Homelander goes home in this week’s The Boys in what might be the series’ most deranged episode yet. Our review of The Boys episode 4.
Spoiler warning! These reviews will be spoiler-free for the week in question, but will discuss previous seasons and episodes in detail.
This week’s The Boys starts on a lovely note. Homelander decides to visit his birthplace and even brings an ice cream cake! What a lovely chap.
But, of course, this is The Boys and nothing in this series could be classified as ‘nice’. Homelander visits the underground lab he spent most of his childhood in, being probed, tested and tortured – and the poor employees still working there are about to feel his wrath. Never has an ice cream cake been quite so menacing.
What follows is perhaps some of the cruellest scenes of The Boys, and that’s saying a lot. However, this is where showrunner Eric Kripke and his writers also shine and Homelander emerges as a tragic villain in this episode. There’s a lot of similarities with Todd Phillips’ Joker here, but Kripke and his team pull off Homelander’s arc without ever accidentally condoning his actions.
Homelander isn’t some wronged anti-hero, but a full-blown villain. He’s monstrous and psychotic, but he was made into what he is by the scientist who tested if his skin would burn off in an oven or the guy who used to laugh at him at his most vulnerable moments. Antony Starr is pretty remarkable here, perfectly balancing Homelander’s cruelty and the tragedy it stems from.
Elsewhere, Butcher (Karl Urban) is deteriorating. He falls in the shower, cracking his face open as something crawls underneath his skin. We’re sure it’s fine and won’t lead to something truly gross. As this season progresses, Butcher is really looking worse for wear and the make-up department have really done an exemplary job at portraying his ghastly look.
It’s not just Homelander who grapples with his past. Frenchie, Kimiko and Starlight all try to come to terms with past traumas in their own ways. Starlight, or Annie, is particularly confronted with a painful memory, which is blasted publicly by Firecracker, who continues to be one of the most evil characters on the show. As we noted last week, The Boys has always been political, but season 4 is perhaps their most politically aggressive season. That might not be for everyone, but I’m thoroughly enjoying and appreciating such strong stances.
The entire episode of carefully considered chaos that Kripke and episode director Phil Sgriccia navigate gracefully. On the surface, The Boys is all about violence and the silly gags, but there is some real dramatic and thematic meat around the bones.
If there’s something to criticise in The Boys season 4, it’s that the series is in danger of becoming a tad repetitive. Each episode unfolds in a similar manner and while each character of the large cast gets a moment to shine, character development can be hard to come by. Black Noir, who provides some really great comic relief this season, has almost become a parody of himself, as has Ashley. The comedy is still sharp, but by now, there needs to be more to these characters than simple, crude gags.
Episode 4 ends on a highly intriguing note which could very well fix all my worries about the season so far. The episode also marks the halfway point of the current run, which we now know will be the penultimate season. Season 4 is getting perhaps to a slightly slower start than usual, but this episode might very well be one of the best and certainly most brutal episodes of The Boys to date.
The Boys streams on Prime Video with new episodes every Thursday.
