So, there are little more than four dozen Viltrumites left in the entire universe. That is such a massive bombshell to drop for Invincible, one would think the next episode would capitalize on it. However, that has not yet happened, as this week’s episode is smaller in scale and closer to home and the family. When it comes down to it, family plays a major role in the story of Invincible, along with the lengths one will go to protect it.

Being a Family is Hard…

In a nutshell, this episode boils down to three main plots focusing on the importance of family. The first centers around Dupli-Kate and her estranged brother, Multi-Paul. Be got thrown in prison during the season premiere, and his boss has tried several times since to break him out. This is much to the chagrin of Kate, who just wants her brother to leave the criminal life behind. Conversely, Paul sees her working with the GDA as no better than what he’s doing, saying that Cecil won’t hesitate to sacrifice her if necessary. While the two don’t see eye to eye on a number of things, there’s an underlying feeling of genuine concern for each other. Because just like Mark couldn’t hate his father forever, neither can Paul and Kate truly hate each other. For better or worse, family is a bond that is hard to break.

At Least Oliver is Adjusting Well

Meanwhile, Mark and Eve are looking to get their own apartment so they don’t have to sneak around Mark’s mom. Thus, this episode sees them start a heroes-for-hire venture called Invincible Inc, which leads them to guard the same prison Paul is locked in. At the same time, though, Mark is also working hard to ensure that his mom and brother stay safe. Unfortunately, Oliver’s rapidly growing age means they can never truly be a normal family, no matter how much Deborah may want it.

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In addition, the subplot of Mark and Eve’s story has them discover Oliver’s been sneaking out and night. Not to fight crime or hurt criminals, though, but to hang out with kids his age and learn how to be an actual kid. Seeing Oliver interact with regular human children is a notable step in the right direction for him, as it seems like Mark and Deborah are starting to get through to him. More importantly, when faced with bullies, he doesn’t resort to violence, instead using his powers to pants them all. Which, honestly, is even cooler.

Unfortunately for Mark and Eve, keeping Paul locked up is not as easy as it looks.

Being a Family with Superheroes is Harder

Back during Season One, Mark teamed up with a small time criminal named Titan to take down his boss, the crime lord Machine Head. That led to Mark almost dying at the hands of Battle Beast, and more importantly, Titan simply took Machine Head’s place. Now his former boss’ own masters want him to break Paul out of jail for them, and threaten his family if he doesn’t comply.

Mark, though, doesn’t really care. He doesn’t care that Titan has made his part of the city notably safer and that he’s trying to be a good father for his daughter. All he sees is how Titan is another criminal that needs to go behind bars. This is in spite of the fact that doing so will likely do more harm than good.

In a show that likes to explore the grey area of morality, Invincible does a good job of humanizing many of its villains. While there are those like Machine Head who are genuinely bad people, there are also those like Titan who genuinely want to do right by their friends and family. It just so happens that Titan’s method involves going against the law. But given how much good his rule has done, it seems that Titan might have the right idea in how to run crime.

Alas, both the hero and criminal’s hands are forced when Machine Head’s bosses, the Order, take matters into their own hands. As a result, Mark and Eve spend the climax fighting a dragon. An actual dragon! And they only win because an escaped Machine Head decides to off the man astrally projecting the dragon!

Back to the Bigger Plot Next Week

By the time the dust settles, it seems like things have calmed down a bit. Titan manages to retain control of the city and protect his family from the Order. Mark and Eve put their plans to find an apartment together on hold to look after Mark’s family. The only downside is that Machine Head manages to assume leadership of the Order. That, and there’s a good chance that Paul escaped from prison.

None of this may seem like much right now, but after everything that’s happened recently, fans will need some breathing room. It’s smaller episodes like this that allow the show to remind it audience of its main themes, like family. And we’re more than likely to see this storyline return in the future, so we might as well enjoy it. Thankfully, though, we still have three episodes left in the season. That can be more than enough time to get into events that will make the Internet explode!

I Give “This was Supposed to be Easy” a 4/5