6.¡Viva Los Muertos!
October 1, 2006
Ill chalk your little strangle tantrum up to the surprise resurrection, and the adrenaline enema, and your basic criminal nature.And this dog fucking talks, man! While Doctor Venture makes some extraordinary and abominable history in super-science, Brock takes a deep look at himself, and the boys get involved with a bunch of late sixties/seventies icons out looking for groovy mysteries. This episode is clever across the board. The Venture Bros. is rife with homages, shout-outs and spoofs, and this take on the Scooby-Doo gang is about as good as that gets. Ted Bundy replaces Fred, Patty Hearst is Daphne, Valerie Solanas is Velma, and Scooby and Shaggy are brilliantly played by the Son of Sam killer and the evil dog who gave him his instructions. Technically, there is much to commend. All the P.O.V. stuff at the start is well done, as is Brocks mystical vision. The general art design is great, too, especially with the reimagining of Scooby-Doo and company. And of course, there are all those classic Hannah Barbara sound effects. For Brock, this is an important episode. Up to this point, hes gleefully slaughtered vast sums of people. We know he has a heart of gold, but that doesnt stop him from doing whats necessary. In ¡Viva Los Muertos! Brock is forced to interact with the reanimated corpse of a person he murdered, and it rattles him. He ends up imbibing in some Death Root, a psychedelic drug from the Amazon, along with Dr. Orpheus and his strange partygoers. Thankfully, Brock's transgender mentor infiltrates his vision, and with some brutal headbutting, Brock Samson is as good as new. With relentless humor, wonderful design and great Brockness, ¡Viva Los Muertos! is a great example of how smart and entertaining The Venture Bros. can be.