What does Hank want? Hank wants a father. Rusty is as close to a biological father as he'll ever get, but Rusty has no interest in acting the role of father to Hank (Dean, it turns out, is a different story). Hank loves and idolizes Brock, who is now gone, replaced by the obnoxious, overbearing Sgt Hatred. Hank states outright that Hatred is not his father, and he refers to Rusty as a "honky" (which, to be fair, he is).

As the episode begins, Hank and Dean are being wrapped up in cocoons by The Monarch's "Mechapillars." (Inside another cocoon, the Monarch's flying one.) A cocoon is usually a vessel of transformation, but the ones encasing Hank and Dean seem to be intended to kill them. Hank attempts a transformation during the episode, but ultimately goes back to being what he was. Or, perhaps, he's reached a new understanding of who he is -- he is, with all the flaws that implies, his father's son. (It's safe to say that, for all the time the Monarch spends in his cocoon, he's already done transforming. His metaphorical cocoon is the fantasy of costumed villainy he refuses to leave.)

Hank is so desperate in his search for a father, he heads blindly into the open arms of Captain Sunshine, the impossibly sunny, positive-energy superhero who is either a gay child-predator, or else is the most misunderstood superhero in history.

It's clear what Captain Sunshine wants -- he wants his beloved Wonderboy back. Wonderboy is, of course, dead, so that's not going to happen. Captain Sunshine then wants to replace Wonderboy, with, well, apparently with whatever young, good-looking boy who comes along, in this case Hank.

What does The Monarch want? The Monarch wants ten million dollars, from Rusty. This surprises everyone, including Dr. Mrs. The Monarch. The Monarch, I guess has transformed, temporarily, if only into a standard-issue kidnapper. Why does he want $10 million? His stated reason is that, since he seems incapable of killing Rusty (even with Brock gone), he'll drain his finances instead. But I suspect that the Monarch has fallen victim to the typical supervillain foible of overspending. You build a giant floating cocoon, you build some robot caterpillars, you staff your operation with dozens of henchmen, all of whom need to be clothed, fed and entertained, well of course, sooner or later you're going to have to hold somebody for ransom. In the end, your villainy ends up as a vicious circle -- you have to commit evil acts just to finance your evilness.

What does Rusty want? He doesn't really want Hank back, but he kind of has to, for the sake of appearances. Poor Rusty, he's always stuck doing things for the sake of appearances. If it were up to him, he'd putter in his lab all day, turning out one bad super-science project after another, spending his life trying to emerge from his father's shadow, ignoring the boys he's resurrected god knows how many times, leaving their rearing to the bodyguard du jour. But no, he's constantly being dragged into situations where he must deal with costumed villains and embark on wild adventures. In that way, he is kind of a classic father, who'd rather be left to tool around his den, but is forced to attend little-league games and school plays.

I like the Monarch's ill-phrased threat to Rusty, that his sons will ride the rainbow bridge to Valhalla. First, Captain Sunshine's logo incorporates a rainbow. Second, Valhalla, for those un-versed in Norse folklore, is where warriors go when they die. In Valhalla, the warriors get up every morning, fight all day long until everyone is dead, then do it all over again when they wake up again the next day. On both counts, the Monarch is more correct than he intends. Hank is going to ride the rainbow bridge, after a fashion, and both Hank and Dean live in a kind of Valhalla, where, after each death, they are able to wake up again the next morning and do it all over again. (Of course, that part of their reality has been dealt a serious setback recently.)

(Hmmmmmm. David Bowie is The Sovereign, Duncan Jones is David Bowie's son, Hank and Dean are clones, Duncan Jones makes a movie about clones...hmmmmmmm....)

I love the way Captain Sunshine bursts into the Monarch's cocoon just in the nick of time to save Hank and Dean, and then doesn't. No, the superhero is there only in pursuit of his own vengeance, it's a mere coincidence that there are teenage boys there to be saved. And even then, he doesn't save anyone except as an afterthought, after his own agenda has been served. And even then, he only saves one of the teenage boys, the one who, for whatever reason, reminds him of his dear departed Wonderboy. The other teenage boy, Dean, he leaves behind. Why? We're not told. Nor, indeed, do we learn why Dr. Mrs. The Monarch lets Dean out of his deadly cocoon, except that she probably felt embarrassed by the whole thing.

Captain Sunshine is so blind in his pursuit of a replacement for his lost Wonderboy that he "rescues" Hank, leaves behind Dean and apparently doesn't ask either of them who they are or what they're doing hanging upside down in the Monarch's cocoon. If he had done so, he would have learned that they were brothers being ransomed to their father. Although he defines himself as a crimefighter, he doesn't ask the most basic questions about crimes being committed. He's after one thing and one thing only: a teenage boy to replace Wonderboy.

There are, of course, parallels between Captain Sunshine and the late Michael Jackson. His house, like Jackson's, is designed to evoke the entrance to Disneyland (I wonder what Brisbee would have to say about that). Like Jackson, his motives regarding young boys are highly suspect, but people turn a blind eye to them because of the otherwise beneficial things he brings to society.

What are Captain Sunshine's motivations? Everyone, including his own Watchmen-like crimefighting team, think he's a child predator, and if you fall south of the Watchmen's standards of decency, I think it's a safe bet you've fallen pretty far. Setting aside questions of Sunshine's predations, it's clear that he's motivated by love. A twisted, misdirected love, but love nonetheless.

Or is it mere loneliness, or narcissism? There's a void within Sunshine, one he cannot fill, since the object of his love is dead. (Next thing we know, Sunshine will be asking Rusty to make him a clone. Start cloning people and it will never end.) After all, Sunshine doesn't love Hank, he doesn't even see Hank, really. He certainly doesn't know who he is, or even bother to find out. Hank is "a teenage boy," one will more-or-less do as well as another. Sunshine's loneliness has driven him to kidnapping and child-endangerment. It never occurs to him that Hank is an individual. He is an empty vessel waiting to be filled with "Wonderboy" (and maybe a little Sunshine). That's more than narcissism, that's sociopathic behavior.

Sunshine is motivated by his twisted love of a dead boy, while Rusty is motivated by appearances (barely) and the lack of desire to part with money (much more) and the Monarch is motivated by the possible gaining of money (and then keeping said money). The whole ransom plot reminds me of The Big Lebowski, which has a ransom plot that involves fake kidnappers and fake money sent to retrieve a fake victim who is not only not kidnapped, but is completely unaware that any of this is going on. The Monarch doesn't have Hank, Rusty doesn't have the money, and Hank is off in a squeaky-clean version of the Batcave in a room even more childishly decorated than the one he has at home.

What is Hank worth? To the Monarch, $10 million. To Rusty, not much -- he'll do the work to get the $10 million back, but not to rescue Hank. To Sunshine? The world, but only if Hank is no longer Hank. What is Dean worth? To Rusty, a teeny bit -- he'll take him if he's standing there, but he's not going to break a sweat going after him. To everyone else, not much at all. What is a taxi driver worth? To 21, the price of cabfare (but not with a tip), to The Monarch, nothing.