WARNING: Spoilers for the seventh episode of The Boys season 4.
Holiday Hassle
The penultimate episode of The Boys is a holiday special audiences will likely never forget. After a brief nod to Sesame Street &The Muppets, Homelander and Firecracker come down on Sister Sage. Homelander puts Butcher’s bug from the previous episode on the table demanding who the leaker is. After some back and forth, Homelander tells Sage her new focus is on the shooter, while Homelander and Firecracker track down the leaker. One thing that has been an absolute joy this season is witnessing Sage’s wisecracks at Firecracker but “Oh, look at Daisy Duck Dynasty doing math” is easily the best. While the real-world parallels may hit close to home, their relevancy remains a shining triumph as far as narratives go. This gives the relatability of these corporate-owned superheroes another level of twisted verisimilitude. Just like our real-world icons, some turn out to be heinous behind closed doors, much like the heroes created by Vought.
Guess Who’s Back
At long last, Butcher has returned. Just in time to be made leader again. After MM’s panic attack, he turns over leadership duties back to Butcher. Ironically, after Butcher tells the crew that he kept Sameer alive to concoct a virus powerful enough to kill Homelander. The catch is that a global pandemic could break out and kill all supes in the process. Going against what Kessler wants, Butcher has Frenchie released from his self-imposed imprisonment to move the process along. Butcher may be a pretty awful human being, but genocide is not a route willing to be explored. That and Butcher believes Ryan has the power to turn the tide against Homelander.
Monsters & Accomplices
The CEO of Vought getting sloshed before noon is not only hysterical but on point for this show. All season long, Ashley and A-Train have been slowly realizing that Vought is monstrous. Both see the path Homelander is on, and despite the questionable decisions they’ve both demonstrated there are still lines they’re not willing to cross. The Boys tends to balance raunchy, graphic, and diabolical plots with genuine character development and payoff. A-Train in particular, even mentions to MM later on in the episode how great it felt to feel like a real hero for the first time after saving MM’s life with a child there to bear witness. Despite all the heinous acts A-Train has done for Vought, he can finally consider himself a real hero.
Possible Leaks
Firecracker brings Homelander to a lead on the leaks: Webweaver. After an awkward interrogation session, Homelander dismantles Webweaver in front of Firecracker. For the first time, Firecracker has witnessed just how off the deep end Homelander has gone and shows some semblance of scarcity towards his sociopathic behavior. One has to wonder if she will remain loyal in the final episode of the season, or if she will end up in the same position Webweaver does. Knowing Homelander, he will find a justifiable reason to eradicate anyone he thinks in his way.
Christmas Conflicts
With no lead on the shooter’s whereabouts, the crew heads back to base, with The Deep and Noir ready to fight. After killing the beloved octopus in a fit of rage, Deep feels compelled to prove loyalty to Homelander. Agreeing to take out Butcher and the crew, they ambush them resulting in an all-out brawl. If A-Train hadn’t come and saved the day, this likely would’ve been the end of our team. That said, the action depicted here continues a trend of well-choreographed, easy-to-follow movements The Boys has never been cheap or shaky on.
Mutually Assured Destruction
In the closing moments of this episode, plenty of miniature cliffhangers are in play. Homelander has fired Sage from the Seven, and her retaliation could be tactical. The team has to extract the virus to kill Neuman after Sameer wasted the only dose to escape being imprisoned. Annie is tied up in an unknown location, and Hughie has no idea the shapeshifting shooter just stole their leverage. Also, will Deep and Noir still be bros after finding out Sage played both of them? Regardless, the penultimate episode of The Boys delivered another spectacular episode that set up the season finale with grand anticipation.
New episodes of The Boys premiere on Thursdays on Prime Video.