Summary: Flashbacks show Frenchie get recruited by Mallory after he and his friends, Jay and Cherie, are captured following a bank heist. He agrees to work for her if his friends go free. Mallory brings in Lamplighter to work for them and Frenchie is tasked to watch him. He leaves his post when Jay overdoses so he can save his life. Lamplighter goes on to kill Mallory's grandkids. In the present, Homelander and Stormfront are enjoying their relationship. Stormfront leaves for a Vought meeting. Starlight gets her chip taken out by Frenchie. She follows a lead to Sage Grove Center, a psychiatric facility. MM, Frenchie, and Kimiko go inside to investigate while the others wait outside. They see Stormfront arrive and go in. MM's group discover that Stormfront is there with Lamplighter and they are training supes in this facility. Frenchie isn't able to keep his cool around Lamplighter and a fight breaks out, the inmates get out and everyone starts dying. MM, Frenchie, Kimiko, and Lamplighter lock themselves in a room and air out their grievances. Lamplighter and Frenchie explain their stories. Hughie, Butcher, and Starlight are attacked and Hughie is critically injured. Butcher and Starlight get him to a hospital, but Starlight has to accidentally kill a civilian who didn't cooperate. MM, Frenchie, and Kimiko manage to escape when Lamplighter covers their story with Stormfront. The trio take Lamplighter to see Mallory who decides to not kill him. Homelander is upset that Stormfront has been lying to him so she comes clean: she reveals that she was the first ever supe created by Frederick Vought and was born in 1919. Vought is a Nazi white supremacist organization that aims for world domination, and Stormfront is trying to train an army of supes.
The Good: This was Frenchie's episode, finally covering what happened with the Lamplighter situation, which has been built up since the show's second or third episode. The answers we got were highly satisfying as we were able to put together the complete situation and understand why each character did what they did. Of course Frenchie left his post when the friends he took the job for were in danger. Of course Lamplighter tried to kill Mallory after she cruelly blackmailed him and used him for her own ends. Both characters have been framed for doing awful things and have paid for it (Lamplighter has Frenchie's eternal rage, while Frenchie was ostracized because of his failure). Both Frenchie and Lamplighter give terrific performances, and hearing them come to terms with what happened and tell their stories to receive forgiveness from those who matter most is evocative and emotional. A great story to center the episode around. Crazily enough, this great story is almost an afterthought with how frighteningly intense this whole episode is. The bulk of this episode takes place at the Sage Grove Center as The Boys try to investigate what Stormfront has been up to. What results is a suspenseful infiltration mission that gets more and more dangerous with the presence of Lamplighter, Stormfront, and the many supes that were being cultivated in this facility. It's especially bad when both Frenchie and Kimiko have their judgement clouded by vengeance while MM is the only one keeping a level head. As expected, Frenchie blows it and we have a terrific confrontation that just gets worse and worse. When all hell breaks loose in the facility, the action is exciting, and it feels like life and death with how powerful the supes like Cindy are. It's also a big reveal that Cindy is likely the one who killed Raynor in the season premier. With the reveal at the end of the episode, it's clear what Raynor figured out, but more on that later. The Frenchie/Kimiko/MM storyline goes for much of the episode, but it is consistently tense with the situation worsening at numerous points until they are finally able to make it out safely with Lamplighter in tow - a new ally, regretful of all the bad things he did. As the chaos happens in the facility, we get a tense story outside as Hughie suffers a critical injury and it's down to the dysfunctional pair of Starlight and Butcher to get him to safety. This episode does a fantastic job of making use of Butcher and Starlight being together. They are complete opposites of the morality coin, and it's great to see Starlight refusing to take any of Butcher's shit, even going as far as to compare him to Homelander to his face, which is something that I've been thinking for a long time. It's great to see somebody finally bring it up to him. The episode goes further with the civilian whose car they steal. Starlight wants to spare him, but Butcher knows what needs to be done in these scenarios. Despite Starlight doing everything in her power to resolve things, she ends up killing him. But impressively, she is able to compartmentalize (likely due to how much crap she's had to deal with throughout the show), and Butcher is impressed by it. It's funny to hear Starlight reject even the idea of impressing an awful guy like Butcher, but it's clear that Starlight is being hardened by all that she has had to do to help The Boys. This set up for a nice ending scene as Butcher and Starlight bond in the hospital room by making fun of Hughie, showing that even though they have their major differences, they can still get along for the sake of getting the job done. Elsewhere in the episode, we get to see Homelander and Stormfront's relationship progress. They do terrible things, but are riding the high of being together, with that opening scene in the alley being a gory highlight. I was amused by their interactions on TV, and even more amused by both Butcher and Kimiko coming to the same realization: "they're f*cking". Surprisingly, Homelander is actually smitten, and we see that evidenced by the beautiful bouquet he buys for Stormfront. But because he's a man-child, we get to watch how quickly he goes from smitten to furious in hysterical fashion. Because Stormfront probably took a little more than 20 minutes, Homelander went on a rampage, burned his own trailer down, and threatened to murder her for lying to him (she wasn't at Vought). Homelander is so unpredictable that he's always entertaining to watch. But like any other intelligent character, Stormfront knows how to control him. She comes clean and tells Homelander how much she truly values him by revealing who she is and what her purpose is. The reveal that she was the first supe and that Vought has its foundations in Nazi Germany is fantastic, and it completely changes our perception of the show and of Vought. Suddenly Stormfront's campaigning makes sense as she can gradually push Nazi propoganda into the minds of the many fans she has collected from her relatable and progressive videos. It seems like Vought's main plan is world domination, which is a high-stakes enemy to take down. Deep is so involved with the cult now that he's recruiting others. Seeing him bring in A-Train is amusing, especially with how he goes from treating him like a good friend to admitting that he used to fantasize about drowning him. The dialogue is sharp and funny as ever, and it's fun to see these two disgraced heroes taking such a drastic life change in an effort to get back into The Seven. I'm excited to see where the story goes from here. I've also greatly enjoyed Alastair, the head of the Church of the Collective. He seems like a delightfully evil guy who only cares about expanding the profit margins for the church. I have to give this show credit, it provides a great variety of awful people. A few small things I want to point out: the "brave Maeve" brand is really funny, and I had a blast with the "you can't be proud on an empty stomach" line. I also got a laugh out of Homelander telling Stormfront that he wants to run his lines with Noir... the guy who can't talk. Even when he's practicing his lines, Homelander can't bear to hear out someone else's opinion on his performance. The Bad: I'm amazed that Stormfront let Cindy live, and that she somehow managed to escape on her own. That was shockingly sloppy, and I'm not sure why Stormfront did not take more care into making sure that Cindy was taken care of, especially since she was so powerful. I'm lightly concerned by the Nazi Vought reveal. A two-dimensional evil government organization trying to take over the world is hardly original, and I really hope that this is not the endgame for the series. I have hope since this reveal came so early in the show's run. But I am nervous that the political messaging in the show may just devolve into the age-old and obvious idea of "Nazis are bad". This show has potential to be so much more than just that. The Unknown: Will Maeve find the black box? What will Maeve do with the cell phone footage? What does Elena think of her now? Will this end their relationship? Is A-Train joining the church now? Where is this storyline heading? What's the goal of the church? Are they actually going to be able to help him get back in The Seven even with his new heart problems? Why did Lamplighter kill Tim? How many psychiatric centers like this do Vought have? How many supes have they collected over time? I presume that Raynor discovered Vought's true white supremacy agenda. Was there anything more that she found out? What do The Boys have planned for Lamplighter? What will Cindy do now that she is free? Best Moment: Frenchie and Lamplighter revealing their stories to each other was terrific. A great way to close out a story that has been hinted at since the second episode of the show. Character of the Episode: Frenchie. Conclusion: An excellent episode. This episode is consistently intense, exciting, funny, and revelatory, and it even grounds itself emotionally with the Frenchie/Lamplighter conflict caught in the middle of everything. With all the reveals and dramatic moments in this episode, I'm excited to see where the show decides to go next. Score: 73
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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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