Ice Station Impossible

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Ice Station Impossible
Race escapes snakemen plane.png
Race escapes the Snakemen's plane after setting off a grenade onboard.
Premiere date September 18, 2004
Writer(s) Jackson Publick
Director(s) Jackson Publick
Title card
TVB 107 title card.png

"Ice Station Impossible" is the seven episode of The Venture Bros. season one. It aired on September 18, 2004 on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim. It was written and directed by Jackson Publick, who created the series.

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 incidentally 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 the one of 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.

Memorable quotes

Characters

Legend
Character debut Speaking debut Ep. debut No lines Mentioned

In order of appearance:

Character Actor
Race Bannon Chris McCulloch
Snakeman agent Doc Hammer
Nat King Cobra
Hank Venture Chris McCulloch
Dean Venture Michael Sinterniklaas
Children Chris McCulloch
Jonny Quest


Organizations

  • Snakemen

Locations

  • Venture compound

Vehicles

  • Snakemen's plane

Objects

  • Goliath serum

Production

Filming

Music

The music was composed by J.G. Thirlwell.

Behind the scenes

  • The episode title is an allusion to the 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 uses 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.

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.

Critical reception

In other languages

Language Name Meaning

Home availability

References