What would happen if The Flash touched someone while at full speed? Amazon Prime show. Mature language, gore, alcohol&drugs reference galore.
Kids are psyched for Invisible Force 2. Two nerds discuss imaginary conflicts. Translucent is a superhero who's invisible. The Deep is a water hero. Armored truck speeds down the street towards the nerds, ramming into cars. Cops are chasing it. The nerds start running away. The truck heads right at them. The white kid falls. His name is Benjy. A woman jumps down in front of the truck and it wraps itself around her. The debris should still kill the kids, right? The woman smiles at the masked man inside. A masked driver stumbles out, vomits blood. Two criminals are holding the kids hostage with rifles but a pair of lasers fires straight at the guy who just vomited's gun.
His gun melts and fuses with his hand. He falls down to the ground screaming. Another hero levitates down and the second criminal tries shooting at him. He is Homelander. He takes the criminal and launches him in the air, and we see him drop in the distance a couple seconds later. Benjy asks to get a selfie with Homelander. I believe the correct choice is getting a selfie with the scantily-clad superhero lady, kid. Homelander hugs the nerds and they do selfies. We see a news report on a TV in an electronics shop. Hughie is a electronics nerd who's upselling some poor lady on an HDMI cable.
Hughie tries talking to his boss but he dismisses him. A woman enters and wants an appointment with Hughie about laying some cable. She is Robin. He explains "laying pipe" means having sex and "laying cable" is taking a number two. They walk outside. She asks if he asked Gary for a raise. He apologizes and she is passive-aggressive about it. They stop. She tries to guilt him into thinking he's a soy boy. She whines about going to school and talks about moving in together.
He is upset with this talk. He kisses her. She disappears. Just like that. Blood splatters over his face. Only a puddle of blood where Robin now stood. A superhero stops nearby, he says he can't stop and rushes away. Hughie holds on to her severed hands and screams: "ROBIN!" 7 am. A lady does pull ups with one hand. She punches through a brick wall and lifts a car. The wall seems like made of plywood. She is Starlight. She is doing a casting video and does a 360-degree video.
She is asked to show her skills. She focuses and a flash of light knocks the camera down while glitching it. She narrates her background: she is "super-abled" and her mom was thrilled. Some reminiscing. She chokes up. It's like an audition for superheroes? She says hopeful and naive aren't the same thing. She talks about wanting to save the world. She wants to be in The Seven.
Hughie is shocked. It's Robin's service. A guy talks to him. A news report with some PR person and the superhero A-Train apologizing. Hughie rages at the lies told on the TV. A-Train says he was chasing bank robbers. Hughie has no legal claim and Vought will offer him a $45,000 restitution for Robin's death, as long as he signs an NDA. Hughie asks the Vought suit to say he's sorry. Hughie rages and hits the desk and grabs the guy but then we see it's his fantasy, Scrubs style. Hughie asks to think about it. The suit walks out.
She is bummed out. Her mom is answering a call. Starlight takes the call and we hear she got the job. The two women scream. Hughie is trying to file a suit against A-Train, but they are like cops and can't be charged for damages while on the job. The guy taps him on the shoulder and tells him to sign the NDA for the money. They could use the money. It's his dad, who tells him it's like a bus hit her. Dad says he doesn't have the fight and never had.
Hughie is floored. His dad admits to not having the fight either. Dad invites him to watch Remington Steele. Hughie walks out. I like his backbone. Starlight is beeing greeted with the red carpet. A crowd is cheering and a PR person is smiling. They are running late. Photos are being taken. Madelyn says their profits are up 14%. They opened a new theme park and produced a new superhero movie. Their main job is supporting brave heroes who put themselves in harm's way for us. It's Vought annual shareholder meeting. We see a masturbatory video shown to the shareholders.
200-plus superheroes, with Vought Hero in every town. Starlight is told about her influence with Midwesterners and Christians. She is ready for her life to change. Back to the video. Vought, we make heroes super. Fanboys and girls cheer. Madelyn introduces a surprise, The Deep. He's Aquaman Lite. Bombastic intro music. He talks. Lamplighter has retired from The Seven. The crowd claps and cheers. The Deep introduces someone very special. Starlight comes to the stage.
The crowd whoops, cheers and claps. Starlight is breathless. Hughie goes to the store. He sees A-Train branded beer. He is breathless. He sees A-Train cereal. His mind is going blank. He sees A-Train everywhere. He's losing it. The cashier asks if he's OK. Hughie collapses and takes down an isle with him. Starlight is taken to a room. She is wowed. Massive command and control room. They can see satellite feeds to read license plates from low orbit. The Deep says she'll have her own chair soon. she is stunned with it all and we hear how humble she is.
The Deep says he too felt like an imposter his first day at work. Starlight smiles. So, how is her skill anything even remotely usable against criminals? I presume she can blind people, so she should blind her fellow superheroes too. The Deep says they're a team now. She says Homelander is like Jesus or something and she had a poster of him. He laughs. She says she had a schoolgirl crush on him. She does a vocal fry so much.
He drops his pants. She is breathless and tries walking out but he says some pole-smoking is all it takes. She activates her power and monitors start cracking. The Deep says he's number two around here and could put her out of the group. He shows the cracked monitors and convinces her. The kids, they would be shattered. What a sleaze. He says it would take three minutes and all her dreams would come true.
He interviews Translucent, who says his skin can turn into a carbon meta-material to make him invisible. A guy walks in his store. Hughie offer him a nanny cam. The Butcher. He asks how many nannies shake babies. Hughie doesn't know. The Buther seems Bri-ish. He says "bollocks". He heard what happened to Robin. He's the FBI and flashes his badge. They talk a walk. Hughie says he looks like he's a star of a porn version of The Matrix, and the Butcher says, "Well, it's all there in black and white." The Butcher says supes kill hundreds of people each year as "collateral damage". Hughie is surprised.
Hughie asks why. The BUtcher shows the branding all around them and says lobbyists and politicians are keeping people lulled into their dream of having superheroes swoop in and save them. The Butcher says they're fucking diabolical but that's where he comes in, to spank the bastards when they come out of line. He doesn't answer the question and starts walking. Hughie wants to go back to work. The Butcher says this is his one and only chance to get the people that got his girl. The Butcher walks away and Hughie does nothing. Spineless freak. We see them walking together.
Harry opens a shutter and lets them in. The door closes behind them. It is... an orgy in the sky. Supes can do bad stuff here. Orgies. They are watching camera feed. A-Train. He confesses to swallowing one of Robin's molars to a dude. The two laugh. Hughie is stunned. Welcome to the real world. The Butcher asks what he's going to do about it. Starlight is vomiting in the toilet and flushes. The warrior lady from the start, Queen Maeve, is there too and tells her to clean herself up. She isn't meant to let themselves be seen like this. Translucent appears naked.
Hughie asks if they are all like that. The Butcher says only Homelander is the saint, not smoking or drinking. The Butcher says there was no bank robbery that night. Why is he telling him that? I don't see the reason why this information is being shared. The Butcher tells him to ask to sign an NDA but only if A-Train is present, meaning he will be taken to The Seven (??) where he will plant a bug. Makes no sense, brain-assed idea. Hughie says as much and that he isn't a fucking James Bond. The Butcher is happy that he got it.
The Butcher says he's got a warrant but can't enter there because the security is too high. Hughie says his favorite musician is James Taylor and wants to walk away. The Butcher tries to calm him down. Hughie isn't like him and walks out. Madelyn is talking to another suit about Baltimore murder rate being up 62%. She proposes Nubian Prince, not too militant, with Caucasians loving him at a 59% rate. She will offer a 3-year exclusive contract. $300 million a year. The suit laughs.
$200mm. She can't do it. He says he knows about Compound V. She plays dumb. Show, don't tell? He can make sure Compound V rumors stay rumors. She still plays dumb and repeats $300mm price. Starlight is in the magazines. Her mom asks about Homelander and how she bragged to her mah-jongg hags about her daughter being in The Seven. Starlight chokes and ends the call. Hughie is right there??????????? The hell. Starlight starts crying. He asks if she's OK.
He keeps asking what is happening and why is she sniffling. She talks about having this image of yourself. She thought she was strong and made of steel, a fighter. She was faced with this asshole and heard her mom's voice in her head, the show must go on and she didn't fight. Now she feels sick, mostly because she isn't who she thought she was. She apologizes, he apologizes to her and asks if she likes her job. She could help a lot of people. He used to know this girl and they used to go skating. OK, he is a nerd, we get it. She got killed and you're alive.
This goes on for some time. He asks who she is. She says she's a fighter and she is gonna fight. Yeah. She will take the guy's head clean off of his body. She meant penis? Her name is Annie. They shake hands. Hughie meets The Butcher in a bar and says he's in. Hughie is calling the suit who offered him the NDA. Hughie wants to get an apology from A-Train and pretends his voice is breaking. He wants closure and face-to-face apology.
The call ends and the suit hangs up. Starlight takes a breath an enter her first official meeting. Homelander welcomes her. The Deep says that pressure is a lot for anyone to swallow. She barely contains her power. Translucent wants to talk about the real crime: piracy. Someone pirated his movie three weeks before release. They talk about money. Homelander tells they shouldn't haggle over nickels. He is calling for some grace and asks who they saved this week.
Hughie and The Butcher arrive. So, the suit accepted? That's not how we saw the call end. The Butcher says the security is shoddy at the Vought HQ, which contradicts what he said earlier and why he can't enter there. This is fishy. Hughie is panicking when he hears how much work it takes to plant a bug underneath a table in the boardroom. He does work in an electronics store. The Butcher talks about The Matrix and how this is like taking the red pill but he mixes up his metaphors. Hughie is confused and has no idea which pill he should take. I chuckled.
Vought HQ is massive. Hughie walks in. Armed guards. Hughie goes through the metal detector and is asked to empty his pockets. Keys and phone. He is wanded too. One guard fiddles with his phone and gives him his stuff back. So far so good. What if a supes notices him bugging the place? In the boardroom, Hughie is watched by a guard. He takes out his phone. Ceiling mural shows Homelander. The suit walks in with A-Train all bloodied up. Hughie's head goes blank. He's panting. There's no blood. A-Train walks out. Hughie asks to use the bathroom. The bug falls out and Annie walks in.
She does her makeup. Maybe Translucent is watching them? Hughie takes the bug and walks out. Yep, he was there watching. Hughie enters the boardroom and slaps the bug underneath the table. He is relating the story to The Butcher. Hughie is feeling high. The Butcher delivered him to his work. Hughie is confused. Is that it? He tasted power. The Butcher says he's got it and Hughie gets out of the car and tears up the $45k check he got. The Butcher tells him he's a good lad and screeches off.
Madelyn talks to the guy she negotiated with earlier and offers $230mm for Nubian Prince. The guy's name is Steve. He thanks her. She says Compound V rumors are libelous. She wishes him a safe flight home. Hughie is watching news, where anchors are discussing letting supes into national defense. Gary walks out. Doors open on their own. Hughie says they're closing up. Footsteps are there. Translucent is talking. Hughie is panting again. Translucent found him. How? He says he followed him from the tower. Translucent smacks him around and asks who was there in the car.
Translucent is about to smack Hughie over the head with a TV screen when The Butcher smashes through the store with his car and tells Hughie to run. The Butcher has a crowbar and hits the wall. They fight as Hughie is about to leave but stops. The Butcher spits at the Translucent and then starts kicking his ass.
Wow, Translucent has super strength too. Hughie is back and peeks around the corner. Translucent takes the crowbar. The Butcher tells him his name means "semi-transparent", not "invisible". Hughie sneaks from behind and tries zapping Translucent with a ripped cable but it's too short. The Butcher kicks Translucent and he falls onto the cable.
Light flicker. Translucent falls down. He isn't moving. Hughie saw on Jimmy Fallon that his carbon skin conducts electricity. The Butcher says they're both in a shitload of trouble. Hughie freaks out. The Butcher admits to not being a Fed. Airplane. Turbulence. Steve. A guy whispers to his ear. More turbulence. The kid looks out the window and sees a supes. It's Homelander. Laser beams cut the plane in half. The hell. What a bunch of criminals.
Hughie and The Butcher hear the sirens wailing. Hughie does it. They put Translucent in the trunk and drive off. The Butcher says he's worked for loads of people as an "independent contractor". They hear pounding in the trunk. The Butcher says that's a problem. Hughie is happy he's alive and wants to be let out. The Butcher says he knows a bloke who will know what to do. A girl with tit tats opens. The Butcher asks for Frenchie. The girl touches Hughie's face. They enter. So many weapons. French rap, hip-hop. The music stops. He calls The Butcher "Monsieur Charcuter" and asks for his $40k back. The Butcher tells he can double his money. The Butcher introduces Hughie Campbell.
They have a backstory. The Butcher has a cattle prod. They open the trunk. Translucent is there. Frenchie is freaking out and takes out a revolver, saying Translucent is chipped, meaning the supes will be arriving shortly. News report. Cancer kid. A-Train is giving him a gift. The kid asked for Translucent. A-Train says Translucent is on a secret mission. The kid is disappointed: this wasn't his wish. A-Train says Translucent could swing by next week or sometime later and the camera pans at the Asian doctor, who quickly shakes his head. I love this.
A-Train says he's the world's fastest man. He's black, that's racist. He says the kid gets better and he will teach him to run faster than anyone. The kid asks if he can teach him to outrun cancer. A-Train is floored and shows a thumbs up to the camera. Madelyn and Ashley are fuming as they're watching. They say A-Train needs to have a script or he gets lost. Madelyn asks for Translucent. Ashely has no idea where he is.
Starlight talks to Black Noir, who says nothing and walks past her. Cringe fiesta. Ashley talks to Starlight and introduces Trevor, a pudgy nerd from Crime Analytics. She is being sent out on her first patrol. Trevor hands her a tablet with crime stats and predicted crimes. Starlight says she wants to do her own investigations. Ashley says that's cute, but it's corporate instruction because there's liability to consider. She's doing it with The Deep.
Starlight tries to weasel out of it but Ashley is gushing about a 23% uptick in hashtags on social media when there's a team-up. People love a team-up. Frenchie, The Butcher and Hughie are breaking into an old diner. They find RF Shielding Foil to block the chip's signal. Frenchie thinks he's in Tech Intelligence. They locked Translucent in a cage with electricity. He can't get out. Frenchie is angry. Translucent is nearly unkillable.
Frenchie says Translucent can't be killed by suffocation but they need to pierce the skin somehow. Hughie is surprised and thinks they thought the idea was to interrogae Translucent. The Butcher talks about waterboarding a guy at Gitmo, meaning he was CIA? The Butcher says The Seven will wreck them. A-Train is competing in a race. The Deep found the Mayor's plane. He says it appears to be engine failure. Madelyn and Homelander talk. She is pumping breast milk.
Homelander offers searching for Translucent. Madelyn asks Homelander about what happened Mayor and he feigns ignorance. Madelyn says The Deep reported scorch marks on the engine. He asks her to come out and say it. She says his brand is sunshine and smiles. He says he heard the blackmail through the walls. She says the timing wasn't good. He says he loves Vought and can do more. She says he grossed $12.3bn for Vought but he isn't there to go rogue. He is dejected. She says she will protect him and caresses his face. She says gods are pure and perfect.
Hughie takes a glass a water. His phone is blowing up. Dad. Missed calls. He calls his dad, who freaks out. Hughie says he closed up early and went drinking. We see The Butcher unpacking some sort of gun in the background. Dad begs him to come back and Hughie hangs up before his headache returns and he punches the wall over and over. He is losing it. The Deep enters the boardroom. Homelander.
The Deep is about to walk out but turns around and stays. Homelander has a fake smile. The deep sits at the desk and asks if he can do anything for him. Homelander asks if he's stupid. The Deep says no. Homelander asks why he reported laser beam traces on the engine. The Deep mutters and apologizes. Homelander grabs his neck and threatens him. They chuckle nervously. Back in the diner. Frenchie is again at it with his rap. He is cooking some chemicals or something. Alchemy?
He created a round coated in the same carbon metamaterial as Translucent's skin. How did he get that material. The Butcher loads the rifle, it seems like a gun for hunting tanks. The Butcher runs into the room and shoots but the bullet bounces off. Translucent laughs; he's unkillable. We see the RF shielding got damaged by the ricochet. Madelyn learns Translucent is in Jersey City. A tech says he's inside a 10-block area.
The Deep and Starlight are at the crime scene. He's ranting. She is quiet. He says it's demeaning and asks what's her problem. She is again charging her power. They bicker. He threatens telling Homelander she is psycho. She can't believe she fell for his crap and threatens burning his eyes out. Criminals interrupt them. He jumps into the water. Sure, split up.
Homelander dolls are filled with drugs. Starlight throws flashes of light at criminals. The Deep beats up the rest. Ashley comes in with cameras and asks Starlight to say: "This is lit". That's funny. The Butcher finds a lady named Susan. She has a gun. He asks to look at Translucent's file. She doesn't want to hear another word. We hear about the Mallory files. She says the director will shitcan anyone who goes near those files. She asks if he's a glutton for punishment.
He asks for 5 minutes alone with a piece of paper. She says fucking in bar bathrooms wasn't good enough for this. She says "fuck you" and asks him to get out of her house. Hughie enters Translucent's room and tries talking to him. He brought him water and opens a slit. Translucent takes the water and drinks. Hughie asks about A-Train going through Robin. Hughie tries talking to him for information. Translucent says his superpower is watching people when they think they're alone.
Translucent says he's terrified. Frenchie sees a car circlign around the block and hears radio chatter nearby. Flashlights in the background. Translucent tells him to head for the hills. Hughie says they will find a way to kill him first. Translucent scoffs at the prospect and calls him a water balloon filled with blood and meat. Homelander is going to find them and burst them all wide open. Hughie tells him good luck.
A guy breaks the window of the diner but doesn't enter. Frenchie is swimming in sweat. Hughie again has his headache. He says a baby poster and... He thought of something? We see poor Black Noir being ignored by the servers at a party. In the background, tear-jerking videos of donating to black kids. Madelyn talks to a guy, who talks about never putting Supe in the national defense. He says nobody wants to outsource to her and the US is running on weapons, not superheroes.
She says her heroes are loyal but he says they are "hers". Starlight is heading back home. She sees a girl about to get raped by two guys. She interrupts them and activates her power. Lights go out. She asks the woman to shut her eyes and blinds one guy but beats the other, wrecking a car. Frenchie tried drilling Translucent. He couldn't do it and offers Hughie a candy flip: MDMA and LSD. Hughie refuses and Frenchie takes it.
Frenchie says he is a gunrunner but developed certain niche skills. He says killing superheros is nearly impossible. Hughie asks what's it like killing a Supe. Frenchie says an anecdote about a lady in an elevator who had dirt under her fingernails. He asked her about her profession. He thinks about her all the time. She was the first person he ever killed. The Butcher is back and listens to it. Frenchie says it's like scars. The old guy is being plowed by the bartender, who ties him up and transforms into a guy and takes a selfie of them.
Starlight finds Homelander staring at his portrait. He says her secret identity is charming. She is going to sleep. He listens to Madelyn talking on the phone as she is pumping out her breast milk. Again back to the diner. The Butcher is testing a drill. TV narrator talks about turtles and their shell. Frenchie has an idea. He needs Translucent unconscious. He got it. We hear him shocking. Ashley confronts Starlight about saving the girl.
Ashley says there was no girl in the video and she should take a name. Ashley says two Delta Betas were just getting drunk and threaten suing her. Starlight throws up a feeble defense but Ashley says she will have a meeting with Risk Assessment, Legal and Crisis Management. Jerry is going to lose his shit. Starlight asks if she is going to be fired. Madelyn talks to the old guy and shows pictures of his tryst with the bartender, Rhonda. Madelyn says she was there and transforms.
It's the same guy, Doppelganger. Madelyn enters and dismisses the guy. He is frothing but she isn't phased. He says being gay means nothing but she says it's suicide in Oklahoma. He says nobody will vote for the bill on the floor. Again the same techie, Anika, from Crime Analytics. Homelander asks if Translucent has been found and wants to know his last known position. She can't reveal the information.
He says he can do whatever he wants and says "please". In the diner, they are doing something. Frenchie says he's outdone himself. On the inside, Translucent is the same as them but it's only the skin that is hard. There is only one way. Frenchie stuck an ass bomb inside Translucent. WTF. He says fishing it out will make it explode. How? Homelander is zooming across the sky. Translucent is falling apart and stammers.
A-Train was going from Popclaw's, the hero with sharp things coming out of her arms. He doesn't think anyone else knows but then says everyone knows what A-Train was doing. They are about to leave, they close the door but Frenchie shows something. It's Homelander. He can see and hear them. Translucent is reading Hughie's lips and knows what's going on. They need to throw him off the scent. Frenchie and The Butcher enter the van and the former rings his girl. It's a burn. She says "fine" and that she will be ready in three. Shit reception in the van. Translucent pisses in the glass and shorts the power, exiting out.
Homelander knocks on the van and asks for an ID. Homelander asks to see the back of the van but Frenchie asks for a warrant. Translucent is out and reaches for Hughie, who is holding the detonator. Homelander is watching the sides of the van but can't see inside. The Butcher is watching from the end of the alley. Translucent is messing with Hughie's head. The Butcher presses a button and the bomb explodes at his girl's place. Homelander flies off. Whew. So tense.
Hughie lets Translucent go but then sees the baby poster, clicks the button and Translucent explodes in a shower of blood. That wasn't a big explosion at all. What was with the baby? It's shown eating spaghetti and all messy, so unless it reminded him of Robin, I have no idea if she was preggers perhaps? Anyway, Hughie is showered in blood, looks at the baby and that's it.
Hughie is watching blood drip off his head. He showers. It's all washing away. He's dissociating. The Butcher is scraping pieces of Translucent off the floor. So much blood all over the place. Hughie apologizes for the mess. The BUtcher says they'll take care of it. The tracking chip is disabled, says Frenchie. Hughie wants to go home. Frenchie says he's in a state of shock. Hughie needs to go home. Frenchie will go with him. They can't burn Translucent's skin but can slow the cunt a bit. The Butcher dumps fire bombs inside the diner and runs out. How is that meant to help?
Starlight collects her courage and enters Madelyn's office. The nerd crew is already there, staring at her. Madelyn starts and says the rape victim came forward to thank her. Starlight is cautious. Ashley is gushing about the market response, including liberal women 18-49. OK, I got it, this is funny. Madelyn thanks her. Ashley introduces the nerds, who are from Marketing. They present the spiel: small town girl, destiny knocks on a girl's door and she responds to pursue justice.
Ashley is mouthing their words as they're saying them. Funny. The nerd lady unveils a torso wearing what looks like lingerie. New costume. She can't wear it. She say's it's not her. The nerd lady, Isadora, says she designed Homelander suit too. The two Marketing nerds try convincing her it's so her. The suit tells the story of what she's going through. She is fine with my old outfit. Madelyn says there is give and take. Starlight says it's her body but Madelyn says that's true but then she can't be in The Seven.
Hughie enters his apartment and dresses. He looks at a toy and The Seven posters and then smashes the toy, along with his entire room. Why? I guess he snapped. He takes a photo of him and Robin out of the frame and nearly wells up. So sad. His dad appears. Hughie says he's been meaning to clean the Supe stuff and that's how he did it. His dad talks about Dr. Feldman and recommends talking to someone about being normal again. Hughie says, "There is no normal anymore".
Hughie says he hates Pizza Rolls and sitting on the couch, watching TV with him. He says he's sorry and walks out. That's sad. His dad takes a Homelander doll and looks after him. Frenchie says his father was bipolar and tried smothering him with a Hello Kitty duvet when he was 10. Hughie doesn't say anything to that. Prison. Mother's Milk character breaks up a fight over playing ping-pong and asks the two guys to speak with respect, write their names on the blackboard and stop scuffling. They thank him and do as told.
The Butcher greets Mother's Milk, who isn't happy. They are brothers-in-arms. The Butcher opens his arms as if in a hug but Mother's Milk isn't having it. Mother's Milk got Monique back. Inmates start fighting again. The Butcher mentions making a difference and says they dusted a Supe, dropping Translucent's name. Mother's Milk asked how they did it. C4.
Mother's Milk says this is about Becca. They want to bring down Homelander. The Butcher says that Mallory shit ain't gonna happen this time, he swears to God. Mother's Milk can't work with Frenchie. The Butcher says he hasn't seen him in years. Madelyn is burping her baby. Homelander and she are watchign the news. He is unsettled by Translucent's chip went dead but Madelyn doesn't care. She hands over a list of talking points to him. He won't take it and says his cape is the flag.
Madelyn says Edgar personally wrote those. Homelander picks up the paper and stares down the baby. Mother's Milk criticizes The Butcher's choice of a truck when someone bangs. It's Hughie, who offers his hand that doesn't get taken, and Frenchie. Mother's Milk and Frenchie start fighting. Frenchie pulls out a knife. Hughie asks who is Mallory. We hear Rick Astley's "Never gonna give you up" ringtone. Mother's Milk answers. It's Monique. He forgot to marinade the tilapia. He promises making her a dinner. Guys laugh.
The two make up. Hughie gets introduced to Mother's Milk as the person who dusted a Supe. They are observing Popclaw, A-Train's girlfriend. She gets stopped by her landlord, who asks for rent. Hughie suggests entering the house to install surveillance, "all he needs is her IPv6 number". He and Mother's Milk say they're with Bryman Audio-Visual and try entering Popclaw's apartment. She agrees and they enter.
They look at art. Mother's Milk says he's a big fan, especially of Terminal Beauty 3. She waltzes off as Hughie sees a desktop pic of her and A-Train and freezes. He does some Command Prompt magic. Mother's Milk sees a red bag. In the surveillance van, the video feed comes in. They're done. Mother's Milk mentions "John Hancock", which is a superhero movie. Hughie meets A-Train upon his way out and freezes. Mother's Milk cuts the cringe short and drags him away. A-Train didn't recognize him.
Queen Maeve is training with a bunch of bare-chested swole men, who try hitting her with bats. She kicks them around. Phone rings. She is talking to Homelander. They are walking somewhere. He is worried that Translucent is missing. She isn't. Gunfire. The police is huddled all around a building. A SWAT team member is shivering and says the shooter is on 31. Homelander flies up while Maeve takes the elevator. He's waiting for her up there. They discuss the race.
Homelander says he X-rayed Edward, who's "this close" to a coronary. They bust inside the room and she punches the shooter. Homelander punches through his chest and says, "It's all over". Homelander tries pulling out his heart but he crushes it and appears disappointed. The shooter falls to the ground, dead. She says it was her collar. He says he got excited and shoots at her with the gun. Bullets bounce off of her. He shot at them first. They aren't even dating anymore. She is worried.
The crew is watching the couple kiss. Popclaw licks A-Train's toes. Wow, that's dirty. They stop. She is worried. He says Shockwave is the problem. She tries reaffirming him. He is out of the Seven if he loses. He asks for Compound V. She tries telling him it's not good for him. He says he can handle it and she says the last time he used it he ran through a girl. He has to win this thing. She is offended. He has to go.
He's been meaning to tell her. She is furious that he won't admit they're a couple. He didn't even ask Stillwell. He asks for Compound V. The crew theorizes about Compound V. She brings out the red duffle bag and he takes out a vial of navy blue liquid. The Butcher is happy and asks Frenchie if he could figure out what he does and then says, "We'll cross that bridge when we burn it."
The day of the race. Hughie is given a camera and asked to act like a reporter. Mother's Milk talks to him and asks how he killed Translucent. Hughie says that in some ways it felt kind of good to kill him. Mother's Milk says it's written all over his face and it comes with a price, just like what A-Train shoots up. Hughie mopes and says he would pay the price, whatever it is. Bold.
Vought announcer. Race of the Century. Popclaw is watching it on TV. The crowd is whooping. Hughie is snapping shots. Frenchie is crawlign through the vents. A-Train has his nipples oiled (?). His brother is giving him a pep talk. He's got this. Maeve gives an interview, talking about being in the armed forces. Homelander lands from stratosphere. Cheering. Starlight is signing posters. A girl in her old costume wants a selfie. Starlight has her new one. The girl wants to buy the new one. Starlight isn't happy. Someone tells Starlight to show her tits. She is mad and says the girl to save her money.
The crowd makes a noise. Queen Maeve and Homelander reminisce. She is afraid of him. He wonders why they broke up and grabs her by the neck. She plays coy. Frenchie climbs down the rope. Starlight is about to enter the locker room. Hughie recognizes Annie just as she is about to notice Frenchie. He takes her out to beer and nachos. Frenchie can't find Compound V. Annie complains about not being a hero. Hughie turns off his microphone. He tells her to quit her job. He asks for her number.
A-Train disappears and comes back all wired up. Nobody can figure it when he shot the Compound V. Mother's Milk is watching Popclaw, who is using it herself. The Butcher looks back at Homelander, who stares at him. The race is starting and... it's over. A-Train won. Back in the van. Hughie says he got Starlight's number. On the TV, A-Train says he's single, and Popclaw loses her shit, shooting herself up with Compound V. She's lifting 10 million pounds. The crew is watching her.
Popclaw extends claws from her wrists. Landlord rings. He's here for the rent. She invites him in. He's named Aleksy Lutz. She offers him a drink. She asks if he likes the erotic pictures of her on the wall. She offers him some roleplaying, like's hes a burglar and sits on his face. She calls him a filthy pig and squeezes his head until it bursts. Seriously, a bunch of gore. She comes as he dies. Hughie tried to stop it but couldn't. She is dazed and then shocked. She screams. Hughie accuses The Butcher of letting the guy die. The Butcher says Alek was a doomed man but now they've got them by their reputations.
The Butcher and Frenchie enter Popclaw's apartment. The former offers sorting out this little mess. Stillwell enters The Seven's HQ. Homelander orders The Deep to show her a crate from the bottom of the harbor. Stillwell opens it: a bunch of guts. She asks how they got through Translucent's skin. Homelander asks what he can't see through, and The Deep says "zinc". The crate is made out of zinc. A porpoise helped The Deep find the crate. The inside of its lid says "coming for you". Whoever killed Translucent, just declared war.
The Butcher is having a flashback. A girl is cowgirling him. Her name is Becca. They coo. He wakes up and barely gets up. He eats hot pockets and watches a camera feed from January 24, 2012, of a girl walking away from a bench. The CIA Deputy Director enters her office and finds The Butcher. He says he can stop Supes from entering the military. He tells her about Compound V. She isn't convinced. Her name is Susan. She asks for real proof and threatens him with drinking piss at a black site. He says he understands. They were a thing.
The Butcher is told by Popclaw that A-Train is running Compound V from a noodle shop. Mother's Milk talks to Monique again and lies big time. He discusses marriage with Frenchie. They see a noodle guy outside with a package. They follow him inside a store and out to the back room. They hear guards speaking Filipino and see them eat. They move silently. They are checking boxes. Frenchie sees a room with bars, a cage and someone inside it watching Japanese TV. It's a girl. She's apathetic. Frenchie wants to let her go. Mother's Milk disagrees.
Frenchie releases the girl and she destroys the guards with punches and grabs. They shoot at her to no avail. The last guard kills himself. The guys lock themselves in her room. The girl escapes. The Deep with his therapist. He tried talking to the guys about dolphins. The therapist says he's sorry. The Deep calls himself a diversity hire. His name is Kevin. Frenchie is mesmerized with the TV. He checks the room. They leave the cell. The Butcher is there. Frenchie found a piece of some contract with a name on it.
Mother's Milk found a needle of some sort. It's a syringe or? The Butcher says these guards were giving the girl Compound V. Frenchie didn't follow the plan. Mother's Milk is angry and says he never follows the plan. Hughie gets a message from Annie. The Butcher says Hughie should wiretap her phone. He is reluctant. The Butcher says she's the same as the rest of them.
Stillwell talks about revealing Translucent's fate. The Marketing department says they can make him a massive funeral but Stillwell knows the military would never give them the defense money. Instead, they will say he's on a classified mission, fighting MS-13. The two Marketing guys fist bump. She likes their idea. Someone calls her. A plan from Paris to Chicago was hijacked. Three hijackers.
Stillwell orders Queen Maeve and Homelander to go there and rescue the plane. It's over international waters. She is slobbering over the idea of getting the defense bill. This is their chance. Frenchie gets concentrated halothane from her goth girlfriend. It's a sedative for Supes. She catches him by the balls. Her name is Cherie. A-Train sees the noodle shop carnage. He is mad. Stillwell talks to The Deep. He found a mission in Oceanland, and wants to rescue dolphins from there. She tells him out and to play to his strengths.
She kisses him. He is quiet and asks what she did and if she told someone about Compound V. She says he's paranoid. He starts yelling. They talk about his appearance on TV after the race. He's there for her, always. She says she didn't tell anyone. She is told to pack her bags and move out before Homelander finds out. The girl enters a nail salon and kills an older woman. Probably a madame that sold her.
Hughie and Annie are bowling. She is terrible. He is surprised. They talk about their first kisses. He's triggered by the sound of a strike. He asks about Translucent. She is freaked out but says he has a son, aged 10. Hughie is losing it. On the plane, Arabic. The hijackers are wielding pens? Someone enters. THe pressure blows one of them out. One hijacker has his neck snapped. The third is burned through by the Homelander, who closes the door.
Everyone claps. Homelander laughs. Queen Maeve tries to enter the cockpit. The final hijacker. Copilot is dead. He shoots the pilot in the head and Homelander cuts through him with his eye lasers, which also wreck the dashboard. The plane is flying down. Queen Maeve can't fly a plane. Homelander tells the passengers to stay calm. Queen Maeve tells him to lift the plane. Turbulence. Homelander tries to calm the passengers. They are all going to die.
Queen Maeve suggests saving people one by one. He says they're done. A kid asks if Homelander will save her. He says he will and chuckles. He calls Queen Maeve to him and punches the door open. A stewardess falls. The passengers are wailing. Queen Maeve tries to save two kids. Homelander says they will tell the world what happened. Passengers try leaving but Homelander threatens to laser them all. Kids plead Queen Maeve to stay. Homelander offers her a hand and they leave. They watch the plane go into a nosedive. She is ruined.
The crew enters the nail salon and sees the carnage. The policeman says it's a gang hit. A-Train is there too. Mother's Milk turns around and leaves. Frenchie managed to match a bottle of nail polish to a gap in the row of nail polish bottles of the same (similar?) color. Mother's Milk is worried A-Train will recognize him. The lady killed was Roberta Cho. Frenchie knows where the girl is going: Penn Station, to try and get back home.
Hughie and Annie are still bowling. They see a TV ad for her and Homelander making an appearance. He is dissociating. She asks if he's OK. He says yes. She says he seems a little, she doesn't know. Hughie says he's suspicious of her bowling skills. She finally starts hitting strikes. He's impressed and grinning like an idiot. Mother's Milk says the box containing the Compound V came from Samaritan's Embrace, the same organization we saw a TV ad for. The crew splits up.
TV reports a plane missing. Frenchie hears a Japanese song playing. Same one the girl listened to. It's a tiny shop. He enters it. He texts The Butcher and turns around to see the girl below the desk. He tries calming her down. She likes music. He tells her a secret: when he was a boy, his father stole him from his mom in Marseilles, took him from hotel to hotel for years. Every few nights he would take him out for a walk and then beat him? Frenchie tried to run away so many times.
Such a sad story, everyone is hurt here. How does he she can understand him? He knows her secret. She isn't a bad person, just a scared one. He reaches out and asks to help her. A tense moment. TV flips channels, she flips the desk and runs out. Frenchie can't find her. The crew appears. Mother's Milk again says he didn't follow the plan and gas her. Annie tells about her old loves to Hughie. He is munching on a sandwich and insults her ex. She says she's so much stronger than him.
Hughie affirms her. He has been seeing ghosts lately, I don't like it. He sees Robin standing in front of him and staring at him. He zones out. Annie walks away. He hears ringing. Will he snap? He zones back in and wiretaps her phone. She comes back. Where was she? The crew is seeking for the girl. Mother's Milk and Frenchie start fighting. Mother's Milk says "white Urkel" for Hughie. They discuss Mallory and how Frenchie didn't follow Lamplighter, so he went and torched Mallory's kids. Frenchie punches him. Mother's Milk wants to walk away.
The Butcher says the Spice Girls are miserable and wrecks on their own but as a team they were amazing. Mother's Milk asks how he knows so much about the Spice Girls. They make up, barely. A fly buzzes between them (??). No idea what that was. The Deep is breaking a dolphin out of captivity as "If you wanna be my lover" by Spice Girls plays. The two talk and it is implied the dolphin wants to rape him. Police sirens approach and The Deep suddenly breaks, with the dolphin catapulted through the windshield and a truck smashing it into pieces.
She is going down the subway. She sees the crew. She turns around and runs, they run after her. She runs down the tracks. A-Train approaches and grabs her. She squeezes his head but he starts smacking her head against the wall at supersonic speed. Funny. The crew can't do anything. Frenchie wants to intervene. He says to the crowd A-Train is there. The girl runs off. The crew goes after her down some dark, narrow tunnel (?). Where are they? She is cornered.
The Butcher wants to gas her but Frenchie wants to negotiate. Frenchie says that she could be a Spice Girl. He really is a loose cannon. He approaches the girl. She is feral. He offers his help. She is panting. He moves closer and she lunges at him. The Butcher throws the gas grenade at them. They are both knocked out. The Butcher says: "She ain't no Spice Girl."
Beach. Plane debris. So convenient. Homelander and Queen Maeve are there. She sees a doll. She is bitter. TV report reports. Homelander interjects. He says they arrived three minutes after the plane went down because NORAD didn't want to call them to save 123 lives. He fakes crying and turns his head.
He can barely contain his laugh. He promises this will never happen again if the people talk to their congressmen. The crowd cheers and claps. They hear him. The crowd whoops. Homelander promises revenge. The crowd chants his name. I like the character. Really fun.
Cuba. Popclaw taking a hit. A-Train zooms in. She hugs him, all desperate. He says he has good news. Stillwell will allow them to announce they're a couple but first, she has to confess who she told about Compound V. She is quiet. He says they're Bonnie and Clyde. She admits to telling to the crew. He asks why. She describes the crew and apologizes. He says it's OK. He reminisces about their first date.
He says she ordered a dark beer, a New York strip and a chocolate chip cheesecake. He says he fell for her and that he loves her. She loves him back. He zooms and stabs the insides of her elbows with syringes filled with drugs. She dies. He goes to Vought HQ and reports to Homelander, saying Popclaw died of heroin overdose. Homelander asks if he's on V. He says he's done, cold turkey. Homelander says he screwed up.
The two hug. Homelander says he will be always be watching over him and asks about the Asian girl. She is in a dark corner of a kitchen, where Frenchie is trying to make her a nice meal. He really put in the effort and serves it for her. He pushes the tiny table towards her. He thinks she understands him. The guy has bonded with her to his detriment. She lunges at him but chains keep her in place.
We are at the religious convention we saw the ad for at the bowling alley. Lame lyrics. The crowd is in a trance. Hughie and Annie are there. She is wearing her classic outfit. Hughie is again eating. He doesn't strike her as a religious type. She knows almost everyone at the convention. She and her mom would drive around the nation, visiting Christian hot spots. Her mom, Donna, appears. They hug. She is introduced to Hughie. Annie has he's a friend. The Vought lady appears. She saw Hughie earlier, when he was going to sign the NDA with A-Train.
Ezekiel retells Jesus parables with "bro" and "y'all". The crowd claps. The crowd in this universe really has a low standard. Why are Mother's Milk and The Butcher there? Ezekiel asks why could Jesus walk on water. The crowd claps and cheers. Ezekiel stretches his arms. He's the elastic man. He invokes the Lord's name. $15,000 for an exclusive VIP talk to Ezekiel.
The Butcher says he's getting to the VIP club through Annie. The Butcher shows him the video of Ezekiel smooching with two guys. Hughie says he can't handle blackmail. The Butcher says this will be a piece of cake compared to murder. Homelander holds a speech conference. He reads the names of plane victims. Queen Maeve can barely contain her disgust. She flashes back to the plane situation. So tragic. She runs off. Homelander watches her storm off and catches up to her.
He talks about a nutjob at Albany last year. He wanted to kill his daughter but she stepped up and flung a BIC pen right into his eyeball. He says she took action and that's what he loves about her. He says now they must make the best of it or it was all for nothing. She says she hates boring speeches. A tree is shown between them. Back at the convention, Annie asks since when does the convention forbid homosexuality due to some posters.
At backstage, Annie answers questions from teens. A girl asks about her girl friend who won't accept Jesus. Annie says Jesus said to love your neighbor but the preacher sitting next to her interjects and twists her message, saying that means she should talk about Jesus to her friend. A teen asks if she had a boyfriend. A girl asks if she had sex, with plenty of cringe. Annie is diplomatic and looks at the preacher, who signals with his eyes that she be mindful of the crowd. Annie says she's a virgin and teens nod approvingly.
Annie says in a robotic manner: "I am saving myself... for my... husband." The preacher jumps right in and quotes Hebrews 13:4. Annie is stunned. The Butcher is talking to a preacher and says God is a cunt. The preacher is floored. The Butcher says they should lob a nuke at God. Mother's Milk says he's Episcopalian. Hughie says he doesn't think it's Morgan Freeman up there. The Butcher says if he thinks what happened to Robin is some divine intervention.
Donna talks to Annie about her lying about being a virgin. Donna tells her it's OK to lie and that she's a miracle. Hughie comes in. Donna walks off. The Butcher gets a phone call and goes away. Annie says this place isn't what she remembers. Hughie zones out and sees Robin. Annie tracks his gaze but can't see anything. Hughie asks for a VIP pass to Ezekiel. She is confused. He says his dad is #1 Ezekiel fan.
She agrees but appears uncomfortable, like she's being used. Homelander lands at the convention. Girls swarm him. He high fives teens. He blesses them. He wants to talk to Stillwell about the talking points. She shushes Ashley, the Vought assistant. She says where Stillwell is. Homelander lands next to her. She is taking her baby, Teddy, to the peditrician. He is angry about his talking points, they are too corporate. She says he needs to appear moderate and humble. He says there's an opportunity here for some John Wayne frontier justice.
He says he saved the Flight 37 thing. She laughs at that comment and wants to talk to him later. He says she's full of shit. She just wants to talk later. He says she will run off and play a strong single mom. She says they need boundaries. Teddy cries and laughs. Homelander can't stand the sight of him. Knocks on the door. The Butcher enters Rachel's apartment. He took a lovely little stroll around St. John's. She's his sister-in-law. She offers him tea, the English stuff. She did it last Sunday under his last name.
He says putting a headstone was a sick fucking joke. She says her mom is getting old. He says Rebecca could still be out there somewhere. She is on the verge of tearing up and says it's been 8 years. She isn't alive any longer. We see a movie clip. A guy against a fence. Popclaw grabs him. He did not kill her partner. A-Train is watching the clip. Terminal Beauty 3.
A-Train unzips the camera from a teddy. He's watching the sex tape between him and Popclaw. All of a sudden, the feed changes to her murder of Alek. Then we see The Butcher and Frenchie. A-Train sees Frenchie's face and prints it. At Vought HQ, A-Train and Black Noir try to figure out who Frenchie is. In Ezekiel's VIP tent, classy champagne is carried around on trays. Homelander gives him a glass of orange juice. They shake hands. Hughie tells how he met Annie.
Ezekiel announces the baptism. The crowd claps. Homelander is an ordained minister and he will be rebaptizing them. Hughie hyperventilates. One by one, people are dunked in the water, back first. Their sins have bene purged. Hughie enters the pool in a Billie Joel shirt. He is antsy. Homelander asks if something is wrong. He says he's totally comfortable. Homelander says his blood pressure is 150/90 and dunks him.
Homelander dunks him by the neck and holds him a couple seconds extra, smiling like a freak. Hughie panics and is out, coughing water. He is drying off. Hughie talks to Ezekiel, who wants to run off. Hughie pulls out his phone and tries to show him the video, but the phone is dead. Hughie says Ezekiel fucked him in Secret Lair. Hughie says his dick was perfect. Ezekiel stretches out his arm and chokes Hughie.
Hughie says he has a video of the deed and it will go online. Ezekiel lets him go. Hughie asks about the boxes of polio vaccine containing Compound V. Ezekiel says they will destroy him. Hughie threatens the video will end up on Twitter tonight. Mother's Milk talks to Hughie over the phone. Hughie says blackmailing isn't easy. He found the latest shipment is going to NICU at Mercer hospital. Mother's Milk says he's a natural, like a Rain Man of fucking people over.
The Butcher visits the headstone. He smashes it with a sledgehammer. He seems angry. Groundskeeper sees him. He answers the phone and is happy when he hears the news. Homelander talks to the crowd. It cheers. Stillwell is watching the transmission. He talks about Flight 37. He says they were attacked. He won't follow the talking points. The crowd is thrilled. Homelander says he will deliver them God's judgment.
Homelander says he answers to a higher law. He was chosen to save them. Annie can't believe what she's hearing. The crowd chants. He quotes Psalm 58:10 and lands in the crowd. Massive chants. Stillwell whispers: "Motherfucker". Queen Maeve visits some lady. She was stopping a mugging nearby and wants to come in. She asks where's Freckles. The lady says she's busy. Her name is Elena. She wants her out and accuses her of drinking. Elena accuses her of not going to meetings anymore.
Queen Maeve's lower lip is quivering. Elena is out of her life but she never left hers. Queen Maeve tries backing off and apologizing. Elena wants her to go away, back to Homelander, where she can drink and plow whoever she wants. She says she can't go back and drops to the floor. She says it's too hard. Elena asks what happened. They hug. Queen Maeve is a wreck. Elena asks what happened. Queen Maeve kisses her on the lips. Elena stops it and moves away.
Queen Maeve walks out, saying this was a mistake. Elena is frustrated. Frenchie's phone is buzzing. Cherie tells they're coming, hangs up and smashes the phone. She says they have all the addresses. The Butcher and Mother's Milk are in the hospital. The Butcher's phone rings. Frenchie says he's been burned. The Butcher says to leave the girl. Frenchie is horrified. Mother's Milk learns it's a burn. The two enter room 410 with a card.
Donna and Annie back stage. Annie says she can't do this, it doesn't feel right. She says being here doesn't feel like it used to and maybe she's changed. Annie says these past few months... She won't go out. Donna says she's waited 23 years for this and scrimped by selling houses. Frenchie is packing and tells the girl he will leave her. She is trying to rattle her chains. Frenchie is rambling and says she doesn't deserve it. He approaches her and......... takes out the key............ and..... unlocks her! Chains fall down. Her handcuffs are off. She runs out.
TV talks through the dolphin heist by The Deep as he's watching it. He switches over to Starlight's speech. She is reading from the teleprompter. The crowd cheers and claps. She is anxious. Donna is glowing. Annie asks the music to be stopped. Donna mouths: "What are you doing?" Annie talks to Donna directly and says she won't do this for her mom. The crowd goes silent. Annie says she's reading from a script and she doesn't believe in those words. She loves God and says "goddamn", at which point the crowd gasps. She questions the Bible, which says it's a sin to eat shrimp.
Annie says it's human to have sex and mentions a guy showed his dick in her face. The Deep chokes on his cookies. Annie says anyone who tells them he knows the truth is lying. She doesn't know what she's doing and she's just as scared and confused as them, and she is done taking any more shit. She thanks the crowd and walks off. The crowd is stunned but then Hughie claps. Nobody joins him.
The Butcher and Mother's Milk find Compound V being given to babies, one of which activates eye lasers. They realize these heroes are made in a fucking lab. Hughie finds Annie and says that was a great speech, like Joel at the Garden. She asks about his quality time with Ezekiel. She is bitter. He says Robin died. He apologizes. Nothing he heard here helped him find faith, except what she said. Only the fact nobody knows made any sense, and she was right about it. She approaches him and apologizes. He apologizes again. They hug.
The Butcher is drawing Compound V from the infusion packet when two guys with guns storm in and start blasting. ????? They fire back. The Butcher pulls out a baby that just blasted eye lasers, aims it at the guys and the baby splits them into gore. The Butcher is amped up and calls it diabolical, kissing the baby on the head. He places the baby inside the incubator. Stillwell watches the TV report on Starlight. She is watching Homelander watching her through walls.
Stillwell invites Homelander and asks if he's afraid of her. He enters. She closes her laptop and asks if he's lonely, if it's hard being so alone. She says she's sorry but he cannot give a speech like that. She gets around him and sits on the couch. She unbuttons her blouse. Boobies? She invites him to come over. He does. She takes his hand. Weird music playing. He sits next to her. She puts his head on her lap and says he has to be good. She will breastfeed him???? THE HELL? He suckles on her fingers but no breastfeeding.
Frenchie is scooting away. He saw something. He is paranoid. It was Black Noir, which means "Black Black". He is dead, I guess. Black Noir jumps in front of him and runs at him but the girl smashes him and Frenchie runs away. The two fight. The girl cuts him. He throws ninja stars at her. 35 seconds of fighting, I counted 45 cuts. Jesus. Basically, he destroyed her and stabbed her through the foot. She is left panting and bleeding in the alleyway. She exhales and stops moving.
Supe promo. We see The Seven doing silly stuff, like Black Noir drinking tea etc. Courtenay says this is garbage fit for TLC. She asks where is Starlight. TV reports talk about her. Queen Maeve supports her. Starlight and Hughie talk in the bar. They are answering Supe trivia. A guy approaches. Anthony. He meets Annie. He tries charming her but doesn't recognize she's Starlight. Anthony embarrasses him with high school stories about cringe situations. She is laughing.
Anthony talks to Hughie alone. Hughie apologizes. Anthony says Annie is way out of his league. He wants to cockblock him? He mentions Robin. Hughie doesn't zone out. Homelander is introducing the camera to his old farmhouse. He reminisces about making model planes with his dad. He shows family photos and his bedroom. Typical boy's room. Obsessed with sports. He says it's special to come back.
Homelander asks why there is a blanket on the bed. He calls Randy an amateur fuck and storms off. What just happened? Mother's Milk recaps what they know about Compound V. Asian Girl enters. They says it's been distributed as polio vaccine. Hughie asks if that means no hero is born but they're all made in a lab. Only for Homelander they can't tell. Mother's Milk says he's doing a TED talk. The Butcher is pleased. Asian girls is drawing circles and something like a palm frond inside them. Hughie tries taking one drawing but she lunges at him.
Frenchie asks about the girl and how she managed to revive herself. The Butcher calls her "feral pixie girl". He thinks the girl is trying to communicate with them. The Butcher says Annie's phone hasn't been used in a week and takes Hughie on a detour. Ashley is furious. Stillwell wants to replace her? Ashley says it was her idea to book her for the Believe Expo. She was let go, I guess. Annie enters Stillwell's office.
Stillwell says she is a selfish, arrogant child. Stillwell says the hero rebel story is a myth. Dozens of people in Vought created Starlight, but Annie says she never asked for that. Stillwell says she wanted to be famous but she can't be famous alone, so why not stop being a petulant diva. Annie says no and doesn't want reality TV and red carpets. She wants to save people and her old uniform back. Stillwell threatens letting her go but Annie says that would reflect poorly on Vought after she just said #MeToo on the TV.
Annie exits and Stillwell breaks something glass. She can't handle it anymore. The Deep is shooting an eco-friendly promo for a Green Crusader. He is eyeing a cute girl. She is flush. Such a charmer. A-Train is talking about his childhood and how he outran a bullet.. We see his brother helping him train. Courtenay asks about Popclaw from stroke and if A-Train wants to say something about her. Queen Maeve and Annie in the elevator. The former says Annie is milking this for all its worth. Annie says it's not an act.
Annie says she read Queen Maeve's autobiography so many times it wore out. Annie says she really stood for something but now she knows that must have been written by the Marketing guys. Frenchie and the girl are watching TV. He says she just communicated and is ecstatic. Frenchie taunts Mother's Milk. Frenchie says Mesmer is the key to helping. Mother's Milk doesn't want to help. Frenchie talks about him eating ice cream and how he's OCD but the girl is somehow the chaotic part.
The Butcher says Hughie doesn't do it anymore, the anxious thing where he panics. He says Hughie isn't half the twat. They reach a church and enter. Inside, a meeting of collateral damage survivors. They sit in the circle. One lady is talking about how Tek-Knight saved her but hurt her spine. Seth speaks next. He says he's a writer and works in marketing. This one hero with ice powers took a liking to him. It was heady. He fell for her.
When she climaxed as they were intimate, at -346 degrees F, his dick snapped off. He now still misses her. The Butcher whispers to Hughie this is what a Supe does when happy by accident. The leader lady says The Butcher should share his story. He says he's good. Seth gives him the talking stick. The Butcher is angry and calls them cunts. He says they should be raging, not calm and thankful. They should be going after them, not be here like a bunch of scared rabbits. He storms out. Hughie apologizes and goes out.
The Deep and Stillwell talk. She needs him to make a public apology. He will be sent away from the team. She says other women will speak up. He asks her to handle it. She says she is handling it. The Deep gives a #MeToo message. He admits wrongdoing. He apologizes for pole smoking. Seth Rogen announces the Black Noir movie. It's a part of the VCU - Vought Cinematic Universe.
We see a TV show "Mesmerizer", where a kid touches people and reads their minds. Now he's a neckbeard signing books. Billy Zane is there too. Mesmer is guessing what people are thinking of. Mother's Milk approaches him and talks about A-Train, mentioning his insider trading that made Vought drop him. Mother's Milk offers his hand and Mesmer takes it, asking how he knows about Cleo. They walk and talk.
Mother's Milk says he works in Child Services and has a colleague, Tina, who can give him a second chance with his kid, who he lost the custody of three years ago. There's the kid, Cleo, his daughter. She calls him Charles. He sits next to her and apologizes. He says he will be in her life a little more. She seems distant. Tina calls her back. Cleo says bye. Mesmer hugs her and asks if she hates him. She says she doesn't really know him. He gives her a DVD of his show but she says she doesn't have a DVD player. The two women walk away.
Mother's Milk tells him he can get one hour every month, if he can stay clean. Mesmer asks what he needs to read. The Butcher and Hughie sit on a bench in a park. They relate. The Butcher's wife, Becca, used to hum Spice Girls all day long. He stares into the distance. Homelander raped her. Hughie says he's sorry. That bench and that footage are of Becca. She sat there motionless for 3 hours and walked away. That was 8 years ago and nobody's seen her since. He thinks Homelander killed her or she killed herself.
The Butcher says he knows how it feels to lose someone. He says he and Hughie are in this together. They are doing this for Robin and Becca. He tells Hughie to not get distracted by Annie and to know who his friends and enemies are. Homelander in a barn. He throws a ball into the stratosphere. Stillwell comes in. She says she's sorry. He asks where she grew up. She says a bunch of condos. He says he never played with those toys or read those books they showed him.
Stillwell says that Randy from Set Decoration has been terminated for putting the blanket on the bed. She says she needs him to tell the mother story and grabs his balls. Next scene, Homelander is smiling and talking about how his mom would bake him a birthday cake in the shape of a baseball diamond. Great actor. The shooting is done. Mesmer takes the crew to his place. He will do his trick on the girl.
The girl sits. Mesmer sits opposite her and asks for her hand. They share their memories and she breaks his hand. The girl is anxious. Mother's Milk says he was a field medic and can fix his wrist or break the other one. The Butcher calls Mother's Milk, who lies about his place. Another Supe promo, this time with Queen Maeve. She is doing an interview and says they're all great friends. Elena arrives. They move away and talk. A guy records them with the boom mic.
Queen Maeve says she only wanted a hookup. Elena says she's afraid to ask for help. OK, this is a lame as hell plotline. Queen Maeve realizes she's being filmed. Frenchie is soothing the Asian girl. The crew joins together. Mesmer got his wrist bandaged up. Mother's Milk says he can be trusted and he needed to be treated like a person. They will try again. Mesmer offers the other hand. The Asian girl takes it. Mesmer says there's a camp in the jungle and she's a soldier.
Flag with a two-headed snake on it. The Butcher recognizes the flag. She is a terrorist. Frenchie asks her if it's true. Still no dialog for the girl? Wow. Homelander sees the blanket they used, with the tag "Do NOT use!!". He takes it out of the ziplock bag and remembers his childhood. Two doctors looking at the boy in an empty room. There is only a blanket there. Two doctors play peekaboo with the boy through the glass.
The crew theorizes Vought is intentionally putting super terrorists in the country to justify Supes in the army. Basically, making super villains. Hughie loses his shit. Frenchie tries to defend her. The Butcher gets mad. Frenchie talks to the girl. She gets up and takes Mesmer's hand. He sees the ocean and her. She stares at the moon. The drawings are palms in front of the moon. Her parents were killed. She and her brother were kidnapped and forced to be soldiers. She wants to rescue her brother. Her name is Kimiko. Why is she mute?
Frenchie is in love. He wants to plow that. He speaks French to her. The Butcher sighs and orders her taken back to the safe house. The Butcher will go to Raynor to see how to involve the Feds. He threatens Mesmer with cutting off his hands and showing them up his ass. Mesmer offers his hand but The Butcher tells him off. The Deep is being bullied by passersby. The Butcher is in the CIA building, talking to Susan. He talks about Vought's plans. He wants to be paid and a bunch of other perks, such as prosecuting Homelander.
She wants to go on on good faith. He won't do it. She can give him everything he wants on his list except Homelander. She sighs and sympathizes. She says if Homelander is pushed too hard, thousands of people will die. He walks out. She pleads him to come back. Vought HQ. Annie. She's sent the video. They edited her speech to refer to The Deep's confession. Pretty clever. Katy Perry's "Roar" in the background. Queen Maeve says the house always wins and that she's sorry.
Kimiko and Frenchie watch TV. He wants to plow her? Wow. He talks to her about stopping people who did this to her. So, how did she come to the US? He will take her to the airport right now. She takes his hand. The TV talks about sharks mating. Mother's Milk talks to his woman about waiting on Downton Abbey until he comes. The Butcher comes back and lies about Susan not wanting to go against Vought. He says they can take down Vought themselves.
Mesmer calls Tina. He is going up stairs. He says Cleo didn't want to see him today and Tina doesn't have to call him anymore. So tragic. He asks Tina to look after her and keeps going up. He's on the roof. He will kill himself? He meets Homelander and offers his hand, who refuses. MY GOD. He will spill the beans. He shows pictures of the crew. Mesmer wants to work at Vought again. He is groveling. Homelander flies off with his phone.
Annie says Hughie she had powers from the start. She nearly blinded her mom when she was born. She doesn't want to talk about it. She says there's a beach in the Bahamas where the sand is cotton-candy pink. She wants to go there tonight. He agrees. He sees Robin again and his ears ring. She says only he can understand her. They kiss. So romantic. The ringing stops. Robin is gone. Finally. She kisses him more and more. The Butcher is there. Annie introduces herself. She says he has a lot of friends.
The Butcher gushes about Annie being in a position of power. He asks about Translucent. Annie says he's on a mission and excuses herself. She will fetch them some drinks. Hughie tries weaseling out. The Butcher says he's sleeping with the opposition. Hughie says she can help them. The Butcher says she will eventually find out he killed Translucent. Annie comes back. The Butcher is gone. Hughie is zoning out.
Christmas party. 8 years ago. Stillwell and The Deep take a picture. The Butcher is there too! He gives Becca a drink. He wants to go out. She wants to mingle some more. Homelander comes in. Becca is new senior director of digital marketing of Vought. He charms her. She introduces Billy Butcher, her husband. Becca wrote on Homelander's Twitter account. Billy says it's dishonest but Homelander is cool with it. Homelander wants her to take over the rest of his social media. Queen Maeve waves Homelander.
Billy wonders how he walks in that wetsuit all day long. Flashback to present. Billy is in the car, watching Hughie and Annie kiss in the taxi. They are in the room. She is straddling him. They are kissing. They moan. She won't rip his penis off, right? Her eyes light up. She orgasmed? Morning. They cuddle. He's kissing her. She takes a magazine for cigar afficionados. She says she adores huge gross logs of filterless tobaco. They kiss. He laughs. She says this is nice but wonders why he brought her to the hotel.
Hughie says his dad could make her some pizza rolls. She seems convinced. He asks what's happening. She says he's a mystery to her. She says her dad was all corny jokes and expensive gifts until he left with all the money. She needs to know that the hotel isn't a red flag kind of thing. He says he quit his job. He apologizes for not telling her. After Robin's death, working in the same spot felt pointless. He says she can meet his dad. She asks if all's OK. He says "no red flags". They cuddle some more.
Homelander is analyzing the photos Mesmer gave him from the doorbell camera of the crew and the Asian girl. Homelander remembers Billy's face from the race and smiles. Now, this is something special. There's finally some rivalry. The Deep enters his hotel room in Sandusky. The clerk tells him excitedly they've got Cedar Park, the biggest roller-coaster park in the entire US. Lake Erie is also there. He gives The Deep a card with a "per diem" allowance of $75, so he can make his own food.
The Deep asks about what crime he will be fighting. The clerk says they don't really have any crime around here. So, the guy's put on ice. He sits on his bed, opens his laptop and starts writing a memoir in a horrible Word interface. Is this Word from Office 365? Looks dreadfully plain and lackluster. A-Train is vomiting at the track. His brother pats him on the back and orders him to eat 3,000 calories an hour. His heart is getting bigger due to Compound V, which is killing him.
A-Train is getting slow. He is thinking of himself like a freak show, racing against horses like Ben Johnson. His phone chimes. He's at the Vought HQ. Homelander is there too. A-Train takes a seat. Black Noir, Starlight and Queen Maeve are there too. Homelander says they need some tough love because they have been sloppy. He is disappointed.
Homelander knows why they are dropping like flies. He shows the picture of Hughie on the TV. Annie is stunned. That's Hugh Campbell. Homelander says the story so far. Annie won't believe it and asks "why?" Homelander talks about A-Train meethign Hughie. Annie's mouth is getting dry. She says Hughie can't do anything close to that. Homelander accuses Annie of being in on the plot and his eyes light up. A-Train, Black Noir and Queen Maeve move aside, expecting gore and blood splatter.
Annie is breathless. Homelander wonders which one of them is next. Queen Maeve calls her a bitch. Homelander accuses her of helping mud people to go against them. She protests feebly. He asks what she would do to her. Queen Maeve defends her and asks Homelander to back off. She is dead, right? Homelander tells Annie she must be something special and whispers to Queen Maeve that he can just say no.
Homelander winks at Queen Maeve and lets her deal with Annie. He says class is dismissed. Why didn't Hughie tell her? Frenchie teaches Kimiko how to fold the dough. Hughie enters. The crew asks where he was. He wants to talk in private but Billy tells him to spill it. He can't do it anymore. Billy says he's a killer, like the rest of them. Hughie admits to being involved with Annie. Billy accuses him of thinking with his penis.
Hughie brings up Becca. Uh-oh. Billy is triggered. He is about to snap. Hughie's neck. Hughie's dad calls him. It's actually A-Train. Mother's Milk is locked out of his account. A-Train tells him to come there alone in 20 minutes. Mother's Milk says it's not Annie because she never saw him. Billy says it's Mesmer. Wow, they should have killed him like he suggested.
A train sound effect is heard as A-Train zooms in with collectible toys in packaging. A-Train is dazed as he checks the environment; Hughie came alone. Hughie takes out a syringe and spills it, saying he has a bigger dose nearby. A-Train is ready to give up everything for a dose. He's sweating. Hughie tells his dad to go away and he does. Hughie says the drug must be really good if it's worth so much to A-Train, who says it was an accident. A-Train said Popclaw is gone too. Her name was Charlotte. A-Train accuses him of starting the trouble. Wow!
The Asian girl zooms in and breaks his leg in one swing. Mother's Milk is arguing with Monique, who says he shouldn't have gotten involved with Billy. His kid comes in. She drew a picture. Janine. Monique wants to pack toys. Mother's Milk says they need to go now. Stillwell and Homelander and tallying senator votes. Need 3 votes more. Pentagon is putting out $35bn.
Homelander asks Stillwell about a marketing girl, Becca. She remembers. Homelander says she's missing. He says he looked at her file and her husband got riled up. He mentions his name: William Butcher and watches her reaction. She is confused why he's asking these questions. He is curious. She offers spending some time with him, just the two of them, with some food. He says it sounds amazing but she should go be a mommy. He walks out.
The Deep brought a girl back to his place. He gropes her and takes off her clothes. She wants to see it. ??? He says he doesn't look like everyone else. Will he take off his suit? He will! He takes off his belt and shows gills on his ribs. She laughs and chuckles. She straddles him and pushes her fingers inside. It's rape? Wow, what a reversal of roles. She tells him to lay back and pushes one hand in herself and the other in his gills. He is orgasming or dying, I don't know which.
Mesmer meets Billy, who smiles and moves at him. Mesmer runs off but Billy walks after him. mesmer is confused and runs into the bathroom. Wrong move, bro. You're stuck now. He climbed on top of a toilet seat. GG. Billy smashes inside the stall and pulls him out. Billy punches him in the face, over and over, as flashbacks of Becca leaving go through his head. Mesmer says he can help find Becca. How hasn't Billy thought of this before? Billy puts his hands on Mesmer's face and smashes his head against the sink.
As I said, GG. Billy remembers someone visiting him. The lady shows him a video of Becca and Homelander entering a room, where they were alone for 3 hours. She exited all disheveled and distraught. After that, Becca went missing. The lady says Homelander was involved. Who is she? He asks her that. She says she's Mallory and shows a CIA card. She says she can help him get payback.
Annie's being called by Hughie. She is sniffling and lets the call stop. Queen Maeve asks who's calling and offers an ear. Annie doesn't want to talk but wants a martini. Queen Maeve says she had someone once and she planned making a family with him. Annie asks what happened. Queen Maeve says the weakness of Supes is the same as anyone's: people they care about. So, her advice is to let them go and then she'll be bulletproof. The Deep hauls a full cart of junk food. Wow, so miserable. He sees a tank of lobsters. He asks them how they ended up there.
Nice acting. The Deep says he'll get him out of there and calls a server. He asks for one of the lobsters. He picks the one he talked to. The server kills it with a knife. Frenchie and Hughie are calling people. They can't get any response. Janine is there too, so is Monique. Billy comes in. Wow, what a dump they're in. Hughie's dad is there too. Billy shakes his hand and commends Hughie. He says to Janine she can call him "uncle Billy".
Monique says Billy ain't Janine's uncle and slaps him. Hugh says if the Oriental girl is talking. Hughie says he's sorry to his dad but Hugh says he's proud of Hughie standing up for himself. Mother's Milk asks Billy if it's true that Susan wanted to agree to the deal but didn't want to deliver Homelander so he bailed out. Mother's Milk sas this is going to be Mallory's thing all over again except now it's his family. He begs Billy to call her.
Homelander visits Dr. Vogelbaum in his villa's garden. Doctor calls him "John", which makes Homelander chuckle. The doctor is breeding German retrievers in retirement. The doctor says he'd rather the 80-hour week at the lab. Doctor brings the topic of Rebecca and says he should just ask, he'll be honest. Homelander says that would be a first.
Doctor says Stillwell called him 8 years ago with a certain medical challenge. Rebecca had a condition, she was pregnant with his child. We see the baby shining its lasers in the womb. Homelander thought he was sterile. The doctor said she was asked to sign an NDA to deliver the baby. We see the baby kicking its way through her stomach. Actually, clawed its way out. The blood loss was lethal and she died. The baby lived 10 seconds before drowning in the blood. Sounds like a lie. Homelander asks if it was a boy but the doctr says it doesn't matter.
Homelander asks why he's telling him now. The doctor says the right genes gotten from cross-breeding dogs can produce the perfect creation but perfection isn't enough. When the doctor raises subjects without moms, they become aggressive and hateful. Homelander should have been raised in a family. He says he turned out great. The doctor says he's sorry. Homelander says he doesn't want his apology and asks him what he wants: forgiveness? He complains that he was raised like a lab rat and won't accept an apology.
The doctor says he's just an old man and that Homelander is his greatest failure. Hughie is still ringing Annie. Tires squeal in front of the crew's hideout. They pull out their guns. Billy is cool as a cucumber and goes out. Susan comes in and a bunch of CIA agents. Mother's Milk is Marvin. He apologizes to Monique, who says she doesn't want to see him ever again. Hughie and Hugh hug. Susan says no Homelander. Billy is reluctant but then gives her the vial. Hughie gets a call from Annie. He answers it. Annie says she has to see him.
She says he has to explain. It's just he and she. Stillwell talks to Susan, who says they're fucked. Susan says they know about Compound V and shows the vial. She shows Kimiko's photo. Susan says Stillwell has to pull the bill. Vought shares will go to zero and Stillwell will go to jail for 15-30 years. Susan says they're done here. Stillwell plays it cool. Susan enters the control room, where she is shown mission footage. They see something on the feeds, a terrorist getting shot and a guy enters the room, exploding. Supe terrorist?
The feed continues as the guy steps out. Reminds me of Nikita TV show, how they had quadrillion camera angles in the field. His tattoo said "Naqib", meaning "captain", which is his Supe name. He looks at the camera. Susan is freaking out. Central Park. Annie on the bench. Hughie sits next to her. She asks if he killed Translucent. He says it's not that simple. She asks if he's been using her to get back at A-Train.
She is gasping and calls him a murderer. He grabs his arm and wants to take them to the cops. She says he was the only thing she could count on. He says he's dead before sunrise. He tells her about Compound V, a drug that gives Supes their powers. She can't believe it. Billy shoots her twice and she falls. Hughie runs off with Billy. Why? Police sirens in the distance. The hell is this twist?
Syria. Delta Force? Homelander lands between them and tells them to get a smoke or something. He tells them they're the real heroes. Inside the factory, guys are measuring heroin. Homelander enters and zaps them with his eye lasers. The Delta Force outside is watching the flashes and hearing the screams. Homelander is cutting fools in pieces with his eye lasers. He cuts off legs of a guy and crushes his skull with his boot. He goes out.
He gives the all clear to the boys. One guy was running out and he cuts him down. He found a Compound V vial. Inside Vought HQ, Stillwell is quizzed by the Secretary about how the terrorists counterfeited their drug. Stillwell says she has no idea. He says he would like to drag her ass in front of Congress for corporate fraud. She seems amused. How many threats like these does she hear a day?
She talks about Lockheed and other defense contractors now being worthless because Naqib can ignore all those weapons. She says only one company now has the product to fight back. Susan talks to Billy about Compound V and says Vought has to be kept happy now. Yeah, they are playing both sides of the game. Mother's Milk is talking to someone on the phone, some reporter, and promises a Pulitzer. Frenchie enters. Hughie is looking at a selfie of him and Annie.
Susan says Vought wanted to make the crew fugitives, so that's what they are now. Kimiko is combing her hair in the bathroom. Betrayed from all sides. Susan tells Billy he needs to cut bait and run for their lives. Frenchie suggests splitting up. Mother's Milk says they've got Vought, Supes and the Feds on their asses. Frenchie wants to run away with Kimiko to Montreal. Billy says they want to give up so quickly, while they still have a final card.
Billy and Hughie go out. Annie is in her home, looking at toys. Donna enters. Annie shows a smoking pipe her dad used and she hid below the floorboards in hopes he would come back for it. Donna says he got it from his dad. Annie asks about Compound V. Donna pretends she has no clue what it is. Annie asks how old she was when Vought pumped her full of drugs. Annie calls herself a freak. Donna won't let her say it. Annie is broken. Again. She is gasping and panting.
Donna wants to know how she knows. Annie asks how much Donna was paid, but Donna said there was no profit, only a promise of an extraordinary life. Annie says she thought herself chosen by God. Donna tries to calm her down. Annie is furious and calls it Donna's dream. Annie asks why her daddy left. Was it all bad investments? Donna says he protested at one point so he walked out. Donna tries to guilt-trip Annie and stop her from leaving. Annie leaves regardless.
The clerk says The Deep should cut back on the spending. He's making a vodka fruit smoothie. The Deep is happy and expects The Seven to call him back. He expects to ship out. The clerk, Jeff, says the water park wants The Deep to cut the ribbon. Jeff says New York told him he can't leave. The Deep will get a tag "The Savior of Sandusky". The Deep is devastated. Billy and Hughie are someplace. Mallory? Seems like it.
Some old lady. She says: "William". He asks why is she bird-watching. She said the alternative was alcoholism. They relate. He introduces Hughie. She says she's Grace Mallory and the founder of their little club. Billy asks for her help. She pretends she won't help. He says she's got to fucking help because she owes him. Kimiko is doing her nails. Look so pretty right now.
Kimiko looks at herself in the mirror and sees... a happy woman. She hears something out there and rushes out. Frenchie and Mother's Milk are in the room. Tear gas flies in. Kimiko breaks legs but is injected with a sedative. She is feeling fuzzy and can't walk. She crawls under a truck. Her nails are ruined. She falls unconscious and is dragged out. Billy again invokes the promise Grace had made. Grace is bitter and invokes her grandchildren.
Billy is angry that he has been used by Mallory. He begs for help. She says she will give him something but now he can't come back. Grace says Stillwell and Homelander have a special relationship and that she will know if he has a weakness. Grace says Billy has no right to take others to death and stops Hughie: vengeance is no path to glory.
A-Train is hobbling along on crutches in the shoe store, where a security guard is inconspicuously watching him. A-Train addresses him and says he's a hero. The guard says they're good and walks off. Kids are filming the encounter. A-Train chimps out. Billy is nearing the motel, sees the flowers van and zooms by. He knows someone has grabbed the crew: the front is all new and the path is scrubbed. So, whoever grabbed the crew also did some renovation in the meantime? Unlikely. Billy thinks it's a Fed black ops unit. Hughie asks now what.
Billy says they need to hit back, now. Hughie accuses him of abandoning the crew. Billy says this is Hughie's fight now as well. Hughie calls himself stupid and how Billy never cared about him or Robin, he was just useful. Billy says that's natural and all it takes is one more step. Hughie says no and that they have to save them. Billy tells him to get in the car. Hughie says this will never stop. Billy says that's the game and he shouldn't have joined the team. Hughie says Mallory was right. Billy calls him a pathetic cunt and an insult to Robin's memory. Billy says goodbye and drives off.
The Deep is shaving his legs and chest, carefully around his gills. He shaves his head too, calling himself an idiot. He regrets what? Abusing women? He gives himself a buzzcut. Annie is in the church. Hughie sits in the pew behind her and clears his throat. She turns around and looks front again. She says he's got a lot of balls. She threatens arresting him. He asks for her help. She walks out. He wants to be listened to.
She is furious. He says Vought is making Supe terrorists. She can't believe it. He asks her to find his friends. She tells him he has 30 seconds to get away. He apologizes and walks away. She asks why would she ever help him. He stops and says Vought is the bad guy here and it's her job and she's a superhero. She can't remember the last time she saved anyone. He says she saved him. He mentions the bowling alley and how he was angry after Robin but she saved him. She is doubtful.
Annie says that just meant being there. He is quiet. She isn't using her powers at all. She says she doesn't care and starts walking away. A-Train is exercising? He's pulling a train. I get it, funny. His brother, Nathan, visits him and says the doctor ordered 6 weeks rest. Nathan accuses him of using Compound V again. A-Train tries to keep up the pretense. Nathan starts drama. A-Train says he's been jealous all this time and continues pulling the train. Again a party. This is present?
Black Noir sits at a piano. The pianist stops playing and scoots off. Black Noir starts playing. Homelander enters. The crowd claps and cheers. He is humbled. Stillwell looks at him. Edgar comes in and talks to Stillwell. HE slides a napkin ot her and says $40bn is coming from Pentagon, with her deserving a bonus that comes with strings. She will be coming to his meetings. He says she will run the company after he retires. Wow. She barely contains her excitement.
She is showing her powers to a Navy guy. He asks if she ever uses her powers for fun. She says her eyes light up when she orgasms. He whispers something to her. She excuses herself and walks away. She is wearing her slutty costume. Queen Maeve watches her go to the toilet and retch, offering to hold her hair back. Annie is not in the mood for her casual cruelty. Queen Maeve says her arm never healed straight. She really did break every bone in her right arm stopping a bus from falling, as Annie told her she read in books as a kid.
Queen Maeve says she was just like Annie. She started giving pieces of herself away and gave away everything. Queen Maeve tells her to be original, since her position is already taken. Homelander meets Stillwell on her own and accuses her of avoiding him. He talks about his talk to Dr. Vogelbaum. Stillwell touches his hand but he pulls away. He says that a Supe terrorist showing up exactly when needed was a real coincidence, like someone planned it. Homelander says he made Naqib.
Homelander admits to using A-Train to spread Compound V across the globe. He says it's a huge success and now there are villains all over the world. Wow, what a twist. Stillwell strokes his face and kisses him. Wow! That's another twist. They are in her room. She tells him to take off his pants. He does. She tells him to sit down. He does. She straddles him. He starts spanking her but she holds his hands. She calls him a "special, sweet boy". Wow. She says she will take care of him.
The hell am I watching. He says he's sorry. She says he did good and that she is proud of him. She calls it lovely. Frenchie and Mother's Milk are in a cage in some basement. Frenchie says it could be worse and asks why Mother's Milk didn't tell he had a daughter. Mother's Milk said he messed up. Frenchie says Janine made him a better person. Stillwell is stroking Homelander's head. He likes it like a kitty.
Stillwell says Edgar offered her his job. Homelander asks if she will be there for him every day. She promises it. He is happy. Wow, like a kitty. From now on, Homelander wants no more secrets. She says she wanted to spare him of the pain associated with his baby. Hughie enters the motel parking lot after he clicks something in his mouth. He gets tackled and shouts surprised. He is brought to the cage.
Mother's Milk and Hughie are questioning them. Hughie says he came to save them. Frenchie kisses him on both cheeks and says that idea is the most useless, futile gesture he could think of. Hughie tries taking out his retainer. He can't. Frenchie digs in. Mother's Milk says he will knock that bitch it out of his mouth and punches him. It's out. They're out. Frenchie takes out a guard. A camera saw them.
She enters her dark home. Maria isn't replying. Billy is there, in the chair. He sedated the nanny. He tells her to put the phone on the table. She won't hurt her, will he? Stillwell knows his name. She says CIA showed her his file. Stillwell says Homelander is invincible. Billy says she is his weakness. She is again being threatened. The crew is running circles trying to find the Asian girl. Frenchie sees her. She's inside some operating room or something, on a monitor.
The girl sees him. Frenchie is shot down. Guards saw them. Damn fool, nearly died because of the girl. They are pinned behind a crumbling wall. Mother's Milk says she should be worth it and runs out. Frenchie gives Hughie a gun. He shoots and apologizes. He spent his ammo. He doesn't know how to reload. Mother's Milk comes back carrying the girl. Hughie apologizes some more.So many guards approach. All of a sudden, bright light. Guards fly. Annie! Shower of sparks.
She punches guards. Hughie smiles and can't believe she came. They move on. They are trying to go out. A-Train is there. Hughie stays behind with Annie. The rest of the crew goes on. A-Train calls Annie a rat. She tells him to walk away. Hughie won't leave Annie. Please man, don't die now. Annie's eyes light up. A-Train dodges her attacks. Hughie is nearly burnt by the sparks and flashes. A-Train hits Annie. She is groaning. Hughie faces A-Train, who accuses him of killing Popclaw but then confesses to it.
A-Train's heart is beating heavily. He grabs Hughie but then his heart gives out and he falls. Annie gets up. A-Train is having a heart attack. He exhales and calms down. Hughie will try saving him. He does CPR and tells Annie to call an ambulance. She tells him A-Train will never stop coming for him. Annie calls an ambulance and tells Hughie to go away. He does.
In Stillwell's home, someone lands on the roof. Billy says it's about time and says he can see through the ceiling. If he tries killing Billy, his detonator will activate and destroy them all. Homelander walks in with Teddy and all casual. Homelander calls him Billy and says he's impressive "for one of you". Homelander is amazed Billy isn't afraid but angry, which is a new experience for him. He mentions Becca.
The baby starts wailing. Homelander says Becca came on to him and orgasmed three times. Homelander keeps talking and says Billy now has a hostage and asks him about his endgame. Billy says his play is to really hurt him and that is good enough for him. Homelander calls Billy dark and says he likes it. Stillwell keeps pleading him to take Teddy upstairs. Homelander asks: "How do you know?" about him killing his wife.
Homelander keeps asking for proof. He stutters and tells Stillwell to shut up. Homelander tells Stillwell that a few details showed him the truth. He found out what Dr. Vogelbaum was hiding. He takes her ear and whispers something. She says she's sorry. The kid is his? Homelander asks her if she ever cared about him. He doesn't believe it. She swears she loves him. He wants the whole truth. She says she's scared of him. He thanks her for finally being honest. So tense.
He sighs and kisses her forehead.... Now what? Then he burns her eyes with his eye lasers. THE HELL. WHAT JUST HAPPENED. We see her face burned off. Homelander turns to Billy and asks for his plan, who at that point activates the trigger and a blinding flash of light overcomes him. He wakes up on a lawn, with sun all around. Homelander saved him and is there too. He tells Billy to get up. It's some kid and Becca!!!! She is speechless!!! So am I!!! Homelander tells the kid he's his dad and that they are a family. The kid's eyes light up.
We see recaps of the first season. It takes some time. Anyway, we see statues being worked on. Looks like the statue of Homelander is being cut off from the frieze at Vought HQ. A Vought lackey enters the conference room with baby kale salad and caprese sandwich. Inside, Ministry of Defense negotiates the terms of Supes participation in US military with Vought executives.
We see Syrian habitats. An old woman is killed by a costumed hand. The Vought executive is making unreasonable demands. The slaughter continues in Syria. Two guards get destroyed, one by his neck being slit and the other by his jaw being ripped open. The DoD representative, Singer, wants a strongly worded clause regarding collateral damage. The Vought executive wants a 34% "cone of silence".
In Syria, two terrorists discuss putting a catchphrase on the shirt. One gets slain by Black Noir and the other ignites himself, exploding the compound. Why did the super terrorist need guards? Black Noir was wounded by the blast but looks just slightly charred. He seems unfazed by it. The terrorist's head is seen carried around by Black Noir, who sees a kid in his bed and makes eye contact.
Black Noir grabs his toy and gestures with it, puts it down and walks out. Strange. Homelander reports Naqib has been killed. Homelander says sacrifices still need to be made. An applause. He says they should mourn the death of Translucent, who was killed by cartel's El Diablo. So, how exactly did Black Noir kill Naqib and what exactly gives one Supe an invulnerable skin but not the other?
Before he left, Translucent supposedly said to Homelander, "Hey, Homelander, tell my son Maverick that I love him. You find those Super Terrorists and you stop them." Total lie. Homelander pledges to stopping them and saving you (don't know if it's in singular or plural but he looks around, implying he means all of them). Homelander pretends to be about to cry and does some emoting with his body posture.
Homelander says goodbye and gets a huge applause. Starlight is there too, looking solemn but in her new sexy suit. She sings. Wow. No Katy Perry? She raises her hand and the room shines. We see a montage of Translucent's childhood photos where he isn't seen, only his clothes are. The conference broadcast is watched by The Deep, who is in a bar slurping what appears to be his sixth La Margherita.
The Deep comments that they cut him out of the picture and swats away some empty glasses. The bartender asks him to leave or he'll call TMZ but The Deep orders another "lava flow". He relents and walks out. We see the crowd outside gathering and peddlers selling 2 shirts fot $64. Seriously? Homelander and Starlight get out and greet the crowd.
They hold hands and do an interview. They feign being a family and having just normal human emotions. Hughie watches it and chuckles to himself at this fake display of humanity. He gets up from his bed. He is in a dungeon? Starlight is in her home taking off her clothes. She looks so cute with her tiny face and cute nose.
They are both changing clothes and checking themselves out in the mirror. She enters Vought infirmary and sees A-Train intubated. She sighs. Hughie is in a Haitian drug lair. Kimiko does her writing at what seems like first grade level. He checks on her and says it looks good. She won't have a speaking line, will she? Frenchie is counting money.
A guy has a bullet taken out of him by Mother's Milk, who asks him where he's going. Hughie says he'll buy his Purell and come right back. Wow, what is this/ Hughie walks out and flinches when a Supe flies over his head. Starlight is in civilian clothes and exits outside the Vought HQ. We see newspapers discussing Buther. Hughie and Starlight meet each other in the subway train and sit together.
He asks if she snapped the SIM card in the burner phone. She asks when was the last time he slept and says she did. No one followed her and they can't trace her chip (???). They exchange superficial, disingenuous compliments. She asks where they're living. He hesitates but then says Club Med in Ibiza. She scoffs and calls him an idiot.
They have a gentle moment and touch knees. So cute. He gives her a character sheet of a guy. She says she knows him from her Capes for Christ days. He asks if she's sure but she says if she has a choice. Answering a question with a question. Hughie asks about her but she says he's stalking her on Instagram. She moves her knee away and calls him a liar. Wow, what a woman.
Wow, such torture. Hughie walks out. She pleads with him to get some sleep. We see kids running away from a water park, where The Deep is scaring them. Cops show up and he is in jail. Next up, he's let out on a bail. It is som guy with bow and arrow. He offers him a Fresca. He calls him Ravenwing but the guy corrects him with "Eagle the Archer".
The guy says they met like five times but then swallows his pride. The Deep asks why he bailed him out. We see Seth Rogan giving his opinion on Translucent's death and a re-enactment of Stillwell's death, with Butcher's actor doing a truly glorious over the top Australian accent. Chris Hansen comments on the latter, saying he used up to 30 pounds of C4. OK, buddy.
Our crew is watching it. Frenchie asks what happened to Billy. Hughie says he's too much of an asshole to die. Frenchie says they can't get good passports. Mother's Milk and Frenchie start their bickering. Hughie thinks they can grab some V and bring it to The New York Times. Mother's Milk doesn't seem thrilled by it. Buddy, you think the media will report the truth.
Frenchie notes famous frontmen. Hughie says they don't need Butcher. Mother's Milk tells Hughie to shut the fuck and says this is over. Wow, such low faith. Just tell them you have Starlight. Homelander looks at some nostalgia pieces. He seems emotional and sighs. It's him and Stilwell, hugging and smiling. He takes a bottle of milk (?) from a fridge and gazes at it.
He cooks (?) the bottle with his eye lasers, opens it, sniffs it and tastes it. Oh wow, some serious sexual fetishes. He thirstily gulps the milk when someone barges in the office. It's Ashley, the secretary. They make awkward small talk. She makes a forced joke and thanks him for recommending her for this job.
She says she will fill Stillwell's shoes the best she can. He avoids eye contact. She asks about catching Butcher. So, what is the official narrative? Is Butcher dead or not? Ashely says she found a new hero, who is in the gym right now. Homelander wants to meet him right away. They guy is twirling around and throws a spear through a dummy. It's Blindspot, a "differently abled superhero". He is going to "poll through the roof with millennials. Wow, I feel pandered to.
So, this hero is blind? Ashley says she hopes to find an ethnic inclusion to replace The Deep, preferably a woman. Wow, so realistic. Blindspot approaches them. He wears an eye mask and acts like a fangirl to Homelander. Homelander is impressed that the guy can see him. Blindspot says he has super hearing and could recognize him.
Homelander says he is the true hero because of what he's overcome. Blindspot is gushing. Homelander has one question, he approaches Blindspot with a smile and a friendly attitude and smacks him on the ears. The kid falls on the floor, spurting blood out of his ears and screaming in agony. Homelander calls him just another useless blind guy. He criticizes Ashley, who is paralyzed with shock, and shouts at her, asking why did she ever think he would allow a cripple in The Seven.
He is the real leader of The Seven now that Stillwell is gone. He puts her in her place and calls her dispensable. From now on, he writes his own talking points and approves his own marketing. He threatens her to tell him everything that goes on the 99th floor. It is he who decides who enters The Seven. She is shocked and affirms.
Starlight is being spammed by her mom, who asks her to call her back. She sees an ad for a Citizen Starlight show, her eyes flash and the screen breaks. She is at a parking lot, looking at the character sheet as that guy and another one walk out of a car. They enter the motel room and the young guy spreads a plastic tarp over the bed and the end table.
So, the young guy she is after has a superpower and offers it for hire? The young guy asks if the older guy prefers legs but he replies stammering about wanting an arm. The young guy asks for $400, which the older guy pays. The young guy pulls out a machete and gives it to the older guy, putting his arm on the end table. Oh, so the young guy can regenerate and so gives people the chance to hack him for money.
The older guy is unsure what to do but the young guy is unfazed, as young ones often are. The older guy, Ted, pants and swings, while the young guy looks bored out of his mind. We see hacking and smacking. Ted asks if he can keep the arm, which the young guy says he can, as long as it's refrigerated, upselling a dick-chopping session for an extra grand. Ted hesitates and asks where's the closest ATM.
Mother's Milk's hand is adjusting a doll house. Shouting is heard in the background. A guy is brought in bleeding, shouting "Aide le". The guy has broken half the bones in his body. Frenchie says he should bring him to the hospital but the other gangbanger won't hear about it. They two shout in French. I understand "OK?" but that's about it.
Hughie asks for the audience what's happening. Frenchie says... nothing. Damn it. Our crew is exiting a van. They look around and see street cameras. What are they seeing? The camera pans and........... a boat is overturned on the pier. Kimiko crouches and finds an origami? They are looking at the footage, which shows people being smuggled in. Frenchie tries to say he didn't know about it.
They continue looking, something lifts the boat out of the water and drops it on the pier. They got paid to smuggle in a Supe terrorist. Wow. Vought is doing focus group research to find the best term for Supe terrorists. One chubby girl says she hated the term Super Terrorist. Homelander pipes in and says they should be called Super Villains. Ashley prompts the representative to ask them about Super Villains and they love it.
Next up, it's choosing between Saving America or Saving the World. The focus group loves the latters but Homelander threatens through his teeth that it's the former and the discussion is over. The Deep wakes up on Eagle's couch. There's Carol too, she also offers him a soda called Fresca (Eagle the Archer offered him one when they first met).
Eagle the Archer confesses to hitting rock bottom. Oh, so they're doing an intervention. He says he had a hostage situation but then his quiver ran out of arrows and they lost a lot of good people. I see, a nice jab at Marvel's Hawkeye. He started questioning arrows vs guns but the lady interrupts with trepidation and Eagle the Archer adds a "but..." He came to see that archery isn't irrelevant, it's timeless as camera cuts to Carol mouthing those exact words.
The Deep asks if she's his therapist but she denies it with a laugh. She says therapy is very destructive and calls herself his teacher. They asks The Deep how he ended up here. He hesitates but Eagle the Archer pushes and calls it a safe space. Carol asks why he is demeaning women. The Deep wants to leave but Carol tosses the ultimate bait—she can help him get back in The Seven. She offers a book titled "Church of the Collective".
Frenchie asks if she made it. She shakes her head and writes "BOY". Frenchie doesn't understand and she stomps away angrily. He says he can't figure out who paid for the smuggling. Hughie criticizes him. Mother's Milk suggests calling 911, Hughie says there's no chance for it. They discuss options. Hughie suggests calling Raynor, the CIA lady, and then to call Annie. Mother's Milk is skeptical.
Hughie admits to texting her. Mother's Milk shoves him into the wall. Hughie says he used a burner phone. Mother's Milk gets into his face and says he just wants to finish his Vermont dollhouse. He just wants to get home to his wife and his kid. Hughie says there is no one else coming to save them. Mother's Milk tells him he's just a kid, not a soldier or a spy. Hughie says he has nothing left, only this blind struggle against the Supes. An emotional moment, really.
Hughie says he can be the underdog hero, like Harry Potter or that girl from the Hunger Games. So, Hughie suggests contacting Raynor. How is CIA still relevant in a world where Supes can torch entire cities? Starlight enters a store. The young guy is at the table. She calls him Gecko and they hug. They know one another from before. He works at the Vought tower at 67th flower.
She calls him the best Jesus. She namedrops Big Game, who wanted to hook up with her. She says she should have done a lot more stuff back then because there is nothing up there, nobody in the sky watching over us. Not God, not Homelander. That's pretty bleak. She says it's all just lies. So, here's where the show drops its atheist agenda. She asks for a favor: steal a sample of Compound V for her. He stammers and says he doesn't know what that is.
She knows about Compound V. He says he's nobody. She threatens putting the video of him being chopped up by Ted on Facebook. Lady, Facebook will take that down within a nanosecond. I see, the play here is that the young kid would typically be working as a gay hooker but in this universe Gecko is an S&M hooker.
All pretense drops from Starlight's demeanor. She blackmails him. He thought they were friends. She says they're not anything. Wow, such a cute girl turned bad. Homelander and Maeve are surrounding a Lance Corporal Dan Miller. They are filming an ad and walking at the camera. Maeve says they could use the support of the viewers and Homelander pipes in with "Saving America". He really loves it, doesn't he?
A girl walks towards the set where Homelander and Maeve are filming. She's doing an Instagram live stream as Ashley lunges at her. Homelander introduces herself. She has a shaved side of the dead. She approaches Homelander and stares at his eyes, calling them "real fucking blue". Homelander calls her fun but says they got work to do.
Stormfront is the new girl. She says the guys on the 82nd floor decided she will join The Seven. Ashley gestures "it wasn't me" to Homelander. Stormfront films their reactions with enthusiasm. Ashley is about to break down and cry. Homelander does a fake smile and asks who ordered it. She says Mr. Edgar, the big guy. He is baffled and walks away.
The crew is driving in their van. Mother's Milk criticizes Hughie and says she's in danger. Wow. They meet Raynor, who asks about Butcher. She asks if he killed Madelyn Stillwell. He isn't sure and asks about his family. Raynor says there's a missing piece—it's Vought that's been planning a coup from the inside. Her nose starts bleeding and her head just EXPLODES. Hughie starts screaming. They're painted in blood, which I guess is normal for a city filled with Supes. They jump in the van and drive away.
A congresswoman talks about her fears about hiring Supes. Mr. Edgar, the guy who wanted the collateral damage leeway, is watching the news clip as Homelander walks in. Mr. Edgar never comes to the 99th so Homelander came in to see what's going in. Two paintings of ships are on the wall and Homelander examines them as he questions why Mr. Edgar hired Stormfront without his approval.
Mr. Edgar plays it cool and says Homelander has his undying respect for being the leader of The Seven. Homelander says not even Madelyn would do this. Homelander calls him Stan and says he IS Vought and that his contract is up at the end of this year. He suggests moving on and asks about what would the shareholders do if he did it. Stan is speechless and just stares at him, not showing emotion.
Stan asks what he knows about Frederick Vought, their esteemed founder. Homelander says he read his autobiography five times. Stan runs down his CV. A rising young star appointed by Hitler at Dachau, he had a ready supply of human test subjects on which he tested Compund V, of which Vought naturally condemns in the strongest possible terms. In 1944, he got spirited away to the Allies, where he had a practical application of Compound V.
He was pardoned by Roosevelt, making him truly as American as Disney. Homelander calls it a condescending lecture. Stan says they are not a superhero company but a pharmaceutical company, with their most valuable asset being the formula for Compound V, which Homelander released to the terrorists. Wow, the guy is punching below the belt. He calls Homelander a man-child, by the way.
Homelander jumps up and gets in his face. Stan says the FDA now knows about Compound V and it's only a matter of time before the public finds it out. Mr. Edgar doesn't have to consult anyone about anything and reminds Homelander he has a premiere of Tek-Knight Lives to go to. Homelander squishes his lips into a thin line. He frowns and then looks down. He walks out of the office as people are watching him.
Homelander lands in front of a house, breathes deep and knocks. The doormat says "you better have tacos". Rebecca opens and asks what he's doing there. He asks to see his son. Meanwhile, our crew is washing itself. Mother's Milk thanks Hughie for getting them in this mess. Raynor had two kids but he didn't get her killed. Mother's Milk says somebody from Vought may have just assassinated the deputy director of the CIA. Hughie's phone rings. It's Starlight.
Starlight is gleeful and says they will get Compound V. Will they ingest Compound V themselves? I'd do it. Hughie asks for them to slow down. Starlight tells that, if something happened, he can tell her. She knows he's lying. Hughie hesitates but then says he's not lying. He swears to God. I don't think she bought it, dude.
She sits at the bench and stares into the distance as she hangs up. Meanwhile, someone rolls down the stairs. People cock their guns. Someone comes down and it's BUTCHER! Where were you, you greasy cunt? Frenchie called him. Butcher says this is a fucking mess. Butcher tells Hughie not to worry, because daddy's home.
Butcher is looking at a piece of paper with descriptions written in block letters. It says (commas are line breaks):
yellow ranch, sun 60 °C, NW breeze, large pines, juniper, no sidewalk, St. Augustine, grass
He scans the descriptions. We see a flashback? Don't know what's going on. Oh, he's trying to figure out where he saw Rebecca. We see him waking up on pavement. He's blinded and slightly bleeding. He rolls over and gets up. He was dropped in front of a Tony Cicero's restaurant. Not sure if that's a native ad.
He enters the restaurant and asks which city he is at. She says Fort Wayne. He takes one of their menus and starts writing down the description we saw. Hold on, 60 °C? That's enough to cook a person alive. We see a news broadcast asking to report Butcher's whereabouts. He walks out.
He can't figure out where it is. The crew is sitting around. Kimiko is again at it. She wrote "boy girl" and underlines boy but Frenchie can't figure it out. Butcher is going to meet a contact. Hughie asks about the real name of the contact. So, how did Frenchie contact Butcher? Hughie bursts in anger and Butcher fires back.
Hughie accuses him of blowing up Stillwell. Butcher says she was already dead. Hughie says this isn't normal and they aren't lemmings. Butcher gets into his face and says, "Who else are they gonna follow?" Hughie mouths to says something but nothing comes out. Homelander catches ball with his son. Rebecca is watching them. Homelander tells him to use his powers and throws the ball sky high.
Homelanders crouches and asks Ryan if he knows what he's capable of. Rebecca storms out and tells him to do his math homework. He obeys. Homelander says that at his age he was already breaking the sound barrier. Rebecca says "we decided" to give him a normal childhood. Homelander asks who's "we". She asks Homelander how long he is planning to stay. He asks her to be civil.
Carol is looking through The Deep's answers to her questionnaire. He drew himself but omitted some things. Eagle the Archer enters with more of the Fresca. Carol tells him his operating perspective is functionally non-existant. He tells her he will take care of it. He tells The Deep he's inhibited. The Deep tells the last time he did shrooms was at a GooGoo Dolls concert.
The Deep bottoms up the tea with shrooms. Starlight is doing a hundred takes of an announcement. She is doing poses on the red carpet with Stormfront, who is flashing her powers. The three girls are walking in Vought HQ with Ashley. Maeve gets a phone call that shocks her. She asks when, thanks the other person and hangs up. She says it's a family emergency too and walks away. Stormfront says she has an emergency too.
Susan Raynor's funeral. The church is filled with friends and family. They look solemn. We see the faces of her kids. An old lady stares at a plastic vase containing some edibles and squints. What did she see? She walks to her car and talks to someone off camera. It's Butcher in her car. She says she can't be surprised and she literally taught him this one.
She says he promised never to come back again. He notes he technically promised never to come to her house. Oh, the edibles vase was a signal he's there. She threatens calling the agents just outside. She will turn him in for the murder of Stillwell. He says he knows who killed Raynor. She asks who but he can't tell and says it's Vought.
They have a bit of bantering. She calls him a desperate fuck and that he wants something. He runs after her and asks to be heard. Wow, did he sleep with her? Meanwhile, The Deep is tripping in his room. He hears someone call to him. He turns off the radio. A voice from inside his jacket is calling ot him. It's his gills talking.
Wow, this is trippy. The Deep hides from his gills but then opens his jacket. His gills call him out for shaming and humiliating women. They say he can't accept his own body so he violates theirs. The Deep bangs on the door and asks to be let out. He tells his gills to shut up and wants to get out. On the other side of the door, Eagle the Archer and Carol are listening to him losing his mind.
Maeve is in her civilian outfit (ball cap naturally included). She goes to visit her lesbian friend in the hospital. She was listed as an emergency contact. Maeve says there were easier ways to get her attention. The lesbian had her appendix nearly burst. Maeve inquires about having a new girl and sits in the chair. She will wait a while and just see.
The two girls get it done. Starlight says she's single. Oh, they aren't doing it live. They answer the same question a dozen times. Stormfront lashes out at the question if girls are better heroes compared to boys. Stormfront's phone rings and she rants about their costumes not having pockets. A-Train bursts on the scene. Wow.
Starlight is shocked and hugs him. Her hearing goes hollow. After the shooting, a party with hors d ouvres. Starlight asks A-train how he's feeling. He tries playing a guitar. He totally looks like a gridiron player in his outfit. He thanks her for coming to his room to pray every day.
She says her CPR saved him and admonishes him for not calling backup. He says he knows she helped her traitor boyfriend escape. She asks who else knows. He pushes beside her and walks off. Wow. Hughie is on the toilet, listening to music. Butcher comes down. He says he saw Colonel Mallory and that she will help them by scrubbing their records clean if they find the Supe terrorist. Um, sweetie, it's Supe Villain.
Hughie asks how he knows it's the truth but Butcher says he got an address linked to the bank account. The Deep wakes on his bed and his gills start talking again, recounting his failed relationships. They call him "Kevin" and tell him he deserves to be loved. He takes a look in the hand mirror and touches his gills. Wow. He says he's so sorry. The gills tell him he just doesn't see what they see and start singing "You are so beautiful".
The Deep is about to start crying but then starts singing along, louder and louder. A touching moment. Stormfront is doing a toy review on her live stream. Starlight says she agrees with her but Stormfront calls her a Vought spy and how she used to be a fan. Behind Starlight, Gecko creeps in so she goes away. His eye is wounded; Vought was testing a new shampoo for eye irritation. He gives her a makeup pouch with Compound V and says he will let .
She is floored he got it and says she can't take it because she literally has no pockets. She stuffs it down her boot when A-Train zooms behind her and asks if that was Gecko. He saw her putting something in her boot. He reaches into her boot and feels around but finds nothing. Stormfront comes in and talks with her mouth full. She calls their interviews "dick tickling".
Rebecca drives the kid to his lessons with some decrepit hag, Ms. Bird. Why can't the kid walk from his home to the old lady? That's so natural. Meanwhile, Homelander is drinking milk and sniffing clothes when he finds a secret compartment with Rebecca's and Butcher's polaroid. Rebecca is tearing down a dirt road at 40 km/h when she reaches a gate. She tells the security guard to open the door.
The guard gets a call. Rebecca talks to Dr. Clark and shouts about not being left alone. She is told a decision was made that Homelander should not be antagonized further. Wow. Rebecca threatens taking the kid and leaving them all. She sees Homelander rummaging through her home on security cameras. She is told that she needs to keep herself and him calm. Homelander stares at Rebecca through the camera.
The two talk while laying on the hospital bed. Maeve is told by her friend she needs to go. I honestly forgot her name. Maeve talks about sitting with a guy who was killed because he sat next to her on an award ceremony. The girl asks if the Homelander was capable of doing it. Maeve says he made her do things.
The girl asks why she is telling her this right now. Homelander gives Ryan a smartphone. The kid thanks him and says he never had one. But, who is going to call? Homelander says he can call him and wants to tell him a secret, man to man. Homelander and his dad never played catch. He feels isolated because he is superior to everyone else on the planet.
Homelander says to his son they are gods. They can do anything they want and nobody can stop them. Ryan doesn't trust it and asks to go to bed. He is tucked in and Homelander is about to walk out, when he turns around and says he loves him. Ryan hesitates but then says, "I... love you... too." Rebecca is outside and tells him he needs to leave. She tells him to get the fuck out of his house.
He asks what happens one day when Ryan asks to swim in the ocean. How will he feel when he finds out he was lied to. Will he be happy or will he despise her? He suggests going there and asking him but she won't let it. He knows what she was talking about, saying he will not get bored. Why is she worried? She has the protection of the strongest man in the world.
The crew is getting ready for action. Frenchie is picking the lock and opens the door. It's a night club of some sort. A store? Filled with junk Supe merchandise. What are they looking for? Why is Hughie there? Kimiko enters the back room and literally rips a guy's head off. Frenchie finds a familiar symbol: they kidnapped Kimiko! She already ran off and spots another dude. She jumps in front of him and they... HUG. Oh my God, such a tense moment.
She still can't speak? It's her brother. Hughie tells the news to Butcher, who still wants to shoot him. Her brother pushes them back with his psychic force and wrecks the entire store. WOOOOOW! Such a violent moment but our crew has Plot Armor. The siblings run off. Starlight confronts Stormfront and says she's not a sellout. Starlight wants to say something but stops herself. Stormfront teases her and tells her to speak her mind.
Stormfront says Pippy Long Stocking is the real hero. She dressed up as PLS for Halloween while other girls went as "Disney sluts". Stormfront says this world confuses nice and good and that Starlight should drop the mask a bit and be a bitch if she wants to. Oh, and if someone sticks a dick in her mouth, she should bite it off. Wow, easy there Dr. Lecter. Starlight snatches the pouch off of Stormfront as she's walking off.
In the store, the crew is again bickering. They are surprisingly unhurt by the mayhem. Butcher lunges at Hughie but Mother's Milk stops him. Hughie justifies it by saying they should be together. Buther says Hughie to fuck off. He orders the other two to come with him but they stand still. Solidarity? Butcher tries to question their sense of perception but they don't budge.
Butcher tells them Becky is alive and says he isn't crazy. He thinks Homelander wanted to humiliate him and that's why he left him alone. Mother's Milk thinks it's a joke. Butcher proposes them the deal; he just wants to find Becky. How will they evade Homelander if they do manage to save her? The guy is literally God. The two siblings talk about the girl disappearing that night. She was stolen by some terrorists, if I recall correctly.
The girl signals she was brought there by the Shining Light, a needle was put in her spine and she was pumped with blue poison. She feels remorse for not protecting him. They turned her into a monster. I pity those who don't like reading subtitles. He says they're both monsters now. She's silently crying. She signs she's sorry. He says it's not her fault.
He signs heart to heart and repeats it's not her fault. She hugs him. Wow. Powerful moment. Starlight is back in her apartment. She texts Hughie that she's freaking out and he should contact her. A-Train is again in the apartment. He snatches the vial of Compound V. She tries to explain it all but he says he'll report it to Homelander. She bluffs and says he won't tell anyone anything. I think she's right.
She says he killed her girlfriend. She knows because Hughie told her and he found out from A-Train. She said A-Train's girlfriend had one of the needles shatter her bone, which shouldn't be possible. A-Train bluffs as well and promises to bring her down with him. She bluffs back and says she doesn't give a shit. She yoinks the Compound V from his fist and he walks away. Wow. It worked?????? Learn to lock your doors, woman.
The brother asks about the people she was with. She wants to go back to the village but he says it's no more. He says the Americans came for him and destroyed everything. Everyone is gone. This hero came from the sky. She wants to find their grandparents. Her brother wants to keep fighting. He says they need to fight back this evil country. She tries to awaken humanity in him.
He says he needs to do this. She grabs his hand and won't let go. He punches her, she flies off and smashes a car. He runs off and she's on his heels. She jumps and he immobilizes her in the air. After a tense moment, he flings her in an apartment window. After a few moments, she again back down and does a chokehold on him. He goes limp and she lets him go. A van screeches nearby. The street is totally empty. It's the crew!
Frenchie asks if she's OK. Hughie opens the back and they load her brother in. They did tie his hands with duct tape. Wow. What is that supposed to do? Butcher punches Hughie and tells him he will kill him if he comes between him and his missus again. Mother's Milk calls him in and Hughie enters the van after swallowing some blood.
We see a video clip. It's a music video? A kid wants to jump off a bridge when a guy in a trench coat starts singing about the second wind. OK???? Hughie is listening to it. Butcher wants his attention and asks how long he will be sulking. He nearly apologizes and says, "Sorry?" Wow, that's a huge thing for him. Hughie hits him but he's so pathetically weak that he falls down on the ground. They're on a boat, by the way.
Mother's Milk stops Hughie. That's his only purpose in this show. Butcher gets a phone call telling him a team will be there. It's the lady from the church, who says she's just a civilian. Her name is Grace and she thinks Butcher will screw this up. She asks him about an old Supe called Liberty. We see a picture of her. It's a lady in a Budweiser ad. Grace asks Butcher if the target will compromise Kimiko's allegiances. He says he will neutralize her if needed. Frenchie heard it. Butcher says it's a figure of speech.
Kimiko enters a room. It's her brother, bound in chains. She brings a cup to his mouth. He turns his head away. She does sign language narrating. They are close. He's going to die, isn't he? He speaks in Japanese? Sounds like Japanese. He knows he'll get tortured. She says she will stop it. He wants to be let go and promises he won't hurt anyone. She says she's sorry and goes out. He tries rubbing his duct-taped fists against the chains.
In a club, we see A-Train get a girl's number on a napkin. He tosses it out and goes out. His heart is about to give. He regains composure and walks on. Wow. Meanwhile, Homelander is eating pancakes with Becca and Ryan. Such a quaint scene. He says this is nice. Ryan speaks Spanish. Becca says Monday they have breakfasts in Spanish. Homelander invites Ryan outside and the kid asks Becca if he can do it. Becca is stunned and breathless.
We hear a typical Hollywood nerd present his script, with storyboards and mouthed sound effects. It's a Supe movie starring Homelander. Typical 80s action movie featuring The Seven, like Marvel. The nerd is impressed with his own telling of the script. He even says, "Rousing music, Haaaaaans Zimmer....🎵🎵🎵🎵🎵, title card, Dawn of the Seven, cut to black". Ashley claps. Wow, what an inside peek into how Marvel movies are made.
The nerd says this is just the teaser. Maeve whispers to A-Train that he looks like shit. The nerd wants a lot of Greengrass handheld camera work and Translucent will be CGId out of it. Stormfront calls for attention and says she has a few headlines. She wants global changes. The nerd is fazed. She says women shouldn't be Transformer fuck dolls or Hitchcock bitches. Wow, language? The nerd says he has two sisters.
Ashley says Homelander loves the script. She gets a message and seems distraught. She starts hyperventilating and can't open the door. She finds Mr. Edgar and mentions crisis management. What happened? She is panicking. Mr. Edgar tells her to deal with the infants on level 99 and he will deal with Homelander. We hear the news talking about Compound V. Starlight seems pleased and chuckles to herself.
A-Train zooms in and asks what she did. She says they're now both a part of it. He says, "You don't fuck with the money. You never fuck with the money." They are going to lose everything. She says there are more important things. He implies she's only doing that because she is rich. Wow. The Deep is listening to the same report and talks about how he heard goldfish pleading for their lives when he was a kid. Wow, such trauma.
We see Black Noir sobbing in the Vought HQ hallway. Hughie calls Starlight and leaves her a message. Hello, opsec? Mother's Milk walks in and asks Hughie if he did that. He admits. Mother's Milk laughs and hughs him. Butcher walks in too with Frenchie, who kisses Hughie on the mouth. Typical Frenchman. No, they actually do that, without any respect for personal space. Butcher says "nice one" and turns away.
Mother's Milk roasts him for no enthusiasm. Hughie says he won't give him a single win. Butcher says he will tickle his balls with lube when they finish but now they have a Supe terrorist below deck and things can go south in a second. Hughie seems somber. The two tell Hughie he did great.
Homelander and Ryan stand somewhere tall. Homelander says a boy needs his father and asks him if he's ready. The kid asks for what. Homelander says to jump. They're on the roof. The kid won't jump. Homelander says he can fly, just like him. All he has to do is step off and his body will do the rest. The kid still doesn't believe him and pleads. He is going to push him, right? Homelander chuckles and pushes him off. The kid screams and falls like a sack of dirt.
Becca runs out and panics, calling him a monster. Ryan is apparently knocked out. He wakes up. Homelander says he's his son and Becca is raising him to be a pussy. Homelander grabs her hand and Ryan pushes Homelander, his eyes glowing red. The kid is angry and Homelander says he's like him. Ryan shouts that he fucking hates him and to go away. Ryan and Becca scurry into the house.
Frenchie enters the room with the brother and offers him some cheese snacks with a soda. Wow, so healthy. The brother swears in English. Frenchie opens the soda and gives him a taste but then asks about the sign language they're using. The brother won't cooperate but does talk about the night their parents were murdered. Wow. Frenchie gives him another taste and asks to be taught. The brother again swears.
Frenchie says Kimiko is very special and that she loves him very much. OK. He leaves the soda and snacks on the dressed and walks out. The brother managed to get one of his fingers out and warps the can, bringing it to him. All right. We hear interviews of Supe parents. Maeve retells about her abusive father, who stole money she earned. Elena, her lesbian friend, tells that's their chance to escape. Homelander heard her call.
He asks if he interrupted and she says not. He says it's funny how of all the people here, he's known her the longest. He says she's the only person he can lean on and she says she feels the same way. He doesn't really believe it. He takes her hand and grasps it. He seems overwhelmed with emotions and says life is crazy. He asks about Elena. She says it's an old friend and she was just venting. He asks what about.
Meanwhile, on the boat, a helicopter approaches. NYPD. The boat was reported stolen. Frenchie asks Butcher if this boat belonged to the friend. He stole it. Butcher holds papers signed by the owner for the lease. Anchoer flies out of the water and over the bow. Butcher ducks. The brother does a kinetic blast at the chopper and it collapses smashed. Hughie says they need to help and tosses a floating ring at them. Wow, that will help.
Mother's Milk gives a scornful look at Butcher. Hughie stares into the distance, where the chopper sank. Eagle talks to The Deep, who is trying to order a bunch of fast food. Eagle tells him to recite the Fifteen Tenets. The old lady enters and says it's The Deep's time to return to The Seven, showing him a message from Alastair himself. Alastair Adana is the leader of the Church. The old lady tells The Deep to go out there and be a hero.
Congressman Neuman is on the news, ripping into Vought. Mr. Edgar is being advised by his lawyers on what's going to happen to them. They don't have coverage and two options: a) denial, high risk and risk reward and b) mea culpa. Mr. Edgar is sunken in his thoughts and is looking at the picture of Kimiko's brother on the boat. Trading's halted. One of the lawyers says they need to put out a statement.
Mother's Milk admonishes Frenchie for leaving a soda can with Kimiko's brother. Butcher talks to Grace, who tells him to be in CIA safe house in Hazlet in 30 minutes. She tells him to be careful. Hughie calls Starlight and asks her about the Billy Joel song "You're Only Human". We saw it at the start of this episode. He says he feels like that kid, like he will drown and he thanks God he found his second wind, which is she.
He tells her to be careful because she can hurt the people she loves the same way he hurt her. Dude? He nearly starts crying and awkwardly hangs up. Wow. Mr. Edgar talks to The Seven and shows them the picture of Kimiko's brother. He says they are all partners, a part of a living thing named Vought. A-Train speaks up while staring at Starlight but says he didn't about Compound V.
Homelander says Kimiko's brother is super villain, not a terrorist. A-Train says they will be eaten out there. Maeve says they don't have to do damage control of his fuck up. Mr. Edgar thanks him but Homelander shushes him. He says it doesn't matter how they got there, the point is they are here, together, family. He says they are his real family. Wow.
Homelander says they don't care if Voughts burns to the ground. Companies come and go but talent is forever. Mr. Edgar warns him to tread carefully. They walk out and Stormfront is impressed by his "fuck Vought" attitude. On the boat, they are about a mile away from the shore when something bumps into the boat, over and over. It's the sharks swarming from all over the place. Butcher takes a rifle and expertly takes them down. Another bump and they lose power.
Butcher goes down and sees the boat is filling with water. Off the boat, now, he says. They lower the speeder. Mother's Milk shoots with the rifle and spends the ammo. They speed off. Almost there! The sharks are closing in. They see a storm drain when a huge thing jumps out of the water and we see The Deep riding a whale. It parks itself in front of the boat and The Deep does a power pose on it. They speed faster and faster. SMASH!! They slam into the whale and embed the speedboat deep in it.
They exit but Hughie is inside, with a severe PTSD. We see the internal organs of the whale. Butcher tells him they need to run away, right now. Hughie doesn't want to move. He's waiting for his second wind. Butcher offers his hand and Hughie freaks out. Butcher abandons him. Wow, low morale all around. Mother's Milk won't leave him behind and crawls inside the whale. So, this is some biblical stuff? Jonah and the whale?
Mother's Milk gets cozy and sees he won't leave him alone. Wow, so cute. Hughie calls him an asshole and crawls out. The team is in the storm drain. Butcher is choosing the path. Hughie can't go on. Mother's Milk stops Butcher and says Hughie is falling apart but the entire team is done. They're at the breaking point and Butcher is pushing them, who says they're at the finish line.
Mother's Milk says Hughie is Butcher's canary. It makes sense to me. The Deep is seen caressing the dead whale. The rest of The Seven joins him. Homelander questions him. Starlight is worried and asks who invited him. The Deep tries to apologize but she doesn't believe him. Stormfront talks about the Church of the Collective and calls him an idiot for joining it. Starlight says there's no fucking way he's coming back. Homelander cuts the chit-chat and orders them to search the storm drain.
Homelander says he wants to take care of the target and consoles The Deep, who is left behind. A-Train zooms through the storm drain but then feels his heart palpitate. He gathers strength and again zooms but his heart is about to give. Wow, man. Homelander asks if he's OK and he says he is. Hughie hears footsteps and sees Starlight approaching. He nears her and feels hopeful when she blasts him with her light. Wow.
Homelander is near and approaches as Hughie squirms. Homelander can't believe it's this guy. Starlight starts apologizing but Homelander orders her to kill Hughie or he will kill them both. Butcher and the rest of the crew are sneaking up to them. Hughie closes his eyes in anticipation when Butcher catches his attention. Homelander teases him with a family breakfast.
Butcher pushes Kimiko's brother to the forefront and he does his hand magic, collapsing the surface on top of Homelander. He jumps out of the hole. Hughie is in fetal position and Butcher helps him up. Kimiko runs after her brother and signs that she loves him. He says he lover her too when Stormfront blasts them all with electricity into an apartment, where three screaming blacks watch an NBA game: dad, boy and girl. Stormfront blasts the dad and then the kids. Kimiko's brother crawls on his back.
Stormfront is about to blast Kimiko's brother when Kimiko jumps and pushes her. The two run up a flight of stairs. They push a guy, who we see blown out of the window. Stormfront destroys more apartments as she ascends. Wow, collateral damage much? Marvel would never allow it. Kimiko's brother jumps over a roof gap but his sister is getting pummeled and choked by Stormfront. He jumps back and pushes Stormfront, who blasts Kimiko away and breaks her brother's hands off.
Stormfront starts choking Kimiko's brother and asks him to open his eyes so she can see the light go out (she likes it). She says, "Fucking yellow bastard" and snaps his neck. He's dead. Kimiko watches all of it. Homelander arrives to the scene, saying the boy was his. She says, "You snooze, you lose, gramps". Wow, such disrespect. He is going to destroy her, isn't he?
We see people in an emergency shelter getting patched up, with The Seven there for a photo op. Mr. Edgar holds a press conference; he chose denial and claims he had no knowledge whatsoever. He says Stillwell led a rogue gorup of employees. Mr. Edgar sends his thoughts and prayers and says this tragic event could have been worse, had there not been Supes.
The crew is back at the shelter. They're all bloodied and exchange glances. No words are needed. Hughie is destroyed. Mr. Edgar introduces Stormfront and she gets a round of applause. She says the real heroes of this group are the people who are struggling every day. Homelander clenches his jaw and gives her a stink eye. Kimiko does the same through the TV. She is unfazed.
We see a lady talk about getting married. It looks like a recruitment video for a cult. Her marriage plans failed. Meanwhile, Frenchie is cutting and sniffing drugs. Wow, man, calm down. We hear French rap music. 59 dead and 100 injured are blamed on Kimiko's brother, Kenji, by the news anchor, who then goes on to spread a false news narrative about what happened. Frenchie tries to console her. He goes in for a kiss and she grabs his neck. He runs out. Wow, man.
NNC anchor praises Stormfront, who is slowly taking over Homelander's position. She invites people to come to the Vought Square. Homelander is listening to her plea. He lands next to house. It's night. He enters and we see... Madelyn Stillwell?????? She was scorched previously. What the hell is going on? She is in lingerie, caresses his face and holds a glass of milk. She dips her fingers in the glass, caresses his lips and then they kiss. Wow.
Butcher wears a hoodie as he walks next to a memorial wall for all the victims. He meets Grace, who tells him about her dream: she is in a hall, with the audience every poor soul killed by Supes. They stare at her and judge her. Butcher apologizes for failing but Grace cuts him off. She hands him an envelope containing the picture of Liberty. 2nd tier Supe from the 70s, her data was all over Susan's servers. The back of the picture has her address in North Carolina.
Mallory tells him to wait and says she found Becca. It's a Vought facility, armed to the teeth. He's stunned that he didn't do his part of the deal but she gives him the item anyway. She feels remorse. Wow, what a character arc. I like her. We see Homelander and Stillwell watching Robert de Niro with a mohawk miss a point blank revolver shot in the crack house. It's Taxi Driver (1976). He says that getting disrespected leads to violence.
He lashes out and calls Stormfront a "media whore". He calls The Seven a whole chain of weak links and puts his head on her lap. She shushes him and he calms down. He says she would have knocked them all back in the line. She says it is his team and if they can't respect that, it may be the time to tear out the weeds and start all over again. Oh, wow. Stillwell starts groaning and a fat dude appears.
The dude winces and says he can only hold a shape for so long. He says it really hurts. Homelander tells him to change back and calls him Doppelganger. It's Stillwell again and she invites Homelander to her lap again. She calls him the most powerful man in the whole wide world and there's nothing he can't do. Wow, what a man-child. Mr. Edgar was 100% right.
Mother's Milk tries telling Butcher his plan is suicidal but he doesn't care. Mother's Milk invokes his Spice Girls analogy but Butcher ignores it and tells him "mazel tov". Butcher says Mother's Milk needs to learn to jump through hoops for CIA and it's all good. Butcher says Frenchie is high and so useless and Hughie is a weeper and also useless. They grab hands. Mother's Milk looks at his doll house as Butcher walks away.
Starlight is in an elevator as Homelander enters. She's dead, wow. He presses the emergency stop button and takes off his gloves. She is afraid. He says Maeve begged him to spare her life, which he did, but she failed him again. He says, "No more lies" and grabs her throat. He says she can scream as much as she wants. He says she disobeyed his orders because she is with Hughie. She tells him to fuck himself and that Hughie broke her heart but she isn't with him. She says she's not a murderer and won't execute people. What an honest person.
He exits the elevator, mumbling to himself that she isn't lying. She is gasping for air. A girl nerd techie is eating a candy bar when Black Noir approaches and gives her a paper with BUTCHER on it. Wow. She taps on the keyboard and shows the picture of him on the yacht with Kenji. She says she'll keep him posted but then thinks again and does the search right away. He sites next to her. Wow. Starlight is in her civvie clothes and meets up with Hughie.
She says he's bruised but he calls it cool. He retells his school shenanigans. She says she could have killed him. He says she didn't. She says she got his voice mail. He cringes and doesn't want to talk about it. She says they exposed Vought for nothing but he says these things take time. She wants to know how much time. His phone rings and he moves away.
Their target is in Raleigh, North Carolina. Hughie asks Mother's Milk to pick him up and says he has to go. She asks what's going on and he says he will call her later. He stops, turns around and asks what's her plan. She sniffs and says she can't go back to the Tower again. She sobs in his bosom and he hugs her. Mother's Milk says Hughie she can't come with because she's chipped.
Starlight says she will say to Vought she went to visit her cousin but Mother's Milk is adamant. Hughie convinces him and says she needs this. A-Train walks through Vought HQ when he has a carbon copy of himself but in an orange suit. A-Train confronts Ashley, who says that's Shockwave and is here for Vought for Tots, it's a fitness program for toddlers, who are getting obese.
Homelander says A-Train is out. He did great but they are going in a different direction. A-Train lashes out at Ashley, who tries to appease him with the promise of parades and his own reality show. A-Train is furious and says he's not going. Homelander says he can't run. A-Train meekly tries denying but Homelander says his heart is failing and that makes The Seven, and him, look bad.
The crew minus Frenchie and Kimiko is driving down a road. She turns on the radio and all she hears is her own song. She finally finds something non-Supe. Billy Joel, We Didn't Start the Fire. They sing along. Mother's Milk turns it off and ruins their fun. He says he's not their damn chaperone. We see more interviews, this time with another woman. She is Cassandra and talks about Lovers of Valdaro.
These Lovers were alive 6,000 years ago and were found in a tomb, with their arms around each other. She calls it love. We see Butcher throwing rope over a wall and sliding down. Wow, you don't think people will notice? Meanwhile, Frenchie is high and punches in the code. A woman opens the door. He goes in for a kiss but she says she might not be alone. Later, he's naked on her bed. She asks what's wrong this time.
Frenchie admits to trying to kiss Kimiko. He wanted to make her feel better. She scoffs at the idea and says he thinks he can make amends for all the children Lamplighter burned. He tries running away. She says Kimiko is not a kitten up a tree and should be left alone to grieve. He says grieving alone doesn't help. The crew is in a diner.
Mother's Milk asks if she wants a room; she and a donut. She says her mom never allowed her to eat anything bad but her dad let her and asked her about her day. Then, he would listen. Wow, what a nice father. Mother's Milk says, "Baskin Robbins". After church, his dad would go and taste all 31 flavors they dad. People would bunch up and yell at him but he didn't get fazed at all.
Mother's Milk felt embarrassed but now feels those moments were cherished. He died 16 years ago. Starlight does a toast to fathers and sugar. They exit. She is dry wiping her hands. He says dry wiping cleans nothing and offers her wet wipes. That is an absolutely fantastic idea. She asks if he's carrying these around with him when in the background a huge truck T-bones a car.
Starlight wants to help but Mother's Milk tells it's going to be OK. Hughie also joins and recommends going away. They do. Becca pulls down the shades and sees a car outside is empty. It's Butcher!!! He is on the back seat and asks if there's a single place here without cameras. Becca takes a pack of smokes and a lighter, showing them to a camera. They drive off.
She is weeping and then hugs him like a bear. He asks if she's OK. She says she's fine. He thought she was dead. She couldn't call anybody and apologizes. He says she's done nothing wrong. He caresses her face and calls her his girl. She says she's always been. She says Homelander will kill him. He asks how she stopped him and she says she promised killing herself in front of Ryan.
He says they can climb over the fence. She doesn't believe it. He says Ryan's eyes were glowing. She won't raise him like that. She mentions climbing in a garbage truck, which comes around every morning. It's not a compacter. That's the plan: climb in the hopper and sneak out. Wow. She has to go or they will get suspicious. She tells him to wait there and she will be back.
The crew rented two rooms. Hughie says he will be bunking with Mother's Milk, who snores like a chainsaw. Hughie can't sleep. His phone chimes. It's Starlight, who asks what to get from a vending machine. She's eating Almond Joy. He says only Dahmer loves it. She says Charleston Chew and Bit-o-Honey are her other two top candy bars. He calls her sick in the brain.
Starlight noticed Mother's Milk has OCD. He taps the wheel, stirs the coffee and has wet wipes. She confesses to being flawed too. She dumps the candy bar into a trash can. Hughie tries it too but misses miserably. They commisserate. She says she walks around the Tower with a knot in her gut. She's wondering if Homelander is waiting around every corner to kill her. It's like living with a loaded gun in her face. He asks if she's feeling that way now. She shakes her head.
Aaaand they're in bed, smooching each other. He starts the plowing and she flashes her eyes to turn off the lamp. Again another interview with a woman who hides pain behind a forced smile. She says she got an Ed Sheeran tattoo for her boyfriend, who then broke up with her. She hates Ed Sheeran. Butcher is still waiting for Becca when a vehicle approaches. Is it her or the Doppelganger? She jumps in his arms and kisses him. He takes off his jacket and undresses her.
They do the deed in the car. She caresses his back. We can expect violence any moment now. Nope, I guess they have a moment. She is smoking and he says it took her ages to quit. She offers a smoke but he doesn't want it. She puts a lit cigarette in his mouth and he puffs. She compliments his beard. He asks how long she's been here and she says since she gave birth. He is floored but she says she got used to it quickly.
She says it only matters that Ryan is happy and that Butcher will love him. So, cuckoldry? Nice one, show. He says he's not a good role model. She asks how he's been and he says he started a private security company. She calls him out on it and that Homelander called him "a man possessed". He admits to his mission. He says where he's been sleeping. She apologizes and says she never wanted that for him.
Butcher says she saved him and he had to avenge her. He promises to make it up to her. He swears to God. She is quiet. He caresses her hair. The crew is driving again. Starlight is smiling. We see a talk show, with Homelander and Maeve talking about protecting the citizens. The host asks about Compound V. Homelander denies knowing anything about it. The host says 92% of heroes are white and that Vought doesn't want diversity in heroes.
Homelander tells her to check her facts and mentions The Seven. He says they have a gay hero, a black hero and Black Noir. Homelander outs Maeve as a lesbian and tells her girlfriend, Elena, is Hispanic. Maeve confronts him in the hallway and says they are just friends. Homelander says he was digging and found they had a relationship.
Homelander asks her what a relationship means to her. He mentions scissoring each other raw. Wow. She says she ended it when she met him. He bursts out but barely reins himself in and hisses that she should stop lying. Maeve says they are together but doesn't answer if she loves her. Homelander wishes them the best of luck. Maeve gives him a side glance. He says he's happy for her.
He sees Stormfront on the TV, speaking in front of a crowd. She lambasts Vought and their consumerism. The crowd agrees with her. She keeps going. Kimiko pushes through the crowd. Stormfront ramps up the inflammatory rhetoric. Kimiko keeps beelining towards her but Frenchie grabs her hand, saying she will not survive. Stormfront is levitating with her electricity and flies away as the crowd cheers.
So, let's see where this trail takes us. Hughie knocks on the door and an older woman opens. He asks about Liberty and the woman closes the door. Mother's Milk knocks. The lady opens again and apologizes. She says she wants to be left alone, because she's signed some papers and took their money. Mother's Milk asks her for just one chance and talks about his father being a lawyer. He says his dad had an involvement with Vought and went after them.
Mother's Milk talks about his dad staying up all night but Vought would not give up and hired teams of lawyers, paying judges. One morning, Mother's Milk woke up and one morning didn't hear his typing, finding him dead at the typewriter at 55. She lets them in and says it's been 48 years but Mother's Milk says they still need to hear it.
She says she was trying to talk about white Supe murder in these parts. It was during one of those summer rain showers that announce themselves with a smell. She was 11 at the time, asleep at the back of their Ford. Liberty stops their car and drags the driver, her brother Myron out. slapping and smashing his face in. She says she wants to kill a black piece of shit like him.
The old lady says they didn't go to the police but took $2,000 from Vought to stay quiet. Hughie says nobody's seen Liberty since 1979 and she's probably dead. The lady shakes her head and shows a news paper report, showing the picture of Stormfront, saying, "That's her, that's Liberty". Wow, the twist.
The crew discusses the idea of Stormfront being 70 and popping Raynor's head for coming too close to the truth. Hughie leans forward and mentions Mother's Milk's dad . Mother's Milk says it's a disease that was passed down and he might pass it down to his kids too, Meanwhile, Homelander is watching memes of Stormfront and him. Really, dude? Isn't there crime to get rid of? We see a procession of memes, oh wow. Homelander is losing it. Bro, chill.
Homelander approaches Stormfront sitting and smirking. He says she tried to take his team and undermine his authority, citing his demographic impact as being higher than hers. He says people all love him. She congratulates him sarcastically and does a meek "yey". he turns on his eye lasers and she gets serious. She tries calming him down and apologizes, saying she's just trying to help. He tells her he built this team from the ground up. She says he spent $273mm on his campaign but she uses five guys on laptops churning out memes; they are paid in Arby's gift cards.
She says he's trying to get the fans' love but she is angering people and so they are soldiers, not fans. She flatters him, goes around his back and says he's the best. He just needs a little help connecting with the audience. She says she changed with the times and looks him in the eyes. He says he doesn't need any help connecting to his audience. She says her door is always open for anything.
Butcher and Becca meet again. There is no Ryan. She is silent but mutters she isn't leaving. He is confused. She says that, if the three of them leave, Butcher will find a way to get rid of Ryan. Butcher denies it but she says she sees it in his face. Butcher says Ryan is worth a billion dollars and Vought won't let him go and they two of them should run away.
Butcher says Ryan is a Supe freak and Becca scoffs. She says he was wrong about her. Wow, after all he's gone through. Becca says when she found out she was pregnant, she went to Vought and not to Butcher because he would seek revenge. He says he loves her. She is crying and says he's full of hate that started long before her and she can't change him. She enters the car. He says he won't leave without her and she turns on the waterworks again.
She shows a button and says she will push it, summoning all guards to her place. He lets her go and she says she's sorry. Oh, wow. We see Black Noir and the nerd techie girl watching the footage of Butcher sliding down the wall. Starlight and Hughie talk in the middle of a city square. She says they can't do that again. He asks why. She says they can't afford to let their guard down. They are all alone and that's the truth.
Hughie says it doesn't have to be like that. She smooches him on the lips and says her final goodbye. Oh, wow. Just move on, man. Another interview with another girl. The lady says a woman needs to do everything for her man. We see them talking to The Deep. Wow. The church lady thanks her for coming in. The lady is flirting and walks out, teasing The Deep, who says he is going to choose her.
The church lady says Cassandra is his wife. The Deep thought he could choose. Oh, so the women are the members of the Collective. The church lady says this marriage is about rehabilitating his image and getting back in The Seven. Homelander is again at Fake Stillwell's house. She greets him. The same setup as before. Again she caresses his face and offers him fingers dipped in milk. She wants him so bad. Wow.
Stillwell says she can be whoever Homelander wants but he pushes her away. He doesn't need anyone but himself. Doppelganger morphs into???? Homelander!!. Great, thanks for haunting my dreams. His copy says he's hot and caresses him. Wow, that was unexpected. The double says, "I want to suck your lollipop so hard, so good, and you're gonna look in your own eyes. It's not even gay if it's with yourself." Oh, wow. What pervert wrote this nonsense?
The double unzips his pants. Homelander takes his neck and pulls him up. Dead? Homelander says he doesn't need anyone to love him. He rages and pulls him up by the neck, snapping his spine. Oh, wow. What a twist. That was disturbing.
Rubble burning. Maeve in a skirt enters the shot. She calls out for Ruby. Swelling music. Devastation. NYPD cars burning around her. Ruby raises her hand. It has a goat's head tattoo. Maeve helps her get up. They discuss hacking and being a hero. Maeve says she's a hero in lots of ways, especially because she's not afraid to live her life. Maeve says she's afraid to show who she is.
Maeve says she's gay and is about to kiss Ruby when an explosion interrupts them. CUT! It's a wrap for today. The nerd scriptwriter praises everyone. Homelander is watching the dailies and says this new Joss rewrite is good. It's the set of Dawn of the Seven. She asks when he'll stop torturing her. He feigns ignorance. She asks to no longer be tortured. He smiles and says she and Elena should be together, forever.
Ashley arrives in a gold cart, I guess. She asks for a word and calls Homelander "sir". He says he's inspired. She says it's urgent. We see black people running away and Homelander lands, lazering two black guys. People weep and whine. Homelander scoffs and says they have cell phones but no food. She says he should clear missions with her but he scoffs at that too. He saw any easy win and took.
She says the video was up 17 minutes before being scrubbed but there's been blowback already. He thinks his approval is down 1–1.5 points; she says it's 9.5. Wow. He can't believe it. She stammers as she's showing a video of a protest against Homelander, calling him a war criminal. He is furious that she didn't tell him sooner. She says PR is drafting a statement with an apology but he won't hear about it; he wants a press conference by himself.
She says Mr. Edgar wants his position on the event, as does Legal, to be "no comment" until the crisis has made a strategy. Stormfront says there's a way to handle it. He refuses her help and enters his trailer. Punk rock concert with a bunch of flashing lights. Butcher is drinking his sorrows away. He moves to the stage and punches a random guy, smacking him when he falls. Wow. People surround him and a lady glasses him. People stomp on him. What a sad, sad man.
In the store, he takes a bag of frozen peas and puts it on his bruised face. Someone is calling him. He answers. Hughie. He tells him about Liberty being Stormfront and that she probably killed Raynor. Hughie says he isn't mad and that he'd do the same thing. We see a Starlight cardboard cutout. Hughie asks how's Becca. Butcher says he's going to Argentina. Hughie says he could have said goodbye. Butcher tells him he was always like his canary and thanks him, snapping his SIM card in half after.
Frenchie and Kimiko are missing. Hughie says something is wrong with Butcher: he was nice and called him his canary. Mother's Milk gets serious and asks for everything he said. Meanwhile, Frenchie is tagging Kimiko. Ruby and Maeve find Agent Pearson and show him a doodad. The "CG mutants" approach, which are stuntment in green suits holding green sticks. Oh, wow. Too real for me.
The three girls enters the scene and pose for the camera. The nerd scriptwriter micromanages them. Starlight and Stormfront don't like each other. Talk show relates The Deep's marriage ceremony to us. Banana saltwater taffy is given by one old lady to the other. Butcher rings and Judy opens. He's her nephew. Judy says his mom and dad are flying over, with the dad quite ill; cancer is spreading fast. Butcher asks to see his boy. It's a doggie! Bulldog called Terror.
They walk down a street. No traffic. A guy on a mobility scooter. Butcher says it's what it comes down to, Metamucil and shaking their lollipops for a few drops of piss. He pours his heart out to Terror and asks himself what was that for. The nerd scriptwriter approaches A-Train, who has a scene too but wanted to rewrite it, saying the dialog is unreal.
I freeze framed the scene and it talks about A-Train pouring his heart out to The Seven and saying he needs to sit back, take a break etc. Obviously written under Homelander's influence. A-Train wants to leave it open-ended so there's a chance he can come back. The nerd says the scene will go as he scripted. A-Train won't be doing this scene. The nerd says it's way above his pay grade and that he should bring it up with Ashley.
The nerd says he can try the banh xeo. The Deep does an interview with Cassandra. Katie Couric asks awkward questions. Cassandra intervenes and says people grow. She says Kevin writes her beautiful letters. Russian guys are arguing in a bar about Alexander Hamilton. Kimiko walks in. One of the guys approaches and lifts her chin. He's dead. She rips his FACE OFF, snaps a neck of the second and kills the third guy. Frenchie enters behind her.
Butcher is back to his aunt, with Hughie and Mother's Milk already there. Judy is stuffing them with cookies and tea. They found him because he squeaked a dog toy during the call and Mother's Milk figured out he had a dog. Mother's Milk mentions Becca and Judy is confused. The two won't leave. Judy says Hughie the toy he's holding is Terror girlfriend, a sex doll. Outside, Butcher sees Black Noir peeking out from behind a roof. He goes back inside and tells the crew.
Butcher figures out Black Noir followed him from Becca's place. The crew learns Becca didn't want to leave. Hughie suggests making a run for it. Mother's Milk says he moves faster than a car and that they should call in an audience. Soon enough, a bunch of fire trucks enter cul-de-sac. They blare about a natural gas leak. Mother's Milk asks Judy about materials for a makeshift bomb.
Starlight is about to eat when she sees her mom talking to Stormfront. Her mom was texting her for day. Aw-kward. Stormfront is envious about Starlight going to Supe pageants as a kid. Mom says she likes Stormfront and that she misses Starlight. Stormfront interjects and says Donna is sorry for using Compound V on her daughter. Wow, Starlight's cleavage is immense. Donna asks for forgiveness. Starlight is trying to end the discussion. Stormfront implies she knows Starlight leaked Compound V to the press.
On the set, two consultants discuss Maeve's and Ruby's relationship on the screen. They have hashtags and all, booking her a spot at gay pride parades, gay shows etc. Elena is there as well, and she can't escape the PR. The two consider the two ladies having clear-cut gender roles, with Elena having a more masculine fashion look. Oh, wow, so straight relationships are the best?
They mention Ellen and Portia. Elena says she doesn't want to be in a public relationship. Maeve is silent. Elena walks off. Maeve says she'll fix it and goes after her. Elena says she will go to her sister. Maeve says Homelander will find her, no matter where she is. Maeve can't protect her if she leaves. Elena asks what are they going to do. Maeve says they will take him down.
Hughie is still making a bomb. Butcher says it ain't right that they are all hostages. Hughie is floored. Butcher apologizes and says there's no happy ending but he can keep Black Noir busy for a little while. Butcher is knackered and could use a little lie-down. Hughie isn't impressed by the blaze of glory move. He thought about it too after what happened to Robin.
Hughie ribs on Butcher, who suddenly took offense and tries to scare Hughie away, calling him pathetic. Butcher says Hughie is latching onto people: Robin, Starlight and then him. Doesn't seem honest. The drama is overdone. Mother's Milk joins too and sides with Hughie. Outside, Kimiko is walking some more. Frenchie is on her tail. He can't see her anymore. She is in a church and sits next to Frenchie's girl, who hands her a paper.
Kimiko is doing assassinations now. Frenchie's girl gets ten percent. Frenchie looks in Kimiko's eyes and asks why. He says she blames herself for her brother but this isn't the way. It will poison her soul. Oh, wow. Frenchie calls her with but she pushes him away. She signs that she got her brother killed and he was the only thing that mattered to her. He can't understand what she's saying.
Frenchie tells her to fuck herself and to go be a monster. He stomps out. Kimiko takes the paper and walks off too. We see an ad. Flowery fields, storms, droughts etc. The Deep walks and talks to the camera, saying he changed. He sees a guy molesting a woman and cockblocks him. He sees two kids wrestling and breaks them off in the mildest way possible.
The Deep enters the stage and shakes hands with Alistair, recommending the membership. A-Train and Stormfront discuss it. The latter says she was a member until they started letting all types of people in. A-Train asks her to elaborate. She rubs salt on his wound and mentions A-Train being retired. Ashley arrives and takes A-Train away, telling him she Tindered her way through Barcelona to survive.
A-Train asks to talk to Homelander but Ashley denies it. He won't say the lines. She gives him an ultimatum: he can also get fired for breaching the morality clause since he injected himself with Compound V. He is desperate. We see him saying the lines to Homelander in the movie. He says it's a sunset of A-Train and that it's been a good run.
A-Train is dejected and at peace with his destiny. Neuman is holding a speech in front of indignant crowd, lambasting Vought. She calls Homelander a war criminal and wants to hold hearings on Vought and Compound V. Homelander lands right next to her and the crowd goes quiet. Neuman is stunned. He takes her microphone and tries doing some jokes, I guess. Ashley is watching it and chases everyone out.
Homelander says he stopped a terrorist and understands their anger. He literally says, "Come on, guys". Wow. He keeps appealing to their patriotism and says these things just happen. The crowd murmurs and one guy shouts, wanting to know how many times before did it happen. Homelander again appeals to a sense of unity. People roast him on his decision. A black soldier in the front row says Homelander doesn't speak for them and the crowd starts chanting. The soldier flips him the bird.
The hell!!!! Homelander turns on his lasers and cuts a swath through the crowd. Then we see it's just a fantasy. He calls them the real heroes, that he loves him and zooms up. The crowd cheers. Ashley realizes she's so stressed, she pulled her hair out. In the cul-de-sac, the fire trucks are moving out. Black Noir is still watching.
Judy calls them to the taffy room. Butcher says this is bollocks. Terror comes with. Judy opens a hatch in the basement and they enter. Plenty of chemicals. Judy calls it an alternative to healthcare. Butcher says she's a dealer. We see Homelander looking at the video of himself trying to appease the crowd. He is at his wits' end. Squeaky violin music is playing. He stomps out.
Stormfront talks about no easy jobs over the phone. The guy on the other side seems doubtful They are talking about a kid. Homelander enters Stormfront's trailer. She shows him a bunch of memes showing Homelander in a positive light. For example, "better 9/11 over there than over here". She is pleased with herself. He chuckles too. The crew made a bomb for Black Noir and set it up at the front door. The crew is going crazy waiting.
Hughie asks Judy about Lenny, who she mentioned when he showed up. She says Lenny is Butcher's little brother. Skinny, nervous little bugger. Butcher protected Lenny from bullies but Lenny was the one who kept him balanced and calm. Lenny had a way of making Butcher meek. Judy says Butcher needs someone like that. Judy says Lenny died
An explosion shakes the house and there are footsteps overhead. Another explosion. More footsteps. Wow. They can't escape. Another explosion. More footsteps. Terror barks. Oh, shucks. They're done for. They hear clattering and a gas grenade flies inside the room. They bust out and see the house completely wrecked and on fire. They move outside the side door. Butcher tells Hughie to get them out there and locks himself inside the house.
Hughie tries to appeal to him. Buther faces Black Noir, whose costume is scuffed but that's it. Butcher takes an iron rod and calls him a gimp cunt Mother's Milk fires and Black Noir takes him down with a knife. Hughie comes in too and shoots but Black Noir ignores it. Butcher hits Black Noir with a rod but nothing happens. He falls down and his ears rings.
Butcher says he's got photos of Vought's dirty little secret. If Black Noir lays one finger on them, those photos go to the media. He wants to ruin Vought's reputation. I can't believe this bluff will work. Butcher whispers but Black Noir chokes him in the air. We hear Hallelujah as a ringtone and Mr. Edgar on the phone. Black Noir holds it to his ear.
Mr. Edgar asks for proof. Butcher asks him to roll the dice. Mr. Edgar offers memory-holing the photos and Black Noir will let them go. Was all of this needed? Black Noir leaves. The crew is roughed up. The Deep is giving out books of the Church. People want food. Maeve comes in and wants to talk. She says she could be on his side and buff up his image. A nerd techie girl is following Stormfront.
Starlight grabs her chance and enters her trailer. We see her flat ass. Starlight opens up her laptop and types in "liberty". Wrong password. She sees a photo of Adele and types in "adele". She sees emails of Sage Grove. Stormfront enters and Starlight confronts her about Donna, saying her mom lied to her about everything. Starlight doesn't want to make peace with her mom. Stormfront is tearing up and calls it a performance, saying she's Tilda Swinton.
Stormfront tells she knows Gecko leaked Compound V to her and she leaked it to the media. Starlight talks about her being Liberty. Stormfront feigns offense and calls Starlight racist. She makes the lights flicker and Stormfront is amused, saying she will be of great help to her. Homelander knocks on the door and enters.
The two girls pretend they were just chatting and Starlight exits. Homelander laughs to himself and asks if they two are friendly. She asks what's up and he says he's up 5 points. He says people are patriotic and unwavering and says he owes Stormfront. She already has an idea how to repay her, I guess.
Butcher is leaving Terror behind, I guess. He says his farewell to the dog and promises to get Becca back. Cops arrive and their lights are flashing. Butcher gives the dog a toy and tells him to fuck it. Oh, I see, it's a toy of Homelander. Butcher hugs Judy and slowly goes to the van. He gives Hughie one last sorrowful look and goes away. Judy winks to Hughie. He and Mother's Milk enter their car. They are all going their separate ways.
Stormfront is smooching Homelander and he throws her at the wall. She throws him back at the wall and his eyes light up. She invites him to cut her in half. She asks to be lazered on her tits. He does it and it hurts her but she tells him to keep going. Oh, wow, so she's immune to his lasers????
Her charred skin starts healing. The hell is this???? Homelander takes her neck and kisses her on the lips. Wow. She slams him around the apartment and they punch each other. He goes down on her and then plows her mid-air. Oh, wow, the MILF dream.
Frenchie, his girl, Cherie, and a third guy are getting high and planning to rob a bank. That was a flashback. We flash forward to the present and see Frenchie trying to take out Annie's tracking chip from her clavicle. Hughie is cringing. Frenchie cuts into her skin, blood sports and he takes it out. It can't be that easy, can it? We then see a frazzled guy in an alley counting money. Homelander lands and greets him. Stormfront is also there and break his gun-holding hand with a kick. The Supes discuss what to do.
They feel the justice system isn't working. She grabs Homelander's crotch and fondles him. Homelander grabs the guy's head with his hand and crushes it against the wall as she's fondling faster and faster. The two Supes kiss and he plows her. They smear blood over their faces. We see Butcher watching a set interview with Stormfront and Homelander. Butcher says to Kimiko, "They're plowing". Hughie brings Annie to their basement. Frenchie asks Kimiko if she's tired of assassinating people.
Annie asks Kimiko if she remembers her. Kimiko jumps in her arms and they hug. Butcher comes in. Hughie says it's all fine. Butcher and Starlight banter a bit. Starlight talks about what she saw on Stormfront's laptop; it relates to the Sage Grove psychiatric hospital. Starlight squeezes her lips when Butcher invites her to their caper and calls her chum that will be left for the sharks if something goes wrong.
Maeve is watching a commercial of herself shilling Pride Bars, because "you can't be proud on an empty stomach". Wow, these companies are milking the gay angle. The Deep interrupts and enters her trailer. She freaks out and says he should have called first. They talk about a black box.
Oh, it's the airplane crash event from when Maeve and Homelander ejected from that airplane. The Deep goes on a tangent and mentions there was a wreckage near Iceland, with a school of halibut finding something. He gives Maeve a black gizmo of some sort from the wreckage. She says he can come back to The Seven if he keeps quiet about it.
Ashley is showing A-Train a rap video. She is glowing and says it's lit, calling it his own anthem. A-Train isn't enthused. She suggests busting out Prince's guitar; he says he had to sell it. Wow. The Deep approaches A-Train and tries to be cordial but the latter gives him a cold reception. The Deep tries to relate about getting bounced from the team. They have a chat and The Deep drops a line about getting help.
A-Train bites and asks whose help. Instead of answering, The Deep offers A-Train a Fresca, the soft drink. Does it have drugs in it? We see the crew parking near Sage Grove. They've got orderly uniforms. Kimiko has knuckle plate jewelry spelling "BOSSY". Frenchie asks if she bought it with blood money and says nobody will believe she's an orderly with that. Starlight asks to come with.
Butcher doesn't want her. Wow. Hughie tries to be a mediator and says people can recognize her face in there. Butcher says to Frenchie to not get caught. He says he never does. We flash back to 8 years ago, when Frenchie was caught. We see him chained to the table, with Mallory's voice smugly talking about weaponized Xanax used in grenades to deactivate Bememoth, a Supe activated by rage.
Frenchie claims he has no idea what she's talking about. Mallory offers hiring him and threatens Frenchie with ADX Florence, where Ted Kaczynski is at. She wants to go out when he stops her. Homelander says he has a surprise for Stormfront, who has more important work at the Tower. She will be back in 20. Wow, he's head over heels for her. He feigns coolness.
He gets in his trailer and sees a bouquet of roses. The card says, "Thanks for a great day! Xo, Homelander". So, it's a gift for Stormfront! He relaxes and sighs. We see Butcher prone on the roof of the van with his sniper rifle. Starlight blasts a hole in the fence and the rest of the crew goes in. He scopes Starlight as she's coming back and thinks about offing her but flips the safety.
Inside the hospital, the three find a gurney and Frenchie lays on it. They cover him up and roll him down the hallway. Starlight asks Butcher what's his problem with her. Hughie tries to be a mediator once more. She ignores him and rages at Butcher. She calls him a bigot and a bully, comparing him to Homelander. That jostles his jimmies. They hear whooshing and Stormfront lands in front of the hospital.
Mother's Milk knocks on the security door, urging the guard to open it right now; a patient is swallowing his tongue. The guard opens, Frenchie shoots him and they get inside. They look at the camera feed and see a bunch of quasi-Supes in rooms losing their minds. The crew is stunned. One guy vomits acid etc. Frenchie asks if these are terrorists. Mother's Milk comments on one guy's love sausage. It's really monstrous.
They see Stormfront entering one of the rooms, with an orderly rolling in five balls on a cart. The prisoner levitates one. Stormfront asks him if he's been having headaches and nausea. The guy says no and she is pleased. Kimiko is freaking out and Mother's Milk calms her down. He is the soul of the show. Mother's Milk asks Frenchie if he recognizes the orderly; he says no. The prisoner is called Tim. She says he was suicidal. He wants to go out and talk to his sister. She patronizes him.
Stormfront exits. The orderly stays in and closes the door. He takes a lighter, does a one-handed Hadouken over it and burns the prisoner. It's Lamplighter. Frenchie rages and says they have to kill him. Mother's Milk calms him down and asks him to stick to the plan. They steal hard drives and roll out. Hughie calls them to warn them about Stormfront. They pass by Lamplighter and Frenchie makes eye contact. He realizes who they are and takes out his lighter.
He blasts the door and one of the prisoners gets out. Alarms are sounding. The prisoner is Cindy. Lamplighter asks her to be cool and mentions the extra helping of snacks he snuck her. Cindy asks the crew who they are. Mother's Milk tells her to plow his ass up. She doesn't believe it. A guard enters the hallway and fires a few times, hitting Cindy. She closes her hand and the guard explodes in a bloody mist, like Tetsuo did in Akira. Definite influence there. Cindy gestures some more and other prisoners exit.
They crawl in the server room and watch the guard and orderlies being torn to pieces. Lamplighter is in there and they have a Mexican standoff. Mother's Milk is again the calmest of the bunch. What a great character. Lamplighter says the facility is on lockdown and nobody is getting out. Can't they just punch out a window?
The acid retcher barges in. Didn't they lock the doors? We see the guard they killed unlocking the doors. He lays on top of Lamplighter and burns him. Kimiko kicks him and the poor guy vomits on his face, burning himself. Wow. Lamplighter suddenly changes his tune and says they can come. Hughie is watching with binoculars what's going on. Butcher tries calling Mother's Milk. Nobody's answering
A prisoner comes out and tells Butcher he doesn't want to get hurt. Poor, scrawny guy. He doesn't want to get hurt. He does a hip thrust and everything around him gets blown away. Butcher blasts him with his pistol and opens the van. Hughie steps out and collapses; he's got a stomach injury. Starlight's power isn't working. They need to get him medical attention, stat. Butcher says the crew is on its own.
Homelander is still waiting. He looks at the card and listens to the clock ticking. We see the trailer burned down and Ashley raging about Starlight missing. So, what happened? Stormfront lands next to Homelander, who says it was electrical fire. She apologizes for her meeting being long. He plays it cool and wants to walk away. She asks what's wrong. He says he stopped by the Vought Tower and didn't find her there.
She accuses him of checking on her. She wants to explain. He squeezes her neck and chokes her. She is calm and relaxed. He lets her go and walks away. Church of the Collective. The Deep is having a dinner with A-Train and Alastair, who asks the latter what he thinks about this. A-Train calls it a nice dinner. Swimming with the sharks, kiddo.
The Deep says A-Train sabotaged him his whole career and fantasized about drowning him. A-Train gets up and says this isn't his type of stuff. Alastair says he has a heart condition, 7-figure debt and is in heavy withdrawal. As I said, swimming with the sharks. A-Train is floored and accuses The Deep of telling them that. Alastair says the Church can be discreet.
Alastair says Shockwave will be given his uniform and A-Train will be just another nobody. A-Train sits down and The Deep starts breathing deep. The crew plus Lamplighter sneak out to a storage room. Frenchie sees all types of drugs and calls it beautiful. Mother's Milk asks Lamplighter why he's burning these people; he says he likes to watch people burn. Lamplighter addresses Frenchie and asks why he didn't stop him that night when he burned those kids.
Frenchie freaks out and starts smashing stuff. Mother's Milk is again there to calm him down. We flash back to five years earlier. Mother's Milk is showing an engagement ring to Frenchie and they celebrate. He shows the ring to Mallory, who calls it beautiful. Nice moment. Butcher calls their attention to Lamplighter, who enters with a flaming rod and a hooded robe. They all start chuckling and even Mallory lets out a cough.
Butcher calls him a majorette. Oh, so this is the backstory. Mallory shows him a picture of something and says he will tell them everything that happens at the Tower. Butcher adds Homelander is the main target. Mallory gives him her card and he stomps out. Butcher says it was easy but Mallory thinks backing an animal in a corner isn't good. She orders Frenchie to track him and he obeys.
She stops a car and asks the driver to get out. Butcher comes out carrying barely conscious Hughie and says he's FBI. The driver asks for ID but Butcher says he left it in his other pants. He can call his boss, though. The driver says he won't give them his car. Butcher walks away and Starlight panics. The driver takes out a gun and says they aren't even American.
He points his gun at Butcher and approaches him???? Shouldn't he be backing away? Butcher calls him a daft cunt and says if he wanted to boost some wheels, he wouldn't choose a Hyundai. She blasts the driver and he flies over the car. He's dead?? He's dead. Butcher takes his keys. Starlight draws on the car's battery and cauterizes Hughie's wound. It's bad, like really bad.
Starlight enters the car and sees a kid's seat. Wow. They drive off. Butcher watches her in the back mirror. Frenchie takes out drugs and calls it good news. He says he can make a knockout bomb, even for Supes. This was actually established earlier, so great job, scriptwriters. Frenchie asks why they are still alive. The crew went underground but neither Lamplighter nor Homelander came for them. Why?
Lamplighter calls them nobodies. Frenchie asks if he even told them. Why? Lamplighter says he's not an animal. Frenchie taunts him some more and Lamplighter stands up, saying he didn't know they will be in that bed. Every Supe is a disaster in this show. Lamplighter says he saw Frenchie following him and asks why didn't he stop him.
More flashbacks. We see Frenchie stalking Lamplighter and getting called by Cherie, telling him to come because the third guy, Jay, is ODing. She calls him Serge and tells him to plowing come right now. Frenchie comes in, gives CPR and sticks a needle in Jay. He gasps and opens his eyes. So, that's what happened? He tells Cherie to keep him awake.
Wow, what a mess. Cherie kisses Jay and Frenchie walks out. He promises it in French. Meanwhile, Starlight is checking Hughie's temp. Butcher commends her for what she did. She is sarcastic. He says she didn't have a choice, referring to the driver she killed. She wonders why the guy pulled a gun. Once she would cry over him but now he's just another person in the way. She says no to his look of quiet approval and says she doesn't want it. They are nothing alike, nothing.
Frenchie is about to finish his bomb. Lamplighter asks if that's really going to work. Frenchie says he thinks so. Lamplighter says Vought is trying to stabilize Compound V to create a reliable supply of Supes. On some people it has a random effect, that's the problem. Lamplighter says he just burns the evidence; he isn't privvy to the plan. Frenchie says Jay survived for a few months but died from an OD. Mother's Milk tells him he should have told them about it so they can let him off the hook. Frenchie says he doesn't want to be let off the hook.
Mother's Milk hears a thud and a love sausage punches through the door glass and strangles him. Kimiko runs out, we hear a thud and the sausage relaxes. Oh, wow. She punched the guy with her knuckle plate, leaving an imprint of BOSSY on his forehead. Mother's Milk says it's his plowing sausage but Frenchie tells him not to be so closed-minded. They run out and see Cindy.
What about the hard drives? How come Cindy couldn't bust her way out of her cell? They roll a bomb at Cindy but she crushes it. It doesn't work. A door opens behind Cindy and Stormfront torches her with electricity. She calls out for Lamplighter. He hears but won't reply. Mother's Milk motions not to go out but he does. Kimiko is again freaking out.
Stormfront asks what happened and says she killed 6 subjects. He says doctor Carlton got the drug dose wrong and Cindy got out. Mother's Milk gets Kimiko's hand and looks in her eyes. Wow, what a great character. Stormfront orders Lamplighter to clean up the mess and he affirms. Hughie is being taken care of. Starlight says they need a couple days. Butcher says they don't have it. She caresses his head and says he uses kids' shampoo. Butcher says it's L'Oreal, strawberry smoothie. Wow, nice ad.
Starlight mentions Axe body spray. Wow, nice ad again. Butcher says Hughie has rashes on his bum and spreads a cream to deal with it. Wow, so shaming him for a rash? Starlight says Hughie never gives up on you. Butcher affirms and calls him a little pup. Starlight says he's too good for either of them. Butcher affirms. Elena and Maeve are talking in their apartment. Elena wants to check her phone and finds the gizmo. It's a phone showing a dude in the plane filming himself.
The dude says they are leaving them to die. Reminiscent of 9/11. Maeve comes out of the shower and sees what's happening. Oh, wow. We hear the dialog with perfect clarity. The man says his goodbyes. Maeve says she will blackmail Homelander with that footage and calls it their out. She says she was scared. Elena squeezes her lips. Maeve tries justifying herself.
The crew is out. Mother's Milk talks to Butcher. Frenchie tells him to talk about the thick sausage around his neck. Frenchie sits next to Kimiko and apologizes. He says he was trying to save her for a long time. He thought that it would make up for the things he's done. She never asked to be saved. She can't absolve his sins; he realized it. He will leave her alone.
A vehicle is heard coming. Mother's Milk has to go. It's a van. Mallory. She is stern and asks where he is. Frenchie apologizes for not attending the funeral but Mallory cuts him off and wants to see Lamplighter. She points her gun at him and pants. She's about to cry. Lamplighter tells her to both be done with it. She is going through a lot of pain and her face is contorted.
Lamplighter tells her to do it and resolve him of this pain. Frenchie begs her for his life. She says she has no choice. Frenchie says it won't help her and will only end his torment. He asks to be trusted. She asks if he has a better idea what to do with him. We see Stormfront trying to appease Homelander and justify herself. He is cold and basically calls her a liar. He says he's been thinking about it a lot.
She says she will never lie to him again and will tell him everything. She approaches a chest and takes out a photo of herself and a granny. It's her daughter, Chloe, who died of Alzheimer's. She was born in 1919 in Berlin. So, Nazi? She shows more photos, it's she with Himmler, a lovely dancer. There's also Goebbels and she being married to some dude, who is...???? Is that Frederick Vought? They are under a swastika.
Yep, Homelander says his name. He gave her the first successful Compound V injection. They fell in love. He made her and his genius made Homelander. How will he react to it? The man-child. She says Frederick didn't care about the fans but about the culture. The other races are grinding them down and taking what's rightfully theirs. I guess she means whites. Sounds like it's taken from that famous white supremacy foru... never mind, carry on.
She says they can fight back with an army of Supes, millions strong. She says Homelander will be the one to lead them. He is everything that they dreamed of. She loves him with all of her heart. How could she not? Uh-oh. Tense music. Homelander is silent. She says they found each other. Neither of them has to be alone ever again. She says that's the truth. He approaches her and.... kisses her. Oh wow!!!!!!!!!!!!! Did not expect that!!!!!! We see Cindy hitchhiking. Someone stops to her.
Alarm beeping. Radio babbling. A nerd wakes up. TV blasting Stormfront's speech. He is a Stormfront fanboy. He's pouring coffee. He's going to school and vainly smiles at a girl passing by him in the hallway. She's tapping on her phone. Wow. He's buying stuff and going back home. All right, so this is a Groundhog Day type of thing? He's in his bed and again he wakes up. Oh, he is Stormfront's media guy?
He goes to the store and points the gun at the store clerk. He accuses him of having "light in his eyes" and being a villain. The clerk begs for mercy. The nerd pulls the trigger and domes him. Oh, I see, he's a neo-nazi and has gone crazy from all the memes. The nerd looks over the counter and sees him dead. He starts hyperventilating. Lamplighter confesses to Neumann about the murders.
Grace is there with Butcher too. They discuss about killing Lamplighter. She defends Lamplighter. Neumann is happy but says it's not enough to have Lamplighter and asks Butcher for mutual trust. Neumann says she needs a full picture. Grace suggests someone and Butcher shakes his head. Starlight? Yep, Starlight. Her mom, Donna, offers her treats but she lashes out. Donna again tries mending ties.
All right, their relationship is terrible. There, I said it. Starlight talks about having a cross she would touch it. Now she feels so stupid. It means nothing and it's all for money. Donna suggests going away from Vought and escaping for a while. She cleared it already with Ashley at Vought. At that moment, a gas grenade drops the coffee shop people to the ground and Starlight gets smacked on the head by Black Noir.
Frenchie and Grace discuss the situation. She says Frenchie has to keep Neumann alive for the hearing and that he shouldn't abandon his post this time. Hughie is patched up. Butcher won't let him and has an important job for him: watching Lamplighter. Butcher's mom calls him and says she's in New York. He sighs and says he's ain't got the time. She says his dad is dead. He is stunned and asks when that happened. She wants to see him right now.
Starlight wakes up in a room. Looks like something out of Cube. There's an LED light in each corner. She can't charge her powers using it. Wow, what a useless superpower. She starts panicking and wants to be let out. We see Hughie and Lamplighter watch some cuck porn (???!?!). Wow. Oh, it's the porn parodies of Supes. The porn parody of Homelander is Homebanger. Lamplighter won't let Hughie change the channel and says he was a prodigy.
Lamplighter whines and compares himself to the cuck in the porn. Wow. Hughie says he was left behind by the team because his mom died and his dad did nothing his whole life. He calls himself the cuck (?????!?!?). Lamplighter says he's even worse and a cuck fluffer. Wooooow. Homelander and Stormfront are making the crowd cheer.
Stormfront mentions the store clerk. Homelander latches on and says America used to be beautiful. The crowd cheers. He says villains dragged everyone to mud. Stormfront complains about trying to protect her own and that they need more Supes. The crowd chants. Homelander says he's got to be honest and that they had a mole in The Seven, naming Starlight. Hughie watches more porn parody and finally switches to the news, seeing Homelander announce the news.
Lamplighter says level 42 at the Vought Tower is Supe-proof and is likely where they're keeping her. Hughie gets worked up but Lamplighter tries to put him down a notch. Hughie invokes the porn analogy and it somehow works for Lamplighter. Oh, wow. Butcher is knocking on a door. 2307. His mom opens. He says hello and she hugs him. She asks him to come with. He does. She asks him not to hate her. He goes to the balcony and sees his dad. Oh, I see. She stops him from leaving.
She says she's never asked him for anything and he goes back. His dad is barely alive and uses a walking cane. Butcher threatens killing him and wants to walk out. His dad congratulates him about Stillwell but he says it wasn't him. Butcher gives him 2 minutes. His dad talks about cricket and the '83 World Cup. Butcher says he only liked it because he would be left alone. Butcher accuses him of killing his brother Lenny. His father says he either sinks or swims and Lenny did it to himself.
Butcher and his dad go to and fro with threats. His dad suddenly gets up much faster than expected and gets in his face, saying he loved Lenny. Butcher says he beat the shit out of both of them. His dad says that made him hard and calls him an asshole. Oh, wow. His dad says Lenny put the gun in his mouth because he was too weak. Butcher chokes him and his mom comes out to the rescue.
Wow, what a screwed family. Butcher stomps out. Meanwhile, Homelander and Stormfront say their goodbyes. Homelander says it's a mistake to keep Starlight alive. He won't leave her alone. Stormfront says a common enemy rallies the base. Stormfront looks at a crowd member holding a baby. She says her daughter looked like that 80 years ago. He has something to show her.
Homelander and Stormfront land in Rebecca's backyard. Homelander introduces Ryan to Stormfront and apologizes to him. He says Stormfront is his girlfriend. She kneels and says he's very, very special. Rebecca asks her to stop and asks Homelander to announce himself before coming. Tempers flare up a bit here. Homelander wants them all to be a family. Wow.
Maeve and Elena are about to eat: Empire Wok. Elena is going to her sister's for a while. Maeve has a plan. Elena is choking up because of the video of the little girl on the plane. Maeve tries to make things normal. Wow, lesbian relationships, right? All it takes is domestic violenc—Maeve TOSSES THE TABLE IN THE AIR. Elena was just saying Maeve must have killed so many other people. Maeve says this is the real her. Elena sniffles and apologizes.
Grace and Mother's Milk arrive at an estate. They buzz themselves through the gate by the power of Grace's name. Inside, Dr. Vogelbaum in a wheelchair welcomes them. He orders them some tea but she won't take it. Mother's Milk asks about Sage Grove. He says he doesn't know about it. She pulls a deal they made about an involuntary manslaughter he did. She says Vought fucked him and put him in the chair; the least he can do to get back to them is get back at Vought.
Dr. Vogelbaum says she is the last person that should ask for help. He says some things are more important than the right thing and they walk out. Grace tells Mother's Milk to get back to his family; she can send them to Nicaragua. He says he'll do it when it's all over. That's the point, she says, because it's never over and he'll never get his revenge for his dad. All that matters is family and she wishes she did it.
Butcher is drowning in alcohol in a bar. Mother's Milk calls him and reports what happened with Dr. Vogelbaum. He says he'll take care of it. Meanwhile, crowd is riling up in front of Neuman's house. Frenchie and Kimiko are on a roof watching Neuman's house. He talks about cooking with his mom, especially cassoulet and confit de canard. He has cooking is a way of giving port in a storm. He asks Kimiko about her mom cooking and she nods.
Frenchie talks about dying twice and how people die when nobody remembers them. He asks Kimiko about her family but she takes a gun and he says point is taken. She shows the reload gesture. Oh, she's teaching him to speak. So charming. Inside a party of some sort, The Deep and his wife are having fun. A-Train gives him a fishbowl. The Deep hugs him and they bond.
Adana drops in and says he has a meeting with Mr. Edgar next week. He will shill The Deep and A-Train as trusted commodities. He asks them about Eagle the Archer. The Deep starts calling him a good guy but Adana says he's toxic and no Church members are to have any contact with him at all. Wow? The Deep changes the story. A-Train asks what happened.
Adana says Eagle the Archer claims the program failed him but it was the other way around. A-Train puts on a fake smile. Hughie and Lamplighter sneak in through a vent. The latter says he used to sneak in college girls this way all the time. Lamplighter puts his palm on the panel and the elevator door opens. Really? This is a trap. Meanwhile, Ashley is stunned by something. Maeve is getting high and being plowed by a dude and Ashley says this isn't kosher.
Maeve says Elena is gone but Ashley won't hear about it and needs the two for Congress. Maeve is silent. Ashley is freaking out and said Vought curated a coming-out story. Maeve urges her to be a real human being for once in her life. Ashley apologizes and goes out. Meanwhile, Ryan is watching a Youtube Lego stop motion video. It's Ryan's video! He also did other favorite movies of his mom. Stormfront asks if he's into anything else other kids are into, like NBA2k. Lady? Your steamboat has long passed.
Stormfront then namedrops PewDiePie. My God, her superpower is cringe. Rebecca looks at Homelander, who stares in the distance and tries not to burst out laughing. The kid has no idea what any of that means. Wow, lady? She asks Ryan if he's ever seen any of Homelander's movies. He names some of them; like Marvel's wet dream. Ryan asks if he can see them and Stormfront even throws in a visit to Vought Land. Really, that's a thing? Rebecca doesn't want it but Stormfront pushes it and Homelander says the movies are PG.
Homelander is barely keeping his composure. Poor guy, stuck between two women. Rebecca hisses for a huddle and they walk out. Straight away, Rebecca berates Homelander, who says he grew up just like Ryan, unaware of anything around him. Homelander says seeing the outside world will make him panic and that will fuck him up. Rebecca says his life is different because she is there.
Homelander says she is lying to him. She says she loves him and it's the best for Ryan to spend time with her. She wants Ryan to have a normal childhood. Homelander seems distraught. Butcher is at the gates of Dr. Vogelbaum. He gets buzzed in. Dr. Vogelbaum can't apologize enough but can't give the information either. Butcher scrapes the chair on the floor and asks about Homelander growing up as a lad.
Butcher insists. Dr. Vogelbaum calls him sweet and how he loved stories about Davy Crockett, cuddling up to the doctor when he was 5 or 6. He loved the ideas of the woods, the forest and manifest destiny. Dr. Vogelbaum wanted him to be the strongest man in the world. Butcher says that wasn't his only sin. Oh, so Dr. Vogelbaum hid Rebecca. Butcher asks if he's aware that he caused a lot of pain to sorry bastards like him.
Dr. Vogelbaum says at the time it was barely a blip on his radar. Butcher asks him what his radar is telling him now. Dr. Vogelbaum says he can't help him. Butcher says he will straight up murder his entire family today if he won't help. Dr. Vogelbaum is speechless. Sonia enters with tea and serves them. Butcher is laughing cordially and calls Sonia, Dr. Vogelbaum's daughter, a doll. He smacks his lips and smiles.
Hughie is starting to bleed through. He and Lamplighter enter 42D, the floor where Supes are held. Wow, looks like a gallery. That can't be right. It's a conference room. Lamplighter is looking at the frieze of The Seven and seems distraught that his statue is no longer there. He wanted to do something in front of his statue. Kill himself? Yep, he lights himself on fire and Hughie starts screaming. Sprinklers go off and smoke lights start blinking, including in Starlight's cell. She smiles.
She charges up and blasts the door down. Meanwhile, Hughie is barely standing. He says one final "fuck you" and walks away but then comes back, trying to get Lamplighter's hand. He breaks a bottle and tries cutting and snapping it off. Nasty. He manages. Wow, does he think this will work? Starlight is slowly going out when Black Noir grabs her and slams her through the door. She blasts him and they fight, right on top of Lamplighter's body. He's much stronger.
She is being pummeled, man. He chokes her on the floor. She is about to lose it but then... Maeve chokeholds Black Noir and takes off his mask. She puts an Almond Joy in his mouth and says he has a tree nut allergy. Wow?!?!?!? That worked?!?!?!?!? Starlight asks her to come with but Maeve shakes her head. Hughie is now at the cells and hears Donna banging on the door. He opens the door with Lamplighter's hand and they run out. They meet Starlight.
He laughs but Donna cockblocks him and hugs her daughter. She asks him what he's doing there. Guys? Time to run away. Meanwhile, Rebecca is making a microwave lasagna. Ryan looks at her with a hateful look and accuses her of lying. He says everything is fake, including the neighbors. Homelander says the boy deserves to know the truth. Rebecca caresses his face but he says he hates her.
Homelander says Ryan needs a little space. Rebecca puts him behind her back but he runs off to Homelander's arms and they fly off. Meanwhile, Hughie is being berated by Mother's Milk for letting Lamplighter burn himself to death. Butcher says to Grace he's got it all sorted and enters the caffe, where his mom is trying to patch things up with him and his dad. He won't meet him. Her name is Connie.
Connie chokes trying to speak. Eagle the Archer talks on the TV about the Church leaking a homemade video of him doing a sexually perverted act with a partner. The old lady, Carol Mannheim, says those were defamatory rumors. The Deep asks for another channel, where the hearing is about to take place. The crew is watching it too with some popcorn. Neuman takes the mic and accuses Vought for malfeasance and felonies.
Jonah rolls in the courtroom. Wow. He is a former CSO of Vought. Butcher gloats watching Homelander squirm. Dr. Vogelbaum is sworn in when the chairman's head FUCKING EXPLODES. Who did that? Jonah's head pops next, then the Shockwave's and then the heads just keep popping like crazy. WHAT THE FUCK. Ashley screams at Homelander to do something. The crew is breathless. The Deep touches his head and makes sure it's in one piece.
Grace grabs Neuman and tries scurrying off to safety. Neuman sees a woman's head pop and scurries back. Homelander seems unfazed. One guy slips on a pool of blood and falls. C-Span interrupts the broadcast with "technical difficulties". The crew is gasping. Hughie asks what the fuck they do now. Butcher is calm and resolute. That's it??????!?!?!!?? The next episode is going to be a banger.
I had a long discussion prior to this episode airing with my cousin, Aljoša. Basically, I said it was a satellite-based weapon while he said it was an incognito Supe who did the head popping. Let's see who was right.
A how-to video is being shown. "How to survive a supervillain attack at school." Kids in the classroom. Screams heard outside the door. Gore and violence about to commence? Voiceover of sheriff Ed Flanagan, who introduces himself and Homelander. Ed says a Supe will rush to help the kids. Homelander adds that, to stay alive, they need to follow the LAW:
Kids are seen pointing a flagpole at the camera. Cute. So, how will the kids know if someone is a Supe or a villain? The PSA shows a hyperlink, which leads to a SonyPictures.com 404 page. Grace, Neuman and Bob are talking. He will talk to the President, who will declare a national emergency, authorizing the use of Compound V by first responders.
Doses are going for $5mm a pop and Pentagon and ICE orders got big orders in. Grace protests and calls it a suicide but Bob ignores her and talks about how he will keep the America safe. Is Neuman involved? I find it strange she wasn't affected. She says it was Vought's fault and it was a coup. Bob doesn't trust her but he does agree with her; it's a matter of having proof.
Grace tries to go hard on Bob, who says she can release the footage of him plowing his kids' nanny at her daughter's quincenanera (celebration of her 15th birthday). He begs her to release it so he can get a dream job at Fox. Neuman says what if she can provide a witness. Bob says Jesus will do and apologizes.
Someone is being chased through the woods. It's Rebecca??? She runs through a drain pipe, lays down and pulls out a penknife. Wow. Starlight and Donna hash over their plans. Donna can't believe she fell for the anxious guy with the moist handshake (Hughie). She gifts her a necklace with a cross. Starlight says she won't wear it. Donna says she doesn't care. They say they love each other and hug.
Starlight enters the crew's basement. Hughie tells her they lost their minds. Frenchie shows an RPG, presumably an anti-Supe weapon. It should release an EMP to destroy Stormfront's plasma bolts. Really? An RPG is all they've got? They want to kill The Seven entirely. Hughie says Grace told them to find a witness but Frenchie mocks it by comparing Hughie's plans to Wile E. Coyote's elaborate grand schemes that fail.
Butcher tails his story and says he will shoot the Roadrunner in the fucking head. Hughie says Vought will just make more Supes and Butcher says they will pop those too. The guy really has a bloodlust. Starlight offers to testify but Mother's Milk says convicts don't have credibility. When was she convicted of anything? She says she may know someone who does. Maeve?
News reports ramble on about the attack. Crimson terror alert. Homelander is watching it at the spot where Lamplighter torched himself when Stormfront enters. He knows it's her without looking and asks about Black Noir, who is unresponsive. Doctors don't think there's brain damage but "it's hard to tell".
Stormfront is not fazed by the situation. The news clip shows the slightly pixelated head-popping with "trigger warning: decapitation". Oh, wow. Homelander tries to figure out who did it. Stormfront denies doing it and he says it's Edgar. Stormfront reluctantly agrees and tells him to smile. These were sacrifices but now there's no more dancing monkey bullshit or screaming fans. That's right, terror is the name of the game.
Stormfront calls it a whole new world. Homelander is worried about the wrong people getting Compound V. Stormfront says Frederick had a solution for everything. Starlight is driving with Hughie. She says there's something really important she's wanted to ask him: why is he always listening to Billy Joel?
Hughie says he feels 57 on the inside. She asks again and he says it was something they listened to in his house. She says Butcher is right; witnesses won't stop Compound V. He says the alternative is to give up. She asks why he saved her at the Tower. So, are they in a relationship still? He says he would never (???). OK.... They enter a place to find Maeve, who says they were stupid to text.
Maeve asks if Hughie is the guy. He offers his hand but she calls him a twink and ignores it. She says she could "split that shit like dry firewood". All right... Starlight wants to ask her for something: to testify on the record against Vought and everything. Her voice is shaking and she knows this won't work.
Starlight calls her "our last chance" and Maeve immediately refuses, saying it's suicide. Told you. Maeve says she's tired and Hughie confirms. Maeve cuts him off. Wow, what a bitch. Starlight tries the "you can't give up on people" speech. This won't work. Maeve tells her to STFU. Told you. Maeve's voice quivers as she sounds totally hopeless and dejected.
Maeve screams at them to go away. Starlight turns around and walks out. Hughie follows. Wow. What a storyline. I hate it already. In the crew basement, Michel tells Butcher to come up. He does and sees screaming Rebecca. She enters the shop, hughs Butcher and says they've got Ryan. Wow, what a cold, soulless, heartless, brainless bitch.
Inside the Church of the Collective, we see Mr. Edgar dining with Alistair. A servant brings in Fresca, which Mr. Edgar refuses, calling it awful stuff. Alistair asks him about The Deep being brought back to The Seven. Mr. Edgar says he did admit sexual assault. Alistair says he's got an internal Q rating. OK.... Mr. Edgar switches the conversation to the Church commission. They're getting 50%??? Wow, I'm in the wrong business.
Alistair talks about A-Train. Mr. Edgar bringing two has-beens to the crew is weakness and that Stormfront has a problem with him. OK.... He didn't do nothing. Mr. Edgar says Stormfront was among Alistair's grandfather's first followers when the Church was a start-up. Alistair neither confirms nor denies that. Alistair is happy with A-Train being brought back. They walk out and A-Train walks in, mumbling, "Sons of bitches".
Rebecca is being pampered at the crew's basement. She is uneasy. Mother's Milk uses his inmate-soothing voice. Butcher asks them to spread out and reports on Ryan. She thinks he's in the Tower but he can't tell. He tries to walk out but she stops him and feigns being a good, faithful woman. Wow, the nerve on this bitch. She really is. She says she's sorry. He says he will find her son. Wow, really, dude?
They kiss on the mouth. She hugs him and thanks him. The crew is watching it and smiling. Butcher tells them to fuck off. Mr. Edgar gets a phone call. It's Butcher. Ashley entertains Ryan at the Tower when Stormfront and Homelander walk in. She's been searching the names of all the cats in Cats. Woman, cut it off. She's been pulling out her hair. We see a bald spot on her head. Wow.
Homelander asks why he hasn't been playing Vought Tournament of Heroes, where he is the main guy. Ryan was writing down all 50 states in either geographical or alphabetical order. He is giving himself homework??? Wow, what a smart kid. Ryan asks to call Rebecca. Homelander is distressed. Stormfront interjects and sits next to the kid, telling him they should go on a field trip. They enter Planet Vought. Wow.
This smells like a massacre in the making. We see an employee offering a Brave Maeve Veggie Burger with a flat, dead voice to customers. It should be roast beef. He sees Homelander and finally emotes. The three sit down. Fans immediately start gathering, at first timidly. They start doling out selfies but Ryan looks away. He is anxious and covers his ears. Wow, the kid isn't all right. He says he wants his mom. Dude, you ripped his heart apart.
Homelander picks up Ryan and walks out. He orders his fans to stay back. That's why you always have a personal space. He should have told them to wait until they've eaten and then he would have taken as many selfies as they wanted. He jumps up and away. Starlight shows the necklace her mom gave her and says they are a gift that keeps on giving. She apologizes but Hughie says she's not dead; she left when he was six. Starlight apologizes. Why?
Hughie says that's why he listens to Billy Joel. He says one day she just left. Starlight tries to console him but he solace. He says he doesn't want to be like her. Suddenly, A-Train pops up from the back seat. They scream and Hughie stops the car. He says he easily found them. A-Train gives them a huge folder. Starlight is shocked. He says he wants Stormfront gone and calls her a Nazi bitch.
Butcher is meeting Mr. Edgar, who offers him something for his cheat day. Butcher assumes he has a man out there with a clean shot; Mr. Edgar says there's more than one. Mr. Edgar asks what's his offer. Butcher says Ryan is Mr. Edgar's only contingency against Homelander. We see Mr. Edgar getting lime water with ice cubes. Wow, this guy is amazing. Butcher says he can be of use. Mr. Edgar says Homelander is a friend and Butcher says he's a bastard.
I don't think this will work. Mr. Edgar says Stormfront knows how to make people angry. Mr. Edgar says it's all about the share price but admits Stormfront bothers him. He can't lash out like an enraged maniac; that's a white man's luxury. Wow. Butcher asks why he thinks he can control the racist bitch. Then they negotiate. I don't get it, how does Butcher have any leverage here? They discuss the terms of Ryan's kidnapping.
They shake hands. Basically, they agree Butcher will kidnap Ryan and ring his cell phone to show where he is. Stormfront lands and sees Homelander. They are in front of a cabin, where Ryan is cooped up. He is afraid. Stormfront urges him to talk to the boy. We hear Ryan autistically repeating names of all 50 states to himself. Wow, the kid is hurting. Really, guys, that's what you'll do to him? He's in a fetal position and apologizes.
Ryan says there were just so many people. Homelander sympathizes and says that's how he felt the first time in a crowd. Ryan asks what he did; he took off and flew away. He cried his eyes out. Poor kids in this show. Ryan can't believe his dad cried. Homelander says it was a long time, but now he's a man. Ryan says he will never be like him. Homelander says he had to learn it day by day, and he was raised by people who were scared of him. Homelander says he loves him. Ryan enters his embrace. Stormfront looks on approvingly.
Butcher enters the basement and says to Rebecca he found Homelander at a cabin. How????????? Hughie tells him about the folder. Butcher calls it a jackpot but says the crew isn't obliged to come along. Mother's Milk tells him to lick his big black balls. Hughie sends a ZIP file containing the folder to VNN. Dude, nobody lets you send zipped files in 2020 through mail, try it out. Besides, how did he scan it all? I don't see a page scanner anywhere.
We see a gearing-up montage. Even Rebecca cocks a gun. She says she was a better shot than Butcher, who won't let her come. She asks Butcher to promise her he will save Ryan and bring him home. He says yeah, sure. She asks him to swear on his brother's soul. Wow, you cruel, ruthless, faceless bitch. He swears. He takes out his cell phone.
She is making origami cranes. Frenchie asks for her help loading the car. She asks what if it happens again, if she sees Stormfront and freezes. He says she can take care of herself. When the time comes, she will know what to do. Uh-oh, that sounds really bad. She seems reaffirmed.
Ryan is practicising his powers on The Deep action figure. Homelander shakes his head to Stormfront. He says to Ryan to imagine hating someone and focusing that energy into the figure. Ryan says even saying the word "hate" means he has to put a quarter in the swear jar. Wow, what a bluepilled kid. Stormfront interjects and says they're under attack.
Stormfront says bad guys want to wipe them out because of the color of their skin and she actually says "white genocide". OH MY GOD WHO WROTE THIS??? Stormfront says they need Ryan to protect them. Stormfront gets a call and becomes irate. The news broke out about her Nazi origins? The crew is in the woods, setting up the weapons. Frenchie talks about raves he made in Algiers. They see Stormfront flying away.
The crew sees the news, including a obviously fake image of Stormfront with Hitler. Holy Mother of God, this is some next-level cringe. Stormfront enters the Vought Tower and everyone stares at her. Just spin it, lady. Maeve seems determined as the news voiceover tells us what we already know. OK, guys, we got it. This kind of news would never get published. We hear some black soyboy saying: "I can't believe I actually have to say this in this day and age, but Nazis are bad." OK, dude.
We see a sing-along GIF of Stormfront parading in front of Vought Tower with Nazi troops lined up and the lyrics urging people to run her over. They don't look like actual Nazi uniforms. Wow, really? Nobody researched this? There's a swastika on a flag as well. The crew looks at it and smiles, with Hughie calling it catchy.
They are getting ready. Butcher activates his cell phone, which triggers the Vought trackers (???). Meanwhile, Homelander is watching the news with Ryan. Really, bro? You're giving your poor, distressed son the [current year] news cycle? Ryan asks what's malfeasance. Homelander and Ryan hear some high-tone ringing. Homelander exits. Butcher enters the cabin. Ryan is in a fetal position. Rebecca puts on headphones on him. Butcher is holding guard. Rebecca says it's her husband.
Homelander finds the stack of Vought Sonic gadgets that were causing the ringing and cuts them down. Butcher drives Rebecca and Ryan to the crew and tells them to drive them to Grace. He confesses to Rebecca he just cheated Homelander. We see Vought security enter the cabin as Homelander lands and asks what's going on. He closes the door. Uh-oh. This won't end well. Homelander asks where's his son and cuts the guy in half. The security aims their guns at him. Wow.
Rebecca and Butcher argue fruitlessly. Wow. We know he isn't made for a family. Wow. They drive off when Stormfront lands in front of them and launches the car with Rebecca, Ryan and Mother's Milk 200 meters away. Stormfront says the pictures are deepfakes (nice one) and calls Starlight a lying slut. The crew walks towards her menacingly. We see the people in the car are a-OK.
Stormfront says people love and believe her but just don't love the word Nazi, that's all. Not a single scratch on people who just got tumbled in a car. Mother's Milk cocks his gun and walks towards Stormfront too. Starlight asks what about the truth. Kimiko zones out and realizes what she has to do and smiles. Punch Nazis, right? She laughs. Wow, she's gone. She signs to Frenchie, who translates: "The truth is, she is gonna stick her boot up your Nazi kitty." It's OK, dude, we're all adults, you can swear. Starlight starts blasting light out of her hands (where did she get a power source).
Kimiko starts punching Stormfront. The RPG is in the car. Stormfront sees what they're doing and blows it up. Wow. Kimiko is wrecking Stormfront, who blasts her with electricity. The crew aims their guns at Stormfront, with Frenchie holding out two peashooters. Wow. Stormfront snaps Kimiko's neck. They start blasting and it all just bounces off of her. Starlight blinds her temporarily. Stormfront tosses her aside with the lightning. Really? How does it work anyway?
Nobody is injured, not even a scratch. Kimiko, whose neck just got snapped, looks picture-perfect and not a drop of blood or drool or anything on her. Not even a speck of dirt on her. Wow, guys, please put some effort into it. Someone is heard behind Stormfront. Maeve????? She calls her "Kraut" and the punching commences again. Kimiko unsnaps her neck and gets up. WHAT???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? Starlight joins in and they tag-team Stormfront with Kimiko. Sure, guys can jerk off in the background to it.
Frenchie even says girls do get it done. So, the three women are just kicking Stormfront, who is prone on the gravel. They aren't using superpowers or anything, it's just regular kicks. I don't get it. She finally flies off. Wow. When will heads start popping? Why doesn't Stormfront just land back and stomp them? Homelander exits the cabin covered in blood. Why not torture one of them and slice off his body parts inch by inch?
Bloodied Stormfront lands in front of Butcher, Rebecca and Ryan. She blasts Butcher with her lightning. Predictably, he is unharmed and his clothes aren't even singed. She tosses him away (????) using her lightning. Rebecca stabs Stormfront in the left eye using her penknife. Clever. Stormfront screams, chokes Rebecca and is about to kill her when Ryan starts raging. Butcher is wailing on Stormfront with a crowbar to no avail. Stormfront wants to see the light in Rebecca's eyes go out.
Ryan is whining like a kid but then focuses his eye lasers and..... the screen goes white. Butcher is down on the forest bed and we see vapor rising from somewhere. Stormfront is muttering to herself in German. Someone is ripped to shreds on the forest bed. It's Stormfront?????? The hell. Her legs and one arm are ripped off. Her face is singed as well. Finally. The kid isn't a surgeon but it's good enough. The kid apologizes.
She is on the forest bed too, her neck a gaping wound. She dead. Butcher says no and runs over. He can't save her. Ryan apologizes. Butcher calls for help. Bro, it's all over. Live by the sword, die by the sword. Rebecca says it's not his fault and that he's good. She asks Butcher to promise he'll keep Ryan safe. She dies straight after. He didn't promise it. He cries and touches their foreheads. Wow, dude. It's all your fault.
Ryan is in total shock and bawling his eyes out. He keeps apologizing. Butcher seems resolute and takes the crowbar. Wow. He will kill the bastard? Homelander lands all bloodied and sees Stormfront. She is still muttering German. He kneels and chokes. She is barely conscious. He sniffles. Wow, guys, so much massacre. Homelander asks Ryan if he did this.
Homelander tells him to come over and that they will go. Ryan stands firm and moves away. Will Homelander die now??? Wow, that would be a twist. Ryan moves over to Butcher. Homelander laughs hysterically and says: "He's mine". He asks if Butcher will blow himself up to save the little shit that killed his wife. Maeve appears too and threatens Homelander to let them go. She shows the phone video of Homelander from the plane.
Wow, the true superheroes are the media. He says he will destroy everything and everyone. She says it only matter nobody ever loves him again. He takes a moment to reconsider and hears the crowd chanting his name in his head. He almost cries in front of Butcher and Ryan, who slowly walk away. Mr. Edgar holds a press conference where he blames Stormfront for the attack on Washington and that Compound V has been postponed.
Homelander apologizes to Starlight, bringing her back to The Seven. He says they are there to serve and protect them. We again hear the high-pitched ringing as Homelander keeps talking. The camera zooms to his eyes and then we cut to The Deep and A-Train with Alistair. He says someone stole a file on Stormfront and looks at A-Train. He wants to explain but Alistair actually commends him and says he's back on the team thanks to Mr. Edgar. The two are ecstatic and whoop but The Deep isn't back.
Alistair quotes Mr. Edgar: "One hero is redemption, two is weakness". The Deep is depressed and rages. He says he did everything the Church asked and he didn't even laugh when he found out they were all "fucking space spores". Alistair says he's acting like a toxic personality and should leave. The Deep does and says: "Fuck Fresca".
Hughie and Starlight talk in the park. He asks if it's safe for her to go back to the Tower. She says she can't jump ship and let the assholes steer. She leans in and kisses him on the lips. Wow. He says he's been thinking about maybe being too clingy. She says no but he keeps going and says he can't do it anymore. He wants to stand on his two feet for once.
She nods approvingly but chokes and spouts off some "let's just be friends". He interrupts and says he will cling onto her and she is relieved. They kiss again. She asks who he was talking about. The crew? Butcher and Ryan sit on a river bank. Pictoresque. Ryan says he's scared. Butcher gives him a St. Christopher pendant that belonged to Rebecca. He says it kept him mostly safe.
Dude, he will lose it within a day. Grace arrives with black SUVs. They get up and Butcher tells him to remember the most important lesson. Ryan says: "Don't be a cunt". Ryan enters and Grace apologizes, asking if Butcher thinks he will turn into Homelander. He says Rebecca didn't think so. Grace says all the charges have been dropped against him and The Boys. The White House opened a Supe Affairs office, with some off-the-books funds from Victoria Neuman. She offers him the job but he just walks away without saying a word.
Mother's Milk is back to his home. His daughter opens the door and jumps in his arms. Is that it? Kimiko is talking to Frenchie, who takes her hand and they dance. Wow, will he finally get some of that tight pussy? It seems like a happy end. We see Homelander losing his mind jerking off???? What the...... He says to himself that he can do whatever he wants. He's butt-naked on top of a building, jerking off on the city. Wow.
Alastair talks to Neuman about ruining a dozen or so Supes with his records. He asks for tax-exempt status of the Church to be expanded. He sighs and opens the can of Fresca when his head just blows up. Outside, we see Victoria Neuman's eyes glaze over as she lets out a faint smile. She was the one popping heads?????? She enters her office and meets Hughie. He asks for a job. He says he wants to stand on his own two feet. She asks when he can start and closes the door.