The Boys – Season 3 Episode 4 “Glorious Five Year Plan” Recap & Review

Glorious Five Year Plan

Episode 4 of The Boys Season 3 starts with Hughie confronting Butcher about him using the temporary Compound V. The others obviously don’t know, and Butcher writes the whole thing off as a way of gaining intel.

Frenchie and Butcher arrive to see Nina just as scheduled. He hands over funds to cover her debts, but she wants more. Butcher tries to compromise.

Meanwhile, Stan Edgar heads over to see Neuman, suggesting they go after Homelander. Edgar is convinced that Homelander is still afraid of him and that he’s all “bark with no bite.”

Well, Homelander shows up to check on Starlight while she’s talking to Hughie. It’s another incredibly tense scene, and one that sees Starlight eventually leave with him after Homelander signs Hughie’s cast.

Starlight is put in a difficult position, one that sees her head off to get some advice from Maeve. It’s here Maeve breaks the news that she’s the one who actually sent Butcher and the gang down this rabbit hole regarding the Compound V.

Maeve also admits that she blames herself for the situation on the flight. She’s not afraid to die for this cause, determined to take down Homelander no matter what. Starlight recruits Supersonic to the cause as well, who blindly jumps into this and decides to help her as this is the right thing to do.

Meanwhile, A-Train tries to convince Ashley to sign off on Vought stopping Blue Hawk from decimating their neighbourhood. He wants to talk to Blue Hawk but Ashley laughs incredulously at the idea, telling him they’ll do it later.

When later arrives, The Deep undermines A-Train and the whole situation is thrown out the water. A-Train is not happy about him sucking up and it eventually leads to the pair fighting in the hallway. Supersonic helps A-Train out, and in doing so speaks to him privately in the elevator. Supersonic talks about Starlight’s cause, believing he’d be a great addition.

Elsewhere, The Boys arrive in Russia, with Hughie horrified over how the news are portraying the Homelander/Starlight/Hughie love triangle. Part of this gig in Russia sees Kimiko forced to be part of a big operation. MM is not happy about Kimiko being put in this level of danger and calls Butcher out for it.

Kimiko ends up killing all the men she’s assigned to go after, but ends up with a bullet in her head from one of the women. Obviously she regenerates but when Kimiko turns and faces them all, she finds them cowering in the corner, making Kimiko regret her actions. Still, she brings back what’s needed to complete the mission but it’s all too much for her.

Privately, Kimiko and Frenchie talk and decide together to finish the job and then leave, for good. Kimiko wants to go to Marseille, which Frenchie agrees to.

Butcher decides to inject himself with another round of Compound V. All of this is a contingency plan but Hughie sees him do it and wants some too. After what happened to Starlight, he’s so angry he can’t breathe and wants a way to defend himself. Butcher claims using this is a punishment rather than a blessing… and refuses.

Meanwhile, Neuman delivers her press conference, telling them that Homelander… is a whistleblower. That’s right, she turns it around and backstabs Stan Edgar. Neuman confirms that he and Vought are going to be investigated.

This is Homelander’s doing, as it turns out, outing Edgar by “setting things straight” at the company. It’s clear that Zoe was being used as collateral to make Neuman play ball… but also to gather some Compound V. After injecting her spine, Zoe screams in pain while her sister comforts her.

Over in Russia, Butcher and the boys arrive at the compound allegedly holding the Supe gun to destroy Homelander.

Alarms start wailing though, and the boys are held back. The only solution is for Butcher to show what he can do. “Evening c*nts!” he says, stepping through this firestorm of bullets and killing everyone.

As we soon find out, Hughie has also taken some of the compound too and teleports across, killing one of the men in cold blood.

All of them turn on Hughie, refusing to listen to his excuses, while Butcher uses his newfound strength to open up the giant tank in the middle of the room. And inside? None other than Soldier Boy himself.

Soldier Boy blasts Kimiko, sending her flying through several walls. Unfortunately, she’s not healing, sending Frenche into a panicked frenzy.

They all drive to the hospital but it’s unclear whether she’ll survive or not. At the same time, Homelander takes Starlight up to the rooftop and shows her Supersonic’s mutilated body.

It turns out A-Train told Homelander everything about their little mutiny and as a result, he’s been viciously murdered for it. Homelander promises that this will be Hughie if he steps out of line, forcing her into shocked submission, tears streaming from her face.

The Episode Review

Poor Starlight, she’s stuck in this horrific situation with Homelander, who’s becoming ever-more unhinged by the day. This episode essentially splits the attention between the US and Russia, with the group potentially losing Kimiko in the fight against the Russians.

Personally I thought it may have been Frenchie, given the way they were talking about quitting, but seeing Kimiko in that way and not healing for some reason, is definitely a surprise.

That leads nicely onto Soldier Boy, who seems to be the integral part of this whole ordeal. It’s clear that things aren’t going to plan and it’s unknown exactly how they’re going to come out of this on top.

Either way, the cliffhanger ending leaves things wide open for the next episode, which promises to bring more twists and turns to the table.