Spoilers ahead for anyone who has not seen Episode 4 of Season 3 of The Boys.
In a sea of posts that claim to have knowledge about the future of The Boys season 3, one Reddit thread just keeps getting it right. In what is either prophetic vision, insider knowledge, or just dumb luck, the thread successfully predicted various events of Episode 4. As per the thread, Hughie (Jack Quaid) teleports, the team finds Soldier Boy (Jensen Ackles), Kimiko (Karen Fukuhara) may be finished, and Stan Edgar (Giancarlo Esposito) gets put in his place–maybe.
Since Homelander (Anthony Starr) went full MAGA in last week’s episode, he’s been on a bit of a promotional tour with what seems to be The Boys‘ version of Tucker Carlson. Homelander isn’t backing down and suggests that other, more nefarious powers are operating in the shadows, something the mainstream media is covering up. A game is afoot.
Stan Edgar visits Victoria (Claudia Doumit) to convince her to publicly reprimand Homelander via press conference for his misbehavior, but his attempts backfire, and Victoria instead announces an investigation into Edgar. Shocked, Edgar appears to be finished as he’s ushered out of the room. On his way out he asks Victoria why, to which she replies, “You didn’t protect me, I always protected you.”
“Homelight” (Homelander + Starlight) doesn’t appear to be slowing down and Homelander’s expectations of Starlight are becoming ever more clear.
Meanwhile, Hughie, Starlight, and Maeve have formed an alliance to stop Homelander. And A-Train appears to be angry enough to join the team, but being A-Train, his commitment is tenuous at best. More on that later.
Shaking Up The Boys Season 3 Again
After killing Gunpowder (Sean Patrick Flanery) in Episode 3, Butcher is seemingly addicted to V24, and Hughie is on to him. When Butcher, Hughie, Kimiko, Frenchie (Tomer Capone), and Mother’s Milk (Laz Alonso) head to Russia to get their hands on the fabled Supe Gun, both Butcher and Hughie inject themselves with V24, giving them superpowers temporarily. When the team is ambushed by Russian security at the facility, both go full Supe (yes, Hughie does in fact obtain teleportation powers) and annihilate the remaining guards, which shocks the rest of the team.
After eliminating the Russians, Butcher opens up a hyperbaric chamber believing the weapon may be inside. Upon entering, he finds no weapon, only a sleeping Soldier Boy.
After being roused, Soldier Boy seems shocked to find himself alive. In what appears to be an allergic reaction to his sudden consciousness vs. an offensive action, he blasts Kimiko, who has somehow lost her ability to heal.
On their way out, as the team panics to rescue Kimiko, Hughie relishes his new powers and Butcher only has one thing on his mind, but it isn’t Kimiko. Taken aback by Butcher’s tunnel vision as the team fights to save one of their own, Mother’s Milk proclaims there is no team left.
Back at Vought
Homelander seems confident that he’s wrapped up all his loose ends, until he gets a visit from Edgar, that is. Edgar stops by to drop a few insults, appearing fearless despite the ongoing investigation into him and Homelander’s obvious physical advantage.
Edgar calmly tells Homelander (as only Giancarlo Esposito can) in so many words that he’s accomplished nothing: “You’re not a god, you’re just bad product.” Oof. Does Stan Edgar have powers viewers don’t know about? The stones on this guy.
The show did lose a speedster as the Reddit thread predicted, but it wasn’t A-Train. After A-Train betrays Starlight, Hughie, and Maeve for favor with Vought’s new leader, Homelander makes an example of Supersonic (Miles Gaston Villanueva) in the only way he can, and wants Starlight to see it. Homelander isn’t having a fresh mutiny and tells Starlight that if the shenanigans don’t stop it will be Hughie next.
With Starlight muzzled, The Boys destined for another breakup, and Homelander in full control of Vought (or not, never underestimate Esposito), is there anything left to stop him?
A Secret Supe-Killing Weapon
As mentioned above, Soldier Boy’s energy projection (which may kill Kimiko) appears to be accidental. After the explosion, Soldier Boy could have easily engaged the rest of The Boys but didn’t. The question is: Who else is on his mind?
Going back to Edgar’s comments about bad product, could that really be the case?
Is it possible that Soldier Boy isn’t the monster that Mother’s Milk believes he is? If that’s the case, and Soldier Boy follows a more stringent code of justice, could he be just as disgusted with Homelander’s bad behavior as The Boys?
It may be a reach, but The Boys need an assist, as Butcher and Hughie’s irresponsible use of what remained of V24 means they’ll be back to normal in 24 hours, and Homelander is only getting worse.
What will it take for Homelander to make the plunge? To finally announce his true intentions to the world, that he’s evil, and so is Vought, something that is obviously coming? Will the seven finally make their debut as the Legion of Doom (rather than the Justice League)?
With four episodes left in the third season and a 4th season already announced, that would leave plenty of narrative space for this super group to wreak havoc and run amok, but only time and the next episode will tell what’s in store.
The next episode of The Boys drops on Amazon on June 17th with new episodes every Friday.
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