Prime Video just dropped the first 2, out of 8, episodes of the final season of The Boys. If you haven’t watched them yet, then you’re gonna want to run out of here faster than Season 1 A-Train all hopped up on Temp V. I’m gonna recap and spoil some epic moments that just occurred. With a little comic book background sprinkled in.
If you want a non-spoiler review of the first 7 episodes, CLICK HERE
***WARNING SPOILERS AHEAD!***
EPISODE ONE: “Fifteen Inches of Sheer Dynamite”
It’s been a year since the end of Season 4. MM, Frenchie, and Hughie are still in a “Freedom Camp” while Kimiko has been deported, and Starlight has become close with A-Train. After Annie managed to play the Flight 37 clip during a Vought investors meeting, Homelander is angry. This video has been held over his head for seasons. Maeve used it against him, and now it’s finally out.
So he calls for the execution of the boys in the camp, cause that will draw out Annie and Butcher. Something Homelander doesn’t understand: sacrifice and love. So Butcher sees this as the perfect time to get the boys back together. Frenchie is priority #1, cause he can help with the virus.
Homelander now wants to go after every Starlight sympathizer, and feels unstoppable. He’s even got Ashley as the Vice President. Last we saw her she was shooting up V and turning into “Mr. Blue.” She didn’t just become a supe, while also being one heart beat away from becoming the President of the United States of America. She also got hitched. Can’t have a single woman in a job with that much power! Sister Sage knew just who to pair her up with.
Oh Father – Comics V. the Show
Ashley’s new husband is played by the amazing Daveed Diggs, and he’s called, “Oh Father.” In the comic books we meet him at the BELIEVE Expo in issue #45. In the show we saw the BELIEVE Expo in season 1. The show shows Ezekiel there, and Homelander baptizing Hughie, while he’s undercover for the boys. In the comic we meet Oh Father and his 12 underage sidekicks, as a nod to the 12 apostles. They’re called Sidekick Twelve. It’s clear he’s doing things to these children that should cause him to be locked up, and never heard from again. Instead Homelander tells him to be more discreet. Oh Father is the leader of Capes for Christ, and his powers are very fast flight, and strength. Very different from the show.
While talking to Homelander, he asks Oh Father if he knows of any other supes that genuinely want to do good other than Starlight. Oh Father tells him that outside of the Super Duper team, he knows of no other supes. To which Homelander replies, “good” because he’s on a mission for supes to take over the world. Cut to issue #64 and Oh Father has led a team of supes in securing The White House. Homelander is in the oval office, while Oh Father and other flying supers are taken out in the sky by the military who had a weapon capable of targeting supes, due to how their neurons fire as a result of Compound V.
#ThankYouATrain
Redemption can be a bitch. Kudos to The Boys social media team encouraging everyone to use the #ThankYouATrain before the new season even started. We had no idea what we were posting. While the show hasn’t ended yet, A-Train, has hands down been the best redemption arc. We kicked off the beginning of the pilot with him completely running through Hughie’s girlfriend, Robin, showing no remorse. As the seasons went on we saw him struggle physically and emotionally. Last season his own brother basically told him to F-off. Now, despite being forced to hide and run, his brother has forgiven him, because he knows he’s doing what’s right. Yet, no good deed goes unpunished.
Eric Kripke warned us no one was safe. You never want to see a good redemption end in tragedy, but honestly, it just makes the redemption that much better. After what had to be a nod to one of the best scenes ever from the Marvel Fox Universe (when Quicksilver busts Magneto out of jail in X-Men: Days of Future Past), A-Train saves Hughie, and meets his demise. A demise that may have been prevented if he hadn’t avoided running through another innocent person. His story started by killing someone because he couldn’t stop running, and ended with him avoiding doing that again. Sometimes villains live long enough to see themselves become a hero. #ThankYouATrain
***With the show being based on a comic from Dynamite Entertainment, I got to assume the title for episode one is also a nod to the show’s origins.
EPISODE TWO: “Teenage Kix”
We kick off with A-Train’s funeral, and everyone looks to be watching something different. As Oh Father preaches, Firecracker is all for it, Ashley looks concerned, the Deep looks as if he’s having a realization (or a coming to Jesus moment), and Homelander looks annoyed. Meanwhile, the boys have the virus ready to be tested with a specific test subject in mind, Rock Hard from “Teenage Kix.” And, Ashley’s true supe power is revealed. She’s a mind reading Voldermort.
Despite her new powers, Ashley can’t read the smartest brain in the world: Sister Sage. Although she does try to talk to her. Ashley still has some humanity in her, and is not loving innocents be rounded up and thrown in Freedom Camps. However, her fear and need to be powerful (in an office and a bedroom) always seems to win out. That and the fact that Sage is always a few steps ahead of her.
The Return of Soldier Boy
When season 3 ended we knew this day would come. Or I was just really hopeful. Soldier Boy was rendered unconscious, and while he may have V-1, they still could have found a way to kill him. Instead they put him on ice for a rainy day. Episode 2 is that rainy day. Homelander wakes up dad. With a hilarious nod to the comics (Soldier Boy slept with Homelander in hopes of getting on the 7- they are not related in the comics) Homelander tells Soldier Boy that if he gets Butcher for him, he’ll bring him onto the 7 and he can live life free again. Soldier Boy continues to be very underwhelmed by his offspring until he sees him order the President to give Soldier Boy a full pardon, and make him a Manhattan.
“Since when do supes tea bag the president?” -Soldier Boy
It seemed like a proud papa moment. Before we know it Soldier Boy tracks down Butcher. He’s more than a pretty face, a glowing chest, and incredibly over sexualized and hilarious one-liners. The virus is tested, and Soldier Boy is immune. However, since Homelander did not get V-1 he is not. So the race is on to find more Super Soldier Serum.
The Final Season of ‘The Boys’ has kicked off beautifully
I am hyped and terrified for how this season is going to end! The first 2 episodes hit the emotions and the gore pretty hard. It only gets more diabolical, as we brace for impact on this final season of THE BOYS. I got to give these 2 episodes 9.5 Manhattans out of 10.
Want to know more about the Comic Books, or listen to interviews with the cast?
Follow myself and Thomas as we continue our ‘Saturdays are for the Boys’ where we break down each comic, and compare it to the show. We also have a couple interviews on this YouTube playlist with some of the cast of the show.
