Ice Station Impossible

"Ice Station Impossible", also known as "Ice Station—Impossible!", is the seventh episode of The Venture Bros. season one. It aired on September 18, 2004 on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim block. It was written and directed by series co-creator Jackson Publick.

In the B-story, Brock, Hank, and Dean find Race, who is mortally injured on a mission, while carrying the lethal Goliath serum. The A-story won't be covered here, although it does have the Impossibles, who are a parody of the Fantastic Four.

Detailed summary
On a plane, Race fights snake-themed henchmen over a lethal canister containing the Goliath serum. He kills one of them before setting off a grenade to take them all out, while Race jumps out to safety using a parachute. He takes a smoke to enjoy his success before one of the aforementioned plane's wings swings around and knocks into Race. The plane crashes into Venture Industries' compound, while Race drops the canister (which hits Hank Venture in the head), and is launched into a nearby neighborhood. Hank, his brother, Dean, and their bodyguard, Brock Samson, investigate the wreckage, where Brock finds Race's wallet, containing his secret intelligence badge.

Race is found by a group of overly curious kids who have no respect for how wounded Race is, prodding his body with a stick, and riding him when the wind drags him along because he's still wearing his parachute. They find then play around with his cigarette lighter, which shoots a powerful flame. They then see what else Race has that they can play with. One kid is cut off from smoking his cigarette by Brock, who has finally reached Race. They think he's dead, so Brock begins to mourn Race, revealing to Hank and Dean that he spent time with Race on the field. Race suddenly, but weakly, comes to life. He pleads with Brock to find the canister, something he can safely say they already have found, and then hands to Brock a film reel about it. Race then gasps his final breath while trying to give Brock a message about loving Jonny, the boy he was tasked with protecting. The boys are then surprised by the sound of Race emptying his bowels, something that TV doesn't show, explains a deadpan Brock.

Characters

 * style="background-color:#clear"| Race Bannon
 * style="background-color:#clear"| Chris McCulloch
 * style="background-color:#d2d2ff"| Snakeman agent
 * style="background-color:#aaffaa"| Doc Hammer
 * style="background-color:#FDB56C" colspan="2"| Nat King Cobra
 * style="background-color:#clear"| Hank Venture
 * style="background-color:#clear"| Chris McCulloch
 * style="background-color:#clear"| Dean Venture
 * style="background-color:#clear"| Michael Sinterniklaas
 * style="background-color:#clear"| Brock Samson
 * style="background-color:#clear"| Patrick Warburton
 * style="background-color:#d2d2ff"| Children
 * style="background-color:#aaffaa"| Chris McCulloch
 * style="background-color:#FDB56C" colspan="2"| Jonny Quest
 * style="background-color:#clear"| Brock Samson
 * style="background-color:#clear"| Patrick Warburton
 * style="background-color:#d2d2ff"| Children
 * style="background-color:#aaffaa"| Chris McCulloch
 * style="background-color:#FDB56C" colspan="2"| Jonny Quest
 * style="background-color:#aaffaa"| Chris McCulloch
 * style="background-color:#FDB56C" colspan="2"| Jonny Quest
 * style="background-color:#FDB56C" colspan="2"| Jonny Quest

Organizations

 * Snakemen

Locations

 * Earth
 * United States
 * Colorado
 * Colorado Springs
 * Venture Compound

Objects

 * Goliath serum

Vehicles

 * Snakemen's plane

Development
This was produced as the ninth episode.

Music
The score was composed by J.G. Thirlwell.

Release
Dates are in order of release:


 * United States: September 18, 2004 on Adult Swim (Cartoon Network)

Behind the scenes

 * The episode title is an allusion to the 1968 film Ice Station Zebra.
 * Nat King Cobra is a reference to jazz musician Nat King Cole.
 * Race's gadgets are based on gadgets used by James Bond in the films License to Kill, From Russia with Love, Octopussy, and Live and Let Die.
 * Jackson Publick is the pseudonym of Chris McCulloch. He uses the latter for his writer/director credits, while using his real name for the voice credits.
 * The Snakemen never appeared again after this episode, although Nat King Cobra was mentioned in two other episodes.
 * Up until season 2, Jonny Quest and The Venture Bros. were more or less set in the same universe, before Cartoon Network went off this idea, forcing the Jonny Quest characters to have alternate names to keep them in The Venture Bros. For example, Jonny, Hadji, and Dr. Zin were renamed Action Johnny, Ranji, and Dr. Z, respectively.
 * In The Venture Bros. episode "Twenty Years to Midnight", Jonny is revealed to have grown into a middle-aged man.

Errors

 * Race and Brock are supposed to work for the same secret government, even though Race works for Intelligence-1, while Brock works for the OSI.

Home availability

 * In the United States:
 * May 30, 2006: Warner Home Video releases The Venture Bros.: Season One on DVD.