So the Monarch and his blushing baritone bride have a new home; per the Guild's instructions in "Shadowman 9," they've taken over the former residence of the AWOL Phantom Limb, located in the stylish super-villain town of Malice. But Monarch is having a hard time adjusting–not only is he a bit tweaked to be crashing in the lair of a former romantic rival, he's also not completely on board with the whole "gated community thing." Plus there's a party at Sgt. Hatred's tonight that Dr. Used-To-Be-Girlfriend is dead set on going to, when all the Bastardly Butterfly wants is to hang out in the den and pine for his long-lost arch.
But wait, there's more! Doctor Venture has a new arch-enemy, the surprisingly pleasant Sgt. Hatred; the Soldier of Fury makes an appearance at the compound with a gift basket and promises of a brand new future in villainy. So that night, at Brock's urging, Doc goes to the soirée at Hatred's place–and Monarch catches wind of this, and desperate for some face time with his Most Wanted, he decides to get social as well. With Hank and Dean safely ensconced in the Cocoon (the Sgt. isn't allowed within fifteen feet of such beautiful, "sixteen, going on seventeen" boys), it's time for some bad charades, revealed secrets, and pissed off Moppets.
Before anything else, let's just bow our heads for a moment at the Venture team's ability to get this much plot into the standard issue twenty minutes–"Home Is Where The Hate Is" has three distinct storylines, and while they don't come together here quite as perfectly at the climax as they have in some eps, none of them feel shortchanged. It's a treat to see so many plates balanced so expertly.
It's also nice to have the Venture family back as a focus, and what we do see of them is great: Dean's Patch Adams impersonation, Brock's fascination with a crossbow documentary, Hank's, ah, Hank-ish-ness. Doc snipes at his boys for ruining his fun, and in that brief moment, you realize that while he cares for the two of them (at least, as much as he can), he hates 'em because they represent a part of his life he can never escape–Hank and Dean are the eternally optimistic boy adventurers that Rusty himself made so popular, but that he can never live up to no matter how much he snarks. It's a tossed off piece of dialogue that just stands as proof of the series ongoing thematic depth.
Still, there are few nagging bits. Doc's constant macking on Dr. Girlfriend is getting tedious, as is the show's level of uber-self-awareness; having Monarch comment on 24's "Ray Romano voice," and getting yet another gag about Dr. G's masculine tones is too on the nose, less a joke than a flat out description. (Still on the fence about directly referencing G's Jackie O outfit.) Which is a matter of taste, admittedly. "Hate"'s biggest misstep is the fizzling of the micro-device Monarch attaches to Venture's back; I'm curious as to what the change was between Doc's "pierce-able by rubber bullets" skin to his ability to shrug off a hard charge aimed at the small of his back. Maybe it's a plot twist that will get explained later on, but until then, it's a let-down.
But hey, the show is largely on its game. I hope we'll get some more stylistically risky eps in the future, but for right now, I'm willing to luxuriate in plain old fashioned excellence.
Competency seemed to be a theme for all of tonight's line-up. In "The Revengencers," we actually get some recurring, non-Tribunal related villains, and in the world of Metalocalypse, survival is a feat of no mean skill. Edgar Jomfru, first seen running a Dethklok website in "Mordland," is back, along with the skin off his brother's face, and another failed assassin; they've formed a terrorist group called "The Revengencers," and they've devoted themselves to destroying the 'Klok, one blown-up coffee shop at a time.
Unfortunately, Nathan can't really work up the energy to care, because he's suffering the horrors of a summer cold–and when one member of Dethklok gets sick, every member of Dethklok gets sick. The gang doesn't trust the ministrations of modern science, so during a sauna stay, they practice first leaching and then bloodletting. Which doesn't help at all, although it is pretty metal. P.R. manager Ofdensen convinces them to give a benefit concert for the people injured in the coffee shop bombings, but Nathan worries that the band won't be up to snuff.
But it's pretty awesome, anyway. Amazingly, the Revengencers manage to walk away with most of their limbs intact; we get a bitchin' song; and we discover that, unsurprisingly, Ofdensen is basically unkillable. I loved having Nathan apologize to the injured about how the upcoming concert wasn't going to be any good, like a bashful teenager turning in a paper two or three days late.