The Boys spoilers will obviously be found below.
The Boys began with Hughie’s trauma — A-Train zooming right through Hughie’s girlfriend, Robin, while he kissed her on the street, soon to realize that he was holding her hands in front of her liquified bod — and it never really let up from there. And if you’re reading this, then you damn well know that Hughie is the character who is still always most likely to end up like this:
That poor whale. Of course, that moment happened in the second season, and the world has moved onto the fourth season. Last week, the show went all in on Homelander’s not-so-sweet homecoming, and now, things are starting to come full circle for Hughie on a hard-hitting emotional note. I warned y’all at review time that things get rough for him this season. The show hasn’t had their last word on that issue (and my goodness, Jack Quaid is down for the challenge), but few things could hit harder for Hughie than this sight:
Yup, that’s Hughie Sr. with Simon Pegg doing the acrobatic honors. This ^^^ horror took place after Hughie toyed with the idea of injecting his dad with Compound V. He pulled that punch, but Hughie’s mom seized that chance, and “Supe” Dad was born. This did not go well. Not only could Hughie Sr. not control his new powers, but those abilities strongly resembled those of A-Train, which is an all-too-direct reference to the speedy and brutal killing of Robin. And ironically, A-Train had actually (and finally) started to make amends with Hughie by snagging the drug, but dammit, Hughie cannot win.
As a result, Hughie Sr. commits various forms of homicide (mainly manslaughter but at least one straight-up murder by ripping out a vital organ of a security guard) while going berserk and being unable to figure out what the hell is happening after being jolted out of death and teleporting into chaos. The decision was then made, after Hughie calms him down, that dad should receive a lethal injection. That led to a rare, bittersweetly beautiful moment on The Boys, where tenderness ruled but only for a few moments:
This is perhaps the most straight-up honest exchange that we’ve ever seen on The Boys and a nice way to bring the show back down to earth, to remind the world that real human concerns exist behind this show’s super-inappropriate moments and Homelander fancying a creamy milkshake. Of course, the episode kept the other characters’ mayhem flying at warp speed, leading Hughie’s plight to feel even more dizzying.
The end result of this contrast: The Boys is actually, as much attention as it receives for its stunt gore and profanity, a series that can pull off hitting you in the face with humanity amid the monstrousness of what Vought has wrought. I suspect that viewers will be thinking about this exchange between Hughie and his dad long after the blood and guts settle.
Some loose thoughts about the rest of the episode:
– Gen V‘s Cate and Sam are fully Guardians of Godolkin now in their own Vought-produced movie, Flipped. Cate seems to relish and embrace this development, and Sam appears to be simply going along with whatever won’t send him back to the Woods. This sure will make Gen V‘s second season awkward as hell, but there’s no telling whether Marie, Emma/Cricket, and Jordan will even be allowed to mingle with the university’s general population when the show returns.
– Homelander seems proud of Ryan for wanting to use his powers for good, but we will see how long that lasts.
– Ashley’s dynamic with her former bedroom underling tells quite a tale, if you think about how Homelander previously humiliated her with that wig stunt and how she reacted to Homelander faux-demanding that Deep “service” A-Train. She seems to be working out some resentment against Homie with the domme role for sure. Additionally, her interactions with A-Train show that he has not forgotten that she’s a toilet bandit.
– A-Train being the “leak” is both surprising and gratifying to see, considering how the series opened with him doing a horrific deed, for which he’s finally making some amends.
– Firecracker Lord’s Soldier movie shows her strolling into church in Daisy-Duke shorts. The character is largely based upon a certain congresswoman, but it sure seems like there’s some rootin’ tootin’ mixed in there, too.
– How about those Supe chickens and sheep? “Kentucky Fried F*cking Massacre” might be one of the better quips this season thus far. These scenes also delivered the “fun” type of mayhem to counterbalance the devastating variety that was uncontrollably carried out by Hughie’s dad. Because ultimately, this show’s audience doesn’t tune in for a fully serious ride. Also admittedly, I wasn’t initially thrilled with the idea of a Supe virus, considering what the real world went through, but The Boys (and Gen V) has managed to satirize the subject enough to make it entertaining, not depressing.
Prime Video/Amazon’s ‘The Boys’ streams new episodes on Thursdays.
