S03.E08: The Instant White-Hot Wild

[Bort]

Quote

Calling all patriots! Let’s show Homelander we’ve got his back and we’re not going to let Starlight and her Starlight House of Horrors get away with trafficking children and drinking their adrenaline! It’s time for real Americans to fight back! Join the Hometeamers and Stormchasers tomorrow at Vought Square! Stand back and stand by!

Airdate 8 July 2022

[Castiels Cat]

Okay. I was expecting a cf Mexican stand-off with Noir dying, SB blasting and Ryan going laser and complicating things. I was not expecting it to be so paint by numbers and tied up in a bow. Why even introduce the family drama to end like that. 

They needed more episodes or a cliffhanger. Unless they introduce a Chuck character to explain how this worked out for them because so many lose threads suddenly tied off...

It feels unearned and disappointing.

Why didn't Hughie grab V to save Butcher and perhaps himself. He might be dying more slowly.

[BabySpinach]

Well, we'll have Butcher to thank for any havoc that Homelander and Ryan inevitably wreak next season. He directly sabotaged his best chance against Homelander on Ryan's behalf, and now the kid is defecting to the dark side anyway. Should've just let them both fry!

I don't understand why the Boys put stopping SB at an equal (higher?) priority as stopping Homelander? The guy can't fly or shoot instant eye lasers and he has an established weakness, so he's clearly not as much of a threat. Once they subdued SB, what would've been their plan? Just stand there and let HL smush them for taking down his dad?

I liked that SB's allegiances remained vague until the moment of truth, and I was pretty surprised that he didn't side with his son (or grandson) after all. Funny, how he was actually on the right side for the wrong reasons and would've killed HL if not for Butcher. I appreciate that he got to throw some hands and was ultimately impossible to restrain. His open ending hopefully means he has a future in the next seasons; I feel like he's got a lot more story in him.

That scene with SB and Butcher was quite poignant, and allowed us to see another side of SB for once. Jensen acted the hell out of it, of course, and I loved the way he delivered that monologue.

Overall, I enjoyed this finale, though the return to the status quo feels a bit too neat for me. 

[Bergamot]

14 minutes ago, BabySpinach said:

Well, we'll have Butcher to thank for any havoc that Homelander and Ryan inevitably wreak next season. He directly sabotaged his best chance against Homelander on Ryan's behalf, and now the kid is defecting to the dark side anyway. Should've just let them both fry!

Maybe they wouldn't have! Maeve survived, even though she lost her powers. And Homelander and Ryan are stronger Supes than she is. (Or was, I guess.) I think it is highly possible that they just both would have been de-powered.

You're right, though, that is on Butcher.

Edited July 8, 2022 by Bergamot

[Bergamot]

14 minutes ago, BabySpinach said:

Once they subdued SB, what would've been their plan? Just stand there and let HL smush them for taking down his dad?

Ha, good question! In general I found the motives of a lot of the "good guys" to be very confusing. Was using Soldier Boy to take out Homelander such a bad idea, that preventing him from actually doing this can be presented as a moral triumph?

[MAK]

NGL, it was a bit disappointing. 

The actors did a great job, but weren't given enough material. Over too soon, and everything back to the status quo. At least there is a chance for the return of SB. I was holding my breath on which side he was going to land. I guess Homelander will be even more of a threat next season. 

Glad Hughie and Butcher redeemed themselves, but it was a bit meh. 

So the women came out as the Alphas. Annie, Maeve, Kimiko, and even Victoria. It was sad how I was right about Ashley's hair. 

I guess the supes have to be hit directly with SB's blast to get de-powered. 

Edited July 8, 2022 by MAK

[Bergamot]

23 minutes ago, MAK said:

Glad Hughie and Butcher redeemed themselves, but it was a bit meh. 

Well, I am glad that Butcher wanted to protect Hughie, but it would be more impressive if it wasn't only because Hughie reminds him of his brother. Also, he apparently was fine with the idea that using Soldier Boy to take out Homelander might cause collateral damage to the people in the building. But when the possible collateral damage included Ryan, all of a sudden it was totally unacceptable to him. Like I said, I'm not seeing this as a big moral triumph on his part.

[mjc570]

Brave Maeve! I'm glad she survived.  

I had to laugh at the Deep's portrait at the end , with HL on a throne and his loyal subject Deep standing proudly besides him.  It's these little touches that really made it enjoyable for me. 

I'd only ever seen Antony Starr in Banshee, I had no idea he was such a good actor. 

[gonzosgirrl]

1 hour ago, BabySpinach said:

Well, we'll have Butcher to thank for any havoc that Homelander and Ryan inevitably wreak next season. He directly sabotaged his best chance against Homelander on Ryan's behalf, and now the kid is defecting to the dark side anyway. Should've just let them both fry!

I don't understand why the Boys put stopping SB at an equal (higher?) priority as stopping Homelander? The guy can't fly or shoot instant eye lasers and he has an established weakness, so he's clearly not as much of a threat. Once they subdued SB, what would've been their plan? Just stand there and let HL smush them for taking down his dad?

I liked that SB's allegiances remained vague until the moment of truth, and I was pretty surprised that he didn't side with his son (or grandson) after all. Funny, how he was actually on the right side for the wrong reasons and would've killed HL if not for Butcher. I appreciate that he got to throw some hands and was ultimately impossible to restrain. His open ending hopefully means he has a future in the next seasons; I feel like he's got a lot more story in him.

That scene with SB and Butcher was quite poignant, and allowed us to see another side of SB for once. Jensen acted the hell out of it, of course, and I loved the way he delivered that monologue.

Overall, I enjoyed this finale, though the return to the status quo feels a bit too neat for me. 

Agree on all counts. And I'm glad Soldier Boy also called out Butcher's hypocrisy about 'family'. 

I know it was futile with the way it played out, but I fucking loved the final fight and Jensen's delivery of "I am not going back in that fucking box". Outstanding. 

Kripke should've let him disappear, but I'm not surprised at all by the ending. Even the crowd cheering on Homelander at the end. Kripke's on-the-nose version of "I could shoot someone on Main Street and they'd still love me." 

I'm happy for Maeve and kind of surprised Ashley deleted the video.

[Frost]

Everything tied up neatly up in a bow.  It was exciting while it was going on, but it does kind of fall flat on reflection.  I'm bummed Soldier Boy ended up in deep freeze again, but at least he wasn't given back to the Russians.  And Little Nina isn't dead.  That is my biggest regret for the season.

[MAK]

14 minutes ago, gonzosgirrl said:

Kripke should've let him disappear, but I'm not surprised at all by the ending.

Yes! I also feel Homelander should have been de-powered in the blast. At least significantly if not totally. Like knock him down to Maeve's level, and no flying. It would have been an interesting scenario. 

[gonzosgirrl]

57 minutes ago, MAK said:

Yes! I also feel Homelander should have been de-powered in the blast. At least significantly if not totally. Like knock him down to Maeve's level, and no flying. It would have been an interesting scenario. 

I really thought when he walked into the room after Maeve and Soldier Boy went out the window that he was going to try to laser one of them and fail. I was disappointed. 

I call absolute bullshit on Frenchie being able to find all the right ingredients in an unfamiliar lab and then whip up the world's deadliest neurotoxin in a jiffy and while under fire. And Maeve just tossed the other bottle right out the window. Lucky person who picks that up. WTF? 

Didn't feel a thing but satisfaction at Noir's death or A Train's brother telling him to GTFO. 

Edited July 8, 2022 by gonzosgirrl

[Myrelle]

I'm just glad that Soldier Boy truly went out fighting and that his strength and power was not diminished or marginalized within the script so that he could conveniently be taken down by any one other character and honestly, not even by the lot of them-and some with powers of their own.

He was a friggin' beast in those fight scenes. They were great. 

Loved them. So much.

And I actually kind of loved that SB became his own father with Homelander, and that the kid didn't really impress him either.

And yup, Butcher broke their pact to kill Homelander when the collateral damage became too personal to him.

I would rather he'd gotten away, but at least he won't be tortured and there is always the hope that someone will wake him up again now.

Man, I can't believe that's it for the season already.

It sure was a wild ride though.

Again, happy that SB stayed as villainously glorious on his way out of the story as when/how he came in to it.

Edited July 8, 2022 by Myrelle

[Bergamot]

1 hour ago, Frost said:

Everything tied up neatly up in a bow.  It was exciting while it was going on, but it does kind of fall flat on reflection. 

Yes it really does. I have to admit that I felt annoyed by the scene at the end, with the good guys gathered together at their office, all comfortable and united and full of smiles, as if they had achieved some kind of victory. What exactly did they accomplish? With a lot of effort and the use of not a small amount of violence, they located Soldier Boy and freed him from captivity, went to great lengths to convince him to help them against Homelander, brought him to the confrontation -- and THEN, just as he was about to do what they asked, they prevented him from doing it, teamed together to attack him and bring him down, and ensured that he ended up back in the captivity that they themselves had released him from in the first place. Good job, team!

Not to mention that Homelander is now even more unleashed and dangerous than he was before, and has Ryan in his clutches.  Rather than looking happy and relaxed, they all should be sitting around with their heads hanging down in defeat and despair, because they totally failed and now things are worse. But hey, they are all getting along together so well, so I guess that is the important thing.

[Aeryn13]

7 minutes ago, Bergamot said:

Yes it really does. I have to admit that I felt annoyed by the scene at the end, with the good guys gathered together at their office, all comfortable and united and full of smiles, as if they had achieved some kind of victory. What exactly did they accomplish? With a lot of effort and the use of not a small amount of violence, they located Soldier Boy and freed him from captivity, went to great lengths to convince him to help them against Homelander, brought him to the confrontation -- and THEN, just as he was about to do what they asked, they prevented him from doing it, teamed together to attack him and bring him down, and ensured that he ended up back in the captivity that they themselves had released him from in the first place. Good job, team!

Not to mention that Homelander is now even more unleashed and dangerous than he was before, and has Ryan in his clutches.  Rather than looking happy and relaxed, they all should be sitting around with their heads hanging down in defeat and despair, because they totally failed and now things are worse. But hey, they are all getting along together so well, so I guess that is the important thing.

If I were Homelander, I would laser a couple more people and leave a note to the Boys "dear clown car, thanks for backing me, much love, your buddy Homelander".

[MAK]

9 minutes ago, Bergamot said:

Rather than looking happy and relaxed, they all should be sitting around with their heads hanging down in defeat and despair, because they totally failed and now things are worse.

This is true. There weren't any gains against Vought this whole season. Like you say, it's been the opposite with truly empowering Homelander even more. 

I guess we're supposed to take all their personal growth as the wins?

Hughie overcoming his insecurity to amplify (literally too) Annie.

Annie coming into her own.

Kimiko recognizing her motivations and embracing them.

Frenchie deciding he is strong enough to not accept shackles.

MM being open and honest with his daughter.

Butcher finding the line for himself. 

And Maeve, standing up.

I guess those are all gains/wins, but not really enough to celebrate together? IA, there should have been a bit more doom and gloom.

Edited July 8, 2022 by MAK
Hit send to early

[Bergamot]

4 minutes ago, MAK said:

This is true. There weren't any gains against Vought this whole season. Like you say, it's been the opposite with truly empowering Homelander even more. 

I guess we're supposed to take all their personal growth as the wins?

Hughie overcoming his insecurity to amplify (literally too) Annie.

Annie coming into her own.

Kimiko recognizing her motivations and embracing them.

Frenchie deciding he is strong enough to not accept shackles.

MM being open and honest with his daughter.

Butcher finding the line for himself. 

And Maeve, standing up.

Okay, this is valid -- victories for them as individuals. I don't know, though, the way that they all seemed so pleased with themselves in that gathering at the office just rubbed me the wrong way. I think it would have worked better for me if they first had acknowledged how pointless and costly their efforts to bring down Homelander and Vought had been, rather than acting as if they had won in the end. And then maybe encouraged each other because of the things you mention, as a reminder that they still had found something that was important.

[AntFTW]

Umm… hmm

Not sure how I feel about this one.

Not great but not bad

Ummm…

Not sure where to place this one.

[AntFTW]

I need Homelander to be seriously hurt. I need to see the “oh shit” look in his face. I thought I was gonna get that at least a little bit… but I didn’t.

[roamyn]

2 hours ago, Bergamot said:

With a lot of effort and the use of not a small amount of violence, they located Soldier Boy and freed him from captivity, went to great lengths to convince him to help them against Homelander, brought him to the confrontation -- and THEN, just as he was about to do what they asked, they prevented him from doing it, teamed together to attack him and bring him down, and ensured that he ended up back in the captivity that they themselves had released him from in the first place. Good job, team!

Not to mention that Homelander is now even more unleashed and dangerous than he was before, and has Ryan in his clutches.  Rather than looking happy and relaxed, they all should be sitting around with their heads hanging down in defeat and despair, because they totally failed and now things are worse. But hey, they are all getting along together so well, so I guess that is the important thing.

Yeah this was such BS.  

I mean Hughie getting on the PA system to clear the building was a good idea, but everything else turned into a shit storm, so that HL could get his claws into Ryan?

That’s exactly what The Boys accomplished this season.  Oh, and getting SB released from being tortured.  But that’s it.

Either Butcher is going to take permanent V, or next season he’s abt to go completely off the rails to get HL.  You had your best shot, William, and you blew it.  Or rather didn’t let it blow.

At least QM survived, got back with Elena, and can be an anonymous human.  Good for her.

And A-Train?  Is he going to stick w/The Deep & HL?  I was not happy they kept him alive.

MM’s convo w/Jeanine was very sweet.  But correct me if I’m wrong, but didn’t SB only kill MM’s grandfather (and led to his father’s early death)?  He’s always talking abt how SB killed all his family.

I was hoping Todd would see what HL did at the end and have second thoughts abt the Supe.  But apparent he’s a sheeple.

By the look on her face, something tells me Grace is going to release SB, if not end of S4, then S5 if there is one.  She’s not happy Butcher wouldn’t take her call and that HL has Ryan now.

[Mary42]

I guess that serves me right for thinking Kripke could do any kind of justice to any of JA's characters justice. Hopefully, JA will get better roles that I can enjoy him in. At least he seemed to have fun doing it. So disappointed right now.

I hope there is more depth to his Big Sky role.

Maybe reading others' comments will make this less disappointing and Butcher less of a c. 

Edited July 8, 2022 by Mary42

[Mary42]

7 hours ago, Bergamot said:

Maybe they wouldn't have! Maeve survived, even though she lost her powers. And Homelander and Ryan are stronger Supes than she is. (Or was, I guess.) I think it is highly possible that they just both would have been de-powered.

You're right, though, that is on Butcher.

Actually, it's on all of them as they all thought that SB was the worse danger than HL and went out of their way to focus on him while Maeve was the only one who saw clearly and she was the one who paid the price.

Plus, I don't understand why Butcher was trying to protect Ryan from being depowered. That would have been the best thing for the boy and would've removed HL's affinity for him. They all had plotonium stupidity.

[Mary42]

5 hours ago, gonzosgirrl said:

Kripke should've let him disappear,

I completely agree with this. It would've been so much better.

[Daltrey]

Haven't finished watching yet, only about halfway through but why is the dialogue audio such fucking garbage?! Is it just me? It's bad enough with Butcher and Frenchie's accents but what the fuck is with Homelander and Deep mumbling all their lines because they're supposed to be "intensely whispering"?! Seriously, is it me or is the sound design pure shite?

[Nick24]

I don't know. I feel kind of disappointed.

I do not understand, why they all of a sudden wanted to get rid of Soldier Boy more than they did of Homelander? HL has been their enemy No1 for a very long time. So they have wasted their only chance to kill him for the sake of...what? To demonstrate their high morality and concern for possible collateral damage? That would be fine, except for the fact that now Homelander is probably going to be much more of a threat than ever. And now he has Ryan. And also there is something with VP candidate. The team has completely failed IMO. 

Butcher is kind of hypocrite. He had been OK with all the collateral damage until Ryan showed up. 

Soldier Boy ending was predictable. It seems to me, that the character has much more potential, which hasn't been used yet. I hope he'll come back.

But I really enjoyed SB's fight scenes. They were great! Also Jensen gave his character more layers and delivered a wonderful performance as always. I can really feel his pain, disappointment and conflicting feelings about his son and the family thing in general. 

Edited July 8, 2022 by Nick24

[MAK]

Maybe this belongs in the Speculation thread, but how much of this return to status quo is because of the show being given a S4?

If it hadn't been renewed, maybe Soldier Boy would have exploded, de-powering all supes in a 100 mile radius, destroying Vought (labs, V, all of it), possibly killing some of the good guys, and dying himself. 

Leaving some of the Boys to pick up the pieces. 

Maybe that's why the ending seems less than satisfying. 

[Nick24]

11 minutes ago, MAK said:

If it hadn't been renewed, maybe Soldier Boy would have exploded, de-powering all supes in a 100 mile radius, destroying Vought (labs, V, all of it), possibly killing some of the good guys, and dying himself. 

Leaving some of the Boys to pick up the pieces. 

Oh, that would have been great!! You should definitely go to Kripke with that idea!

[MAK]

Maybe Kripke has staff reading these forums? 😁

[Nick24]

11 minutes ago, MAK said:

Maybe Kripke has staff reading these forums? 😁

You know, in this case they might do the opposite of what we want them to.😄

[Castiels Cat]

Second thought:

I was expecting a Mexican standoff cf complicated by Ryan... exactly what we got. I also expected Noir to die.
I did like Hughie turning up the lights to help Starlight.
Everything working out perfectly, everything being tied up in a bow.... that did not work for me.
It was too soon. Too much up in air and then everything was awesome.
HL's love for his son was surprisingly touching.
Ryan is a mess.
Power corrupts.
Maeve"s save was great.
They probably needed a longer episode to pull this off better because the emotional arcs were rushed.
Great fight scene.
Team Boys is luckier than the Winchesters.

[Castiels Cat]

9 hours ago, BabySpinach said:

Well, we'll have Butcher to thank for any havoc that Homelander and Ryan inevitably wreak next season. He directly sabotaged his best chance against Homelander on Ryan's behalf, and now the kid is defecting to the dark side anyway. Should've just let them both fry!

I don't understand why the Boys put stopping SB at an equal (higher?) priority as stopping Homelander? The guy can't fly or shoot instant eye lasers and he has an established weakness, so he's clearly not as much of a threat. Once they subdued SB, what would've been their plan? Just stand there and let HL smush them for taking down his dad?

I liked that SB's allegiances remained vague until the moment of truth, and I was pretty surprised that he didn't side with his son (or grandson) after all. Funny, how he was actually on the right side for the wrong reasons and would've killed HL if not for Butcher. I appreciate that he got to throw some hands and was ultimately impossible to restrain. His open ending hopefully means he has a future in the next seasons; I feel like he's got a lot more story in him.

That scene with SB and Butcher was quite poignant, and allowed us to see another side of SB for once. Jensen acted the hell out of it, of course, and I loved the way he delivered that monologue.

Overall, I enjoyed this finale, though the return to the status quo feels a bit too neat for me. 

I saw SB rejecting HL a mile away for not being manly. They telegraphed it with his bad daddy backstory too. The sins of the fathers... Notice Hughie's emotional growth is recognizing that his father being there for him always was actually strength.

You are soot on that Butcher gave HL an opening with Ryan however the scene at the end was chilling.

HL got the pass because he was caring for and protecting Ryan. He prioritized his son and it saved his life. SB lashed out a Ryan in anger and quickly neutralized a threat. He wasn't going to kill the kid. Butcher knew that. SB wasn't dangerous again until seriously threatened and was about to blow which took so long it was ridiculous.

Why didn't anyone ever explain about the ptsd. There's a difference between someone that kills for the disloyalty of keeping a secret versus hanging up on you and incompacitating you, etc.

Oops. It would he interesting for SB to get out for Payback 2.0.

Edited July 8, 2022 by Castiels Cat

[Castiels Cat]

6 hours ago, Myrelle said:

I'm just glad that Soldier Boy truly went out fighting and that his strength and power was not diminished or marginalized within the script so that he could conveniently be taken down by any one other character and honestly, not even by the lot of them-and some with powers of their own.

He was a friggin' beast in those fight scenes. They were great. 

Loved them. So much.

And I actually kind of loved that SB became his own father with Homelander, and that the kid didn't really impress him either.

And yup, Butcher broke their pact to kill Homelander when the collateral damage became too personal to him.

I would rather he'd gotten away, but at least he won't be tortured and there is always the hope that someone will wake him up again now.

Man, I can't believe that's it for the season already.

It sure was a wild ride though.

Again, happy that SB stayed as villainously glorious on his way out of the story as when/how he came in to it.

I don't know that he's villainy glorious per se. He strikes me as being the epitome of what the Greeks meant when they said "Nothing in Excess". He is everything in excess and it makes him magnificently flawed. He is super everything. Super jerk, super dick, rage monster, super everything... 

HL disemboweled his only friend for keeping a secret and is using that to keep the others in line. That is a villain. He loves his son apparently and this one redeeming quality saved him.

And sure it's bad to knock a child out but that child has laser eyes strong enough to kill his mother and maim Stormfront beyond repair. SB had to incapacitate him to complete the mission.  

I hope that thei let him out too. He will have a new mission now.

Edited July 8, 2022 by Castiels Cat

[Castiels Cat]

6 hours ago, gonzosgirrl said:

I really thought when he walked into the room after Maeve and Soldier Boy went out the window that he was going to try to laser one of them and fail. I was disappointed. 

I call absolute bullshit on Frenchie being able to find all the right ingredients in an unfamiliar lab and then whip up the world's deadliest neurotoxin in a jiffy and while under fire. And Maeve just tossed the other bottle right out the window. Lucky person who picks that up. WTF? 

Didn't feel a thing but satisfaction at Noir's death or A Train's brother telling him to GTFO. 

French should be dead mixing it up wearing that mask for protection. That did not look lie appropriate PPE for the world's deadliest neurotoxin. 

8 hours ago, gonzosgirrl said:

Agree on all counts. And I'm glad Soldier Boy also called out Butcher's hypocrisy about 'family'. 

I know it was futile with the way it played out, but I fucking loved the final fight and Jensen's delivery of "I am not going back in that fucking box". Outstanding. 

Kripke should've let him disappear, but I'm not surprised at all by the ending. Even the crowd cheering on Homelander at the end. Kripke's on-the-nose version of "I could shoot someone on Main Street and they'd still love me." 

I'm happy for Maeve and kind of surprised Ashley deleted the video.

Ashley deleted the video because of what HL did to Noir.

[Castiels Cat]

9 hours ago, Bergamot said:

Maybe they wouldn't have! Maeve survived, even though she lost her powers. And Homelander and Ryan are stronger Supes than she is. (Or was, I guess.) I think it is highly possible that they just both would have been de-powered.

You're right, though, that is on Butcher.

No one should have been worried about Ryan in the blast. The normals were the ones in danger.

[Badlands]

So Homelander really can stand in the middle of 5th Avenue and shoot someone and not lose any support.

[Bergamot]

4 hours ago, roamyn said:

MM’s convo w/Jeanine was very sweet.

Yes, it was, and I think his openness with her was the right thing to do, but there was something about the scene that made me just a bit uneasy.

The fact is that to satisfy his need for revenge, MM rejected the idea that they could use Soldier Boy to take out Homelander. So now, because of MM and the others, Soldier Boy is out of the picture, but Homelander is still very much around to do his thing.

As far as I know, Janine did not care about Soldier Boy, but from what we have seen, she is a huge Homelander fan. And basically MM has helped ensure that Homelander will still be there for all those who follow him. Maybe MM will work on convincing Janine that Homelander is one of the bad superheroes (although he doesn’t bother to mention this as he is explaining how he got revenge against Soldier Boy) but will she believe him? Just punching Todd in the face every time Todd defends Homelander is not going to be very convincing to her.

Especially since I’m sure her stepfather will be working on reinforcing her Homelander love by feeding her the lies he is swallowing himself. I bet that the next thing you know, she will be joining the Ryan Superhero Fan Club, and getting a poster of him to hang up in her bedroom.

And it was sweet when she told MM that he is her hero, but to me it sounded a little too close to Homelander’s catchphrase: “No, Daddy, YOU’RE the hero!” Anyway, maybe all this means nothing, but it wouldn’t be the first time that a cult figure has caused a schism among members of a family, by any means.
 

[Bergamot]

2 hours ago, MAK said:

Maybe Kripke has staff reading these forums? 😁

Haha! Well, just in case -- staff person, can you please tell Kripke that at some point I would like to see the return of Soldier Boy?

(And by the way, you can also pass him the word that I still haven't forgiven him for the Season 5 finale of Supernatural!! 😡)

[Smad]

What the hell was that? No seriously, what the hell was that?

Was the point of this Season to make me root for SB and HL? SB might be a crap human but he kept his eyes on the prize and honored the deal he had. Not to mention he only caused massive collateral damage when triggered. The only other person who had their priorities right was Meave and I'm glad she got out (unbelievable as her surviving that fall might be). Sure, her tossing the nerve gas out there in a Starlight bottle will cause problems but I don't care really. The boys and their allies deserve all that's coming for them. The fact that they thought SB was a bigger problem than HL is just so balls to the wall dumb...I just can't. HL is an 'apocalyptic level' threat to the entire planet and they all know this. He literally made that clear to both Butcher and SL during the Season. His son, if left to be raised by HL, will be on that same level. Did they all acquire collective brain damage or something?

And I'm rooting now for HL to kill all these idiots on sight. Butcher is the biggest hypocrite who constantly berates people for their personal connections and how nothing is more important than killing HL but when it comes to a personal connection for him, he doesn't follow through. Not to mention that they could have gotten Ryan out of there. On top of that, wouldn't the kid be happier if he was depowered and finally able to live a normal life? Apparently The Boys rather have him be the next HL instead. Starlight has been freaking useless as a supe for the entirety of the show, even when she levels up like this episode she's useless. These freaking morons have made it so their two strongest allies (Maeve and SB) are out of the picture while at the same time letting HL continue on and double team with the kid who is supposed to become even stronger than HL. Hughie could have risked his life and taken temp V (or even take regular V) and port everyone out of there (especially oh so precious Ryan) before SB's blast goes off. Great freaking job guys, I hope HL lasers you all.

Also what was the point of this Season? It's like it was complete filler. Noir could have died of almond joy. Maeve could have left after the video threat. Victoria could have become VP off screen. A-Train and Deep contribute nothing to the plot. Stan Edgar losing his position due to Compound V becoming public knowledge and employing a Nazi. The Boys are screwed. And on and on it goes...literally nothing in this Season changed anything.

Edited July 8, 2022 by Smad

[gonzosgirrl]

9 hours ago, Bergamot said:

Okay, this is valid -- victories for them as individuals. I don't know, though, the way that they all seemed so pleased with themselves in that gathering at the office just rubbed me the wrong way. I think it would have worked better for me if they first had acknowledged how pointless and costly their efforts to bring down Homelander and Vought had been, rather than acting as if they had won in the end. And then maybe encouraged each other because of the things you mention, as a reminder that they still had found something that was important.

This is 100% valid. They absolutely chose the wrong 'villain' to stop, and I dearly hope that A) somebody acknowledges that next season when Homelander is murdering people on Main Street, and B) that they all pay the price for their choices.

1 hour ago, Smad said:

Was the point of this Season to make me root for SB and HL? SB might be a crap human but he kept his eyes on the prize and honored the deal he had. Not to mention he only caused massive collateral damage when triggered. The only other person who had their priorities right was Meave and I'm glad she got out (unbelievable as her surviving that fall might be). Sure, her tossing the nerve gas out there in a Starlight bottle will cause problems but I don't care really. The boys and their allies deserve all that's coming for them. The fact that they thought SB was a bigger problem than HL is just so balls to the wall dumb...I just can't. HL is an 'apocalyptic level' threat to the entire planet and they all know this. He literally made that clear to both Butcher and SL during the Season. His son, if left to be raised by HL, will be on that same level. Did they all acquire collective brain damage or something?

Amen. Yes, taking out Homelander and Vought would have had huge collateral damage, but when nuclear is the only option and it will ultimately save a lot more people, choices have to be made. They chose wrong, IMO.

[Nick24]

1 hour ago, Smad said:

Was the point of this Season to make me root for SB and HL? SB might be a crap human but he kept his eyes on the prize and honored the deal he had. Not to mention he only caused massive collateral damage when triggered. The only other person who had their priorities right was Meave and I'm glad she got out (unbelievable as her surviving that fall might be). Sure, her tossing the nerve gas out there in a Starlight bottle will cause problems but I don't care really. The boys and their allies deserve all that's coming for them. The fact that they thought SB was a bigger problem than HL is just so balls to the wall dumb...I just can't. HL is an 'apocalyptic level' threat to the entire planet and they all know this. He literally made that clear to both Butcher and SL during the Season. His son, if left to be raised by HL, will be on that same level. Did they all acquire collective brain damage or something?

Very good questions. Soldier Boy was the most reasonable person in this ep. I mean, SB was about to do what he had been asked for! They'd been spending a lot of time to convince him to kill HL. Soldier Boy was finally ready to do it even knowing that HL was his son. IMO That decision wasn't easy for SB. And then? He got betrayed by the persons who had asked him to do it! *mind is blowing*. I can't help myself, but I really feel sorry for SB. 

Also IMO we didn't get enough SB's POV. I have some questions. According to Noir SB did some horrible things. But SB truly believed he was fighting for his country. What did make him think that way? Why did SB tell Hughie ''I am not a bad guy'' in 3.06? A lot of unpacked here.

I was so confused, that they all were sitting around in the end and looked kind of satisfied, because now IMO the things are worse than they were at the beginning of the season.

Edited July 8, 2022 by Nick24

[Bergamot]

I have to say that Frenchie was pretty adorable when he got all giddy at the opportunity to exercise his new-found freedom of speech! “No! My cake hole will remain OPEN!” and “We all deserve paid vacation days, and a dental plan!” Hahaha! Go, Frenchie! 😄

And this was preceded by such a lovely scene with Frenchie and Kimiko, where she encourages him to break free from the chains of his past. It is thanks to Kimiko that Frenchie realizes that he can keep his cake hole open if he wants to!

I did not like Kimiko’s little dance video though, where she enjoys her music as she stabs and bludgeons and pulverizes the guards to death. I thought her joyous dancing as she prepared to kill them was pretty creepy, actually. What was this supposed to be showing us about her? I preferred the Kimiko who killed people when she had to, because it was her job – but never seemed to have fun with it, and often was conflicted and tormented about it. I would welcome hearing any different takes on this, but I just did not like it.

This is one reason why I was not happy when Kimiko decided to get her powers back, although I understand why she did it. I feel like the writers for the show just wanted her to be a Supe again not because it was a necessary part of her story, but because they think it looks so cool to have a tiny, pretty woman be capable of literally tearing her enemies to pieces.
 

[Smad]

7 minutes ago, gonzosgirrl said:

Amen. Yes, taking out Homelander and Vought would have had huge collateral damage, but when nuclear is the only option and it will ultimately save a lot more people, choices have to be made. They chose wrong, IMO.

I don't even see the massive collateral damage here. Sure whoever is still in the tower and maybe people on the street getting hit by the tower pieces falling on the street. And maybe even The Boys, their allies, HL, SB and Ryan. That's still the much better option than letting HL live to go nuclear. Now that HL can murder fellow countrymen and a lot of people are a-ok with that, what's stopping this 'America First' guy from flying into another country, lasering the entire government and causing civil unrest/war as a consequence. Just for shits and giggles. Because unlike SB, HL can easily do that in a few minutes. And take his son along to show him that gods can do whatever they want.

Speaking of Ryan, his character change makes little sense. Sure he flip-flopped last Season but he was uneasy about HL's 'we are gods' crap, became increasingly uneasy especially with Stormfront (the woman HL dated and whom was killing his mother) and who chose Butcher when HL came on the scene covered head to toe in blood. Earlier this Season he was talking about not even wanting to get a puppy for fear of hurting it. This boy now has no problem with daddy killing people just because? What?

16 minutes ago, Nick24 said:

Also IMO we didn't get enough SB's POV. I have some questions. According to Noir SB did some horrible things. But SB truly believed he was fighting for his country. What did make him think that way? Why did SB tell Hughie ''I am not a bad guy'' in 3.06? A lot of unpacked here.

I think the most people can agree on, is that SB was a shitty human being. Basically he was a cocky SOB with the mindset from when he was born/raised (including the racism, sexism, toxic masculinity etc.). But beyond that, we get second hand backstory on him. How much can we trust Noir's memories of him? Noir has cartoon characters in his head for crying out loud. I don't doubt that he treated his teammates like shit, an entire team turning on him doesn't come from nowhere. But where are the neutral flashbacks? We get brain damaged Noir's POV, MM's POV (and we never find out why SB threw that car into his house) and Soldier Boy's POV. I can't say anything about the character other than he's a shitty person because the show didn't do a good job in telling his story. It certainly didn't show any reason for why they all focused so heavily on him rather than HL whose crazy, apocalyptic evil we have watched unfold for 3 Seasons. I as a viewer have been given no reason  why I should be rooting for The Boys to take out SB rather than HL. 

[gonzosgirrl]

I was glad that MM got to put his ghosts to bed, but I have one question. He called Soldier Boy a racist piece of shit. He absolutely had his share of bad traits, but I am not recalling him showing racist tendencies. There was so much tell-don't-show when it came to Soldier Boy that I may have missed something.

[Nick24]

6 minutes ago, gonzosgirrl said:

I was glad that MM got to put his ghosts to bed, but I have one question. He called Soldier Boy a racist piece of shit. He absolutely had his share of bad traits, but I am not recalling him showing racist tendencies. There was so much tell-don't-show when it came to Soldier Boy that I may have missed something.

I don't think you've missed anything. I was very confused with that too. Especially considering SB talking about fighting Nazis in 3.06. I'm not saying he was fighting them, but he seemed to believe that he was. So yes, I have no idea what MM was talking about either. 

Or we both have missed something and someone will help us. 

[Tachi Rocinante]

1 minute ago, Nick24 said:

I don't think you've missed anything. I was very confused with that too. Especially considering SB talking about fighting Nazis in 3.06. I'm not saying he was fighting them, but he seemed to believe that he was. So yes, I have no idea what MM was talking about either. 

Or we both have missed something and someone will help us. 

Maybe because he didn't show any remorse for killing a bunch of innocent black people? I don't know.  MM's lense is pretty narrow when it comes to SB.

[Nick24]

17 minutes ago, Smad said:

It certainly didn't show any reason for why they all focused so heavily on him rather than HL whose crazy, apocalyptic evil we have watched unfold for 3 Seasons. I as a viewer have been given no reason  why I should be rooting for The Boys to take out SB rather than HL. 

Exactly! There is no logic at all. I sincerely hope that we won't get in S4 some kind of whitewashing of The Boys' actions like ''This wasn't their fault. They meant well!'' I want them to admit their mistakes and face the consequences of their obviously wrong choice.

Edited July 8, 2022 by Nick24

[roamyn]

And even worse BS, everything is being blamed on SB.  

Acting as a supe terrorist (w/o explaining the PTSD), killing Blue Hawk, going aft other Supes, the fallacy that he never cared (which I think it untrue, based on his regret hurting those in Manhattan).

 But never is it mentioned to the public that he’d tortured and kept trapped in Russia.

ETA:  if ever he gets out, The Boys better watch it, because he’ll be aft them.  Then I can see him teaming up w/HL & Ryan

Edited July 8, 2022 by roamyn

[Smad]

9 minutes ago, Tachi Rocinante said:

Maybe because he didn't show any remorse for killing a bunch of innocent black people?

I don't remember him showing remorse for killing anyone. He didn't show remorse for killing Latinos either. Or when MM said he killed his family and he just said 'which one?' all cocky. There were enough scenes to show he didn't care about collateral damage, no matter the skin color of the people.

Except the problem is, they then have him being haunted (even if just initially) when he gets triggered and accidentally blows up that building. So we have a guy who is a shit to his own team (if Noir's flashbacks and the words of the rest of Payback can be believed) and who in the field is a hothead causing collateral. But he doesn't seem to be down for killing just because outside of the battlefield (or what he perceives as such) and revenge on his own team. The writing seems confused here which isn't helped by the lack of exploration of his actual background and character.

[Bruinsfan]

1 hour ago, gonzosgirrl said:

I was glad that MM got to put his ghosts to bed, but I have one question. He called Soldier Boy a racist piece of shit. He absolutely had his share of bad traits, but I am not recalling him showing racist tendencies. There was so much tell-don't-show when it came to Soldier Boy that I may have missed something.

If Black Noir's cartoon vision flashback is to be believed, that "moving on up" comment seems pointedly racist, and it casts Soldier Boy's sabotaging of his movie career in the light of reminding the "uppity" black teammate of his proper subservient role when he dared to want success for himself. But he didn't really demonstrate any racist views in his live-action scenes. I think MM is just assuming the death of his relatives was racially motivated when it's just as likely events would have played out the same way if a white family had lived in that house.

[Smad]

1 minute ago, Bruinsfan said:

But he didn't really demonstrate any racist views in his live-action scenes.

Same with the gay couple. He just looks at them openly walking down the street and is like 'what the hell?' and shrugs his shoulders. The only thing he expressed strongly in terms of his views is how he feels that men today are *pussy-fied* when he watched that commercial with Hughie.