Last episode of The Boys concluded with Homelander finally saying what he actually thinks to a worldwide audience. Meanwhile, new revelations about Neuman have convinced Hughie that the best way to take on Vought is Butcher’s brutal and unrelenting methods. What Hughie doesn’t know yet is that Butcher’s methods now include taking V-24, which gives the user superpowers for 24 hours (and likely some very nasty side effects).
Butcher used a dose of V-24 to defeat and interrogate Gunpowder, who confirmed that Soldier Boy was killed by an unknown weapon during a 1984 operation in Nicaragua — a weapon that might be strong enough to finally take down Homelander once and for all. He also revealed that his and Soldier Boy’s old team Payback was working with the CIA and Colonel Grace Mallory was their handler. After obtaining this information, Butcher brutally murdered Gunpowder while struggling to control his temporary powers.
Meanwhile, Mother’s Milk had felt drawn back to the supe hunting game after learning of Soldier Boy’s involvement in Butcher’s latest mission. MM finally decides to jump back in with both feet after Monique (his ex-wife) acknowledges that he needs to face down his life’s darkest chapter.
In this episode, we get some shocking background information on Colonel Mallory’s past. Meanwhile, present events continue to escalate past the point of no return.
As always, the recap portion of this review will contain plenty of spoilers. The sequence of events has also been streamlined a bit for the sake of clarity.
Breaking Bad
The Boys (Prime Video)
The episode opens with a flashback to 17 years ago. As Starlight’s mother (Donna) prepares her daughter for the Little Miss Hero Pageant, the young girl complains of a sharp pain in her side. Donna attributes this to nerves before encouraging Annie to ignore it and focus on the pageant. Starlight listens to her mother and takes the stage, where she gives a grossly oversexualized performance of Britney Spears’ “…Baby One More Time.”
Her routine ends with a spectacular display of her light powers, earning effusive praise from the audience and judges. Starlight smiles and waves with one hand to her proud/ecstatic mother. The little girl’s other hand remains behind her back, clenched tightly into a fist as she fights through the pain.
The Boys (Prime Video)
We then flash forward to the present, where Annie fearfully watches a replay of Homelander saying all the quiet stuff he believes out loud.
Meanwhile, Ashley runs into Homelander’s living quarters (where he’s naked and also watching the replay) to announce some surprisingly good news. After last night’s speech/rant, his approval rating is up 21 points with his base and 44% with white males in the Rust Belt.
In other words, a lot of people like it when Homelander acts like his true narcissistic self.
Ashley tempers the news a bit by revealing that Homelander’s approval slipped a little with urban area adults. Thankfully, that’s overshadowed by the 98% Q-Rating he and Starlight have as a team — the highest one ever recorded.
The Boys (Prime Video)
Meanwhile, Butcher struggles with a massive V-24 hangover (and the glitching side effects) while MM and Frenchie happily banter with each other as reunited teammates. Kimiko, on the other hand, is still distraught about the children who were traumatized during their failed mission at Voughtland.
Butcher walks out of the bathroom moments before Hughie arrives at The Boys’ new base of operation. After receiving a warm welcome from MM, Butcher mercilessly roasts him over spending an entire year working for a Vought-aligned supe without even knowing it.
Hughie deflects by pointing out that they need to get Ryan to a secure location. Since Neuman knows where he is, Vought and Edgar will, as well. Butcher replies that he’s already been in contact with Colonel Mallory, who they have a meeting with to discuss logistics for keeping the boy safe.
As the team begins making plans, Frenchie gets a text and says he has another urgent matter he needs to attend to. Butcher starts to berate him, but Hughie offers to go in his place. When Butcher points out that he can’t miss work without drawing Neuman’s suspicion, Hughie asks Kimiko to break his arm so he has an excuse not to come in for a while.
She agrees to do it, resulting in a scene that’s just as gruesome as it sounds.
Tail Wagging the Dog
The Boys (Prime Video)
As American Hero closes in on its final episode, Seth Reed, Evan Lambert, and Ashley Barrett talk with Starlight about who should make the cut to join The Seven. Seth and Evan think the first spot should go to Supersonic due to his popularity with young girls and the Latinx market. They also like the angle of him and Starlight potentially rekindling their romance — an idea that isn’t deterred when Starlight reminds them that she has a boyfriend.
Their choice for the second slot is Moonshadow, the body-positive bombshell from California. When Starlight suggests they choose Silver Kincaid instead, Ashley hesitantly points out that she’s from Afghanistan — a determination she makes based on the woman’s Muslim faith and the fact that she wears a hijab. Starlight corrects her (Silver Kincaid is from England) before pointing out that she has the highest rescue stats of the other finalists and is a Unicef ambassador, making her undoubtedly the most qualified contestant.
Ashley says they’ll need to run the choice by Homelander. Starlight counters that her new contract states that she alone gets to make the final determination.
Later, Starlight calls Supersonic into a room and tells him that he’s going to be picked to join The Seven. She also begs him to say no, explaining that Homelander is a murderous sociopath and the moral rot within Vought goes much deeper than anyone realizes. Supersonic takes her words to heart, but doesn’t say whether he’ll turn the spot down or not.
The Boys (Prime Video)
After Starlight leaves the room and sits down for lunch, Homelander pops in to provide some “notes” on picking Silver Kincaid for the second open spot. He suggests instead that they throw the audience a major twist by bringing the Deep back. This atrocious idea is followed by the Deep actually showing up along with his wife (Cassandra), who creepily hugs Starlight and says she hopes they can be sisters. The Deep also tries to give her a peace offering in the form of a diamond-encrusted dolphin necklace.
Understandably, Starlight sternly rejects the idea of having the man who sexually assaulted her back on the team. Homelander counters by saying that Silver Kincaid shouldn’t be on an American superhero team because she’s Muslim. He also tells her that after his recent speech, he’s far too popular for Edgar to fight him on the decision.
When Starlight brings up the Transatlantic Flight 37 video, Homelander dares her to release it. He would likely lose everything, but that would also free him to go on a cathartic rampage of death and destruction. Homelander concludes his chilling speech by admitting that being loved is important to him, but being feared is perfectly fine, as well.
Meanwhile, the Deep and Cassandra celebrate their presumptive victory by having sex in their new Vought Tower apartment. As they’re getting undressed, the Deep tells her that he couldn’t have done any of this without her — a sentiment Cassandra wholeheartedly agrees with. Once they’re in the throes of passion, the Deep also engages in some dirty talk with a voyeuristic octopus.
The Boys (Prime Video)
Elsewhere, Frenchie meets with Cherie at a park. After providing her with passports to flee the country, his friend explains that she recently went back to work for a drug dealer named Little Nina. She was high during a recent delivery, which ended up getting robbed.
Frenchie assures her they can find the money to pay Nina back, but Cherie reminds him that she believes in brutally punishing people who fail her just on principle. She then begs Frenchie to run away with her, but he says he can’t.
Cherie gives her old friend one last kiss and departs, leaving him heartbroken.
The Boys (Prime Video)
On his way back home, Frenchie is stopped by a group of Nina’s men, who force him to get in a car and see her. After explaining that Cherrie stole drugs from her, Nina promises to give Cheri a quick death (and pay him a handsome sum) if he helps to locate her.
We learn during the course of their conversation that Frenchie used to be loyal to Nina before joining Butcher’s team. Frenchie tells his former boss that Butcher is now working with the CIA in an official capacity. Unless she wants the full weight of the U.S. government to come crashing down on her, she’d be well-advised not to mess with a member of his team.
Nina is unbothered by his threat, but still allows Frenchie to leave.
Down to Earth
The Boys (Prime Video)
A-Train steps outside a Vought medical facility to find his brother (Nathan) waiting for him. When he asks how bad it is, A-Train confesses that running would be like playing a game of Russian roulette. There’s a chance nothing could happen, but there’s also a chance that his heart could explode. On the plus side, however, he finally stopped abusing Compound V.
A-Train goes back to his brother’s home, where his nephews and sister-in-law rib him a bit about his new outfit. After they go inside, A-Train admits to his brother that his new image is an effort to rebrand and try to stay relevant. Nathan suggests he give up the superhero life and join him coaching track — a career that’s made him happier than he’s ever been.
When A-Train scoffs at that idea, Nathan says he should at least try to do some good if he’s going to attempt to position himself as a champion of black culture. He then shows his little brother a video of a supe named Blue Hawk, who has been over-policing and brutalizing minority neighborhoods. A-Train offers to give the family of one of his victims some money, but Nathan counters that handouts won’t fix the problem. They need someone to speak out.
A-Train responds that he isn’t in a position to do anything. As far as public personas are concerned, he’s more Michael Jordan than Malcolm X.
Rotten Foundation
The Boys (Prime Video)
Butcher, MM, Kimiko, and Hughie pull up to Ryan’s new safehouse location, where they’re greeted by Mallory. Ryan also runs outside to give Butcher a hug, which none of his team was expecting. As they’re heading inside, Hughie asks MM why he decided to come back. MM finally reveals/confirms that Soldier Boy was the one who killed his family.
Kimiko stays outside with Ryan and plays Connect 4 with him. The pair end up realizing they have a lot in common — both of them are scared of their own powers and wish they never had them.
Inside, Mallory is furious to discover that Neuman has been working with Vought this whole time. When she asks what the plan is to eliminate her, Butcher replies that it depends on what she can tell them about her 1984 mission with Payback in Nicaragua. Mallory tries to claim she’s never even been to the country, but Butcher isn’t having it. When she continues to hold firm on the lie, he threatens to expose all of her agents around the world to the public.
Realizing that he’ll actually follow through, Mallory agrees to tell them what happened even though doing so could get her executed.
The Boys (Prime Video)
In 1984, she was part of Operation Charly, which involved the CIA working with Contra rebels to fight the Soviet-backed Sandinistas in Central America. Funding for the operation came primarily from two things: Selling weapons to Iran and helping the Contras traffic cocaine into the United States. This was allowed under the condition that the drugs be distributed and sold almost exclusively in minority neighborhoods.
We then flashback to 1984 with a young Grace Mallory getting her team ready for a major offensive. A massive wrench gets thrown into the works when the U.S. government decides to send the superhero team Payback to support them. Things get off to a predictably rocky start when Soldier Boy attempts to flirt with Mallory after she has to keep him from launching a rocket (just for fun) that would’ve taken out their ammunition depot.
A young Stan Edgar appears and explains that the team is there as a trial run to start having supes fight with the military again (like Soldier Boy did back in World War II). Mallory counters that supes aren’t soldiers because they’re untrained and undisciplined — a point that’s quickly proven when Swatto flies up over the camp, potentially giving away their position.
She tries to refuse their involvement, but Edgar presents a letter from the U.S. government stating that she has to go along with it.
The Boys (Prime Video)
Later, Mallory is walking through the camp when she overhears Edgar talking to Black Noir, who doesn’t have his mask on (!!!). The supe complains that he’s tired of hiding his identity, but Edgar counters that black superheroes still don’t test well in the south.
Black Noir insists he can win over the white demographic and declares that he won’t be wearing the mask anymore. Edgar says he’s free to make that choice, but it will result in him wanting to wear the mask just so he can stay warm after being transferred to Minneapolis/St. Paul.
Mallory then walks by Soldier Boy, who says she should smile more. Mallory replies by pointing out that he’s nowhere near as suave as he thinks. The women he believes are impressed by his “charm” are either humoring him or terrified. Soldier Boy responds that she would have a much easier time getting a man if she were nicer instead of playing “Captain Lesbo.”
The pair’s conversation is interrupted when the camp suddenly comes under fire.
Mallory’s recollection/flashback is also interrupted when Butcher has to go to the bathroom. After puking his guts out, he struggles to contain an optic blast from the lingering V-24 in his bloodstream — a task that becomes even more urgent when Ryan begins trying to get inside the bathroom to make sure he’s okay.
The Boys (Prime Video)
Meanwhile, Annie calls Hughie to tell him that Homelander has completely lost it. She also admits that he was right about how bad an idea it was to become co-captain of The Seven.
When Annie tells him she intends to leave, however, Hughie asks her to stay. He then admits to rejoining Butcher’s team before revealing that they may have a lead on a weapon that could kill Homelander. Unfortunately, there’s no timetable for when they’ll find it, meaning that they need her to remain on The Seven so that he won’t suspect anything is amiss.
Annie asks if he expects her to stay on the team and hope that Homelander doesn’t kill her. After agonizing over his response, Hughie painfully declares “If that’s what it takes, then yeah.” He apologizes for being so callous, but taking the high road isn’t working anymore. If they’re going to bring down Homelander and Neuman, then they need to be just as ruthless as they are.
Annie points out that Hughie sounds like Butcher. Hughie agrees, but also says that he’s right. Annie’s hurt to hear him say this, but agrees to stay on The Seven until he and Butcher’s team can find the weapon.
Well-Intentioned Betrayal
The Boys (Prime Video)
After getting his glitching powers under control, Butcher comes out of the bathroom and tells Ryan that his stomach was acting up from some bad food. At first, the pair bond over how Becca used to give them both saltine crackers when they were sick. Ryan then admits he can hear Butcher’s heart racing and that his blood smells funny. Butcher assures the boy he’ll be fine and goes back into the living room with the others.
Once everyone’s settled in, Mallory continues her story/flashback. Turns out that Swatto went on another joyflight, which gave away their position. The attacking Sandinistas were also backed by Soviet special forces. Things become even more chaotic when Crimson Countess mistakenly identifies a pair of Contras as the enemy and kills them.
In a bit of karmic justice, Swatto is taken out by a surface-to-air missile. Meanwhile, Black Noir begins slicing up Sandinistas like a boss while Edgar is escorted to a safe location. Soldier Boy also goes on the offensive, taking out some enemy combatants with an assist from Mallory.
*Side Note: If you’re a fan of the comic source material, then it’s probably a little weird seeing Soldier Boy look like an actual badass.
The Boys (Prime Video)
Gunpowder, on the other hand, goes completely nuts while firing a vehicle-mounted machine gun, killing enemies and allies alike. While running for cover, Mallory is thrown by the impact from an RPG and knocked unconscious. She awakens a few minutes later to find her camp bathed in blood and carnage.
The first supe she runs across is Black Noir, whose face is severely burned on one side. His brain is also exposed due to a giant gash on the back of his head. As he reaches for his mask, she sees that Mindstorm, Gunpowder, and the TNT Twins are all alive and appear relatively unharmed. They’re also tending to each other instead of helping anyone else.
Before Mallory can walk much further, Crimson Countess runs up to her and tearfully announces that the Soviets killed Soldier Boy. She then points to a departing helicopter and says they also took his body.
The Boys (Prime Video)
Back in the present, Mallory reveals that she lost 116 soldiers in that battle while Vought got full immunity. That was the day she decided her life’s work would be to make them pay. Unfortunately, all attempts to track down the weapon that killed Soldier Boy were blocked by the Iron Curtain.
Upon hearing this, MM is furious that Mallory never told him what happened to Soldier Boy despite knowing what the supe did to his family. Mallory responds that it’s “complicated” before asking him and Hughie to give her and Butcher the room. Once they’re alone together, Butcher chastizes Mallory for never telling him about a weapon that might have been able to kill Homelander. She counters that he would have just used it to kill even more supes, but Butcher smacks that weak argument down fast. If they’d killed Homelander, then Ryan wouldn’t have to live in hiding and Becca would likely still be alive.
Butcher tells Mallory he’ll never forgive her. As he’s walking away, she says that his quest was never about Ryan or Becca — it was about unleashing the darkness inside him upon the world. She twists the knife even further by saying that he’s exactly like his father.
The Boys (Prime Video)
Butcher storms out of the house and is met by Ryan, who asks where he’s going. When he refuses to answer, the boy grabs his arm and reminds Butcher that he promised to always look out for him. As Ryan continues to hold onto him, Butcher cruelly suggests that he doesn’t want to look at the boy anymore after what he did to Becca.
The painful barb causes Ryan’s eyes to glow red. Instead of attacking, however, he takes off the St. Christopher pendant Butcher gave him and throws it to the ground. The boy then declares that he hates him before running back to the house.
Butcher is clearly disgusted by his own behavior as is Mallory, who follows Ryan inside.
Swallowing Pride
The Boys (Prime Video)
At Vought Tower, Homelander and Ashley host a dinner for Cassandra and the Deep to celebrate him rejoining The Seven. What appears to be a kind gesture is revealed to be something much more sinister when everything turns out to be seafood.
After comparing himself to Martin Luther King and celebrating his freedom to do/say whatever he wants, Homelander brings in a special dish just for the Deep. A waiter lifts the lid to reveal a live octopus named Timothy, who is also the Deep’s friend.
*Side Note: I’m not 100% sure this was the octopus from the aquarium in the Deep’s apartment. Either way, the following scene is all kinds of tragic and disgusting.
The Deep insists he can’t eat the distressed cephalopod, explaining that Timothy has children and is begging for his life. Homelander responds by insisting that do it anyway. That was something we all saw coming. What we did not expect (or at least I didn’t) was Cassandra to covertly text her husband and demand he do so, as well.
Both she and Homelander smile as the Deep forces his friend into his mouth and down his throat.
The Boys (Prime Video)
Meanwhile, Kimiko arrives back at The Boys’ apartment to find Frenchie in an extremely agitated state. She tells him about Butcher’s awful behavior and suggests that they leave the group and run away together. Frenchie likes the idea, but quickly puts it out of his mind when Butcher and the others walk through the door.
Upon finding out where he’s been all day, Butcher sees an opportunity and asks Frenchie to set up a meeting with the three of them. Frenchie doesn’t like it, but agrees (much to Kimiko’s chagrin). When he asks why, Butcher explains that they will be using her to send them to Russia.
That evening, Butcher sees Hughie watching him as he holds the St. Christopher pendant. Instead of telling him he’s a monster, Hughie says he understands why Butcher pushed Ryan away. Just as he’s beginning his big speech, Butcher projectile vomits green slime all over him.
Fighting Through
The Boys (Prime Video)
On the set of American Hero, Supersonic tells Starlight he’s decided to accept the spot on The Seven. She didn’t bail on him when he hit rock bottom and was in rehab. Now it’s his turn to be there for her.
At the taping of the American Hero finale that evening, Supersonic is selected followed by the “surprise” reveal of the Deep. After Silver Kincaid and Moonshadow are dismissed, Homelander tells the Deep how moving it is to see he and Starlight reconcile. He also claims that bringing him back was 100% her idea.
Just when things feel like they can’t get any more awkward, Homelander announces that he and Starlight are in love. She’s stunned (to say the least), but decides to go along with it. While giving him a surprisingly authentic kiss, she clenches a hand behind her back just like she did as a child in the episode’s opening.
The Verdict
The Boys (Prime Video)
Due to it being a genre series that mixes drama with comedy, it’s unlikely that The Boys will be nominated for many Emmy awards. That’s a real shame since “Barbary Coast” is one of the best hours of television you could possibly ask for.
Antony Starr continues to do an absurdly brilliant job portraying Homelander this season. A mediocre actor could still do a lot with the material, but Starr imbues his character with such a powerful undercurrent of malice that he makes you want to physically move away from the screen.
On paper, the Timothy scene likely sounded like crass slapstick comedy. In reality, it was one of the most heartwrenching and riveting moments in the entire series. Chace Crawford deserves a ton of credit for making us care way more than we should about a CGI octopus.
Meanwhile, Erin Moriarty continues to be the show’s anchor while also getting a chance to stretch her portrayal more. Despite always picking the selfless path, you can see her anger and disappointment struggling to stay below the surface — especially when Hughie puts the mission over her. Just like when she was a child on the pageant circuit, Annie finds herself having to fight through the pain that no one else can see.
And then you have Butcher, who looks more tortured than we’ve ever seen him (which is really saying something). He was definitely more distraught over Becca’s death, but choosing to hurt Ryan in an effort to protect the boy has poisoned his soul in the same way V-24 poisoned his body.
From a story standpoint, the flashback to Nicaragua wasn’t just an incredibly choreographed action sequence. It also serves as a perfect historical metaphor for this season’s theme of achieving your ends via embracing terrible means — some of which are potentially worse than what your enemies are doing. In an effort to fight communism, the United States government allied itself with drug cartels. The terrible cost of that decision can still be felt here and throughout Central America. These historical events are amplified by an incident that proved why the vast majority of supes don’t belong in the military.
We also learn some vital information about Black Noir. The show version of the character differs greatly from his comic counterpart, but ends up working much better with the story this series is telling.
If you want to nitpick, then the plotlines with Frenchie and A-Train probably weren’t explored enough. That said, they’re both far more interesting than most B stories are. The Nina/Frenchie connection will also help gets us over to Russia (and the secret of what happened to Soldier Boy). Meanwhile, Nathan appears poised to force his arrogant brother to face the everyday injustices of the world he’s likely forgotten.
All of these factors and more make up one of the very best episodes of a series that continues to prove it’s much more than just another cynical take on superheroes. If this is what the rest of the episodes are going to be like, then The Boys‘ third season will undoubtedly be its best.
Next Episode: ‘Glorious Five Year Plan’
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