Monsters of Television

“The time is now…Tetris?“

I am of two minds about “Operation P.R.O.M.” and I bet you can guess which ways I’m leaning.

This season has been pretty frustrating due to the long breaks between halves, the low lows, and the high highs. It’s only fitting then that this episode captures all of those joys and annoyances in a single episode. Compounding my anxiety is whether or not this is a season finale, which it is billed as or if it’s a series finale, which it very well cold be (Adult Swim hasn’t ordered a fifth season).

At the core of the episode’s issue is that a lot of the season has been building to this, but the execution doesn’t totally work. The main problem is the show’s B-plot about S.P.H.N.I.X. and the O.S.I. at odds with each other doesn’t feel particularly important. I love Colonel Gathers as much as the next guy, and I appreciate them resolving the S.P.H.N.I.X. storyline, but it didn’t feel super relevant to the episode, nor did it feel relevant to the season, especially the second half.

Of course, without the S.P.H.N.I.X. plot, then Monstroso’s presence in the season would go largely unanswered which would in turn deprive us of Motolov’s re-appearance. After taking over the world’s league of assassins, Mol has gone unseen and unheard from. This was surprising, but given that the show was more interested in the Guild and Phantom Limb, you can only do so much.

Brock and Mol’s confrontation is earned, but only because of the characters’ history, not because the narrative of the episode or the season as a whole has earned it. And this is an instance where I’m okay with that. Their chemistry is incredibly captivating, and it carries the sequence, giving the abduction some actual weight that was missing in the S.P.H.I.N.X. portion of the episodes.

But it also completes Brock’s beats in this season. He struggled with trying to figure out who and what he needed to protect, and while we all knew it was the Venture family, Mol’s threat that she would kill everyone at the prom, pushed that into focus for him, and I relished his realization. I liked his slow check of the hangar, smiling as he saw all his friends alive and well and then I loved his grin as the escorts turned into mutant flies because of Rusty’s souped up Spanish fly, and he got to kill and protect his own again.

And the prom is the interesting and, indeed, glorious part of the episode. One of the great things about The Venture Bros. is its diverse and nicely drawn (both literally (the animation in the episode is sharp) and in terms of being fleshed out fictional individuals) cast of characters. So when the show throws everyone together in an episode, sparks can really fly. It happened at the end of season 2 with “Showdown at Cremation Creek” (though, Dean’s plot was kind of lost in that episode) with the wedding between Dr. Girlfriend and the Monarch.

With the prom, we have a chance to really wrap up a lot of the threads that have been going on this season, but I feel like they get a short shrift. Dean and Hank, in particular, who should be the central element in this prom, it is their end of home school prom, after all. Much of the second half of the season was concerned with what each was going to do (and their individual episodes were highlights), and see no real follow through here was distressing. Yes, Dean get to tell the Outrider to fuck off, a major step for the timid Dean, but the rest of it never really comes together for him. What’s Hank doing, exactly, asking out the postal carrier for their route?

More rewarding, however, was No. 21’s arc. This entire season, 21 (or should I call him Gary now?) has gone through a complete remodeling, getting buff, becoming a dangerously genre savvy and competent henchman only to realize that he’s actually a good guy. I adored Shore Leave’s casual dismissal of Gary’s (yeah, that feels right) claims of villainy throughout the episode (Shore Leave went from being a one-joke character to one of the best on the show, I think), and that Gary realizes that he, with his knowledge of pop culture and dedication, can actually do something, and do it well, is the best character moment of the season.

And I like that it takes the run of the episode to slowly occur, finally trigged by the Monarch’s arrival to try and crash the prom. Both the Monarch and Dr. Mrs. The Monarch have become far less threatening this season, which is tolerable since The Monarch is ever truly threatening when he really puts his mind to it. I wish their disappointment at Gary’s departure had been given a bit more play (they’ll be completely lost without him), but I’m eager to see a new dynamic at play.

And, indeed, if there’s one thing “Operation P.R.O.M.” does well is alter dynamics. As much as I felt the S.P.H.N.I.X. and O.S.I. portions distracted from the big stuff, it does change the course of Gathers’ life, if not Shore Leave’s and Brock’s. (provided he was just on loan to the Ventures of the night). How will Gary figure into it? But it also throws into question what happens to Hank and Dean, which is far more interesting to me. They’re both still so very immature that I’m not sure they’d be willing to leave the compound, but I want to see that struggle.

FINAL THOUGHTS

• The whole defining what a “Rusty Venture” was went on a little long for me, and bleeps don’t necessarily make something funnier. Also: I go with Brock’s definition.
• Happy that Shore Leave and Al finally made out. It was so adorable.
• Drunk Dr. Orpheus = win.