(Spoilers for The Boys will be found below.)
The Boys imperfectly perfect in terms of this season’s chaos but hitting a home(lander) run with character development, particularly with A-Train, who has undergone such a transformation that people are starting to wonder what might be coming for Jessie T. Usher’s character.
As even the most casual viewer of this show knows, A-Train kicked off the series with the first Supe f*ck-up, followed by a near-total lack of remorse for reducing Hughie’s then-girlfriend to a set of hands. A-Train’s dismissive attitude largely continued until this season when he began actively working against Vought. This has included being the “leak” that Homelander is raging about and making a peace offering of Compound V for Hughie’s dad (even though that did not turn out well). A-Train didn’t stop there, and clearly, he has grown fully disillusioned with being a member of The Seven.
In last week’s episode, A-Train was visibly moved when a young child was awestruck to see him in person, and he did something fully heroic by whisking MM to the hospital (at Kimiko’s urging) when he collapsed at Tek Knight’s mansion. He’s definitely in a redemption arc (which does feel organic), so that is naturally making viewers wonder whether A-Train might be the next member of The Seven to bite the dust.
Is that fear unfounded? Probably not. Homelander’s amped-up wrath displays have been particularly egregious this season, so there’s reason for fans to worry that the writers are propping up A-Train only to deliver a gut punch.
As a result, social media is awash with concern from A-Train followers, and “please let A-Train survive this season” and “[i]t’s gonna hurt” are sentiments that couldn’t have been expected to surface from fans when the show began. Oh how times have changed.
Yeah this scene just confirmed it lmao. RIP A-Train #theboys pic.twitter.com/hxcOgxsySP
— The Boys Out of Context Clips (@TheBoysOOCC) July 4, 2024
the look on a-train's face when he felt like a hero for the first time. the redemption arc 🤌
they killing him off, ain't they? #theboys pic.twitter.com/BbRoYBa1a3
— JOLLY J✨ (@DynamoSuperX) July 4, 2024
With A-Train saving MM and getting all this attention on social media, he is definitely going to get killed off in the next episode 😭 #TheBoys
pic.twitter.com/MyNShy8xs6— Zero (@zerowontmiss) July 4, 2024
please let A-Train survive this season pic.twitter.com/LWZy0pLUpF
— IG:(Jozujoestar) 🇵🇦 (@JozuJoestar) July 4, 2024
Them killing A-Train is really gonna hurt man https://t.co/N5us53V55l
— Dahyun Moné 𐚁 (@hall_dearius) July 5, 2024
Well, if A-Train does die, he at least helped the show pause the eternal struggle between Butcher and Homie, so I thank A-Train for his service.
I really like the direction they've been taking A-Train's character + his dynamic with Hughie.
It's a more positive contrast compared to the dynamic between Butcher & Homelander. pic.twitter.com/UqeQobbMkz
— ✖️KEZ❌ (@KhaosKontrollr) July 3, 2024
There are only two episodes left in Season 4, so this is a nail-biter, alright.
The Boys streams new episodes on Thursdays (technically very late on Wednesday nights).