The Boys are back and in rare form. In the season premiere, “Payback,” the Boys and the Seven are still picking up the pieces one year after the battle with Stormfront.
What do you need to remember from season two?
A new supe called Stormfront (Aya Cash) caused more problems for Butcher (Karl Urban) and the Boys. They teamed up with Starlight (Erin Moriarty) to stop her and Vought from world domination. Of course Homelander (Antony Starr) was at the center of the issue, standing with Stormfront and Vought until Stormfront’s Nazi past was revealed.
Stormfront went after The Boys and Starlight for exposing her. That set up an epic battle … Stormfront vs. Starlight, Queen Maeve (Dominique McElligott), and Kimiko (Karen Fukuhara). Stormfront fled and went after Becca Butcher (Shantel VanSanten) and her son with Homelander, Ryan (Cameron Crovetti). Ryan’s superpowers manifested and he blew up Stormfront, dismembering her. She’s still alive, but Becca did not survive.
Maeve obtained the video of Homelander forcing her to abandon the passengers on a doomed Flight 37. She used it as leverage so Homelander would leave her and Elena (Nicola Correia-Damude) alone. She also told him to stop hunting Starlight.
A-Train (Jessie T. Usher) and the Deep (Chace Crawford) were kicked out of the Seven. Both of them joined a cult. The Deep tried to improve his image. A-Train found the proof to expose Stormfront. A-Train was reinstated while the Deep is still looking for redemption.
Vought was really close to releasing Compound V to the military and the general public. A mind-blowing attack on a congressional hearing sped up the process. The head exploding supe turned out to be Congresswoman Victoria Neuman (Claudia Doumit). Stan Edgar (Giancarlo Esposito) put distribution on hold after Stormfront’s past was revealed.
Neuman was named director of the Federal Bureau of Superhuman Affairs. Hughie (Jack Quaid) joined her team to fight Vought the right way. Any criminal charges against the Boys were dropped. Mother’s Milk (Laz Alonso) went home to his family. Frenchie (Tomer Capone) and Kimiko grew closer. Butcher took Ryan to Grace Mallory (Laila Robins) to keep him safe from Homelander. He also promised to always be there for him.
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DAWN OF THE SEVEN
A year later, Vought is still doing damage control with a new movie, Dawn of the Seven. The big baddie in this movie is Stormfront, played by Charlize Theron. The film is a hit, but there is some obvious tension within the Seven.
Homelander gets bombarded with questions about Stormfront. Every reporter asks why he didn’t know she was a Nazi. He gives them the same prepared answer. He’s just a man who fell in love with the wrong woman. But out of crisis comes change and he spent the last year slowing down and reconnecting with himself. He’s very excited for everyone to meet the real him.
As for the others, Maeve is keeping a low profile, A-Train has to take things slow because of his heart condition and Starlight is glowing. That may have something to do with Hughie who is glowing too. Hughie has a great girlfriend, a great job and a new apartment. He is the right hand man to the director of the Federal Bureau of Superhuman Affairs, or just The Bureau. The director is Congresswoman Victoria Neuman.
Butcher is working for the Bureau and answers to Hughie. How funny is that? Kimiko and Frenchie work with him, but Mother’s Milk decided to return to his family life. The trio find and capture supes for the Bureau. It’s an honest way of doing what they like to do best.
DREAM A LITTLE DREAM
Butcher, Kimiko and Frenchie have an informant that helps them locate the supes. The latest supe, Termite (Brett Geddes) was found a a party all drugged up and sexually charged. Termite can shrink to bug-size. His capture is anything but routine. Frenchie finds him after Termite accidentally kills his sexual partner. (It’s such a crazy scene) Termite turns on Frenchie and tries to kill him. The tiny supe even knocked out Kimiko. Butcher saves them all, capturing Termite in a bag of cocaine.
There was also this cute scene where Kimiko found a girl playing the piano. She played the song Dream a Little Dream. Kimiko actually started singing with her. She has a lovely voice, but it was all a daydream. Kimiko still can’t talk … or sing.
A weird thing happened at the movie premiere. A strange man called out the name Nadia, directed at Victoria. Hughie saw him but didn’t make much of it until that man showed up at the Bureau. His name is Tony (Kyle Mac) and he says Nadia is his best friend. He acted very confused and was escorted out of the building.
Butcher visits Ryan when he can. Ryan and Mallory are staying at a highly secure compound where Homelander can’t find them. Ryan says he still has nightmares about Homelander, his father. Butcher promises that he is safe. Mallory tries to convince Butcher to stay with Ryan, but we all know that quiet life is not Butcher’s style, unlike MM.
MM is having a blast celebrating his daughter Janine’s (Liyou Abere) birthday. Her birthday party is a superhero party, complete with costumes. MM’s ex, Monique (Frances Turner) asks if he’s okay with the whole supe thing. He says he’s over it and wants to focus on Janine.
V-24
The Deep is working hard to make a comeback. He writes a book about escaping the Church of the Collective. He and his wife Cassandra (Katy Breier) run into Homelander after an interview. Homelander is annoyed that the Deep got the time slot before him but blows it off after Deep grovels a little.
Edgar has not given up on Compound V. In fact, he created a new drug. Same drug, but temporary effects. V-24 or Temp-V gives the user super powers for 24 hours. Edgar tries to sell the new product to Secretary of Defense Robert Singer (Jim Beaver). Singer doesn’t like it for two reasons. One, the price tag is too high. And two, people associate any V product with Nazis because Stormfront promoted the drug.
Edgar rebuts his claims with two of his own. One, Vought contributes to Singer’s presidential campaign. It would look funny if Singer turned down a chance to make the military stronger. And two, Edgar plans to get out of the superhero business in five years. He wants to make Vought a legit pharmaceutical company. Whatever the case, Singer doesn’t think Congress will pass it. Edgar says he has some pull in Congress.
The Boys may have captured Termite, but they can’t hold him. Vought made a deal with the Bureau after sending Termite to rehab and setting him up with a lucrative endorsement deal. They gave the Bureau three B-list supes instead. Hughie doesn’t like it but supe collateral is down 60% in the last year. So, I guess they are winning.
Butcher isn’t happy about the deal, despite what Hughie says. Hughie thinks Butcher is more upset that he and MM left the Boys. He tells Butcher to move on because Becca would want him too. That only sets him off and he yells at everyone. He’s really on edge these days.
CO-CAPTAINS
Starlight’s approval ratings are the highest of any Supe. It’s this reason that the Vought Board of Directors offered her the position of co-captain. Homelander hates the idea but Edgar doesn’t care. He says as long as he’s CEO of Vought, Homelander is under control. Edgar says Starlight will decide what the Seven does, the causes they support and she will have full authority to fill the team’s empty slots. He tells her to think about it.
There are two empty spots on the Seven. Vought decided to televise a competition to determine who fills those spots. The frontrunner is Starlight’s ex-boyfriend, Supersonic (Miles Gaston Villanueva). He’s also a former member of the boy band Super Sweet. And Hughie is super jealous. He’s even more disturbed when Starlight tells him about becoming co-captain of the Seven.
Homelander takes his frustration out of A-Train and then visits Stormfront. She is in a private room and still very much alive. She’s missing some limbs and her body and face are badly burnt. While Homelander rants about Vought and Starlight, Stormfront strokes his ego and other things. The mood turns sour when Stormfront starts talking about Homelander’s destiny to lead the master race. He leaves her wanting more.
PAYBACK
Maeve is Butcher’s informant. She’s the one who told him where to find Termite. She’s there to give him another lead, this time on a weapon. Maeve gives Butcher a file on Soldier Boy. He’s familiar with the Supe who led the Payback team. Everyone thought Soldier Boy was invincible until someone actually killed him. Maeve thinks the weapon that killed Soldier Boy can kill Homelander. She says Payback members, including Black Noir (Nathan Mitchell) will know more about what happened.
Maeve also gives Butcher three vials of Temp V. The members of Payback may be old, but they are strong. Butcher doesn’t think he needs Temp V. After Maeve leaves, he starts to pour it down the drain. But then Homelander shows up. Homelander wants to know where Ryan is and Butcher refuses to tell him.
Homelander changes the subject and starts venting about Vought and the Bureau. He thinks he and Butcher are both being treated obsolete. He suggests that they share a different destiny. Something more scorched earth and in the end, only one of them is left standing. Butcher wants that more than anything.
JUST ANOTHER SUPE
MM tucks Janine into bed before retreating to his own room. He says he’s over the whole superhero thing, but he’s not. He has several pictures and newspaper clippings hung up in his closet. Most of it is about Soldier Boy.
Hughie and Victoria leave work when Tony shows up. Hughie sees Tony follow Victoria so he follows Tony. He finds them in an alley and Victoria knows Tony. She is Nadia. Tony asks her to help him tell everyone about what’s happening at a place called Red River. Victoria is reluctant but says she will help.
Victoria hugs Tony and his nose starts bleeding. He pushes her away with great force. Tony is a supe too and they start fighting. Hughie watches Victoria kill Tony with her mind controlling explosives. She makes a phone call to someone asking for a team. All of this upsets Hughie.
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News Editor, Senior Contributor, and Press Editor. Coordinate breaking news, trailers and press releases. I also contribute reviews, recaps and interviews. Creator of the Indigenerd Wire, a column dedicated to the Indigenous creatives in pop culture.
GGA's resident Indigenerd, a little bit rez, a little bit classy...with a love for all things Star Wars, zombies, science fiction, and Indigenous. My ultimate goal is to start my own podcast.
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