This week's installment continues to pit the titular crew against itself while slowly teasing the epic boss battle to come.
The latest episode of The Boys, Season 3, Episode 5, “The Last Time To Look On This World,” sees Mother’s Milk (Laz Alonso) continuing to process the murder of his family by Soldier Boy (Jensen Ackles) while Frenchie (Tomer Kapon) tends to Kimiko (Karen Fukuhara). There is an ever-rising tension between M.M. and Billy Butcher (Karl Urban), as M.M. is staunchly against Butcher and Hughie (Jack Quaid)’s use of Temp-V. M.M. continues to work with Butcher on principle: to carry on the torch of his father who died fighting Vought.
M.M. and Butcher view a graphic videotape of the experiments conducted on Soldier Boy in the Russian lab, in which a Russian scientist (Slavic Rogozine) is performing a set of brutal experiments on him while listening to the song “Escape” by Mikhail Shufutinskiy. In the present day, Soldier Boy sneaks onto a cargo plane bound for New York City. Upon arrival, he hears “Escape” playing from a radio tied to a truck. This triggers a flashback to the experiments and leads to Soldier Boy combusting some explosion outward from his chest, killing 19 people. The next scene introduces The Legend (Paul Reiser) into the television canon of the series wherein The Boys visit him after seeing television footage of Soldier Boy wreaking destruction in the city. After relaying a series of highfalutin celebrity afterparty stories, The Legend finally admits that Soldier Boy recently paid a visit to his apartment to get Crimson Countess (Laurie Holden)’ address. The Boys plot a course to Crimson Countess, in hopes that they’ll be able to intercept Soldier Boy before he can get to his former beau.
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After ousting Stan Edgar (Giancarlo Esposito), Homelander (Antony Starr) takes the throne at his first Vought board meeting. Homelander’s newly appointed board repeatedly expresses their graciousness for “restoring honesty, integrity, and innovation to this corporation.” However, Homelander’s newfound corporate armor is chipped when board member Maureen (Vania Giusto) asks him how he plans to handle a possible drop in EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization). Starr’s trademark frenzied facial expressions and rapid eye movements communicate Homelander’s stunned fear that he is not a dictator in a castle. This temporary fear is washed away when he snaps back at Maureen, who declares, “I’m sorry. It was stupid of me. I’m so stupid, and you’re so great.”
The Boys continues in its parody of the Trump regime with The Deep (Chace Crawford) taking over as the new head of Crime Analytics, ousting Barb (Imali Perera) who according to Amazon X-Ray “holds dual degrees in criminal psychology and statistical analysis, speaks four languages, and previously worked for the FBI and NSA.” Barb announces The Deep’s new position, and The Deep delivers a speech detailing his plans for the department. Cassandra (Katy Breier)’s influence on The Deep continues, as she can yet again be seen mouthing his words as he says them: “If you work hard enough, there’s nothing you can’t achieve."
Hughie briefs Starlight (Erin Moriarty) on Russia and the situation with Soldier Boy. He champions his honesty, though Starlight believes that honesty should be a given in their relationship. Hughie confesses to Starlight his use of Temp-V and admits that the powers granted him a level of confidence that was previously outside his grasp. Starlight derides his use of the drug as “stupid and dangerous,” and Hughie promises he’ll give it up.
Frenchie visits Kimiko at the hospital, who is ecstatic that her stomach wound hasn’t healed yet, as this would mean that she has finally shed her superpowers. When she is unable to lift an EKG machine, this serves as confirmation that her powers are indeed gone. Later on, Frenchie and Kimiko view a scene from the 1943 musical Girl Crazy in which Judy Garland performs the song “I Got Rhythm.” In a shocking moment, Kimiko pauses the movie and looks at Frenchie. Her lips move and vibrations erupt from her vocal cords as she weakly sings, “I got rhythm.” This leads to a full-on choreographed musical sequence, with Fukuhara (and Kapon, briefly) singing lead on “I Got Rhythm.” It’s an extravagant scene, complete with such Hospital Musical Theater staples as rhythmic defibrillators and percussive bedpans. It’s a welcome, cathartic shift in tone that finally sees Kimiko’s tension in the previous few chapters come to a satisfying resolution (for now, at least) — but then it's later revealed that it was all a vision from Kimiko's mind.
Gaining Homelander’s trust after tragically outing Supersonic, A-Train (Jessie T. Usher) meets with Blue Hawk (Nick Wechsler) to discuss the over-policing of Black neighborhoods in Trenton. Blue Hawk agrees to apologize. He accompanies A-Train to a community center in Trenton to deliver a public, filmed apology. After Blue Hawk’s attempted “apology” and $10,000 donation, those in the audience loudly express their dissatisfaction. In a particularly distressing scene, Blue Hawk attacks multiple members of the audience, including A-Train’s older brother Nathan (Christian Keyes). Later on at the hospital, the doctor (Fane Tse) relays the severity of Nathan’s injuries to A-Train, claiming that he’ll never walk again. On the TV, a news report plays with the headline “Blue Hawk stands up to ANTIFA,” with Blue Hawk falsely claiming that someone reached for a gun at the community center event and that he “had to act quickly to save innocent lives.”
Queen Maeve (Dominique McElligott) delivers a fresh batch of Temp-V to Butcher and the two have a productive commiseration session on the merits of Temp-V and the effects of superpowers. Butcher concludes that “With great power, comes great certainty that you’ll turn into a right cunt.” Maeve kisses Butcher, and their encounter morphs into a spicy tryst. In a later encounter with Homelander, Maeve admits that she has always hated him and believes him to be a “paranoid, malignant, narcissist” who thinks everything is about him. Homelander accuses her of working with Butcher, claiming he can “smell him all over her.” Homelander mourns his relationship with Maeve, claiming that their “love” was an antidote to the isolating nature of celebrity: “It is lonely at the top, yes. But at least we had each other. We were lonely together. And I loved you.” Maeve leans in and tells Homelander that she pitied him. The intimate, bone-chilling scene showcases Homelander at his absolute grimiest, telling Maeve that she’s “completely and utterly alone. You’re getting old and bitter.” Black Noir (Nathan Mitchell) then leaps out of nowhere and attacks Maeve as the camera fades to black.
Starlight confronts Ashley (Colby Minifie) about Maeve’s disappearance, and Ashley informs her that Maeve is at Vought’s “Global Wellness Retreat” facility in Malibu. Starlight reiterates to Ashley that Homelander is out of control. When she opines that “this CEO job can’t be worth your life,” Ashley briefly relents and shows her true, terrified face. After a momentary pause in the falsely confident persona she has constructed, Ashley scrubs it away and tells Starlight off.
The Boys arrive at Crimson Countess’ house as she is in the middle of a private cam show with user “SirCumsALot779” (Seth Rogen). After tackling and subduing her, Butcher informs Crimson Countess that Soldier Boy is alive, and he’s on his way there. Crimson Countess reveals that she knew Soldier Boy was alive. M.M. relays the plan: use an anesthetic to knock out Soldier Boy (a trick gleaned from the Russian experiment videos). Unexpectedly, Starlight shows up. Hughie demonstrates his teleportation abilities to Starlight, admitting that he broke his commitment to doing away with the green juice. Hughie explains his true motivations: he just wants to save Starlight for once. Starlight tells Hughie her true priorities: “I don’t need you to save me, Hughie. I need you.” As The Boys’ Geiger counter clicks, indicating Soldier Boy’s presence nearby, M.M. keels over and starts to pass out. Butcher reveals that he drugged M.M. knowing that he would never agree to his true plan: to make a bargain with Soldier Boy, offering him up Crimson Countess in exchange for using him as a weapon.
Soldier Boy confronts Crimson Countess, who admits that she facilitated his capture. Even after Soldier Boy confesses his love for Crimson Countess, she then eerily channels Maeve: “I didn’t love you. I hated you. We all did.” The whoosh of Soldier Boy’s chest-light grows and builds up to another explosion, leveling both the Countess and her estate before Soldier Boy exits the rubble and joins Butcher. Hughie explains to a dumbfounded Starlight that Soldier Boy is their weapon, as well as the only way to save her from Homelander. The trust that has been repeatedly broken down and reestablished between Hughie and Starlight has been shattered yet again. Starlight pleads with Hughie not to go, but he walks off with Butcher and Soldier Boy, leaving both Starlight and a passed-out M.M. behind.
Nicholas Sisti is a writer, actor and musician from the NYC area.
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