Showdown at Cremation Creek (Part II)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The plot summary in this article or section is too long or detailed compared to the rest of the article. Please edit the article to focus on discussing the work rather than merely reiterating the plot.

“Showdown at Cremation Creek (Part II)”
The Venture Bros. episode
"You are no longer butterflies! TODAY, YOU! ARE! MURDERFLIES!"
Episode no.	Season 2 Episode 13
Written by	Jackson Publick Doc Hammer
Directed by	Jackson Publick
Production no.	2-26
Original airdate	15 October 2006
Episode chronology ← Previous Next → "Showdown at Cremation Creek (Part I)" "Shadowman 9: In the Cradle of Destiny"

"Showdown at Cremation Creek (Part II)" is the thirteenth episode in the second season of The Venture Bros. It is the season two finale.

Contents 1 Plot 2 Cultural references 3 Connections to other episodes 4 Production notes 5 Goofs 6 References

[edit] Plot

The episode begins with a twelve second montage of "Showdown at Cremation Creek (Part I)," leading up to Phantom Limb's ultimatum to return Dr. Girlfriend/Dr. Fiancée to him or have the Cocoon and everyone inside destroyed. Pandemonium ensues as all of the guests at the wedding quickly depart to escape Phantom Limb's forces, while the Monarch and Dr. Girlfriend/Dr. Fiancée refuse to comply. Angered, Phantom Limb commands two of his operatives to intervene. They are Klaus Nomi and Iggy Pop, who had arrived at the wedding with David Bowie undercover in the previous episode.

David Bowie, in an attempt to defend The Monarch, fights Iggy and Klaus. He is seemingly defeated. By this time Dr. Girlfriend has fainted and The Monarch cannot revive her, leading him to ask for Brock's help against Iggy and Klaus. Brock is subdued and Dr. Girlfriend is kidnapped.

Dean Venture, having been locked in the engine room of The Cocoon in the previous episode, tries to summon help, but can't raise anyone on his wrist radio. After giving up, he walks to the bottom of a staircase and finds a soda can tab. He puts it on his finger, and a mysterious voice tells him that he has found the "ring of power," and that they have been waiting for eons for someone who could successfully wear the ring without dying. Giant Boy Detective, who looks and sounds a lot like Master Billy Quizboy, appears and tells Dean that they are going to save the kingdom and restore Princess Tinglepants, who, likewise, looks and sounds like Triana Orpheus, to the throne so peace will reign for all eternity. He is dressed in the manner of Richard "Data" Wang from Goonies. Dean is disappointed until Giant Boy Detective reluctantly adds that they will also solve a "super cool mystery" in the process. Giant Boy Detective then leads the way with a magic flashlight; he shines his light on the wall and an image of pink clouds and blue sky appears.

The Order of the Triad (Doctor Orpheus, The Alchemist, and Jefferson Twilight) are preparing the X-1 to rescue the others. The Sullustan that the Triad summoned from a trading card in the previous episode sits in the co-pilot's seat; The Alchemist, upset about sitting in the back, proposes it being "an abomination." The Sullustan launches the plane.

Back at The Cocoon, Brock instructs the Monarch to fly The Cocoon itself to avoid the armada, and to organize an armed strike team to get back Dr. Girlfriend. Brock starts giving orders but soon lets the Monarch take over.

Phantom Limb tells Dr. Girlfriend to get out of her wedding dress and into her Queen Etherea costume, and to stand at his side. She refuses, and asks if he knows how the Sovereign will react when he finds out that Phantom Limb used the Guild army for a lover's quarrel. Iggy and Klaus begin laughing in the background. When Dr. Girlfriend asks why they are laughing, Phantom Limb mockingly says that the Sovereign will be all right with it, because he is the Sovereign. He then orders the armada to attack. The Cocoon evades.

Elsewhere in The Cocoon, the henchmen are attempting to create a strike team for Dr. Girlfriend's rescue. #21 orders the men to follow Brock. Brock says that even though he's beat on most of the henchmen in the past they have to put aside their differences for the time being and focus on getting back Dr. Girlfriend. In a rousing speech, he says they are no longer butterflies... they are now murderflies. Hank also wants to help, but Brock says no and tells him to find Dean and hide.

Meanwhile, in Dean's adventure, Triana Orpheus (that is, Princess Tinglepants) appears in a field of puffy clouds and calls Dean a "savior of our world," and Dean is presented to The Great White Oracle (who looks just like Pete White). The Oracle doesn't believe he is a fighter. Dean says that he can do it... he is, after all, the chosen one. The Oracle and a giant rat man, who resembles and talks like Dr. Venture, still don't believe him.

Back at the Grand Canyon, Brock is sending the henchmen into battle when he is approached by a 'Russian exchange henchman.' Brock doesn't realize this is actually Hank in disguise. Hank is wearing large goggles and his fake beard. Brock sends him into battle Hank then promptly falls out of The Cocoon and plummets towards the ground. Brock, now flying, grabs him and finds out who he really is, but as he can't do anything about it, decides to take Hank with him. Brock then shouts out tactical instructions to the henchmen as the battle begins. Phantom Limb is alerted to the attack and tells the armada ships to stand their ground and let them come to him. Dr. Girlfriend still can't believe that he is the Sovereign. She realizes that the real plan is to kill the Sovereign, Bowie, and take his place. Iggy, meanwhile, steps outside to smoke a cigarette. Bowie appears out of Iggy's cigarette and knocks him off Limb's ship.

Meanwhile, Dean attacks what he thinks is a child labor camp run by The Insect King, a mutant insect that sounds like The Monarch, and disables the engine that the children were powering. At the same moment, The Cocoon's engines go off-line. The Monarch asks his henchmen to go to the engine room and figure out what went wrong, but they refuse, saying "that place is spooky." The Monarch and Dr. Venture make their way towards Monarch's escape cocoon.

David Bowie shapeshifts into Iggy and sneaks into Phantom Limb's main chamber. He soon kills Klaus and gets into a fight with Phantom Limb. Brock, Hank, #24, and #21 have reached the roof of Phantom Limb's aircraft and are futilely trying to enter (as they forgot the bolt cutters) when they are swiped by the X-1. Out of control, the X-1 is about to crash into The Cocoon. Doctor Venture and The Monarch arrive at the escape cocoon and, after getting rid of a passing henchmen who wants to go along, escape The Cocoon.

Dean, still hallucinating, has rescued the princess, and all is now well in Insectia. Dean suggests making out with the princess, and does. A luckdragon tells Dean he loves him. Suddenly, everything goes back to normal and the dragon is revealed to actually be the wreckage of the X-1, which has crashed into the side of The Cocoon. The Sullustan was killed in the crash, and the Alchemist minds the Triad not to step in his remains. Doctor Orpheus and The Alchemist see Dean, still hallucinating, and hope to rescue him from his delusions.

The escape cocoon containing The Monarch and Dr. Venture then crashes into Phantom Limb's craft. In the midst of the wreckage, henchmen are everywhere and floating in a river (thanks to their wings, which are also handy flotation devices). The Monarch grabs Dr. Girlfriend and makes sure she is all right. Dr. Girlfriend, although pinned underneath what she thinks is Phantom Limb's leg, is fine. The rest of Phantom Limb is nowhere to be found--apparently, somewhere during the commotion, he has escaped, though he's obviously grievously wounded. The Monarch declares he now has a new arch-enemy, but Bowie tells him not to worry, as whatever is left of Phantom Limb will have nowhere on earth to hide, once he sics his "Diamond Dogs" on him. Bowie then bids them all a fond farewell, wishes Dr. Girlfriend and The Monarch congratulations, and then shapeshifts into a bald eagle and flies away. Doctor Venture survives the crash, although he has swallowed a gold filling.

The Order of the Triad arrives with an unconscious Dean in tow. Doctor Orpheus is carrying him when he trips and falls, dropping Dean, and reviving him in the process. Doctor Venture sarcastically thanks Brock for not keeping track of Dean's whereabouts. The Alchemist finds an unspecified invisible severed appendage of the Phantom Limb's and decides to keep it.

The Ventures and The Order of the Triad then head home in the X-1, with Dean hanging out of the top of the airplane. Jefferson Twilight asks if Dean will be all right up there since there is limited oxygen and it is extremely cold outside at their altitude. Brock says that Dean does that a lot and he'll pass out in a few minutes.

Inside of an escape cocoon, The Monarch and his new wife are on their honeymoon. Dr. Girlfriend says she has something to tell The Monarch that might "change things." Psyching herself up (and inadvertently revealing her given name of Sheila), she takes a deep breath and announces, "Monarch, I'm..." The scene suddenly jumps to the exterior of the rescue cocoon as The Monarch incredulously exclaims, "What?!?"

[edit] Cultural references

• Among the Star Wars references in this episode:
  • The Sullustan rides in the co-pilot seat of the X-1 like Nien Nunb co-pilots the Millennium Falcon in Return of the Jedi
  • Phantom Limb's command ship resembles the LAAT "Republic Gunships" used in the Clone Wars.
  • Brock says "Great shot kid, that was one-in-a-million!", a line spoken by Han Solo.
  • While watching Bowie and Phantom Limb fight, Hank says "It's like Dracula vs. Yoda in there."
    • The reference to Dracula could also be seen as a nod to actor Christopher Lee, who is famous for the role of the count as well as playing the Sith Count Dooku in Star Wars.
  • The sound of the Monarch's Cocoon's Engines failing due to Dean's assault is similar to the sound of the Hyper-drive failing on the Millennium Falcon during The Empire Strikes Back.
  • Dean, in his dream, fights an insect-like Monarch. The battle is similar to that between Obi Wan Kenobi and General Grievous from Revenge of the Sith. Also the Monarch kept referencing his "Black Heart" as his one weak spot, similar to General Grevious whose only weak spot were his internal organs.
• The opening line "Previously on Venture Bros" is a direct lift from the recap openings of "Previously on Lost" with the same tone and inflection.
• The Monarch's insect analogue in Dean's fantasy greatly resembles Zorak.
• Dean's fantasy adventure is based on The Neverending Story: Atreyu (Dean), Childlike Empress (Triana), Nighthob (Dr. Venture, similar to Master Splinter), Cairon (Pete White), Rockbiter (Master Billy Quizboy, as Giant Boy Detective), Gmork/Nothing (The Monarch), Falkor (the X-1), and the Auryn of Fantasia ("The Magic Ring of Power", in actuality a pull tab from a soda can).
• When Dean crashes through the ceiling of the "child labor camp," he says "Yo, Joe!", the catchphrase and battlecry used in G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero.
• This episode has numerous references to the musicians featured in the episode:
  • When David Bowie transforms from the cigarette pack, he yells "make way for the Homo Superior!," lyrics from his song, "Oh! You Pretty Things." This apparent revelation of his divergence from traditional humans (the species name of mutants from the X-Men) may also be an explanation for his shape-shifting powers.
  • When Klaus and Iggy present Dr. Girlfriend to Phantom Limb, she calls them his "stooges," to which Klaus responds "I wasn't in the Stooges." Iggy Pop was the founder and leader of the proto-punk band The Stooges.
  • After Iggy has thrown his energy ball at David Bowie and believes he has killed him, Klaus states "Ding, dong. The Queen Bitch is dead," which is a reference to Nomi's song "Ding, Dong" and Bowie's song "Queen Bitch." This is also a reference to the song "Ding-Dong! The Witch Is Dead" from The Wizard of Oz.
  • Before the fight scene, Iggy says "Now you're gonna be my dog," a reference to the song "I Wanna Be Your Dog" by Iggy Pop and The Stooges. He also tells Bowie that for thirty years, he's been playing the idiot, a reference to his solo album The Idiot, as well as the extensive guidance and support Bowie has given Iggy Pop throughout his career.
  • Hank calls David Bowie "the guy from Labyrinth," in which Bowie played Jareth, the antagonist.
  • When Iggy requests to fight against the Monarch's men, he tells Phantom Limb that he is "a streetwalking cheetah with a heart full of napalm." These are lyrics from the song "Search and Destroy," from the 1973 Stooges album Raw Power. Iggy then barks at Phantom Limb to "gimme danger," which references a song title from the album Raw Power.
  • The Monarch's henchmen namecheck the Bowie albums Station to Station and Changesonebowie.
  • When Brock gives Bowie instructions on when to walk Doctor Girlfriend down the aisle, Bowie responds "I know when to go out." This is the first line of the Bowie song "Modern Love".
  • David Bowie is known as a musical "shapeshifter", in the episode he turns out to be an actual shapeshifter as well.^[1]
• The Monarch refers to Klaus Nomi as "the one dressed like Taco" and Iggy Pop as "Spicoli," a reference to the Sean Penn character in Fast Times at Ridgemont High.
• The final scene of The Monarch and Doctor Girlfriend floating away in the escape pod continues the James Bond homage, being a direct visual quote from the ending of The Spy Who Loved Me.
• One of the vehicles fleeing from the Monarch's Cocoon appears to be based on a recognizer vehicle from the 1982 film, Tron.^[2]

[edit] Connections to other episodes

• Hank's henchman costume is the version that was seen in the pilot episode.^[3]
• The Monarch's set of wings was revealed in "Hate Floats" to be capable of flight, though it wasn't clear if his henchmen's wings were also capable of flight.^[4]
• Dean can be seen with the Giant Boy Detective book in the earlier episodes "Careers in Science"^[5] and "Fallen Arches."^[6]
• One of the henchmen who forgives Brock has markings over his face and an eye-patch. This is the henchman that Brock injured with the tattoo needle in the flashback in Part I.^[7]

[edit] Production notes

• This episode is the first and thus far only two part episode in The Venture Bros.'s two seasons on air (the episode "Escape to the House of Mummies Part II" had no Part I). Instead of a normal recap of the previous episode, the previous episode (or parts therof) were shown at incredibly high speed.
• One of the animation directors (Kimson Albert) has a "nickname" inserted into his credits. The nickname is an unusual line or word from the preceding episode. For "Showdown at Cremation Creek (Part I)" there were no end credits and therefore no inside joke. However, for "Showdown at Cremation Creek (Part II)" the credit reads Kimson "Your Favorite Quote Here" Albert.
• The "Astro-Base GO!" logo this usually depicts Soul-Bot next to an odd person or animal. This episode, however, replaces both with the creators of The Venture Bros., Jackson Publick (wearing a jet-pack and goggles) and Doc Hammer (wearing the glowing heart that Soul-Bot normally wears).

[edit] Goofs

• Triana Orpheus (dressed as Princess Tinglepants) can be seen leaving the wedding.^[8]

[edit] References

Preceded by: "Showdown at Cremation Creek (Part I)"

The Venture Bros. episodes original airdate: October 15, 2006

Followed by: "Shadowman 9: In the Cradle of Destiny"

v • d • e The Venture Bros. episodes 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 Season 3 1 • 2 Special A Very Venture Christmas Other Phone Calls • Songs