Warning: major spoilers below! You know the drill. Don’t read this recap until you’ve seen the sixth episode of The Venture Bros. season 6. You’ve been warned!

I love New York, especially the New York that has ninja-themed restaurants and avant-garde supervillains. Jackson Publick and Doc Hammer have a knack for filling each episode of The Venture Bros. with some of the craziest and most intriguing ideas imaginable. All of that is just to set the stage for one of the more tightly written seasons of the series to date.

By far the most fascinating plotline to develop this year is the Monarch’s greatest triumph as a supervillain…which he achieved by pretending to be a superhero named the Blue Morpho. To be sure, the Monarch is still incompetent, but he’s been on such an inexplicable lucky streak that the Guild of Calamitous Intent was forced to take the Blue Morpho seriously by the end of the episode. Whether he realizes it or not, the Monarch is finally as important as he always believed that he was.

That’s inevitably going to come back and bite the Monarch, especially since Dr. Mrs. The Monarch has declared the Blue Morpho to be her personal nemesis for killing several villains. She’s convinced that Dr. Venture is the new Blue Morpho, and she hasn’t started to suspect her husband’s involvement yet. However, the Monarch is already risking his marriage by going behind her back, and she’s definitely not going to take it well when the truth comes out.

Amazingly, the Monarch actually turned down sex with his wife to tranquilize her so that he and Gary (Henchman 21) could blow up the headquarters of the Doom Factory, a supervillain team that openly stole the gimmicks of every Legion of Doom member from Superfriends…with a little Andy Warhol mixed in. It was almost a shame to lose the Doom Factory after their one and only appearance, but the Monarch was so lucky that even after his initial failure to destroy their headquarters, he still managed to take out the entire Doom Factory.

The Doom Factory arched Dr. Venture in a way that no one else had. Wes Warhammer and his Black Manta-looking cameraman coaxed Doc into taking off most of his clothes for an art film in the middle of a surreal party, all of which was just a distraction while they robbed him. Even as a billionaire, Doc was so starved for attention that he actually enjoyed it until he realized that he didn’t mean anything to the Doom Factory. It was strangely appropriate that he saw the Blue Morpho/Monarch blow up their ship, but it just convinced the Guild that Dr. Mrs. The Monarch was right all along.

At the same time, Hank’s courtship of Wide Wale’s daughter, Sirena, finally culminated in his idea of a perfect date; which included fake muggings foiled by the power of his Michael Jackson dance and fake paparazzi. Dean’s always been there for his brother, but they’ve really brought Billy Quizboy and Pete White into the fold as their extended family. It didn’t escape Sirena’s notice that an albino (White) kept resurfacing all night, and Hank’s explanation about the “deep pack” instincts of the albino was hilarious.

Even Hank seemed surprised when he and Sirena ended up at the ninja-themed restaurant, complete with Nathan Fillion’s Brown Widow as one of the ninja waiters…and Sirena’s ex. Aside from that momentary awkwardness, the episode did a good job of building the bond between Hank and Sirena. Hank’s really emerging as one of the funniest characters this season, largely due to the strength of this plotline.

Meanwhile, Brock had a fun team up with Sirena’s bodyguard, as they became convinced that a mutual enemy had kidnapped their charges. Brock and his newfound “buddy” may eventually come to blows again, but it was amusing to see them play off of each other.

The ending of the episode was legitimately exciting, as the death of the Doom Factory is going to endanger Dr. Venture’s life in the very near future. The Guild of Calamitous Intent may be a joke, but Dr. Mrs. The Monarch is not. It will be very interesting to see how she tries to eliminate Venture and how her husband’s extracurricular activities are are eventually revealed.

If there’s a flaw in this story, it’s that there are only two episodes left this season. Who knows how many years we’ll have to wait before we see a seventh season? All we can really hope for is that this season closes out with an ending as strong as the episodes that led up to it.

What did you think about the latest episode of The Venture Bros.? Let us know in the comment section below!

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Image Credit: Adult Swim