Warning: Spoilers included from the sixth episode of The Boys season 4.
“Dirty deeds, done dirt cheap” – AC/DC
More often than not, The Boys tends to go into some very graphic, violent, and outright raunchy directions in at least one episode, per season. “Dirty Business” is that episode for season four. Butcher attempts to recreate a supes killing virus, Hughie and the crew sneak into Tek Knight’s estate, and Homelander unveils his machinations to rich billionaires. To summarize the episode in a single word it would be this: wild.
Right as Rain
Butcher and Kessler open The Boys episode 6 with a chained-up Sameer giving him a simple ultimatum: create a new virus in a week, or get sent back to Vicki Neuman in a bucket. With one leg already amputated, Butcher isn’t giving Sameer much of a choice in the matter. If Butcher wants to end Homelander, his methods this season are more mad than ever. Karl Urban is giving it his all this season, by balancing a menace coupled with chronic illness. Urban’s performance as Butcher is never in doubt, and this sequence drives the motives of his character into overdrive. Even if he’s coughing up lungs and vomiting black bile. An acting performance that is memorable for all the right and wrong reasons.
Hughie’s Just Fine
After spreading Hugh Sr’s ashes along a streetside in Manhattan, MM and the gang receive information about Homelander’s plan to form a super army. Upon learning of a cocktail party taking place at Tek Knight’s estate, MM hatches a plan to crash it. Introducing Web Weaver, this Spider-Man-inspired character is the complete opposite of Peter Parker in plenty of disturbed ways. Living alone in a webbed-up apartment, hyped up on plenty of narcotics and booze, MM drugs him to sleep and takes his suit. The plan is simple: Dress Hughie up like Webweaver, meet up with Tek Knight, and expose Homelander and Sages’ grand scheme. Annie shows concern for Hughie, but through most of the episode he clarifies that he is “fine.” (spoilers: Hughie is, in fact, not fine.)
Sidekicks and Masochists
After his introduction in Gen V, Tek Knight returns in this season of The Boys. Continuing with fun parodies, Tek Knight is a combination of Iron Man & Batman gone off the deep end. Wanting to allure Webweaver into being his new sidekick, Hughie uncovers a sadistic side to the billionaire that will leave audiences in a state of consternation. While Bruce Wayne and Tony Stark spend their time being humanitarian philanthropists, Robert Vernon shows shades of racism coupled with pride in owning prisons that forges a cycle of criminals going through reform only to relapse and be caught again. Also, he’s a plain old masochist who enjoys torturing people for pleasure. Vernon and Ashley get off on performing various acts of BDSM kinks on Hughie after planting the bugs to listen in on conversations going on at the estate.
Mansplained and Motive
One of the best scenes in this week’s episode of The Boys comes from a conversation between Neuman and Sage. Sister Sage reveals a tragic story about not being able to save her grandmother due to incompetent people in power denying the cure for lymphoma she made in three days. This doesn’t justify the actions the Vought heroes are taking, but it shows some semblance of understanding the motives as to why they feel the need to eradicate humans. Likening them to animals, Sage also jokes about how the lines at Voughtland are already long enough. We can all relate to long lines at amusement parks.
Amazing Grace
Once communication with Hughie goes silent, MM Kimiko and Annie infiltrate the estate to save their beloved boy scout. However, an encounter with Firecracker allows Annie to sympathize with her past actions but also knock out Firecracker before calling for Homelander. In this moment we see real human decency subverted with tactile evasion. Annie has come to terms with her past but will do what is necessary to preserve her future.
Dumb Luck
Meanwhile, MM and Kimiko are found by Sage while trying to find Hughie. MM shoots Sage after being riled up and suffers from a panic attack. Kimiko finds A-Train for assistance to save MM. Sage is rendered in a state of stupefaction following the head wound. This leads Homelander to sell the plan to congressmen and women at the estate. Thankfully, Neuman steps in and saves the pitch from falling apart. This sequence is both hilarious and terrifying, given its real-world parallels to how the state of affairs currently stands.
The Boys: Pleasure and Purpose
The episode ends with some pretty inventive scenarios. Tek Knight meets his end at the hands of his butler Elijah after revealing Homelander’s plot to use his prisons as internment camps for humans, allowing The Boys to escape unnoticed by The Seven. Hughie confides to Annie that he is in fact, not okay and begins to grieve the loss of his father. Kimiko attempts to get through to Frenchie who chooses self-incarceration for his past transgressions. Homelander finds a new flavor of milk to enjoy, and Butcher realizes that Kessler is just as imaginary as Becca is. The final two episodes are bound to be as insane and tempestuous as the series maintained throughout its run thus far.
New episodes of The Boys premiere on Thursdays on Prime Video.