I have to address the elephant in the room: The A.V. Club exists in The Boys‘ universe. I’d like to believe that, in their free time, Supes and normies are reading the site, vehemently nodding their heads in agreement to the D- we apparently gave to Lamplighter: Light Of Justice‘s finale. Based on the Vought Studios stuff in The Boys so far, it’s an accurate assessment on how we (and probably everyone else) would grade these fictional projects. It’s a good thing that Training A-Train, co-starring Will Ferrell, remains unreleased, right? Anyway, I chuckled at the shout-out, aware that I’d be handing out grades to the rest of The Boys episodes. Thankfully we haven’t reached the D- level yet.
In the final season’s fourth outing, some of the most annoying minds try to come up with ways to peddle Homelander as the next messiah, after his angelic vision last week. “Jesus would kill for our marketing,” the villainous Supe tells Firecracker while putting her in charge of the mission to spread his gospel. So she rounds up VP Ashley, her husband Father Oh (Daveed Diggs), Vought producer Courteney (Jackie Tohn), and writer/Supe The Worm (Ely Henry) in The Seven’s headquarters. They think of how to convince the world that he hath risen. Some of the ideas thrown around include Homelander parting the sea “to send the refugees back where they came from” and flying to global holy sites to take selfies with fans. Ultimately, he’s reintroduced simply as the Prophet Of America. I suppose that explains the episode’s title, “King Of Hell.”
Before he takes the stage to greet his adoring fans, Homelander has a whirlwind day. He goes to Fort Harmony with Soldier Boy, hoping to find V1 and ingest it so that he can become immune to a deadly virus. On the way, the father-son duo passive aggressively diss each other in ways we’ve heard before. Soldier Boy also admits that he fucked Stormfront once or twice back in the day, to which his son (who also hooked up with Stormfront) responds, “I guess we’re related in more ways than one.” Crucially, Soldier Boy refuses to believe that she’d kill herself and asks if Homelander saw the body. Are we going to get another appearance from Aya Cash in The Boys before Vought Rising?
Soldier Boy also has ulterior motives (thanks to sneaky advice from Sister Sage) for accompanying his son on this field trip—and it’s not to provide help. So when the two of them are exchanging barbs and hunting for V1 in the abandoned, gross-looking space, Soldier Boy traps Homelander in a room with a poisonous substance. Most people would die quickly if they had it in their systems, but because of Homelander’s abilities, it affects him slowly, so he only goes through painful rashes and weakened power. But what an unbelievable relief it is to watch this dude suffer, however briefly. That scene alone gets an A from The A.V. Club.
The two Supes aren’t the only ones searching for V1. Hughie, Butcher, MM, Frenchie, and Kimiko also arrive at Fort Harmony, hoping to secure it before their nemesis does. Unfortunately, the spores in and around this research facility are infected, and it’s causing everyone to rage out. (Hughie even calls his girlfriend Annie a bitch, and, for him, that’s shockingly unexpected.) Only Frenchie remains safe, thanks to the amount of drugs he’s already consumed in his lifetime. But things turn dark for his pals pretty fast because Hughie, Butcher, MM, and Kimiko turn on each other on a dime, overtly expressing frustrations they’ve held onto for a long time. Due to the spores’ impact, they’re not only unbearably angry but also honest. This whole arc drags out for longer than needed in “King Of Hell,” but it makes room for some necessary character work.
In season four, Butcher grew isolated from his friends because of his blinding desire for revenge. He pushed everyone away when he became a Supe and hasn’t exactly been able to bring folks back in his corner. Hughie was the only one vouching for him, but in his anger, even he doesn’t seem to care what happens to Butcher as the two duel. As for Kimiko’s temper tantrum, she unleashes on her boyfriend, reminding Frenchie that she is no damsel in distress. Thanks to Fort Harmony being so messed up, The Boys are ultimately able to sort out their issues in what feels like a haze. Hopefully, they’re all on the same page now and can get back to that season-one energy this show desperately needs. All’s well that ends well for them, because MM and Butcher practically make up and the team heads out of there and silently enjoys listening to “Mambo No. 5” in the car.
But before they depart, Homelander and Butcher come face to face when the former is still trapped. “Did your dad put you in time out?” Butcher asks him, adding that it doesn’t matter what Homelander achieves—he’s never going to be happy. Time and again in season five, Homelander is being told that he’s a weak, pathetic loser. Do they not realize they’re only riling him up further? Now that he considers himself to be a Prophet, I fear what he’ll do. The only reason he escapes from Fort Harmony is because Frenchie, in his stable condition, discovers what’s causing the rage spores to spread. Another Supe, who looks like a dime-store version of Game Of Thrones‘ Three-Eyed Raven, is making it happen. Frenchie convinces Soldier Boy to kill this weirdo, which stops The Boys from raging out, frees Homelander, and causes Soldier Boy to reflect on his past and tear up.
The Boys also deduce that the V1 is missing, and the only one who could’ve grabbed it is a Supe named Bombsight, who used to work with Soldier Boy in the ’50s. We know very little about this dude, besides the fact that he starred in Vought Studios’ 1953 thriller The Curse Of Fu Manchu. (If The A.V. Club existed back then, I’m certain it would’ve gotten a D- as well.) We do know that Mason Dye is playing Bombsight in the upcoming prequel, so it’s safe to assume he’ll be making his way into The Boys pretty soon. After last week’s episode moved the plot along, I liked that this halfway point progressed in character development. But I hope the remaining four installments focus on closing out The Boys instead of setting up its prequel’s characters.
Stray observations
- • In case you were curious, The A.V. Club was also a part of the Arrowverse and The Other Two.
- • “I’d say it’s all about numbers with you suits, but Vought+ never releases any.”
- • So Homelander can smell Soldier Boy all over Firecracker, but he doesn’t realize that Butcher et al. are in Fort Harmony just one floor below him?
- • Annie spends “King Of Hell” reuniting with her dad, who abandoned her when she was a kid. She learns that he left because he couldn’t stand that his wife was obsessed with the V1 stuff. She also meets and bonds with her half-brother and stepmother. The one lesson she takes from her father, who seems truly regretful, is that she shouldn’t abandon the ones she loves. So she flies straight back into Hughie’s arms. For his part, Hughie tells her that she picked the right day to miss.
- • My favorite line delivery of this episode is the way Valorie Curry’s Firecracker says a shaky “congrats” to Homelander after he announces that he’s the next Jesus Christ.
- • For those keeping score, Sister Sage tells the President to defund public schools so that students don’t turn into woke jihadis and learn about gay penguins.
- • MM was likely right when, in his anger-fueled mindset, he said Frenchie and Kimiko wouldn’t survive for longer than six months as a couple, huh?
- • Grossest scene award: Did I mention the weirdo Supe stuck inside the walls of Fort Harmony?
Saloni Gajjar is The A.V. Club‘s TV critic.
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