By Alex RaimanJune 03, 2022 at 08:00 AM EDT
The Boys S3 Ep 1: Payback
It's been a year and a half since the explosive finale of The Boys season 2, and they haven't missed a beat, kicking off season 3 with a premiere that's as shocking as it is… well, really, above all else… it's pretty damn shocking.
Things are looking particularly bright for Hughie (Jack Quaid), and boy does he deserve it. We see him working the red carpet arm-in-arm with Starlight (Erin Moriarty), having gone public with their relationship. We see him working his swanky new job at the Federal Bureau of Superhuman Affairs (FBSA) as the right hand to the bureau's director, Congresswoman Victoria Neumann (Claudia Doumit). It's nice to see Hughie happy and… not covered in blood for once.
But in the world of The Boys, good things don't last. As you might remember, the final moments of season 2 revealed none other than the seemingly squeaky clean Neumann as the mysterious superhero that'd been popping heads around town. Poor Hughie's about to have his bubble burst, along with some very important body parts if he's not careful.
While Hughie's busy floating on cloud nine, not everyone's having such a good time in this premiere. Stuck in a particularly rough spot is everyone's favorite superhero (until you get to know him): Homelander (Antony Starr).
With Homelander's poll numbers dropping by double digits in response to the reveal of his ex-girlfriend Stormfront's (Aya Cash) Nazi ties, Vaught CEO Stan Edgar (Giancarlo Esposito) decides to shake things up by promoting Starlight to co-captain of the Seven. With a little convincing from Edgar, Starlight accepts the job, but Homelander's none too pleased with this arrangement.
But it's not just Homelander's professional life that's in shambles. His ex-lover Stormfront is on death's door, resigned to a hospital bed, missing half her limbs and half her face… though that doesn't stop Homelander from taking a moment to get… intimate… with what's left of her. Stinging Homelander the most is the fact that he's lost track of his son Ryan (Cameron Crovetti), who Billy Butcher (Karl Urban) and CIA agent Grace Mallory (Laila Robins) have stashed in a secure safe house.
While Homelander's agonizing over his sinking poll numbers and his lost opportunity at fatherhood, Butcher's coming to terms with his own role as a father to Ryan. It's quite heartwarming to watch Butcher play Connect-4 with his pseudo-adopted-son, and it's a much needed moment of humanization considering all the horrible things we've seen Butcher do.
But Butcher's not just visiting Ryan for some daddy/son time. He's got business to take care of. After failing to arrest a superhero named Termite (in what's perhaps the most hilariously outlandish sequence thus far in all of The Boys, and that's saying something), Queen Maeve (Dominique McElligott) steps in with a potentially game-changing piece of intel:
Before the Seven held court on the 99th floor of Vaught Tower, it was a group of superheroes named Payback who kept America safe… at least until their leader, Soldier Boy (Jensen Ackles) was killed in action. How exactly was Soldier Boy killed? Well, that's what Butcher will need to uncover if he wants a chance at killing Homelander and finally avenging his late wife.
Back at the FBSA, a guy named Tony (Kyle Mac) visits the office asking for Neumann, insisting her real name isn't Victoria, but Nadia. Suspicious, Hughie follows him through the streets as Tony's confronted by Neumann in a secluded back alley. Neumann confirms the two were once friends, but things quickly get out of hand and, to keep Tony quiet, Neumann a.k.a. Nadia blows him to smithereens — spattering blood all over Hughie's new suit. Because what would an episode of The Boys be without Hughie drenched in someone else's blood?
So… Homelander's losing his mind. Hughie's fetching oat lattes for a mass murderer. Butcher's trapping evil superheroes in bags of cocaine. Damn I've missed this show.
Other Observations:
I find it hard to imagine the writing staff ever being able to top the shock value of the absolutely bonkers sequence with Termite. But hey, that's what I said when Butcher used a super-powered infant as a murder weapon in season 1, so….
As excited as I am for the rest of season 3, the thing I'm really itching to see is Vaught's newest blockbuster: The Dawn of the Seven. Let's just hope they don't dump it on Vaught +. But with a cast like that, I'm betting on day-and-date at the very least.
Also, when is The Deep's memoir Deeper hitting the shelves?
Homelander fat-shaming A-Train for indulging in a milkshake from Shake Shack was cruel and unusually funny. And also… left me craving Shake Shack.
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