequent episodes.
• The orb that Ünderbheit hurls at The Monarch (from which a hook-like projection extends) is reminiscent of weapons (called Sentinel Spheres) from the movie Phantasm.
• The music Brock listens to while driving is meant to resemble that of Led Zeppelin. There are several "Zep" references in the series, primarily revolving around Brock's love for the band.

[edit] Trivia

• Before Brock goes off on vacation, he refers to Hank (who is sporting a feathered headdress) as "Runs-with-scissors". In the season two opener, "Powerless in the Face of Death", Dean is seen running with scissors and then being impaled in a death montage.
• Dr. Venture mentions that G.U.A.R.D.O. stands for something, however, the acronym's expansion is never mentioned. However, it's possible he said that to shut Hank up, as Dr. Venture was very aggravated at the time.
• This is the first major appearance of Numbers Twenty-One and Twenty-Four, the two recurring henchmen of the Monarch. Since they appear in later episodes, they are presumably the only ones who escaped G.U.A.R.D.O.'s wrath.
• Baron Ünderbheit explains that he lost his jaw in a lab accident where he was partnered with Dr. Venture. The episode "Past Tense" shows Ünderbheit, jaw intact, inhabiting the same college dorm as Venture.
• This episode firmly establishes Ünderbheit as an homage / parody of Doctor Doom, from his dictatorial rule of his home country to his disfigurement which he blames on a college rival who is now his archenemy.
• After H.E.L.P.eR. saves the day (however inadvertently), the boys chant "Go Team H.E.L.P.eR.!" which is obviously a variation on their usual "Go Team Venture!" Their hand-signal, fittingly, changes from two V signs touched together to a rough "H" formed by connecting their extended index fingers while their thumbs point upwards.
• Publick mentioned in his LiveJournal a "lost commentary" for this episode, which was cut from the season one DVD primarily due to lack of space. The audio track can be downloaded separately.
• Doctor Venture seems to be convinced that Hank harbors a Freudian compulsion to defeat him. This is part of the Oedipus Complex, in which the male child seeks to kill or dominate his father so he can act on lustful feelings for his mother. Ironically, Hank lacks a mother, and therefore a reason for such a motive.
• Catclops, Girl Hitler, and Manic Eightball all survive the explosions (although "behind the scenes") and all reappear in the season two episode, "Love-Bheits".
• One of the animation directors (Kimson Albert) gets to have a "nickname" inserted into his credits. The nickname is an unusual line or word from the preceding episode. For "Home Insecurity" the credit reads Kimson "Shaved Bigfoot" Albert.

[edit] Goofs

• When Dr. Venture reminisces about how much a help H.E.L.P.eR. has been, one of the scenes (where H.E.L.P.eR. hugs Brock) is from the episode "Mid-Life Chrysalis," which aired after "Home Insecurity". (If the episode order on the DVD set is any indication, however, then the episodes may have aired out of order. See the 'first' appearance of Kim in "Victor. Echo. November.")

Preceded by: "Careers in Science"

The Venture Bros. episodes original airdate: August 21, 2004

Followed by: "The Incredible Mr. Brisby"

The Venture Bros.
Episode Guide
Pilot	The Terrible Secret of Turtle Bay
Season 1	1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13
Season 2	1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13
Specials	Christmas
Other	Phone Calls