The Boys 4×03 is all about sneaking around and the start of confronting the past. Homelander officially introduces Firecracker and Sister Sage as new members of The Seven. During his speech, he heavily implies that he’s saving the seventh spot for Ryan. After the event, Homelander calls for a Seven meeting and discusses the two Starlighters who were freed and how there must be a leak in Vought. A-Train manages to escape unscathed from this for now, but there’s no telling when he’ll get caught. He meets with MM (who’d cloned A-Train’s brother’s phone) to talk with him and wants to make A-Train their inside guy. Hughie and Starlight are against it, and even A-Train seems unsure, but MM thinks they can change his mind.
Mirroring this, Butcher has a plan with Joe Kessler to drug Ryan and get him away from Homelander. In a rare moment of being a good person, Butcher decides against it after he and Ryan spend most of the day together. Kessler is all for using Ryan to fight back against Homelander and Vought, but Butcher is against it. He’s trying his best to do everything right and keep his promise to Becca. Ryan’s loyalty to Homelander is wavering and Butcher might be right in waiting for him to change his own mind.
Is Mother’s Milk Enough To Lead The Boys?
So far, MM is having trouble keeping his crew together. Between letting Butcher go and trying to balance the CIA’s expectations of him and the group, MM has a lot going on. It doesn’t help that his crew are a rowdy bunch. He can’t exactly order Starlight around since she’s busy trying to lead the Starlighters. Frenchie and Kimiko are more or less a 2-for-1 deal. They have no problem going off and doing their own thing whenever they want to. The only one he can really boss around is Hughie, but it’s not like he can physically fight back against MM unlike Frenchie and Kimiko.
While his ways have almost gotten the group killed, there is no denying that Butcher brought a lot skills to the table. He’s quick on his feet and knows how to get things done even the plan goes awry. We also can’t deny that Butcher is very toxic, selfish, and self-destructive, but MM’s plans have almost gotten the group killed too. MM is a good person to lead the group, but Butcher has the brutal nature and grit to get them in line. If they’re going to succeed in their mission to bring down Vought and Homelander, they’re going to need to work together.
Starlight And Firecracker Finally Meet In Person…Again
Starlight has been the good girl in the show, but it looks like she hasn’t always been one. Firecracker has been targeting her relentlessly since episode 1, but we couldn’t figure out why exactly. It felt like she had a personal reason why she was after Starlight, and well…it’s true.
Turns out Starlight and Firecracker used to be in the same pageant circuit back when they were teens. Unlike Starlight and her middle-class upbringing, Firecracker grew up poor and often lost no matter how hard she worked. When she made it to the finals in one pageant, Starlight spread horrendous rumors and said fatphobic comments about her. Firecracker left the circuit and has had a chip on her shoulder about Starlight and her “dove, pure angel bullsh*t” since.
It might seem a little dramatic for Firecracker to hold a grudge for this long, but bullying can have long-term effects on its victims. It’s hard to blame her for wanting to get back at Starlight now she has the chance to do it. Blaming her mother or youth isn’t a good excuse. At the end of the day, Starlight spread the rumors and changed Firecracker’s life. From what we’ve seen in the trailer, Firecrack does declare war on the Starlighters. We can assume things are going to get much worse before they get better.
Blood On The Ice Show
After receiving a lead from A-Train, MM and Hughie sneak into the Vought on Ice show rehearsals. Hughie has the misfortune of planting the bug to listen to Homelander, Sage, and Neuman’s conversation but is stuck in the vent when they appear early. Sage and Homelander have created a pretty solid plan for Neuman to take over once Singer is president. He’s demanding that Neuman reveal her Supe powers, but Neuman is against the idea while Sage seems a little surprised to hear his demand. Regardless, Sage and Homelander say they want Vought Supes in every city and authority over the police and get rid of the Defund the Supes movement and Bureau of Superhuman Affairs.
Things go from 0 to 100 really quickly after Homelander discovers Hughie. He manages to get out of the vent and escape his vision with MM’s help. Unfortunately, MM’s help results in one ice skater’s death and the rest of the ice skaters maiming and accidentally killing each other while trying to escape. Though Hughie appears trapped, A-Train saves him in a surprising twist. Could the speedster really be turning a new leaf? Maybe MM’s words broke through to him.
Cracks Are Forming On Both Sides
They’re usually together, but it seems like this episode is the beginning of Frenchie and Kimiko drifting apart. Kimiko runs into someone from her time at the Shining Light hideout but doesn’t say much about her to Frenchie. Meanwhile, Frenchie is high on hallucinogens and sees the faces of his past victims and Colin’s face mocking him.
This doesn’t bode well for either of them and Frenchie ends up telling Kimiko off. He’s not wrong about them being able to fix each other’s problems, but they could help each other. They’re strong together, but it looks like they might end up spending some time apart to do some soul-reflecting. Having some separation is good, but this is pretty crappy timing when it feels like the group is falling apart. It’s barely the third episode of season 4 and it feels like The Boys are divided.
The Boys have always stuck together through thick and thin, but now it feels like they’re all divided. Each of them has their own issues that are slowly coming in the way of their mission. Hughie has resolved his issues with his mother, but everyone else is losing focus. Granted, Starlight has to lead the Starlighters and can’t make The Boys her top priority. Especially now that Firecracker is gunning for her.
Hughie and MM are going to be the only ones keeping focus and sadly, they’re not enough. A-Train isn’t entirely on their side. Homelander’s fractured mind is getting worse because of Ryan’s love for Butcher. Sage is proving to be a huge threat, but even she’s not as together as she presents to be (that large needle-like tool is used for lobotomies after all).
All we can do is wait until 4×04 comes out to see if any of them straighten out their issues sooner rather than later.
The Boys is now streaming on Amazon Prime.
THIS SEASONS REVIEWS
- ‘The Boys’ 4×01 Review: “Department of Dirty Tricks”
- ‘The Boys’ 4×02 Review: “Life Among the Septics”
- ‘The Boys’ 4×03 Review: “We’ll Keep the Red Flag Flying Here”
- ‘The Boys’ 4×04 Review: “Wisdom of the Ages”
- ‘The Boys’ 4×05 Review: “Beware the Jabberwock, My Son”
- ‘The Boys’ 4×06 Review: “Dirty Business”
