The Boys continues its excellent start to season three; episode four is such a blast, but it also unnerved me seeing Hughie and Butcher be so enamored with having powers. The episode titled the Glorious Five Year Plan was the most jarring episode of the series to date. The end of the episode featured a Butcher and Hughie who were behaving nothing like themselves, they were drug addicts riding a high. The worst thing of all is that I can understand why Hughie would be so elated, because after the first two seasons he was useless to protect those he cared about. Earlier in the episode he was bullied by Homelander who was tormenting both Hughie and Starlight with his newfound not giving a F*@# attitude. Episode four continues to ratchet up the stakes of the season, and it has easily become the streaming series that I a most obsessed with (sorry Obi-Wan Kenobi and Ms. Marvel). Homelander is the villain of the series, and I admit that I was wrong about Supersonic who was brutally killed by Homelander to make a point to Starlight. Upon my first viewing of the episode, I did not catch that the corpse that Homelander showed Starlight was Supersonic, I had assumed it was just some random person. I thought that Starlight’s reaction was because she was worried for Hughie and her mother, after seeing the episode again her reaction made more sense.
This episode also had me feeling for A-Train, until Homelander revealed that it was A-Train who sold out Starlight’s plan. It has been a very up and down three seasons for A-Train, I want him to be redeemed, but I am losing faith that he is capable of that. A-Train has always seemed a very self-interested person, he has never done the right thing for non-self-serving reasons. I like watching A-Train’s speed power visualized, but now that he has cost Supersonic his life, I am done hoping he can be redeemed. A-Train and The Deep are mirrors of each other, they follow Homelander no matter how evil he is and no matter how demeaning he is to them as long as they're part of The Seven. I felt that we were to start feeling sympathy for The Deep and A-Train with how Homelander treats them, but after episode four I hope both meet a terrible end since they are nothing but a couple of weak, ambitious losers. The Boys seems to take a perverse pleasure in finding ways to make you care about a character, and then they show you how they aren't worthy of caring about. Hughie and Butcher in their final appearance in the episode did not seem worried about Kimiko at all which was very disheartening. Five Year Glorious Plan was an episode that was entirely devoid of heroes, nobody did anything heroic except for Supersonic who died because he wanted to help Starlight.
EPISODE FOUR RECAP
The episode starts with MM watching an old clip of an appearance by Soldier Boy on Solid Gold, MM is gripping the back of a chair very tightly as he watches. Butcher is cleaning up his gross green vomit that he threw up all over Hughie at the end of episode three. Hughie accuses Butcher of using V which Butcher corrects to say temporary V. Butcher admits that he used the temporary V to kill Gunpowder, which is something nobody else knows. Homelander is on a talk show sprouting his beliefs for all to hear, while Stan Edgar goes to visit Victoria Neuman to tell her that she needs to target Homelander. Stan Edgar wants Neuman to remind Homelander who is really in charge, Neuman is afraid that Homelander will go after her daughter Zoe. Butcher and Frenchie go to visit Nina because Butcher wants her assistance in locating the weapon that took Soldier Boy down. Starlight tells Hughie about the #Homelight situation which upsets Hughie, but Starlight reminds Hughie that he wanted her to stay in The Seven. Homelander enters Starlight home silently, and he surprises Hughie and Starlight; he then proceeds to humiliate Hughie and annoy Starlight. Homelander is playing his visit off as a joke, but really, he is trying to intimidate them, before he leaves, he signs Hughie's cast.
A-Train is visiting Ashley saying he wants to go after Blue Hawk who is targeting black communities which A-Train thinks it is Vought's mess to clean up. A-Train shoots a commercial for his energy drink that is based around protests and bringing people together. Hughie calls Neuman to say he broke his arm and cannot come into work, but while it is partially true, he is boarding a private jet Nina supplied to take him and The Boys to Russia. Maeve is at home practicing her swordplay when Starlight comes for a visit; Maeve admits that she has been practicing for a chance to take Homelander down. Maeve says the stories of her being drunk and sleeping around is for Homelander to be caught off guard. Maeve tells Starlight that she has been the source helping Butcher, Maeve is willing to sacrifice herself it buys them a chance to kill Homelander. In Russia, The Boys need to do a favor for Nina to get the information about the location of the weapon. The mission is for Kimiko to kill a Russian oligarch, she will pretend to be an escort in order to get access to the oligarch. Starlight tells Supersonic her plan to recruit a small group of supes to take on Homelander. Supersonic says he will help her because it is the right thing to do. At a meeting of The Seven Homelander has a surprise for Supersonic, he has ordered Mexican food for him (an overtly racist gesture). A-Train then brings up the topic of Blue Hawk, he wants The Seven to get involved to help stop Blue Hawk. The Deep gets a text from his wife telling him to interject himself into the conversation, she also tells him what to say to get Homelander to ignore A-Train's request.
After the meeting Ashley informs Homelander that Neuman is doing a press conference later in the day about Homelander. Homelander is mad that Ashley did not know sooner, and then A-Train confronts The Deep which leads to a fight that Homelander breaks up. After the fight Supersonic tells A-Train about the plan to take down Homelander hoping to secure A-Train's help. MM confronts Butcher about what he said to Kimiko (he called her a weapon), Butcher then tells MM that the reason he is on the team is to be a leader and keep it together. Butcher believes that MM is a better person than he is, and that having MM be the heart of the team allows Butcher to be the monstrous jerk that he needs to be. Kimiko arrives at the oligarch's place, and he shows his collection of sex toys named after the members of The Seven. Kimiko then uses one of the toys to impale the oligarch with it killing him. Kimiko then has to fight off the security staff using the remaining toys as weapons which she does before leaving. At Neuman's press conference, she indicts Stan Edgar for crimes he committed as CEO of Vought after Homelander came forward as a whistleblower. Stan Edgar confronts Neuman as he is leaving and asks why, her reply is that she has been protecting him for years, and now she needs to protect her daughter.
Frenchie comforts Kimiko, she is distraught at having to use her powers to hurt people, and that she does not believe Butcher is any different than the bad guys. Frenchie and Kimiko agree it is time to leave, after the current job they will leave and go to Marseilles. Neuman is visited at her home by Homelander, who brings her what she requested to setup Stan Edgar. Before the mission, Butcher is using the second vial of V24 he was given by Maeve. Hughie walks in and sees what Butcher did, Hughie wants to try V24 as he is sick of being bullied. Butcher refuses to give Hughie the dose because he says it is not salvation but rather damnation, it is a punishment which Hughie does not deserve. Stan Edgar and Homelander meet at Vought, Edgar refuses to give Homelander any kind of reaction, and Homelander tries to make Edgar feel small, but Homelander is the one left feeling small. Victoria Neuman injects her daughter with Compound V to make her daughter safe, she holds her daughter after as she cries in pain at the changes happening to her.
The Boys break into a military compound to gain access to a lab where the weapon is located. They search the lab, but the only thing of value they find is a sealed chamber. They also find a hamster named Jamie in a cage; Jamie appears to have powers as her starts banging around the cage trying to break out. An alarm goes off and security enters the lab, and The Boys become pinned down by the security force. The Boys get some assistance from Jamie who finally breaks out and jumps into the head of a guard. Butcher realizes they are trapped, so he uses the powers to kill the guards. Hughie sees a guard sneaking up on MM, and he appears to teleport to MM (losing his clothes in the process) and Hughie puts his previously broken arm through the guard's chest. The rest of the team is mad at Butcher and Hughie for taking V, Hughie tries to explain himself, but he can't stop smiling. Butcher opens the door of the sealed chamber, inside the chamber is Soldier Boy who leaves the chamber, and a laser blast shoots from his chest hitting Kimiko who pushed Frenchie out of the way. Soldier Boy walks away, and The Boys check in on Kimiko who for some reason is not healing. The Boys are back in the van and MM is trying to keep Kimiko alive. Butcher says that Soldier Boy never could do that blast from his chest, the Russians must have done something to him. On a public date, Homelander says he has something to show Starlight, and he takes her to a rooftop. On the rooftop Starlight finds the brutalized corpse of Supersonic, Homelander reveals that A-Train told him about the plot. Homelander says there will be no further attempts to mutiny, or else what happened to Supersonic will happen to Hughie as the episode ends.
FINAL THOUGHTS ON 'GLORIOUS FIVE YEAR PLAN'
The Boys (the team) seems to be falling apart, MM made it clear that what Butcher had done might have ruined any hope that they would be able to work together. MM was told by Butcher that the reason he was on the team was because he could be the leader the team needs. Butcher has never really seemed the type, he formed the team to fulfill his desire for revenge. The adventure to Russia that The Boys went on had one of the most surprising choice of weapons I think I have ever seen. Kimiko uses a sex toy as a weapon to kill the target, and his security detail. This season has pushed the boundaries of depravity farther than I could have expected this season, Kimiko appears to be heading down a path where she wants to be free of her powers and the bloodshed that comes with them. With Kimiko’s health now in jeopardy I wonder where things go, I get a feeling she will heal, but it will take time. Whatever was done to Soldier Boy that gave him that ability to blast from his chest likely caused Kimiko’s healing problems. I assume Kimiko's powers will come back because I am not ready for her character to die, especially not like that.
Antony Starr continues to dazzle as Homelander, I would have thought his take might get old, but it continues to get better as the writers keep finding ways for the character to surprise us (and not in a good way). Homelander taking Starlight to see the mutilated remains of Supersonic was scary, he was so calm, but it absolutely broke Starlight. Starlight is now maybe the lone beacon of light on this show, but I wonder how much more can she take before her inner light is snuffed out. Erin Moriarty has been just as strong as Antony Starr; they have good chemistry together (in the least romantic way possible). Having Homelander and Starlight pretend to be a couple has been great, it adds a level of tension to everything. Since we're talking about performances it was awesome to see the talk between Homelander and Stan Edgar, it gave both actors a lot to work with. Stan Edgar has a way of dismissing Homelander in a way that nobody else can, his utter disdain for Homelander is obvious, and his lack of fear to speak his mind to Homelander is admirable. Butcher and Homelander can argue, but they both get to each other, but it appears that nothing Homelander says or does breaches the coolness of Stan Edgar. I know Stan Edgar is not a good guy, but I am developing a respect for his strength in how he deals with his supes.
The end of the episode with Hughie and Butcher was so surprising to me (it should not have been), seeing two characters I like starting to Break Bad threw me for a loop. I have always liked Hughie, Butcher and Kimiko more than MM and Frenchie; even with the events of this episode I still will root for them. The dependency on V24 will make Butcher and Hughie lose themselves, I am more worried about Hughie than I am Butcher. The use of V24 has side effects as we have seen with Butcher, I wonder if those effects get worse over time, and how will they get their next fix. With four more episodes left in the season, I am struggling with where the story is going; I feel like the shows subverts expectations at every turn. I am going to give episode four a 9/10, it was entertaining, thrilling, gory, gross and dramatic. The Boys is a bonkers show that also feature incredible acting and writing which makes it so unique for the genre. A superhero show that feature no real heroes (except Starlight) is a cynical creation that works for me in a way that almost no other show does. The Boys is a refreshing break from the positivity of the MCU, it is a more realistic (if you're a cynic) take on what would happen if humans got powers. The Boys is a must for adults who are fans of the superhero genre, the graphic and cynical nature of the show might not be for everyone, but it is one of the best shows currently airing.
Thank you for reading my review of The Boys fourth episode of season three, look out for review of episode five (which airs in less than 24 hours, and I am so excited).
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