Part of what makes the universe Boys A lot of twisted fun is how he cuts through our places, behaviors, ads, and people, which is how we get Will Ferrell out of a ’90s Honda at the beginning of the second episode of Season 4, “Life Among the Septics.” A-Train is rightly angry that Vought has reduced his biopic to a racial caricature, and Biggie’s “Hypnotize” competes for airspace with a tremendously inspiring score while Ferrell’s “Coach Brink” implores the super-fast Reggie Franklin to I am back. practice. (This sequence also features a return of PJ Byrne as Adam Bourke, who we last saw in the Children cleave Generation V, working his way through teaching an acting class). The timing of the movie doesn’t really go anywhere, other than “Ferrell Streep” is a pretty decent commentary. But it does add to A-Train’s frustrations with Vought, Homelander, and the Seven, whom the laser-eyed would-be god has transformed into chaos zone guard workers.
When Homelander orders the Seven to commit a murder, the current version of Noir wonders: are they supposed to do it? Yes is the short answer. But whoever is in the tactical battle suit should know that Homelander also ripped out the last Noir’s guts in a fit of rage, and there was no accountability. In this show, it’s an in-universe understanding that people are shot, slaughtered, and turned into pink mist as often as they regenerate or simply respawn, and the remaining characters simply move on. Even Homelander’s murder trial turned out to be a formality, as he assured Victoria Neuman. But sending the Seven and threatening Neuman are just meetings that could have been emails. Homelander’s real problem is indoctrinating his son Ryan in everyday life. traveshamockery of life within Vought International. The marketing idiots have developed a “Homeboy” character for Ryan, complete with a suit that mimics his dad’s super drip. But the boy’s first “salvation” as a hero is the usual nonsense, designed and built by Vought for the cameras. When Ryan uses too much power and murders the Vought specialist playing an armed bank robber, no one cares.
“Take your shit and get out. Or I’ll kick you out.” Laz Alonso’s expanded role as Mother’s Milk, now that she leads the Boys, is extremely welcome. Alonso emphasizes both her character’s sensitivity and his ability to kick ass, two traits that clash when Billy Butcher speaks to the group about his terminal diagnosis. MM seems truly committed to the task of his CIA mission, and the careless and angry act of the dying and drunk Butcher is hindering his command style. The kids have followed Sister Sage to Truthcon, a ridiculous conspiracy festival taking place in the conference rooms of a suburban hotel. But the smartest person in the world made that deduction and they fell straight into his trap. She orders Firecracker and his multiplicity-style super friend Splinter to kill MM, Frenchie, and Kimiko at Homelander’s behest. A wild fight ensues, with as many versions of the same naked man on display as there are brazen acts of violence. (Kimiko gets shot in the head, but as we said, in this show that’s just a blip.) The Boys only really win with the assistance of a late-arriving Butcher. And Petardo flees the scene to live free and TikTok one more day.
Annie and Hughie weren’t in the Truthcon scrum because they were following A-Train, whose stolen courage in a series of his own Vought “saves” might impress his nephews, but is controlled by a real truth bomb from his brother. . (“Your uncle is no hero.”) Embarrassed and angry, A-Train decides to throw digital evidence at the Starlighters that his people had nothing to do with the murders outside of Homelander’s trial, which has the added effect of leading Annie back to Starlight’s superpower. If she can be a beacon of hope in this broken world, so be it.
It’s not in Homelander’s fucking wiring to understand how Ryan can feel any kind of remorse. (And watching Antony Starr modulate Homelander’s features as he struggles to suture the survivor’s static smile onto his face is hilarious.) Humans are fragile, he tells the boy with empty sincerity. We can’t save them all. But his son is already putting together a broader picture. Vought, Homelander, the entire superhero apparatus: they don’t want save any. It is a closed-loop system, siphoning off the glory of a society muted by conspiracy theories, with people clinging to hidden evils unable to recognize the real threat. We’ll have to see how this growing realization will influence Butcher’s attempts to free Ryan from Homelander. But with A-Train wavering in his support for Vought, and even Noir questioning the Seven’s motivations, The Boys stumble toward their super-killing mission seems to be the least of Homelander’s problems.
CHILDREN NOISE:
- T-shirt game as a signifier of the character. As a Detroit resident, Sage has already sported a vintage Palace of Auburn Hills T, as well as a “Made in Detroit” number featuring what appears to be a sentient hot dog. And not to be outdone, Mother’s Milk has appeared on t-shirts emblazoned with the logos of 50 Cent, Eric B. & Rakim, and Outkast.
- “I look back on my life and all I see are the disasters I made. And I don’t have time to fix it. Maybe I can do something right with the time I have left. Get Ryan to safety. But I can’t do it without you.” It’s a bitter little speech from Billy Butcher, with a fantastic delivery from Karl Urban – after all, it first appeared in the trailer for Children season 4. But MM, even with a glimmer of understanding in his eyes, is very ruthless. “Too little, Butcher. Too fucking late…
Johnny Loftus (@glennganges) is a freelance writer and editor living in Chicago. His work has appeared in The Village Voice, All Music Guide, Pitchfork Media, and Nicki Swift.