DISCLAIMER: This recap of The Boys Season 4 Episode 1, “Department of Dirty Tricks,” contains spoilers. Proceed at your peril.
The Boys is finally back, and it’s just as unhinged, off-the-wall, chaotic and sharply satirical as ever. “Department of Dirty Tricks” is darkly hilarious and ultraviolent in equal measure. I’ve missed this show’s brand of humor and how it has its finger on the pulse of the cultural and political zeitgeist. Bring on the rest of Season 4.
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Department of Dirty Tricks
We open with Victoria Neuman (Claudia Doumit) delivering a speech to a roaring crowd on Election Night. Bobby Singer and Victoria are officially the president and vice president-elect, having won with a landslide victory. However, the election won’t be certified until January 6 (I wonder why the writers chose that date…).
We see Kimiko (Karen Fukuhara) dressed as a caterer at the event. She wheels a cart outside to a van and hands a tray of hors d’oeuvres to Mother’s Milk (Laz Alonso). Frenchie (Tomer Capone) is also there. Our boys are there to kill Victoria. Meanwhile, Hughie (Jack Quaid) sets up their cameras so MM can watch what the team does in the hotel from the van.
Kimiko, Frenchie and Butcher
Elsewhere, Butcher (Karl Urban) vomits in an alley and talks to someone who is not there. Kimiko and Frenchie (who dons a caterer uniform to match Kimiko) witness it all. Butcher hasn’t told The Boys that he’s dying from Temp V. Butcher, Kimiko and Frenchie head back inside. The former tries to hop on the elevator, but Kimiko threatens to break his arm if he veers from the plan.
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Meanwhile, Homelander (Antony Starr) finds a gray hair at the urinal. Uh-oh. Mr. Good Ole American White Boy is aging. Ryan (Cameron Crovetti) stands in the hotel lobby, waiting for Homelander. The young boy is noticeably nervous. Daddy H reassures him that, to them, humans are playthings—powerless beings who are beneath them. Hey, you gotta start feeding that god complex early.
Annie (Erin Moriarty) joins MM and Hughie in the van. They see Homelander and Ryan on one camera feed as he walks through the lobby. Unfortunately, his presence throws a wrench in their assassination plan. Inside, Homelander introduces Ryan to Victoria’s daughter, Zoe (Olivia Morandin). The kids leave to find ice cream while Homelander chats with Victoria. Vic claims their association is over, but Homey decides when it ends.
Projectiles and Endorsements
The newly elected VP reminds him that he’s on trial for murder. Well, to be fair, that guy threw a water bottle projectile. Homelander insists they can create new history together. He urges the crowd to cheer for Victoria. Antony Starr is terrifying when he laughs as Homey.
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Meanwhile, Butcher runs into Ryan and Zoe in the kitchen. Ryan doesn’t want anything to do with Butcher. Unfortunately, Homelander interrupts their conversation. He guesses Butcher is on borrowed time. He claims he’ll miss their interactions before taking Ryan by the hand and departing. Elsewhere, Kimiko and Frenchie sneak into Victoria’s hotel room to plant a small acid container in her makeup bag. It looks like eye drops.
However, Zoe thwarts their mission by returning to the hotel room. She proceeds to lash out at the security guards (who are CIA) with tentacles protruding from her mouth. Frenchie holds his weapon high for her to see. She leaps onto Kimiko, ripping off her arm.
Take My Baby Hand
Thankfully, the regeneration process begins instantly — Kimiko already has a baby hand as she and Frenchie leap out of a window. Annie flies toward them, eyes glowing. She tries to catch Kimiko, but, you know, baby hand. Frenchie leaps onto Annie’s back as the two land safely on the ground. Kimiko lands face first. The fall alone would kill a mere human.
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Next, Hughie reunites with Victoria, who discovers The Boys’ van. She thinks they’re losing their touch and penchant for secrecy. Hughie asks why she betrayed him like that. She was his friend. Victoria admits she almost told Hughie the truth one night. Then, Hughie, in a moment of desperation, throws acid on Victoria, thinking this is her kryptonite.
Unfortunately, all it does is burn a hole in her suit. Butcher follows this up by shooting her in the head. Of course, it doesn’t leave a mark. Does this mean Victoria Neuman is invincible?
Top Priority
Later, Butcher and MM are at the CIA headquarters. Grace Mallory (Laila Robins) calls MM in for a meeting. After all, Mother’s Milk leads The Boys now, and Grace isn’t Butcher’s number one fan. MM chats with Grace and President Bobby Singer (Jim Beaver). He’s aware that his vice president is a supe, and she’s now one head pop away from the presidency. Grace impresses the importance of MM and his team taking Victoria out. Eliminating her is the top priority.
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Meanwhile, Butcher reunites with Joe Kessler (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) after 11 years. They decide to drink crappy coffee in the breakroom and catch up. Butcher discloses his singular focus is saving Ryan from Homelander. Joe reveals his team could use someone like Butcher. It’s about time they take care of the supes before the supes put an end to humans.
Later, MM meets with Monique (Frances Turner), who reveals that Janine, their daughter, has been acting out at school. She got into a fight. Then, she told Monique to “eat a dick.” Janine likes Todd, Monique’s Homey-loving ex. She wants MM to track Todd down for Janine.
Squid Love
Then, Homelander has a nightmare about his origins. He wakes up and goes about his day, clearly experiencing a midlife crisis. At the same time, The Deep (Chace Crawford) goes on Hailey Miller’s show to defend himself against his ex’s allegations of bestiality with a squid.
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What remains of The Seven gathers for a meeting—Homelander, A-Train (Jessie T. Usher), Deep and Black Noir II (Nathan Mitchell)—with Ashley (Colby Minifie) overseeing. Ashley reveals Vought has narrowed it down to 25 candidates for new members of The Seven. Growing bored of the proceedings, Homelander orders Deep to give A-Train a blowjob. And, of course, nobody says “No” to Homey.
Deep moves toward A-Train and gets on his knees. Homelander stops Deep before it goes further. He wants his team to give him pushback from time to time. He believes they’re all weak. After he storms out, we see a series of Vought-related content, including an ad for Vought on Ice and a commercial with A-Train and The Deep as they advocate for Homelander’s innocence. We also see Homey’s “Hometeamers” and Starlight’s “Starlighters” on opposite sides in front of the courthouse — one group claims Homey is innocent, while the other condemns his actions.
The Truthbomb With Firecracker
Additionally, we see a clip from The Truthbomb with Firecracker. Firecracker (Valorie Curry) talks about the man Homelander killed in public, claiming he was a pedophile. Meanwhile, Butcher gazes at a photo of him with Becca and Terror. Meanwhile, Annie practices levitating in the air while Hughie coaches her. Hughie’s dad tries to call him, but Hughie ignores said call. Annie tells Hughie it’s time they cut Butcher loose. Hughie is the only person who wants Butcher there.
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Speaking of Butcher, he meets Victoria that evening at a dilapidated Vought Video. I love the cardboard cutout of Polarity from years gone by. Butcher believes they can scratch each other’s backs. He wants to take Homelander out for Ryan’s sake. He also understands that Homey has put Victoria, in his words, “between a cock and a hard place.” Butcher even knows about the nasty supe-killing virus that the late Dean Shetty oversaw at Godolkin.
Of course, there’s also the CIA and The Boys. They won’t stop putting pressure on Victoria. All this to say, she needs Butcher. Vic reveals if she were even to entertain this idea of an alliance, she’d need a show of good faith. She wants whatever Hughie has on her from Red River.
Starlight House
Later, after helping Mother’s Milk log into his CIA account (normal stuff), Hughie gets a call from the hospital. His father had a stroke. He rushes to his dad’s room (Simon Pegg) to find the latter unconscious but stable. Meanwhile, Firecracker records another segment for her show. This time, she smears Starlight House, Starlight’s home for at-risk teens.
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Then, Annie returns to Starlight House to chat with Kiara (Kimberly-Sue Murray) and Colin (Elliot Knight), who are killing it at keeping the place running. She claims they don’t need her or Starlight. After all, Annie ditched that getup when she quit The Seven. Colin counters that Annie donning the suit might drum up significantly more donations. Frenchie joins the conversation. We learn that Frenchie recommended Colin to work at Starlight House.
Later, while in the bathroom, Colin touches Frenchie’s hand. These two have chemistry. Frenchie leaves without saying a word. Colin chases after him. They chat outside the bathroom, where Kimiko observes them from afar.
Sister Sage
Next, Homelander finds yet another gray hair. He adds it to a jar chock full of them. Funnily enough, said jar is sandwiched between a milk bottle and a black-and-white photo of his Nazi ex-girlfriend. Homey looks at the current slate of Seven candidates. I encourage y’all to pause on each resume and read them through. These are so detailed and hilarious. Anyway, Homey lands on Sister Sage, Earth’s most intelligent sentient being.
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We see Sister Sage (Susan Heyward) reading a book in her apartment. Homelander arrives in civilian clothes. He enters her place and notices it’s packed with books. Their first meeting morphs into a therapy session as Homey divulges to Sage how his midlife/existential crisis makes him feel. He looks at the state of the world and wonders what kind of legacy he’ll leave his son.
He asks Sage how she’d go about “cleansing” the world. She thinks for a second before answering that democracies fail because people are f*cking stupid. They’ll ruin things for themselves. So, Homelander simply needs to nudge them a little. Then, he can swoop in and save the day.
Join The Seven
Before he leaves, Homelander tells Sage he’d like her to join The Seven. Initially, she balks at the idea, claiming she doesn’t want to wear a racist suit. Oh, and his ego couldn’t handle it. Homey counters that he’s smart enough to listen to her. Plus, she can put her theories into practice on a global scale.
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Later, Butcher tells Hughie he’s sorry for his father’s hospitalization. Annie arrives, and the pair leave for the hospital. Meanwhile, Kimiko and Frenchie join Mother’s Milk on his search for Todd at Monique’s behest. Kimiko encourages Frenchie to be with Colin. After all, they’re not a couple. She claims they’ll never be together. Well, at least clear lines have been drawn now in that regard.
Then, the trio spots Todd (Matthew Gorman) meeting Sage with two other Hometeamers at the back of Planet Vought. They all go inside, where Homelander, A-Train, Deep and Black Noir II await them. Homelander orders Deep, A-Train and Black Noir II to beat Todd and the other Hometeamers to death. He’s not joking this time. Sage and Homelander depart as the two do what they’re told.
Starlighters versus Hometeamers
Next, the Hometeamers and Starlighters wait outside the courthouse for the verdict in Homelander’s murder trial. Unfortunately, the jury finds Homelander innocent. Ew. Not cool. Suddenly, Sage, dressed as a Starlighter, chucks a projectile at a Hometeamer on the other side of the aisle. This foments chaos between the warring factions (and makes the Starlighters look like they incited violence). Violence breaks out. Frenchie reunites with Colin and ensures the latter is okay. Mother’s Milk throws a few punches.
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Meanwhile, A-Train takes Todd and the Hometeamer’s bloody corpses to an undisclosed location. Side note: Black Noir II being a Chatty Cathy is hilarious. He’s the complete opposite of his predecessor. Elsewhere, Annie flies into the violent outbreak to stop the fighting. Unfortunately, she witnesses three men beating the snot out of Kiara and saves her before their attack turns fatal.
Later, we learn A-Train planted those three bodies on the Starlighters’ side, hoping the nation will blame said Starlighters for their deaths. Mother’s Milk researches Sage after spotting her outside Planet Vought and during the violence outside the courthouse. At the same time, Homey and Ryan celebrate with glasses of refreshing milk. Ryan looks crestfallen. He states he doesn’t want Butcher to die. Homelander pivots, spreading lies about Butcher and how he feels about Ryan. Gotta love a manipulative parent.
Disappear Beneath the Waves
Then, Deep chats with his squid love, Ambrosius, who he never disposed of. She resides in a tank inside his closet. Ah, forbidden love. Squid Lady suggests they run away together — vanish beneath the waves where no one can find them.
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Next, Hughie sits in his dad’s hospital room. He listens to his dad’s voicemail about the James Patterson book he was reading. Hughie begs his father to wake up. After all these years, his mother, Daphne (Rosemarie DeWitt), appears.
Butcher sits alone in The Boys’ headquarters, seemingly talking to himself. Well, he’s chatting with the ghost of Becca (Shantel VanSanten). She encourages him to find a better way to ensure Ryan doesn’t become like Homelander. She wants Butcher to be the man she married. After Becca vanishes, Butcher looks over Hughie’s files on Victoria from Red Rover.
Then, Butcher sends the files to Victoria. Well — it ain’t the kind of file she was looking for. Butcher pours a glass of whiskey. We see what looks like a tadpole of sorts moving around his temple.
The Boys drops new episodes every Thursday on Prime Video.
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What I do: I'm GGA's Managing Editor, a Senior Contributor, and Press Coordinator. I manage, contribute, and coordinate. Sometimes all at once. Joking aside, I oversee day-to-day operations for GGA, write, edit, and assess interview opportunities/press events.
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