The Mantis-Eye Experiment

Summary

The Venture family must travel to space to repair an orbiting space station that Dr. Venture's father built in the 1970s, but a mysterious space phantom could be haunting the station! Things get even more intense as Brock's presence adds heat to an already tense romantic relationship between the station's two officers.

Capsule

This episode starts off with a old-style film about starting a career in science with Dr. Jonas Venture. The main focus of the film is Gargantua 1, a space station built by Dr. Venture (Jonas) dubbed the '9th wonder of the world'. Some more information is thrown in about the station and then a picture of young Rusty Venture is shown and the film fades to Dr. Venture in the present day.

He, the boys, HELPeR and Brock (all decked out in space suits except Brock) are traveling through space (to the very same Gargantua 1). Dean and Hank are fighting, much to the annoyance of Dr. Venture. He tells them to shut up and keep their mouths shut, which doesn't sit well with Dean who can't read his 'Giant Boy Detective' book now. It's just as well though, because reading makes in a moving vehicle makes Dean... puke. Which he does. Inside his helmet.

Roll opening credits.

Brock pilots the, er, masculine shaped rocket into the landing bay with help from Lt. Baldavich in a rather comical sequence. The rocket is a penis, and it's a tight fit. get it?! Brock wants to take it slow, but Dr. Venture is not amused. Plus he has to pee.

Now safely inside the space station the team meets the space station crew. Lt. Anna Baldavich and Col. Bud Manstrong. Lt. Baldavich takes off her helmet after greeting them which garners a reaction of near disgust from the team, who decides it's best to just look anywhere her face isn't to remedy this.

They decide to get right to work, and on the way to where ever it is they're going, Bud tells the boys about... phantom space man!

HANK
It's kinda creepy in here.

DEAN
And cold.

MANSTRONG
When it gets cold like this, I always remember back when I was a... paper-boy on this station. I must have been about your age, and on a night just like this one of the crew suddenly... cracked.

HANK & DEAN
Coooool!

MANSTRONG
He gathered everyone in the hangar for what he called... movie night!

[HANK and DEAN listen on, jaws gaping]

MANSTRONG
And under the flickering light of Burt Reynolds' Sharky's Machine, he opened the bay doors! Almost the whole crew was there! Sharky's Machine.

[HANK and DEAN continue to listen on, even more slack-jawed]

MANSTRONG
Yep. They say his phantom spirit still roams these corridors.

HANK & DEAN
Phantom spaceman!

MANSTRONG
Right Dr. Venture?

DR. VENTURE
[not paying attention] Uh ah yeah, whatever. Look, I'm gonna be honest here, I really need to take a tinkle.

They finally arrive at the problem, which turns out to be a light aptly labeled 'Problem' that has went on. According to Bud it's never done that before, and procedure is to contact Dr. Venture in case of a problem. Dr. Venture's solution is to pee in his space suit, which does not have a waste collection pouch, much to his disdain.

After that ordeal Dr. Venture sits at a control panel pressing buttons while the boys monitor the light and Brock and the crew checks out the rest of the ship for problems:

DR. VENTURE
[sighs] Do these switches even do anything? [presses a button] What about now?

HANK
It's- wait it's- wait-

DR. VENTURE
On or off?!

DEAN
... it's still on.

Elsewhere Manstrong and Baldavich are conversing about their relationship. Apparently Manstrong wants to take things slow (even though they've been on the station alone together for six years), though Lt. Baldavich seems rather annoyed by the prospect of taking things slow, still.

Dr. Venture, meanwhile, continues to press buttons, one of which opens the cargo bay doors, which is where Brock and HELPeR are. Brock manages to grab onto something, but HELPeR is sucked into the black depths of not-too-deep space. Manstrong, at this point, is about to ask Anna something important, but first asks if there is any reason for him to not ask it. Anna responds by yelling Brock's name since she sees him get sucked out of the doors, though Manstrong is oblivious to this and thinks her reason is Brock. Well, you get it.

Dr. Venture is still pressing buttons:

DEAN
It's on.

HANK
It's off.

DEAN
It's on.

HANK
It's off.

DEAN
It's on.

HANK
It's off.

DEAN
It's on.

HANK
Off.

DEAN
It's on.

HANK
It's off.

DEAN
It's on.

HANK
Off.

DEAN
It's on.

DR. VENTURE
That's called blinking, boys. [flicks switch] Anything?

HANK
Now it's just regular on.

At this point Dr. Venture tells his kids to get him a dry space suit because he's 'basting in his own juices'. He then reaches for his pills but accidently hits the anti-gravity button. When he turns gravity back on he smacks his head and gets knocked out.

The boys run to get a suit and find Anna and Brock, who is not in the best shape. Anna informs them that the bay doors were opened on Brock, so of course they blame the phantom spaceman and run off to warn their dad. Brock goes off to lie down.

The boys find Dr. Venture lying on the ground and assume he's dead (after performing a through foot nudging) and chalk that one up to the good old phantom spaceman as well and run off yet again. Dr. Venture awakens just as they run off to an eleven-foot tall hallucination of his father who tells him to get up:

JONAS VENTURE
Hello Rusty! It's time to get up!

DR. VENTURE
Dad? I think I peed my bed.

Commercial.

We are first treated to a rather heartbreaking flyby of HELPeR hurtling through space and then it's back to the space station. The two Dr. Ventures converse after they establish that Jonas Venture is a hallucination (not a ghost). Jonas still wants to know what Rusty did to his space station though.

The boys, meanwhile, are wondering what to do. Dean wants to consult his Giant Boy Detective book, but Hank slaps it to the ground citing that Giant Boy Detective's dad isn't dead. Dean cries a little (for his dad, not the book) and Hank's expresses his hatred for phantom spaceman ('I hate phantom spaceman').

Meanwhile the Doctors continue to converse, with Jonas saying that Gargantua 1 is perfect, so the problem must be Rusty's fault. Rusty disagrees of course, but Jonas tells him to think harder:

DR. VENTURE
[sighs] I've tried everything.

JONAS VENTURE
Are you kidding me? You were just flipping switches. Think, think tiny wonder! You built this with me, you should know her inside and out!

DR. VENTURE
I was like ten! I just wanted to play with my plastic cowboys and Indians! Who lets a ten-year-old build a space station!?

Back on Earth, HELPeR is causing some satellite interference, being that he's actually riding on a satellite. Sadly the woman he calls thinks he's a fax machine, so it looks like his tragic journey continues.

In Brock's room Anna joins him (taking off her helmet in the process, with similar reaction from Brock). He tells her he hacked up some blood and a pink thing the size of a kiwi, but he's otherwise okay. Anna compliments him and asks if there's anything she can do to help him, putting her hand on his thigh. Brock tells her that she can unzip her spacesuit, and he likes it with the helmet on. If you don't know what 'it' is, I suggest asking one of your parents.

At this point the boys arrive outside Brock's room to seek his help with phantom spaceman, but what's this?! Apparently Brock is already wrestling the phantom spaceman!

HANK
That's it Brock, pace yourself! Conserve your energy.

DEAN
What the- what's he doing with his-

HANK
Think about it, bro. What other weapon does he have? He needs his hands free for... stuff.

DEAN
Uh oh, phantom spaceman somehow got on top! That's it Brock-o, shake him off!

HANK & DEAN
Yeah!

BROCK
YEEEEAAAH!!

HANK
He's got him on his knees! It's just a matter of time now!

DEAN
Brock's just toying with him.

HANK
Ohh! Pretzel bender! Brock's gotta teach me that one... Phantom spaceman got his helmet knocked off! Oh my god, he's hideous! Must have been deformed by space rays...

DEAN
Look again, Hank! That's not a phantom spaceman, that's Lieutenant Baldavich!

Poor HELPeR crashes through the walls of the station and ends up in a janitor's closet with a blanked draped over him and a bucket on his head. Disoriented, he walks around the ship like this.

In response the problem light goes back to flashing. Dr. Venture flips some more switches and then starts looking for his diet pills (which spilled on the floor when he turned gravity back on). His father tells him that he doesn't need pills and the solution is in him (Rusty). Rusty, in response, pops a pill he found on the floor and his father disappears. So from now on when I say 'Dr. Venture' I mean Rusty. Got it? Okay.

Hank and Dean, meanwhile, are huddled in a dark hallway. They express their sadness for the loss of their father and their contempt towards phantom spaceman. At this point HELPeR, still with blanket and bucket in place, wanders into the hallway. Dean and Hank react by beating the crap out of poor HELPeR (as if he hasn't suffered enough for one episode) and dumping him into a trash chute which fires him back into space.

Manstrong, meanwhile, confronts Anna about her relations with Brock. He thinks that she said she was going to wait, but she said that she gave him every opportunity to plow her dirtbox (not a direct quote from the show, I just like that phrase). Manstrong is pissed about the entire ordeal and Anna walks out saying that she doesn't have to feel guilty for what happened and it's Manstrong's fault for not taking action earlier. Heavy drama.

At this point Dr. Venture calls for Brock over the PA system. Brock arrives at the bridge just as Dr. Venture discovers some weird drippings coming out of one of the panels. Brock arrives and Dr. Venture informs him to suit up so he can repair a hole in the hull (created by HELPeR). Brock does so and Manstrong offers to go with him. They both leave and Dr. Venture yanks off the offending panel:

DR. VENTURE
Oh fine, dad. Blame me. Blame Rusty. But whose fault is this? [The panel pops off] Oh god, it's mine.

Sitting on some of the wires, partially melted, is a plastic cowboy which was seen with Rusty in the opening of the show.

Outside the ship Brock is busy welding the hole shut with Manstrong looking over his shoulder.

MANSTRONG
Sir, you have plucked the flower of the woman I loved. I trust you will do the right and noble thing. She will make a fine wife. Her father invented the Mr. Mouth game, so she's an heiress. You two should be quite comfortable. [pauses and turns around] It's really my fault. I- I should have been more attentive to her... carnal needs. [faces BROCK's back again (BROCK doesn't seem to be paying attention)] But to be fair I must warn you; if you harm a hair on her sweet little head [puts his hand on BROCK's shoulder], I will-

He is then cut off by an angry growl from Brock who proceeds to beat the crap out of Manstrong, Brock style, ending the fight by punching him into space.

Dr. Venture, meanwhile, removes the plastic cowboy from the circuits and the problem light turns off. The boys show up and there's a moment of happiness and then a longer moment of the boys fighting because Hank called Dean a crybaby and Dean made fun of Hank. Dr. Venture doesn't seem to care because now he has his fresh spacesuit, so he heads off to change, leaving the boys at each other's throats.

Some time passes (I assume) and Anna is about to bring Manstrong into the station with a big robotic arm, but refuses to do so until he apologizes. The team's rocket pulls out of the station (hee hee) from under him and takes off full thrust, causing Bud to be pushed into the space station and then to bounce further out into space.

Dr. Venture's old space suit, meanwhile, has been left carelessly draped over a computer console. Some of his, er, yeah, drips out and onto the console causing a few sparks and the problem light resumes blinking in dramatic fashion.

Roll end credits.

Back at the Venture Compound HELPeR crashes to Earth in a ball of flaming wreckage, though he survives the impact mostly in tact. Yes folks, they certainly don't build them like that any more.

Notes

• Ben Edlund, who has 'story by' credit for this episode, is the creator of The Tick. Originally it was planned for he and Doc to write the entire script together, but Edlund couldn't due to scheduling conflicts.
  
  
• Bud Manstrong is played by Terrence Fleming, a friend of writer Doc Hammer. He has a book out called Dead Leprechaun in a Tire-Swing which looks interesting, to say the least.
  
  
• Sharky's Machine was mentioned by Col. Manstrong in the first reference to phantom spaceman. It's an action movie from the 80's starring Burt Reynolds as Sharky, a narcotics cop in Atlanta. I never saw it, but you can look into it more with that link thingy.
  
  
• Mr. Mouth was also mentioned, which is a fairly old game (though it's still being sold) where you flick plastic flies into a rotating frog's head. More info on that can be found here if you really want it.
  
  
• Like all other episodes, this one was originally rated TV-14 in the US (might not be suitable for viewing by children younger than 14). However, it was re-rated in May of 2005 and is now Adult Swim's very first TV-MA episode of anything. Says Jackson Publick:

  Oddly enough, "Careers in Science," which has been re-run god knows how many times already, has suddenly gotten a bump up to a TV-MA rating (having been TV-14 for almost a year, like all the Venture Bros. episodes). I'm told this is because of the sex scene where you don't actually see anything happen and is due to a sudden paranoia in response to some parent groups who've been very vocal lately (not about VB in particular, just TV in general, from what I understand).

[ Capsule | Cast | Notes ]