'The Boys' Season 4, Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Recap: A Diabolical Return to Form

The Boys returned with a bang on Thursday. The first three episodes of season 4 brought themes of legacy, loss and past trauma to the table and acted as a welcome reminder that Prime Video's ultraviolent comic book satire is a powerhouse. Honestly, we should all be thankful it exists. 

This three-episode cluster sets up numerous high-stakes storylines: Homelander (Antony Starr) wants to solidify his legacy amid the throes of a midlife crisis; Billy Butcher (Karl Urban) needs to set things right with Ryan (Cameron Crovetti) before it's too late for him (or humanity); Victoria Neuman (Claudia Doumit) is still driven to bring Supe influence to the United States government, clearing the way for a potential Homelander dictatorship; and Annie January's (Erin Moriarty) struggling to gain control of her life and forge a path away from Vought's influence. 

Hot on the heels of showrunner Eric Kripke's announcement that The Boys fifth season will be its last, these episodes deserve close attention as they'll surely pave the way for the final season. But let's not get ahead of ourselves here. It's recapping time -- or three-capping, as the case may be. Superpowered spoilers ahead.

Read more: Will Butcher Die? All the Burning Questions 'The Boys' Season 4 Needs to Answer

A politicking clock

The first episode, titled The Department of Dirty Tricks, opens on a presidential campaign event for Robert Singer (Jim Beaver) and Victoria Neuman. Everything is hunky dory on the surface, but underneath Neuman's energetic speech to the approving crowd is a dysfunctional powder keg ready to burst. Billy Butcher and his team are the powder keg in question.

Kimiko (Karen Fukuhara) and Frenchie (Tomer Capone) are disguised as caterers and head to Victoria's hotel room to plant a bottle of eyedrops laced with acid -- because that's their key to her destruction. Mother's Milk (Laz Alonso) and Hughie (Jack Quaid) run point in a van outside. And Butcher? Well, he's suffering the damage his use of Temp V caused. From leaking goop from his ear to vomiting in the alley and talking to hallucinations, it's plain to see the Boys' wise-cracking leader is not living his best life. He's dying. 

While Kimiko and Frenchie take the decoy eyedrops to Victoria's room, Butcher discovers Homelander and Ryan are in the building -- a detail no one expected. For those who may need a reminder, Ryan is the illegitimate son of Homelander and Becca (Shantel VanSanten), Billy Butcher's dead wife. Yes, it's a messed-up triangle of family drama. 

In the hotel kitchen, Butcher tries to appeal to Ryan, but Homelander interrupts the mini-reunion. It's clear he's been feeding Ryan toxic fallacies about his stepdad. It's an uncomfortable few minutes between the three, but the character chemistry jumps off the screen. 

Homelander enjoys these moments with his long-time foe. When he sees the black mass that has formed in Butcher's brain, he senses that the leader of The Seven is kind of sad to see his enemy go.

"We won't have that last dance together," he says with a melancholy smile. 

The plan in Neuman's room isn't faring much better. Victoria's daughter Zoe (Olivia Morandin) discovers the intruders. Surprise -- she's a Supe!

Remember back in season 3 when Homelander gave Victoria's daughter Compound V in exchange for her allegiance in bringing his influence to the White House? Well, this is the result.

Neuman Jr. shoots tentacles from her mouth, killing a couple of CIA operatives. Kimiko and Frenchie barely escape with their lives.

Whose side is Victoria on, anyway? One minute, she's cozying up to Homelander; the next, she's reminiscing with Hughie about the simpler times they spent together, and later, she's sparking a deal with Butcher in an abandoned video store -- in exchange for the incriminating footage Hughie has of her poppin' heads, she agrees to get Ryan away from Homelander.

He even mentions the Supe-killing virus discovered at Godolkin University (It's the first Gen V reference!). I guess even a Supe politician has to play all sides.

Oh, and Victoria is immune to acid. Back to the drawing board, I guess.

Butcher's cut 

Butcher just can't catch a break. He's on the outs with his crew, the CIA doesn't want to see his face, his stepson thinks he hates him, and he's dying. 

The unexpected arrival of old CIA pal Joseph Kessler (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) injects a glimmer of hope into Butcher's bleak existence. While Mother's Milk faces a harsh reprimand from Grace Mallory and Robert Singer, Kessler presents Butcher with a daring plan for an off-the-books operation to transform Ryan into a government asset.

Sure, he's just a boy. But he's also the world's first natural-born Supe. And by all accounts, he'll be humanity's downfall, at least if Homelander has anything to say about it.

Butcher finds himself in a moral quagmire. Despite the absence of a blood relation, Ryan is the sole living link to Becca. Undermining this trust in the pursuit of a greater good could lead to a catastrophic outcome for both. Yet, the fate of the world hangs in the balance. 

What choice does he have? Mother's Milk officially fires him from the team in episode 2, Life Among the Septics, pushing Butcher further away from the group he started. This makes his life's mission of bringing Supes to justice feel more like a fleeting dream than an achievable reality.

Hearts and minds

Things aren't all sunshine and roses for Homelander. It turns out that being a father is much more complex than he realized. Instead of exercising empathy and compassion with Ryan, he's doing all he can to impart his legacy. Clearly, he's setting Ryan up as a potential addition to The Seven. But, while he's going through the motions with a fake smile plastered on his face, Ryan isn't into the idea of viewing humans as toys. And he very much doesn't like inflicting harm or committing murder.

The internal dynamics of The Seven are far from harmonious. The new recruit, Black Noir's replacement, struggles to find his place, while The Deep is desperate for Homelander's approval. On the other hand, A-Train is grappling with the guilt of his past nefarious actions. This internal conflict makes Mother's Milk consider a risky move: Appealing to A-Train's conscience to turn him into a mole. 

Fed up with his team's lack of a backbone, he surprises Jessica Bradley at her cluttered apartment. You know her better as Sister Sage (Susan Heyward), the smartest person on the planet. That's it; that's her superpower.

Let's not forget that Homelander is on trial for publicly eye-laser murdering a man last season. Protests have crowded the entrance to the courthouse, among other public spaces, showing the growing conflict between Hometeamers and Starlighters -- those who support him and those who are on Annie's side. Thanks to Truth Bomb, a fringe podcast hosted by a Supe named Firecracker (Valorie Curry), Annie's troubles are increasing. 

Homelander's line of questioning in Sage's apartment is a job interview. He wants to cleanse the world of humans and asks her how to do it. With an eye toward history, she tells him he should not spark society's downfall -- let the people destroy themselves.

"You just gotta nudge them a little, and then you get to swoop in and be the one saving it," she tells him.

Sage lures a handful of Homelander's most prominent supporters to a warehouse for a meet-and-greet. Remember Todd (Matthew Gorman) from season 3? The man Mother's Milk's ex-wife married who ended up going all-in as a Homelander fanboy? He's there.

When Homelander shows up, the excitement is palpable. That is until he tells A-Train (Jessie T. Usher), The Deep (Chace Crawford) and Black Noir (Nathan Mitchell) to murder them all with baseball bats.

"You people are more than just fans; you're martyrs to the greatest cause on Earth," he tells them.

Upon the announcement of Homelander's not-guilty verdict, a riot outside the courthouse kicks into high gear. Todd's body, among the other baseball bat victims, is planted amid the maelstrom, and some Starlighters are framed for the murder. 

Some skeletons (and an octopus) in the closet 

A-Train may have been in the building when Todd and company died, but he didn't take part in the murders. Yes, he planted the bodies outside. But, the cracks have begun to show in his allegiance to Homelander and Vought. 

It feels like everyone is living double lives here. A-Train hands over footage proving the bodies at the riot were not killed by the implicated Starlighters; The Deep's hiding his octopus girlfriend Ambrosius -- who is voiced by none other than Tilda Swinton -- in his closet, and Frenchie's romantically involved with Colin (Elliot Knight), a man he met in rehab. Plot twist: He murdered Colin's whole family during a drug-fueled home invasion he took part in years ago.

The past trauma thread continues as we see Kimiko in therapy, finally attempting to deal with her past. Her parents were murdered by Shining Light -- a group of child traffickers -- and she was kidnapped and injected with Compound V. It's what caused her mutism and is where she got her regenerative powers. 

The bond Frenchie and Kimiko have forged over the three previous seasons gets put to the test. Will their relationship withstand the looming chaos?

Smoke and mirrors

It doesn't take long for The Boys, under the leadership of Mother's Milk, to figure out Sister Sage is behind the riot at the courthouse. They follow her to a hotel that takes them smack-dab into the belly of the beast -- TruthCon, a conspiracy theory-fueled convention for disenfranchised conservatives. This is Firecracker's niche audience.

While pursuing Sage, the group stumbles upon a live recording of Firecracker's podcast, The Truth Bomb, featuring a surprise guest star: Supernatural's Rob Benedict.

Known for his role as God in Eric Kripke's popular genre series, Benedict's character here, Splinter, is far from divine. As Firecracker's devoted assistant, he goes to great lengths to ensure her happiness and success. A Supe with the unsettling ability to clone himself, Splinter's complex feelings for Firecracker add a layer of intrigue to his character. 

As the story unfolds, it becomes evident that Splinter's infatuation with Firecracker is a source of inner turmoil. The Boys is known for its ability to deliver shocking scenes, from exploding whale carcasses to the debauchery of season 3's Herogasm. However, the moment when Kimiko and Frenchie stumble upon Splinter engaged in a sexual act (a la Human Centipede) with a group of his clones, I found myself reenacting the iconic "Leonardo DiCaprio pointing at the TV screen" meme.

Despite its quiet nature, it's a scene that may be Kripke's most audacious yet. 

A lot happens at TruthCon. Mother's Milk and Butcher get into a fistfight, Sage recruits Firecracker into The Seven and a nudity-filled Supe brawl erupts in the middle of a Marvelous Mrs. Maisel-themed Bat Mitzvah. Thanks to Butcher's unwelcome help, the crew defeats Splinter's naked clones and sends Firecracker running. But this isn't the last we hear from her.

A trifecta of daddy issues

Episode 3, We'll Keep the Red Flag Flying Here, finds Homelander officially announcing the newest additions to The Seven. He also teases the eventual addition of Ryan to the crew. Behind the scenes, the father-son bond Homelander had hoped to create with him is falling apart. 

During the latter half of episode 2, Ryan was given a crime itinerary and assigned his first official save. It sounds like all Supes go through this right of passage. Thanks to support from a stunt team and a collection of movie-making magic, his public stunt was set to go smoothly. That was before Homelander showed up unexpectedly during the save, prompting Ryan to accidentally toss the stuntman against a far wall, splattering his body to pieces.

Ryan just doesn't like murdering people, a stark contrast to his father. During this low point, Ryan is invited by Butcher -- through a viscerally bloody Mortal Kombat-style video game -- to come by his place for a chat. 

Remember earlier how Butcher and Kessler discussed a plan to flip Ryan? Well, it's game time.

Butcher bakes Ryan's favorite cookies, laces them with enough fentanyl to take down an elephant, and moves forward to knock his stepson out. But after a heart-to-heart over a game of foosball, Butcher dumps the cookies and sends Ryan on his way.

Meanwhile, Hughie's dealing with his daddy dilemma, which is severe. His father, Hugh, suffered a stroke and is in a coma. On top of all this, his deadbeat mom returns after being gone for nearly all of Hughie's life, revealing she has power of attorney.

You Vought'a know

A fair amount of change comes with the inclusion of Sage and Firecracker in the mix. Homelander gives Sister Sage the title of CEO, demoting Ashley (Colby Minifie) from her role at the company. She doesn't want to stay at Vought any longer. Still, after seeing Homelander murder a Vought employee during an interrogation led by Sage over the missing footage (that A-Train stole), Ashley put her resignation letter in the shredder. Would quitting ensure her death? It's very likely.

Victoria still has her hands full. A failed deal with Butcher leads her back to talks with Homelander -- and Sage is in tow. Thanks to the intel given to Mother's Milk by A-Train, he and Hughie stake out the stadium where a Vought-inspired holiday ice skating musical is rehearsing.

Hughie ends up in the air duct looking for the best place to drop a bug, but he finds himself right above Homelander, Sage and Victoria before he can do so.

A deal between the three Supes is back in play. Once she wins the vice presidency, Homelander and Sage will remove Robert Singer from his post, clearing the way for Victoria to take the position of leader of the free world. This would then set the stage for Homelander's new world order to be enacted.

After they announce their plans like a bunch of James Bond villains, Homelander discovers Hughie hiding in the air duct and goes on a rage-fueled tear, eye-lasering all over the building. Instead of hitting Hughie, his actions spark a bloody massacre on the ice.

In a surprising turn of events, A-Train -- the same guy who sped right through the body of Hughie's girlfriend in the first episode of the series -- saves him from certain death.

Starlight, star fright

Since quitting The Seven, Annie has done whatever she could to forge her own path. It's been a struggle, though. Throughout her life, it seems someone was always pulling the strings -- whether it was her mother on the pageant circuit or those at Vought International. Now that she has Starlight House up and running, she feels she's on the right track.

That is until Firecracker comes into the picture. She's constantly flinging a barrage of lies and dirty attacks against Annie. She hates Starlight with a passion. When Annie finally confronts Firecracker in her old apartment in Vought Tower, no less, some unexpected demons from the past resurface.

Back in their childhood, Firecracker, then known as Sparkler, and Annie were fierce rivals in the pageant world. Sparked by jealousy and her mother's influence, Annie spreads cruel rumors about Firecracker. They spread like wildfire, scorching Sparkler's reputation and forcing her to retreat from the pageant scene. The wounds from that time still fester, and no amount of Annie's regret can extinguish the fire of resentment in Firecracker's heart.

Boyhood

Not for nothing, but vulnerability looks good on Billy Butcher. He connected with Ryan and believes he can appeal to the youngster's heart and mind without knocking him out with drugged cookies. They need more time, and it's clear Kessler has doubts about this strategy pivot.

"Either we figure out how to train him, or we figure out how to kill him," he tells Butcher.

At Vought Tower, Homelander's keen sense of smell detects Butcher's presence on Ryan's clothes. Struggling to maintain his leadership roles at work and home, he's on the verge of another psychological break a mere three episodes into the season.

Fortunately, his fractured reflections in a broken mirror offer a much-needed pep talk and some insightful advice.

"You're never going to be your true self until you transcend your humanity," his reflection tells him. 

"What do I do?" Homelander asks.

"You need to go back to the start. John, you need to go home."

Some final thoughts

• OK, what was up with Sister Sage and The Deep sharing a blooming onion on the couch? Did they really just hook up? That came out of left field. Ambrosius will not be happy.
• When Kimiko infiltrated the Shining Light cell, she discovered a girl who knew her name. Obviously, this is someone from her past. But who, exactly?
• Frenchie is clearly making a bad decision, pursuing a romantic relationship with Colin. Is he really catching feelings for this man, or do we think the attraction is solely based on guilt?
• Does it feel like Homelander may be afraid of Ryan? Hear me out. Yes, they're family, but if he can't get Ryan to buy into his worldview and play along, he may be facing an opponent unlike any he expected -- and this is the guy who battled Soldier Boy, his toxic narcissist of a father last season.
  
• Do we think A-Train deserves a redemption story arc? He's killed plenty of people and has turned a blind eye more than once. But so has each member of The Boys. Should we consider it a wash at this point?
• Speaking of A-Train, it's good to know Will Ferrell exists in The Boys universe. I found something oddly comforting in this silly cameo.
• Calling Homelander by his birth name is always a bit jarring. Now that he's decided to go home, how much damage will he cause once he steps foot into the secret laboratory where he was originally created? Something tells me things are going to get bloody.

Come back for more observations next Thursday, June 20, when episode 4 of The Boys season 4 hits Prime Video.