The Boys are back. Season One was quite a ride. In “The Big Ride,” after the events of season one, The Boys are America’s most wanted, and Billy Butcher (Karl Urban) is nowhere to be found. Homelander (Antony Starr) fights for control of The Seven.  

DISCLAIMER: SPOILERS AHEAD for anyone who hasn’t watched the season two premiere.

RELATED: The Boys Season 2: A Diabolical Spoiler-Free Review

THE SEVEN

Homelander tries to take over management of The Seven, but runs into a roadblock with Stan Edgar (Giancarlo Esposito). Stan is currently in negotiations with Secretary of Defense Robert A. Singer (Jim Beaver) to contract The Seven. (Yes, that’s Bobby Singer for you Supernatural fans.) While they negotiate, Black Noir (Nathan Mitchell) is in Syria hunting down a Supe terrorist. 

The Supes hold a memorial for Translucent, complete with a tribute song by Annie January/Starlight (Erin Moriarty). They pin his and Madelyn Stillwell’s (Elisabeth Shue) deaths on Billy Butcher and The Boys. There’s even a reenactment of the night Madelyn died that plays on the news. 

Homelander appoints Ashley Barrett (Colby Minifie) to replace Madelyn, but let’s face it, Ashley has no power. He says her only job is to tell him everything that happens on the 99th floor. She tries hiring a new Supe to replace Translucent. A blind Supe by the name Blindspot (Chris Mark). Homelander busts his eardrums and sends him away. 

Stan also hires a new Supe, Stormfront (Aya Cash), and she’s not shy. She seems… nice… Homelander confronts Stan about the hire and threatens to leave Vought. Stan isn’t scared of Homelander like everyone else. Instead he tells the Supe an interesting story. The founder of Vought, Dr. Frederick Vought, was once a Nazi scientist. He created Compound V as a Nazi and perfected it when he switched sides during World War II. He tested it on American heroes who helped win the war. 

Stan reminds Homelander that Vought is a pharmaceutical company, not a superhero management company. Compound V is their most valuable asset, not Homelander. Plus Stan knows about how Homelander distributed Compound V around the world to create Supe-terrorists so the US military would need The Seven. Now Stan and Vought are cleaning up his mess. Stan dismisses the hero, saying he doesn’t have to consult Homelander about anything. Homelander gets upset that he can’t control Stan and leaves to visit his son. 

REDEMPTION AND RECON

A drunk The Deep (Chace Crawford) is arrested at a water park. Another Supe, Eagle the Archer (Langston Kerman) bails him out of jail and offers to help The Deep work through his issues. Eagle’s friend, Carol (Jessica Hecht), helped him through issues, and they both think they can help The Deep get back into The Seven.  

Starlight is keeping up an appearance that she is 100% with The Seven, but Annie is secretly working with Hughie (Jack Quaid) to take down Vought. A-Train (Jessie T. Usher) is in a coma after his heart attack. Annie visits him every day. She’s having some kind of existential crisis about being Starlight. Probably because it’s all a lie. 

Hughie gets the identification of someone who works with Compound V in the Vought labs. Turns out Annie knows him from her Capes for Christ days, he is a Supe named Gecko (David Thompson). Annie finds out that Gecko is prostituting himself out for money, except his “johns” want to mutilate him and cut off Gecko’s limbs. She threatens to out Gecko if he doesn’t get a sample of Compound V for her. 

THE BOYS
Jack Quaid as Hughie Campbell in The Boys

The Boys – Jack Quaid as Hughie Campbell – Image: Panagiotis Pantazidis

Hughie tells Mother’s Milk (Laz Alonso) and Frenchie (Tomer Capon) what he’s doing, and they don’t like it, especially with Billy gone. Billy went missing the night Madelyn Stillwell died. Billy blew up her house, and now Billy and The Boys are the most wanted men in America. 

They are hiding in the back room of a pawn shop. Frenchie’s friends, drug dealers and smugglers, run the place. Frenchie helps them out with weapons and such. Mother’s Milk patches them up when they run into trouble. And Hughie is the errand boy. Kimiko (Karen Fukuhara) still isn’t talking, but she’s learning to write in English. 

One of Frenchie’s friends is hurt badly. His arm is completely shattered. The Boys investigate and find a Supe terrorist is responsible. Kimiko finds a paper star and recognizes it. She tries to write a message for Frenchie, but he doesn’t understand, and she only knows the world “boy.”

THE BIG RIDE

MM tries to ignore it. He’s just trying to find a way to get back to his family. Frenchie wants to find Billy. And Hughie wants to follow the lead, without any help from Billy. He suggests they talk to CIA Deputy Director Susan Raynor (Jennifer Esposito). When they tell her about the smuggled terrorist, she says it’s the final piece of the puzzle she’s been trying to solve. She says it’s Vought. It’s a coup from the inside. Too bad someone kills her as she figures it out. Her head literally explodes! MM says it appears Susan got too close to something that someone didn’t want anyone to find out about.

Annie calls Hughie to let him know she has the Compound V. He warns her to be careful. Annie can tell he’s holding something back, but he won’t tell her what happened. 

Billy shows up. Frenchie called him. Hughie doesn’t like it, but they need him. There’s a Supe terrorist loose, Susan Raynor can’t help them anymore and they are on the most wanted list. There’s no need to worry, though. Daddy’s home. 

 

 

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