Summary: Homelander kills a group of terrorists in Syria and obtains Compound V from them. Susan tells Billy that they decided to keep Compound V secret and that The Boys are still fugitives, angering him. Billy and Hughie go to Mallory for help, she tells them about Homelander's relationship with Maddy. Meanwhile, M.M., Frenchie, and Kimiko are caught. Billy realizes this when he returns and leaves. He argues with Hughie who storms off after realizing Billy only cares about himself and his revenge. Starlight confronts her mother about Compound V and storms out. She goes to church where Hughie finds her to ask for help Starlight is furious, but Hughie's words reach her. Hughie gets caught intentionally and breaks out Frenchie, M.M. and Kimiko with his retainer. They are overrun, but Starlight arrives and saves them. A-Train shows up to stop them, but he has a heart attack from the Compound V. Starlight and Hughie attempt to resuscitate him. Maddy is facing a promotion for her success when Homelander meets with her and reveals that the secret supervillains was his idea. He and Maddy have sex and Homelander realizes that her story about his lost child did not align with Vogelbaum's. Maddy goes home and finds Billy waiting for her. He ties her up with explosives and Homelander arrives. However, Homelander is furious about the lie and has learned from Vogelbaum that his child is alive. He kills Maddy. Billy blows everything up anyways but Homelander saves his life and takes him to see his son, who is being raised by Becca.
The Good: This episode closed out the supes in the military storyline nicely. We see the immediate effects with Homelander annihilating a group of terrorists on his own and obtaining the Compound V to keep it all secret. At first it feels like a victory for Vought, but in reality it's a victory for Homelander specifically. The huge reveal when he tells Maddy his plan is fantastic. This whole time I was certain that it was a company plan, but it makes so much more sense that this ill-fated "supervillain" idea was all because of a crazy, rogue Homelander who just wants to prove that he's more than the failure people treat him as. This implications of this reveal are marvelous. Compound V was a tightly kept secret, and the only thing that caused it to leak and for The Boys to find out about it was Homelander's actions. He was the one who sent A-Train on the mission where he killed Robin, and Kimiko was one of his experiments that went wrong. The only reason Vought was in a pickle to begin with was because of Homelander's actions. Maddy would easily have sealed the deal with supes in the military on her own, but it was Homelander's actions with Compound V and the supe terrorists that led to the plan almost falling apart. As for our main protagonists, they are going through some huge things right now. Starlight has found out the truth about her superpowers, and has had her faith in god utterly shattered. She's horrified that she was raised the way she was under a total lie, and she's appalled at how her mother groomed and manipulated her to make sure that she would do this job and only this job. It's horrifying, and it's no surprise that Starlight is angry about this. With all of this anger behind her, Starlight's conversation with Hughie is perfect. She's angry and unsure of what to do, but Hughie points out the one thing she wants and this is where she finds her resolve: she wants to be a hero. This leads into a lovely conversation with Maeve that pushes her over the line into becoming a rebel. Maeve is the only member of The Seven who seems to understand Starlight, having been like her at one point before giving up. Maeve encourages Starlight to make a better choice than she did, and the result is Starlight finding newfound resolve in being a superhero and helping Hughie. As for Hughie, we finally see him reach his breaking point with Billy. Hughie has continuously been pushed further and further into this mess against his will because Billy has guilted him into doing it. As the season has gone on, Hughie has slowly realized who Billy really is, and he finally calls it out in this episode. The fight between them is an outstanding scene as Billy continues to manipulate, and Hughie finally realizes how bad this man is for him and severs ties permanently. The show has built up to this for a long time, and when the moment finally comes it is one of the finest scenes in this episode. Following this, Billy moves on in his selfish hunt for vengeance, while Hughie does the right thing and goes back to help his friends. It's amusing to see how they treat Hughie when he arrives to break them out (the punching the retainer out scene was hilarious), but it's clear that Hughie's actions meant something to them, and that's more than what they can say about Billy. This takes us to the episode's climax where everything comes together. We get a thrilling escape scene where every character has great moments. Hughie has completed his transformation into a badass as he uses his resourcefulness but is also okay with taking over some shooting to help his friends out. M.M. and Frenchie have finally made peace with each other as M.M. risks his life to save Kimiko. And of course, Starlight makes her choice as she arrives in the nick of time to kill the assailants and let Hughie and his gang go, doing her duty as a superhero. These are all great character pay-offs and they make for a satisfying finale. In the end, we're left with a fateful confrontation with Hughie and Starlight facing A-Train. This is the first case of supe-on-supe violence in the entire show and it is quite the spectacle. I appreciate that the show didn't get bogged down by action scenes and always focused on the characters ahead of spectacle. Even in this action scene, the memorable part comes after with A-Train's heart attack after he went to the Compound V well a few too many times. It's a great way to end the season, and I'm curious to see what happens next. Then we come to the episode's ending with Homelander, Billy, and Maddy. Maddy has been interesting to follow all season. She's a wily company woman who does what she has to do for business, and it seems like what she has to do is also placate Homelander by playing into his fantasies. But this became a real problem because she never had control over him and was always scared of what he would do. Now she faces the consequences of that because Homelander learns she has lied to him and can't be trusted. With Billy out to get both of them, Maddy's only hope lies in a now disillusioned Homelander, and it is remarkable to see the fear in her eyes when she realizes that Homelander will not save her because of what she has done. The exchange between the two is fantastic (see: Best Moment), and Homelander killing her feels like the conclusion of a story. Billy is left with no options, and it's satisfying to see him blow the place up anyways, knowing the game is done. But Homelander doesn't let Billy go so easily, and in a great ending twist, we see Homelander take Billy to the house where Becca is raising his son. It's an enormous shock for Billy, and you get the sense that this is Homelander getting some revenge by showing Billy that all he has done has been over a lie. This will no doubt change Billy in a significant way, and the way the season ends with so many potential avenues for season 2 makes for a highly satisfying conclusion that more than pays off of a whole season worth of storytelling. The Bad: Nothing I can call outright bad. That scene with A-Train being racially profiled feels a bit out of place and unnecessary, but it is still a good scene to reveal more about A-Train's instability. The Unknown: Why is Mallory exiled away? What exactly happened that led to this? Why is Kimiko finding joy in prettying herself up? Is it simply a good feeling for her to do something "ladylike" for once in her life? If so, that's quite sad. Who is Mallory's spy? Is there someone in particular that will come up again or is the spy just there to get Billy to attack Maddy? Who was it that captured M.M., Frenchie, Kimiko, and Hughie? Was it Vought? Will we see more from Lamplighter? He has been mentioned a lot. Was it intentional to have Mr. Edgar reference taking a trip to Belize? There's a clear "Breaking Bad" joke in that, surely it was intentional. Regardless, I found it hilarious, another example of this show's subtle reference humour. What will Starlight do now? Will she openly leave The Seven and join The Boys? Or is there another direction for her? What happens to A-Train? Will he die? Become comatose? Or will he recover? Did Homelander kill Vogelbaum? What does he plan to do now that he's found his son? What will Billy do when he speaks with Becca again? What is Becca's story? Did she willingly raise Homelander's child or was she forced into it? Best Moment: Homelander threatening and killing Maddy was a fantastic scene. Antony Starr kills it once more as his unhinged behaviour is genuinely terrifying to contend with. The way he brutally melts her eyes is horrific and you get the sense that he enjoyed killing her, having separated any emotional attachment to her once he realized that he can't trust her. As for Maddy, she knew she messed up and it was uncomfortable to see her pleading to Homelander and admitting that their relationship only exists because she is terrified of him. Character of the Episode: Homelander. Conclusion: This was a terrific season finale that ended the first season on a high note. The genius of this finale is that it changes so much fundamentally about the show and left me completely unsure as to what comes next. That's how you know this was a significant episode, and it has me feeling wholly satisfied and excited for season 2. This first season of "The Boys" was great. After being so oversaturated by superhero shows, I slept on this show for a long time. But this is exactly what the genre needed. A fresh look on superheroes that cares more about realism, compelling conflict, creative storytelling, and unique themes instead of a cheap thrill ride that feels the same as everything that came before. This show was a breath of fresh air for me, and it managed to do that while telling a compelling story with very well-written and complicated characters. There was little in this season that ended up being must-watch or something downright incredible, but what we got was a layered and interesting story that has hopefully set up for even better things as the show goes on. This finale was the first time I felt that the show was genuinely great as it paid off several storylines that had been building since the start of the show. I hope that this is a sign of even better things to come. I'm very excited to move on to season 2. Score: 72
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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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