The Boys 4×05 “Beware the Jabberwock, My Son” is an emotional rollercoaster that leaves us a mix of horrified and sad by the end. We don’t see much of Sister Sage in this episode, but it seems like she knows about A-Train’s involvement in the security breach. We still have no idea what her endgame plan is, and this episode doesn’t give any hints. All we know is that she did set Firecracker up to get beaten by Starlight. Naturally, Firecracker isn’t happy about this and threatens Sage for setting her up.
Meanwhile, Starlight’s life has pretty much imploded. The Starlighters’ building has been abandoned and vandalized so Starlight has no choice but to hang out at The Boys’ office. For being such a big event, we don’t see much of the fallout from this. Regardless, Sage’s plan worked and Starlight is out of commission for now.
The Supe-Killing Disease And V’ed Up Farm Animals
We finally get to see the V’ed up farm animals in 4×05 and this brought in some wild moments in the episode. But before that, we see Stan Edgar return. If there’s one thing that’s been missing this season, it’s having a smart and scary person like him around. Even when he’s not the boss of anyone, his presence is just commanding. Everyone stops and listens to him. After learning that Neuman gave Compound V to his granddaughter, Stan agrees to help The Boys. He brings them to a farm that he owns and guesses that this is where Neuman is hiding the virus.
After Neuman shows up, she, Stan, and The Boys reluctantly agree to team up for now to find a man named Sameer, who created the virus. We finally get to see the V’ed up chickens and sheep in action which is pretty funny from how over the top it is. The Boys isn’t afraid to use gore for gags, but 4×05 kicked it up a notch. It’s not every day we see flying, carnivorous sheep ripping a bull or humans apart.
But it’s not just all gore for gags at the farm. It was interesting to see Neuman talking to Starlight. She reveals that she wants to let “Nadia” out but tells Starlight that people like them can’t lose control. When she asks if she even knows who “Annie” is anymore, Starlight gets upset and punches. But it might be what she needed to hear. It’s obvious she’s having an identity crisis of sorts, and there aren’t many people around her who understand what she’s going through. As twisted as it is, Neuman is one of the few who do. Maybe this little chat will help Starlight get on the right path to accepting herself.
Homelander Wants His Wrathful Gods
After the events of 4×04, Homelander seems to be on the verge of a breakdown. This doesn’t stop him from making Ryan and the Seven into his puppets. He succeeds in making Ryan think that he’s done trying to manipulate him and letting his son make his own decisions. However, this is a terrifying cover-up as Homelander does exactly that. Instead of telling his son what to do, we watch as he subtly nudges his son to do what he wants by suggesting it.
When Ryan tells him he wants to do good, Homelander agrees that’s what he should do. He has Ryan confront Adam Bourke about his sexual harassment of Bonnie and force him to apologize. However, things take a disturbing turn when Homelander has his son believe that Adam isn’t sorry. It escalates into Ryan telling Bonnie to slap Adam over and over as he watches with a gleeful smile. He might be Becca’s son and have some good in him, but we can’t forget that he’s also Homelander’s son. Now that Homelander is changing his tactics, his influence over Ryan is going to get stronger.
The Boys 4×05 also has cameos from Sam and Cate from the spinoff show Gen V. They don’t have a big part, but they were there when Homelander gave his big speech to them and The Seven about wanting them to be wrathful gods. Making them appear invulnerable and merciless will make it easier for them to control the general population and have power over authority figures.
A Family Reunion Ends In Tragedy
Sadly, we say goodbye to Hugh Campbell, Hughie’s father in The Boys 4×05. Simon Pegg has spent his entire time this season being in a coma and this felt like a waste of his talent. I will say that this episode makes up for that with an emotional gut punch. After waking up from his coma with the help of Compound V (which Hughie’s mom gave to him), it seems like everything is alright and dandy. However, things slowly take a turn for the worse when Hugh’s memory starts diminishing. We know this isn’t a good thing, especially now that he has Compound V in his system so he has superpowers.
And this leads to some unfortunate events.
Hugh’s memory loss and new powers make him aggressive and he goes on a mini killing rampage. It’s gut-wrenching to see Hugh, who’s been such a pure and kind-hearted figure, turn into a mentally unstable killer. Hughie manages to bring him back, but they face the harsh reality that Hugh has killed people and will be locked up. To prevent this and his dad from killing more people, Hughie makes the heartbreaking decision to kill his dad via lethal injection. Compared to how other characters have been killed off, this is the most peaceful and dignified way to go.
This scene was utterly sad so have some tissues nearby. Simon Pegg was awake for this one episode, but he made his time count. He and Jack Quaid made a great father-son duo for the few times they were on screen together.
The Boys 4×05 ends on an ominous note for almost all the characters. Frenchie didn’t do much in this episode except turn himself in. Confronting one’s demons is never easy, but this feels like it’s setting his character back instead of moving forward. Butcher has gone back to his cruel ways by kidnapping Sameer (and making everyone think he’s dead by cutting off his leg) to make the Supe-killing virus. His smile at Kessler feels more evil than comforting, but as he said earlier in the episode, “Well, insanely desperate’s where we are, don’t you think, love?”
Some random thoughts about The Boys 4×05 “Beware the Jabberwock, My Son”…
- Poor Starlight, she lost everything. Can’t blame her crew for leaving. They aren’t safe right now.
- Sage knows A-Train is the leak. There’s no way she doesn’t, but what is her endgame?
- I’m so happy to see Stan Edgar back, but sad that he missed his pottery class.
- Hearing Neuman call Stan for his hypocrisy was pretty satisfying.
- Butcher does have a mystery creature inside him after he sees the Temp V’ed-up rabbit dead.
- I’m all for being open about problems, but MM admitting the leader role is causing hives to develop made him look weak.
- Hugh’s death made me cry and I’m not afraid to admit that. Hearing him say he’s scared and watching Hughie try to put on a brave face just broke my heart.
- I’m glad they gave him a peaceful death and gave him, Hughie, and Daphne a little time to say goodbye.
- I’m surprised we didn’t see Becca in this episode. That can’t be good.
- Jeffery Dean Morgan made me think of his character Negan from The Walking Dead when he complimented Butcher for kidnapping Sameer.
The Boys 4×05 “Beware the Jabberwock, My Son” has broken some hearts and What do you think will happen next? Let us know in the comments!
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”
