Hi folks! Welcome back to our weekly recap of The Boys. This week’s episode is named “The Last Time to Look on This World of Lies” and it has a heavy meaning, given that Homelander turned Vought into a machine of lies à la Fox News, but also Hughie has been hiding something from Annie and now it’s time to pull the curtain on that big lie, Let’s dive right in!
1. Blue Hawk
What was supposed to be a simple stunt for A-Train, ended up (maybe) radicalizing him more than expected. As an appreciation for his loyalty to the team, Ashley gives A-Train an impromptu meeting with Blue Hawk. There, the speedster awkwardly and tensely explains his grievances to Blue Hawk, and he offers to give an apology to the communities he patrols.
Then, when they get to a black community center, Blue Hawk gives a very false apology, reminiscent of those times when Police pretend to have accountability in real life, and the people in the center end up angrier at the unemphatic response of the hero, who seems surprised that his apology was not being accepted.
Eventually, that tense moment ends up with Blue Hawk attacking the people of the community center and when A-Train managed to stop the racist man, he discovers that his brother Nathan was badly injured and, in the hospital, it is revealed that he might not be able to ever walk again.
This might be the moment when A-Train truly realizes that racial injustices happen every day, and he might truly be a voice for change, which is sad, honestly, only when his privilege is affected, he is able to confront the reality of the world, hopefully, he might, after all, get redemption.
2. The Legend
After Russia, the team is broken, Hughie is fascinated by his newly discovered addiction to temporal V, Butcher has depressed drunken sex with Maeve, Kimiko is badly injured and Frenchie is by his side, and MM is off the team, apparently for good… until Soldier Boy arrives to the US.
He discovers New York again, in a scene similar to that of Captain America when he discovers the new world, but of course, Soldier Boy is an intolerant man who doesn’t understand why there’s a gay interracial couple openly kissing, then he hears Russian music and ends up destroying an entire building.
Then The Boys are reunited, MM, Hughie and Butcher pay a visit to The Legend, a charming man who was in charge managing the heroes, and he could tell you stories of those crazy days for hours, but they are not there to listen to him talk about the past and snort cocaine, they need help locating Soldier Boy, and The Legend cedes: he is going after Crimson Countess
3. I Got Rhythm
As I said, Kimiko is in the hospital, thankfully she is slowly recovering from Soldier Boy’s attack, and apparently, she lost her powers, because she is incapable of lifting a heavy object. As she is recovering, they are watching an old movie, and she speaks her first words, altought it’s probably part of her imagination.
Her first words turn into a full-blown musical scene, which ends with Kimiko kissing Frenchie, who immediately flees the room, and although he is surprised, he smiles at the future… only to be kidnapped by Nina, who is angry because of the mess they caused in Russia. Poor Kimiko, all alone in her room, feeling abandoned.
It has been showed a couple of times, that Kimiko reacts positively to music, she imagines scenarios where she is able to speak, this is useful to the production team because they can’t have a character that never speaks, which isn’t so much of a deal in comic form but becomes a difficulty in an audiovisual medium. But it also adds a layer of complexity to Kimiko, who yearns for something more than being just a weapon.
4. A new ally
The team captures Crimson Countess, and they have a plan for Soldier Boy, but neither of MM or Annie can learn the truth, so Butcher roofies Marvin and Hughie has a discussion with his girlfriend
Thein, their plan is revealed, they don’t intend to stop Soldier Boy, Hughie and Butcher are giving him his old ex on a silver platter to gain his trust, and maybe defeat Homelander together. Annie can’t believe that Hughie agrees with the plan and is decided to keep using V24, so she puts an ultimatum, but Hughie leaves with Butcher.
Continued belowAlthough Hughie’s motive is to “finally be able to protect Annie”, he leaves her alone, both literally and metaphorically, because she has to deal with her new “boyfriend” Homelander all by herself, now that Hughie is gone and Alex/Supersonic is dead.
5. Women who hate men
The most meaningful theme of this episode is the running theme of toxic masculinity and its consequences, in real life, misogynistic beheavior is becoming more and more unacceptable, from both women and men, and toxic relationships are ending for good.
And this also is happening in The Boys, Homelander asks Maeve if she ever felt something for him, and she responds that not only she despised him and, what might be a worse thing for Homelander, Maeve pitied him, so both his former lover and his father figure (Stan Edgar) have feelings so negative for him that he surely feels powerless when confronted, although he is having his vengeance now.
Then, Crimson Countess has the exact same feelings for Soldier Boy, she gave him to the Russians, and it wasn’t because of money or power, it happened just because she hated him and what he represented: pure toxic masculinity without consequences. Now that she is dead we might never know what stories she had to tell, but if The Legend’s stories are as depraved as he makes them sound, most probably Soldier Boy was (and still is) a predator.
And that’s it for this episode, this might have been a “slow” episode, with less action, but it doesn’t mean that it was boring, a lot of things happened and it set up The Boys’ plan for what might be the season finale. What did you think of this episode? Leave your comments below and join us next week for our take on episode 3×06, “Herogasm,” an expected epic of epic proportions.
