The Monarch is in fine form this episode, even though he doesn't appear in it for that long. What a crazed attack from the Monarch in the opening moments! His henchmen spring into action and attack with cat-like grace, so what could possibly be bungled this time? Come on, if you know The Venture Bros., you know something is bound to go haywire, and it’ll have you laughing your fool head off.

In “I Know Why the Caged Bird Kills” Dr. Venture has taken a little trip to Japan. He’s come back, though, with a disembodied demon who has followed him all the way back to the United States. Luckily for Dr. Venture, he just so happens to rent out part of his compound to a master of the mystic arts. Dr. Orpheus tries to learn more about why this demon is attached to Dr. Venture. His diagnosis? Road trip!

Back at the Monarch’s monstrous cocoon base, Monarch and his henchmen regroup to see where they went wrong and try to brainstorm for the future. Maybe their first course of action should be to get rid of henchmen 21 and 24, but then we’d miss out on a lot of priceless geek-related jokes. Out of the blue, a man named Killinger (any politics geeks out there?) pops up to be an advisor to the Monarch. Henchmen 21 and 24, who aren’t very helpful, feel threatened by this man and his mysterious Magic Murder Bag. What a great name for a bag, so much better than Jansport.

So all this oddball stuff is going on while Drs. Venture and Orpheus are being led to who knows where. Hank and Dean are oblivious, of course, to what’s going on and they are kidnapped. This kidnapping leads to one of the biggest bombshells in Venture Bros. history: the identity of the mother of Hank and Dean Venture. Sure, they’re clones, but I’m assuming that they were actual children at one point.

This episode’s full of action, great jokes and a dose of character development. My favorite moment is the final scene of the episode (right before the credits), with Brock Samson looking to Dr. Orpheus for spiritual guidance being a close second. I feel silly just picking out two scenes or moments, because I think this is one of the most memorable episodes of the season.

Damn near perfect!
9 out of 10.