The Boys – Season 4 Episode 3 Recap & Review

We’ll Keep The Red Flag Flying Here

Episode 3 of The Boys season 4 starts with a sign that all is not well with Homelander. Throughout the latest Vought conference, Homelander points out that Starlighters are the biggest threat to America but mentally, he’s definitely struggling. To take the focus away from him, Homelander announces Sister Sage and Firecracker as the two newest members of The Seven. He’s also keeping one of the spots open for his “son” Ryan.

There are cracks beginning to show in Vought’s HQ too, especially as Sage continues to disagree with Homelander and his tactics. However, there’s no denying that Firecracker is effective in her messaging. In fact, a random middle-aged guy shows up at Starlight HQ not long after, claiming that they house kids in the basement and he’s there to save them. When he draws a gun, Frenchie appears and diffuses the situation by knocking him down.

While this is going on, over at Neuman’s HQ, the team contemplate whether they start an anti-Supe campaign and ban them outright. Robert Singer, one of the executive men, believes Vought has been calling the shots for far too long and it’s time to change that.

While Butcher uses Kessler in his crusade to try and get Ryan back., while Kimiko recruits Frenchie to join her in confronting her past and getting back at the traffickers. Over at the other side of Vought HQ, MM wants to try and flip A-Train to join their side. He’s ready to turn and MM believes he could be their inside guy.

That’s probably for the best, given Sage has now taken over Ashley’s position as CEO of the Seven. She immediately grills the team regarding the leaked footage from Crime Analytics. Deep is no longer in charge, given it’s his department, and he’s also in the firing line for this too. His stress spills over to his pet octopus, Ambrosius, whom he’s currently dating. She suggests they take a vacation but Deep thinks it’s way too risky. Poor thing.

MM meets A-Train and uses the leverage of killing 3 people to try and get him to turn. Although he initially curses him out, it’s clear A-Train is going to think about it. It can’t come soon enough, given over at Vought, Homelander kills a woman who confesses to giving Annie their data.

Firecracker shows up to see Annie, who’s incredulous over exactly why the vlogger hates her. It turns out she had a previous alias, Sparkler, and she came second-place to Starlight in a competition. The reason for that hatred though stems from Annie making up a rumour about her having a gangbang with the judges. Not only that, she also cursed out Firecracker and called her fat too. This explains why she hates her so much and why she has a chip on her shoulder.

Ryan shows up to see Butcher and while the pair hang out, he sees a more empathetic side to Butcher when he mentions the person he hurt. It’s a very different style to Homelander’s cold demeanour, and hearing his honesty, about not being able to look after a kid and how scared he is to do right by Becca, certainly gets through to him.

Elsewhere, Kimiko and Frenchie bust into the warehouse to find the traffickers. It’s Frenchie’s turn to not be sober, as he ends up hallucinating the whole time Kimiko is on the offensive. He sees Colin, a bathtub, dead bodies and even Little Nina too. It’s a pretty cool and stylish segment.

With everyone off doing side-gigs, the only ones left to plant the bug at ‘Vought On Ice’ are Hughie and MM. With Hughie in the vents, he overhears Homelander giving some words of advice to Victoria regarding being proud of herself and living up to her legacy as a Supe. Unfortunately, Hughie sweats profusely and a drop lands on his shoulder. As he sniffs it, he immediately realizes Hughie is in the vents and he chases after him.

Chaos and bloodshed ensues as Hughie tries to escape, but it’s A-Train of all people who actually picks him up and moves him to safety. It’s a shocking turn of events and rather ironic that it’s super speed – the very thing that ruined Hughie’s life – that sets him up for being saved.

A little calmer than before, Hughie shows at the hospital and speaks to his mum. It turns out she left because she was depressed. It never went away and it ate away at her inside. Getting dressed was like climbing Everest and she even tried to kill herself. It was life or death for her, and that’s why she eventually packed up her stuff and left Hughie.

Meanwhile, The Deep shows to see Sage and argues with her regarding the Crime Analytics department fiasco. However, this quickly turns into a lustful sexual encounter between the pair, fuelled by food. At the same time, Ryan shows back up to see Homelander, who can smell Butcher on him. Homelander bemoans Ryan, believing that he’s not good enough and eventually smashes the window.

When Ryan hightails it away, Homelander hears a voice and begins seeing himself in the shattered remnants in the mirror. He’s suffering from a clear mental breakdown and believes his need for love is a “sickness”. In order to stop that, he needs to “go home”.

The Episode Review

Homelander is on the verge of a mental breakdown, although he’s been unstable for most of the show’s run-time to be fair. Sage is a bit of an enigma right now and it’s unclear whether she’s playing the long game or not. Given she’s supposed to be the smartest person in the world, she can easily manipulate everyone around her and at least that’s a bit of an explanation over some of her actions.

This episode in particular sees the group split up with their own issues to deal with. Kimiko going after her past makes sense, while Hughie is doing the same thing with his mum too. The conversation about depression is a good one to include, while the season as a whole is setting itself up to explore this mental aspect in more detail. Either way, the ending with Homelander leaves things on a tenuous cliffhanger, ready for next week’s instalment.