The “Morphic Trilogy” was originally intended to be the capper to season six, so it’s telling to see that this season’s focus is once more on identity and who we are versus who we think we are. Furthermore, as this episode’s title slyly implies, in addition to identity issues there are financial woes that also plague many of the show’s central characters. Even in the high-paced worlds of arch-villainy and superheroics, when it rains, it pours.

The episode finds a sturdy foundation with how it decides to juxtapose the Monarch’s attempt to rebuild his life as a big league villain with Dean and Hank’s separate efforts to establish a life outside of their father’s hefty reputation. Dean’s path has him finally head off to college and pursue a life of alleged independence, while Hank’s journey concerns his search for approval, both from his father and from outside sources. All of these storylines juggle the episode’s spotlight, but it’s the Monarch’s plight that really pushes the narrative forward.

It’s almost alarming to see just how much of a comfort it is to begin an episode with a good old-fashioned cold open where the Monarch pulls off some meaningless heist. What’s great about this sequence is that it’s been so long since we’ve seen this sort of wanton villainy from the Monarch and it’s thrilling to witness just how much his operation has upped their game over the years. He even now has a solid grasp on his Death’s Head Panoply.

However, because this is The Venture Bros., of course the show pulls the rug out from under the audience only to reveal that this efficient machine of maliciousness is merely the Monarch’s daydream. A lot of time has passed, but he’s still more or less operating at the same level of efficiency as when the series began. The more that things change, the more that they stay the same.

That being said, the Monarch has been bogged down in obligations and boring bureaucracy for ages that it’s deeply freeing to see him be able to act without any of that holding him down, even if it’s just in a fantasy sequence. The same can be said for the complicated history and mythology that The Venture Bros. has been building through the years. Now that much of that has been put to bed, the series is able to have some fun and get back to the basics in a lot of ways, too.