Summary: A-Train gets Popclaw to admit that she told someone about Compound V and he kills her. Later he is watching a tape of them having sex and finds a recording of her killing her landlord. He sees Frenchie's face on film and Vought tries to track him down. Hughie and Starlight go to Hughie's Believe Expo. Billy tells Hughie he needs to get Starlight to get him to meet Ezekiel so they can blackmail him. She agrees. Starlight grows uncomfortable with lying at the expo to maintain her image. Homelander gives a speech but veers off script to appeal to the Christians, upsetting Maddy. Hughie is baptized by Homelander and blackmails Ezekiel. He's forced to improvise when his phone is killed by the water, but it still works. Ezekiel reveals the location of the shipment. M.M. and Billy go to investigate and they find that supes are being grown in a lab through injections of Compound V. They are found, but Billy uses a supe baby to kill their attackers. Starlight gives a speech but sticks with her gut instead of spouting things she doesn't believe. The crowd is stunned but Hughie is happy. They talk afterwards with Starlight being upset at him for using her, but Hughie tells her about Robin and they make up. Frenchie is on the run and decides to let the supe lady out instead of leaving her to be found. Frenchie is found by Black Noir. The lady saves him, but she is killed by Black Noir. However, she regenerates and all of her wounds heal.
The Good: This episode is built strongly around religious themes, which was an unexpected surprise. It doesn't go too far in exploring them, but I still greatly enjoyed what the show had to say, and I'm glad that a show about superheroes touched on the role of religion in this fictional world. Very few TV shows do this, and I greatly appreciate that "The Boys" took the effort to do it. The religious themes are limited to simple discussion, but I do admit to finding it quite funny every time the show pokes fun at the hypocritical nature of religion and how flawed religious extremism is. The dark comedy/satire aspect of this show has been really good from the start. Easily the funniest and most crude moment has to come from Billy commenting his thoughts on religion (which are exactly what you would expect) to a random old man at a stall, a laughably cruel condemnation of god to a devout Christian. The scene is played out perfectly. But the best part about the religious theme is how it affected the characters. This Believe Expo is used to have two contrasting speeches that perfectly show us the difference between two characters: Homelander and Starlight. Homelander is as phony as they come and his speech tells people exactly what they want to hear. So as you expect, he's cheered through the roof and everyone loves him. Well, everyone except for Maeve because she is the only one who knows him well enough to see how awful he really is. The plane crash from the last episode still ways heavily on her (I'm very pleased to see continuity from such a cataclysmic event), and seeing Homelander so flippant about it only alienates her more. Then there's Starlight who refuses to read out her script and openly says what she feels. She's honest, real, and empathetic and yet she leaves the stage to sheer silence. Everyone hated it and she is most likely going to have something of a PR crisis next episode. But the one person who loved it is Hughie, who is able to see the good in her and celebrate it. These speeches were terrific character exploration, and they nicely explain why Starlight, who is a good person, likely won't be celebrated by the public while Homelander, perhaps the worst person in this show, is so well loved. Hughie's arc as he becomes increasingly amoral continues to be compelling. This episode is a big step up as he is forced to blackmail Ezekiel and has to develop his skills on the fly. The phone video was supposed to do the job for him, but since his phone stopped working, he had to do all the work himself and he stepped up brilliantly. Despite being so hesitant to do it, Hughie is clearly quite good at blackmail and is an expert manipulator. Tragically, he uses this new skill on Starlight at the end of the episode too. Starlight is frustrated at him for using her, but Hughie is cunning enough to bring up Robin's death in this moment to save their relationship and lie about his intentions for meeting Ezekiel. It's possible that Starlight's speech did connect with him and help him move forward, but it's just as possible that he made all of that up just to stay close with her, both because he likes her and because he needs to use her more in the future. The other storylines had several good moments as well. I'm always fascinated to learn more about Billy, and the additional details on his past were interesting. I especially chuckled at the scene of him openly defiling Rebecca's grave. Clearly he isn't ready to move on yet, just like Hughie. The Compound V reveal is pretty big and I wasn't expecting to learn more about it so soon. The scene in the neonatal ward was huge for the show, and also hugely entertaining. Watching Billy use a baby to kill his assailants was fantastic. Popclaw's death was a shocking moment to start the episode. A-Train is awful as he uses his connection with Popclaw to exploit her for information and ultimately kill her. The scene is deeply sad and uncomfortable to watch, especially since A-Train did seem to genuinely care about her. Frenchie being burned is a major development, and he can't ever go out publicly again without risking his life, which is an enormous obstacle. I continue to enjoy his connection with the lady, and he seems to have finally made some headway as she risks her life to save him. Lastly, we have The Deep who is becoming a comedic highlight in the show. Watching him fidget and panic during Starlight's speech was a delight. The Bad: So Starlight's cover was notably blown a few episodes back, which should be a huge PR problem. Yet we have seen no follow-up on this as Starlight has been going around normally ever since without any interference or instructions. Hell, she's started dating someone and going to public places, but still she hasn't been informed about anything. I'm very confused why Vought is allowing this to happen without at least talking to her. A couple little things bothered me. There was clearly air in the IV tubes going to the baby, so that baby should be dead. Also, I don't understand how Black Noir let Frenchie escape, especially since Frenchie didn't actually go anywhere and is still with the supe lady. The Unknown: Is A-Train really going to sop using Compound V? I doubt it. Will the company say something about Starlight publicly being with Hughie? Especially since her cover was blown a few episodes back. We learn that Billy's wife Rebecca went missing 8 years ago. What happened to her? Is she dead? Is what happened to her the reason why Billy is so hellbent on killing supes? How important will Elena be? She seems like an old relationship for Maeve. Did Maeve's drinking habits drive her off, or was it something else? How does Billy get all of the fake IDs and keycards he is always using? So Compound V is used to create supes in a lab. Are all supes made in a lab like this? What are the risks of doing this? How does Vought choose which babies to inject with Compound V? What is the relationship between Homelander and Maddy? How is the lady able to regenerate? Is this her special ability? Or does it have something to do with the Compound V that was being injected in her? Where is Frenchie going to go? Best Moment: Starlight's decision to stray from expectations and her ensuing speech is great. Character of the Episode: Starlight. Conclusion: Another very strong effort from "The Boys". The show hasn't hit that next level yet, but it's doing almost everything right in building up the story and its characters. I'm sure that if the story continues to be told this competently, we will get some fantastic television soon. Score: 67
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Aaron DhillonJust a university student who loves to watch TV. And analyze it way too much. Archives
March 2024
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