Dr. Quymn, Medicine Woman

Infobox Television episode
Title=Dr. Quymn, Medicine Woman
Series=The Venture Bros.
Season=3
Episode=32
Airdate=6 July 2008
Writer= Jackson Publick
Director=Jackson Publick


Caption = "OH NO! This isn't how it looks!" "Yeah it is."
Production = 3-31
Prev=The Buddy System
Next=What Goes Down, Must Come Up

Dr. Quymn, Medicine Woman is the 32^nd episode of "The Venture Bros." and is part of Season 3. The episode's title is a reference to "Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman", and also the film "Medicine Man", in which Sean Connery's character (like Quymn) lives in the tropical rainforest researching a cure for cancer.

Plot

The episode begins with Dr. "Rusty" Venture flees natives in the Amazon with a gold idol, and is captured by angry natives. However, he is saved from certain doom by a mysterious woman, as he blacks out. His dream forms a flashback, at a key party thrown by Dr. Venture, Sr. in the 60s, a young Colonel Horace Gentleman shows up with his wife, Ms. Quymn, and stepdaughter ["Now Museum, Now You Don't"] , Tara. While the adults have their party, she plays a jungle adventure fantasy with Rusty and Kano in the den. Back in the present, Dr. Venture wakes up to find Tara wiping his head -- Tara is now Dr. Tara Quymn, a famous scientist and adventurer in her own right. As Dr. Venture is recovering, she tells him of her life's work -- pursuing a cure for cancer, which she believes she is close to achieving. Dr. Quymn then introduces her identical twin daughters, Nancy and Drew, as well as her crass, towering and rather masculine bodyguard Virginia (or simply "Ginnie".)

Hank, Dean, and Brock are seen trying to teach an orangutan how to box, on Rusty's orders in a plan to fight him for cash when they return home. Ginnie shows up and mistakes them for poachers, and Rusty tells them that he rescued the orangutan from "a cage in Thailand" before telling Brock that he thinks the orangutan is ready to be released back into the wild. Hank becomes infatuated with Nancy and Drew, who in turn become infatuated with Dean. Dean and Hank find that Nancy and Drew are kindred spirits -- they are also teens who like to solve mysteries and go on adventures.

At the tribe's village, Dr. Quymn explains to Rusty that the tribesmen are wary of outsiders because a lumber company that supplies Ikea is trying to force them off of their ancestral lands. The tribe's leader claims that a wereodile (were-crocodile) attacked their village the previous night and blames Dr. Venture for its appearance, due to the fact that he stole the fertility idol (which he meekly returns). Over the next day, Ginnie makes an abortive pass at Brock, who is uncomfortable at her attempt, perhaps due to her mannish appearance and ways. The girls flirt with Dean, who is too preoccupied with this new mystery, while Hank is unable to wrest the twins' attention from his brother. While Dr. Quymn is obviously happy to see her childhood friend and a potential partner for her research, Dr. Venture's feelings run deeper and he begins to fall in love with her. An awkward kiss from Venture takes her aback -- she was either unprepared for, or repressing such feelings, and retreats back to camp.

While in the jungle, Brock spots "two" wereodiles, and everyone returns to camp on a high state of alert. The girls and Tara go to their huts, while the Ventures go to their tents. Ginnie and Brock patrol the camp and prepare for the were-o-diles' onslaught. Back in her hut, Tara is stewing over the day's developments with Dr. Venture. Another flashback to the party shows the two children playing out an innocent portrayal of love (immersed in their jungle fantasy), which is shattered by Jonas Venture Senior and Mrs. Quymn entering into the room, amorous and drunk, and tripping directly onto young Rusty. Tara realizes that she does in fact reciprocate Thaddeus' love, at least to a degree. Virginia senses this, and is furious, and demands that the camp guests leave immediately. Tara instead throws Ginnie out, and nervously enters Venture's tent, and asks if he would "play in my jungle fort".

Virginia, frustrated at the turn of events, attempts once again to seduce Brock, and again fails. Meanwhile, Dean has immersed himself in the mystery, certain that two of the ladies in the camp are the were-o-diles. When he encounters Nancy and Drew in the forest, they entice him to come into their hut (now that Ginnie isn't supervising them), promising the solution to the mystery. Instead, the twins immediately attempt to seduce Dean by pinning him and stripping in front of him,he who has never seen a female body panics.

In the next cabin, Dr. Venture and Tara begin to kiss and fondle each other, and Tara throws Dr. Venture on the bed. Before things can go any further, Ginnie, at this point furious over the situation, physically throws Dr. Venture out of the bed and begins to berate Tara over losing her head over a man who will end up leaving her hurt and abandoned, like all the others. Brock arrives, hearing Dr. Venture's cries for help, and begins to brawl with Ginnie (both seem to actually relish the brutal fight), and they knock over a lantern, while Dr. Quymn collapses and suffers an epileptic fit. Dean and the girls arrive to this dramatic scene, and Dean begins to beat Dr. Quymn with a chair, believing her to be the were-o-dile. Ginnie scoops up her mistress and everyone flees the burning cabin.

Meanwhile, Hank is in the clearing, looking for the girls. Instead, he comes face to face with the wereodile, and starts running for his life. However, he gets caught in a trap similar to the one his father was caught in earlier, and is left powerless to stop the wereodile. Suddenly, the orangutan they were trying to train earlier attacks the wereodile and beats it senseless.

The next day, the camp (and possibly the entire rain forest) has been totally burned to the ground. Dr. Quymn's contingent and Dr. Venture's contingent literally go opposite ways. Hank is a bit ill, having been "rewarded" by the natives with a warrior circumcision for his part in defeating the Were-o-dile. Nancy and Drew, realizing that this shows that Dean is not circumcised, are immediately turned off, whereas Dr. Venture, again a loser at the game of love, wallows in misery and self-pity.

After the credits, it is revealed that two of the natives were pretending to be wereodiles in an attempt to get Dr. Quymn and the others to leave.

Cultural References

* Dr. Quymn is a reference to both Lara Croft from Tomb Raider and Dr. Quinn from Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman
* The names of the twins is a clear reference to Nancy Drew

Production notes

* One of the animation directors (Kimson Albert) has a "nickname" inserted into his credits. The nickname is an unusual line or word from the preceding episode. For "Dr. Quymn, Medicine Woman" the credit reads Kimson "Go Team Boobies" Albert.

References