The Boys – The Big Ride

By starrymag | September 10, 2020

By: Ariba Bhuvad

 

 

Two scenes weave together intricately to display the head of Vought Stan Edgar (Giancarlo Esposito) holding a board meeting regarding Compound V while their lunch order is delivered, alongside Black Noir (Nathan Mitchell) infiltrating a “Super Terrorist” compound. Black Noir has no qualms about literally ripping the men he comes across there to shreds, but finds it in his heart to let one young boy live on his way out. As a souvenir, he literally takes the head of one of the terrorists, proving his mission was a success.

 

Homelander (Antony Starr) and Starlight (Erin Moriarty) mourn the loss of Translucent at his funeral. Unfortunately, one of the Seven has fallen, no thanks to “Super Terrorist” El Diablo. Given the promise he made to Translucent, Homelander vows to stop the terrorists and seek justice for his fallen member of The Seven. Watching the funeral services in a drunken, bitter stupor is The Deep (Chace Crawford) who is annoyed to see that he was cut from a picture he was in with Homelander and Translucent. His drunken state gets him kicked out of the bar in all his misery and sadness. 

 

On their way out of the funeral Homelander and Starlight comfort Translucent’s fans over the loss. Watching them on television with cringe and disgust is Hughie (Jack Quaid), who can’t digest watching Starlight speak words of praise for Homelander. Little does Hughie know that Starlight is just as miserable as he is and is just doing her job, regardless of how much she hates it.

 

Hughie makes his way out of their hiding spot but is grilled by Mother’s Milk (Laz Alonso) on where he’s going. Given that they’re all wanted, Hughie walking around in public isn’t going to do any of them good. However, Hughie promises to come right back. Although, Mother’s Milk know that Hughie is meeting up with Starlight on the subway to discuss plans on how to take down Vought. Their plan is to track down a “supe” named Gecko (David Thompson) who works at Vought and could potentially get them a sample of Compound V. It is all they would need to take the company down, but (of course) it’s easier said than done. And the fact that Hughie and Starlight are meeting at all is beyond dangerous for all involved. 

 

The Deep continues to lose his mind as he shows up to a water park drunk and scares off all the kids with his behavior. He’s arrested, but makes bail thanks to someone named Eagle the Archer (Langston Kerman) who offers a very confused Deep a Fresca upon him walking out of lockup. 

 

While watching the news Hughie, Mother’s Milk, Frenchie (Tomer Capon) and Kimiko (Karen Fukuhara) learn they are all wanted and officially considered fugitives thanks to the alleged murder the Butcher (Karl Urban) committed. While everyone else thinks they should run, Hughie advises otherwise, especially if they can get their hands on Compound V. 

 

Back at the Tower Homelander is caught drinking the late Stillwell’s old breast milk as her replacement, Ashley (Colby Minifie), walks in on him. He’s not too happy to learn that Ashley is busy trying to find Translucent’s replacement without running it by him first, but decides to go check out her new recruit Blindspot (Chris Mark) anyway. Unfortunately for Blindspot, it seems that Homelander is not impressed with his skills as a blind fighter that has enhanced hearing as he ruptures Blindspot’s eardrums rendering him useless. This is a warning to Ashley that Homelander is in charge and will not bend to her demands. In fact, he fully expects her to keep him updated on everything that happens on the 99th floor–decisions, secrets and all. 

 

Starlight manages to track down Gecko only to find that for money he allows people with a fetish to sever his limbs. She records one of his encounters and uses it as blackmail in exchange for his help in getting Compound V from the lab. He’s reluctant to help at first, but has no choice after seeing the video Starlight has of him.

 

Back at the hiding spot the group is informed of an incident that has taken place at the docks. Based on the video footage, it looks like friends of Frenchie smuggled in a “Super Terrorist” who is now running amok wreaking havoc on the town. 

 

Meanwhile, The Deep has no idea what is going on but wakes up to see Eagle the Archer staring at him along with a woman named Carol (Jessica Hecht). She appears to be some type of counselor, but refers to herself as Eagle’s teacher as she offers The Deep some more Fresca. Basically, they want The Deep to talk about his drinking and self-esteem issues and entice him with promises of getting him back into The Seven. 

 

Given no one knows who the smuggled “Super Terrorist” is, the group can’t decide on how they want to proceed. Hughie believes they should call the authorities or at the very least put in an anonymous tip–or maybe even call Annie/Starlight. The look on Mother’s Milk says it all as he finds out Hughie has been in contact with Starlight and is convinced Hughie has likely been followed or tracked. All Mother’s Milk wants is to be home with his wife and kid and doesn’t want to be dragged back into all the drama. However, Hughie appeals to him by saying they should contact the CIA agent, Susan Reyner (Jennifer Esposito). Maybe she can get Mother’s Milk back to his family and help them out in the process. 

 

Queen Maeve (Dominque McElligott) and Homelander are busy filming their “Saving America” campaign, but are surprised to learn that Stan Edgar has added a new member to The Seven in the form of Stormfront (Aya Cash). She’s quite the character and is recording everything on her live feed as she meets Homelander and Maeve and introduces herself as a new member of The Seven, to everyone’s shock and surprise. 

 

On their way to meet Reyner we see Mother’s Milk tell Hughie that this isn’t the way to win Annie back. In fact, by involving her, Hughie is putting her in danger, especially if Homelander finds out the truth. Their meeting with Reyner doesn’t go as planned, which only worsens matters as an unseen “supe” blows her head off in the middle of the meeting. It comes just as she realizes Vought is at the center of the mess.

 

Pissed about Stormfront being added to The Seven, Homelander tries to assert his power over Edgar who doesn’t care what Homelander has to say. He’s quick to remind him that Vought is a pharmaceutical company, not a superhero company ,so they don’t need Homelander as much as he may think or has convinced himself. Instead, the Compound V formula is worth far more to them then he or anyone from The Seven could ever be. Frustrated over his encounter with Edgar, Homelander unexpectedly shows up on Becca Butcher’s (Shantel VanSanten) doorstep saying he wants to see their son. 

 

After seeing Reyner’s head being blown off, Hughie is frazzled as Mother’s Milk reminds him that he has now placed them all in the middle of another issue. They’re already wanted fugitives and now the assassination of the Deputy Director of the CIA isn’t going to help their case, especially since they were there. A call from Starlight seems to come at the inopportune time as she shares that they will get the Compound V, but with everything that has transpired Hughie thinks they should take their time. He won’t tell her the truth about what’s happened, but just tries to deflect any request from her end.  

 

Given Hughie’s struggles with being the captain, Frenchie has a surprise in store for the group as the Butcher shows up to take over all and any responsibilities. He announces, “Daddy’s home.”