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The Boys S3 Ep 2: The Only Man in the Sky
from Collider: https://collider.com/the-boys-season-3-episode-2-recap-the-only-man-in-the-sky/
BYNICHOLAS SISTI
PUBLISHED JUN 05, 2022
Compared to the explosive opener of The Boys Season 3, Episode 2 can be seen as a settling of the plot, the gears finally in motion. The full ramifications of Hughie's revelation in Episode 1 are explored, the implications of which steer Butcher into uncharted territory.
Episode 2, “The Only Man in the Sky,” mirrors the cold open of Episode 1 with a trailer for the upcoming The Deep (Chase Crawford) biopic: Not Without my Dolphin. Starring The Deep as himself and co-starring Vought Studios veteran Billy Zane as Alastair Adana, the film documents The Deep’s “Church of the Collective” saga of last season. Airing on Vought’s VTV for Women, the film promises all the tropes, twists, and turns of a classic Lifetime drama. Homelander (Antony Starr) swoops in for a special broadcast advertising his “Annual Birthday Spectacular,” featuring appearances by such influential public figures as the cast of Riverdale, Dame Judi Dench, and Rascal Flatts.
The TV these commercials are airing on is revealed to be in Billy Butcher (Karl Urban)’s apartment, where Butcher grabs a vial of Temp V from a jar, contemplating whether he should inject it. Considering his first instinct in Episode 1 was to toss it down the drain, it is striking to see his attitude shift. Homelander’s challenge to Butcher in the previous episode also influences Butcher’s decision to keep the Temp V. His rumination process plays out on screen, with his TV acting as a conduit for his subconscious doubts and fears. He injects the Temp V… only to wake up from this foreboding dream.
Butcher meets up with Mother’s Milk (Laz Alonso), discussing his plan to figure out what killed Soldier Boy (Jensen Ackles) and use it to finally take out Homelander. Butcher, Frenchie (Tomer Kapon), and Kimiko (Karen Fukuhara) are investigating Vought’s '80s superhero team Payback, which includes Crimson Countess (Laurie Holden) and Gunpowder (Sean Patrick Flanery). Butcher tries to convince M.M. to join the fight, but he declines. M.M. doesn’t want to fall into the same trap his father did, dying hunched over a typewriter as he struggled to fight Vought. After Butcher leaves, M.M. spreads a collage of newspaper clippings across his bed, showcasing Soldier Boy’s collateral damage.
Butcher attends the Vought-sponsored 33rd Annual Firearm Convention and Exposition to speak to Gunpowder about Soldier Boy. Gunpowder is giving a Second Amendment lecture, opining that “if Dakota “Bob” Singer gets elected president, well, you say hello to left-wing socialism.” Butcher meets up with Gunpowder in the bathroom, and confronts him about Soldier Boy’s alleged abuse when he was his underage sidekick. Gunpowder dismisses the claims, but Butcher presents a document that quotes Gunpowder describing Soldier Boy’s “Habitual Abuse.” Butcher threatens to release the documents unless Gunpowder tells him what really happened to Soldier Boy. Gunpowder declines, insisting that Soldier Boy “never touched me like that.” Gunpowder follows Butcher to the parking garage and attacks him. Featuring a riveting, bullet-tracing sequence when Butcher gets his cheek scraped by a bullet, Butcher manages to escape by setting off some car alarms.
Frenchie and Kimiko visit supe-based amusement park Voughtland to see if Crimson Countess (Laurie Holden) can give them any intel on Soldier Boy. Continuing her development from the previous episode, Kimiko has a naïve, childlike wonder at all the colors and hoopla. Later on the episode, she reveals to Frenchie that she never really had a childhood, and this influences her demeanor at Voughtland. The two attend a presentation on Soldier Boy, which is closed out with a performance of “America’s Son” by Crimson Countess. Frenchie and Kimiko meet her backstage, and she shows them her new music video for “Chimps Don’t Cry.” They try to hold her down and question her, but she escapes out to the park and attacks them with an orb, missing them and exploding a costumed Homelander as chunks of blood and guts rain down on the park-goers.
At the rehearsals for Homelander’s Annual Birthday Celebration, Starlight (Erin Moriarty) is unexpectedly tasked with singing Happy Birthday, but Homelander says that he wants a more “J.F.K. just got rimmed out by Marilyn” version. Starlight declines, saying it’s demeaning. When Homelander continues to press, Stan Edgar (Giancarlo Esposito) comes out of the woodwork and gives Homelander a heavy dose of reality: that “76% of likely viewers will make every effort to watch tonight for Starlight. As for you, 53% might DVR… As for the PR hole you dug yourself into this past year, I’d say you’re lucky we’re putting on this farce at all.”
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Image via Prime Video
A-Train (Jessie T. Usher) and manager Seth (Malcolm Barrett) call a meeting with Ashley (Colbie Minifie) and Also Ashley (Sabrina Saudin) to discuss a “rebranding” of his image. The first in a series of proposed tone-deaf ideas is a docuseries on Vought Soul, titled A-Train to Africa, which will “trace his family’s journey from the plains of Africa all the way to Vought Tower.” In A-Train’s words, “I want to get back in touch with my roots…like in Roots!” The second is an “interactive learning experience” about the slave trade titled The Middle Passage. On the way out, A-Train is surprised that they didn’t buy it. Seth tells him, “She hated it. Look man, she didn’t buy it because it’s total bullshit. You couldn’t care less about your African roots. You know it, and she knows it, and frankly, Africa knows it.” A-Train’s reply of “Yeah? You don’t have a fucking dick” harkens back to the support group scene in Season 1, when Seth admits that he lost his penis while having sex with superhero Ice Princess.
Early on in the episode, Homelander visits Stormfront (Aya Cash). He tells her to blink if she wants to wish him a happy birthday. She doesn’t blink, and he turns and walks away. As he is walking away, she finally blinks and a tear falls down her face. As part of his Annual Birthday Celebration, Homelander is tasked with the yearly heroic duty of talking a suicidal girl down from the ledge. Chelsea (Nia Roam), Homelander’s “annual birthday save,” initially seems pretty indifferent to Homelander’s lazy attempts to get her to step back. However, Homelander turns around to see the breaking news: Stormfront has just committed suicide (she is later revealed to have bitten off her own tongue, Million Dollar Baby style). Homelander stops to process the news, and his lackadaisical attitude towards Chelsea shifts to anger. He delivers a monologue about how it’s not actually his birthday, that this day was just chosen for him by a marketing department. He doesn’t even have a birthday, because he was “just poured out of a fucking test tube.” He alludes himself to Jesus, and wonders why “You get saved, while a beautiful, perfect god gets killed?” He then encourages Chelsea to jump. When she says “Oh God no, please,” Homelander replies, “No God. The only man in the sky is me.” She jumps, much to the horror of nearby spectators, as well as Ashley and the camera crew waiting below to document the moment.
After the revelation that Victoria Neuman (Claudia Doumit) is the head exploder, Hughie decides to investigate the Red River Institute. He discovers that it’s a foster home for the super-abled. While there, he happens to encounter Madelyn Stillwell (Elisabeth Shue)’s son, Teddy (Declan Sheedy) who has the ability to teleport. After a TV spot comes on showing Hughie with Starlight, Vanessa (Alexandra Castillo) becomes suspicious. Hughie lies, claiming that he’s sterile and that he and Starlight are looking to adopt. This allows him to get into the computer room and extract files with a USB drive. He gets home and pulls up the files on Neuman (aka Nadia), which are laden with gruesome photos of her dead parents with their heads blown off. A recorded interview with young Nadia (Elisa Paszt) reveals that she was taken in by none other than Stan Edgar.
Earlier in the episode, Ryan asks Butcher to watch a video he sent him, titled “Running Late.” Butcher finally pulls up the video, and it is a stop-motion Lego film set to a voicemail from Becca (Shantel VanSanten). Her voicemail is simply informing Ryan that she’s running late, telling Ryan that she’ll be home soon and to not eat too many Oreos. It’s a haunting yet beautiful slice of life. Butcher calls Hughie, who informs him that Neuman is a supe. Hughie tells him, “If we have to take them down, we have to do whatever it takes. We have to do it your way.”
Butcher once again confronts Gunpowder, who shoots him, but Butcher is able to get up and the bullets slide off his body. He disarms Gunpowder and overtakes him, revealing that he. has finally made the decision to inject himself with Temp V. After a brutal beatdown, Gunpowder finally talks, telling Butcher that the “abuse” from Soldier Boy was hazing, and that the nuclear meltdown explanation for his death was false. He claims he doesn’t know anything more about Soldier Boy’s death, and that they were working with the CIA, specifically Grace Mallory (Laila Robins). Butcher then murders Gunpowder, activating his supe eye lasers to slice off Gunpowder’s head (as well as the car behind him!).
During the broadcast of Homelander’s Birthday Celebration, a heckler interrupts the proceedings, shouting at the supe about his connection to Stormfront and her subsequent death: “Your Nazi died!” Starlight tries to haphazardly defend him, but Homelander takes the mic to object and reiterate his God status to the audience. He reminds the audience that he’s not like them: He’s stronger, smarter, and better. This signals the apex of what has been building throughout the previous episode — the complete dissolution of Homelander’s public face and his true persona. He rails against the way people have tried to control him. When he mentions this, there is a cut to Monique’s boyfriend Todd (Matthew Gorman) who leans closer to the TV, seemingly transfixed by his message. Homelander appoints himself as the savior of humanity at the conclusion of his ranting speech, saying, “You’re not the real heroes. I’m the real hero.”
Compared to the explosive opener of The Boys Season 3, Episode 2 can be seen as a settling of the plot, the gears finally in motion. The full ramifications of Hughie's revelation in Episode 1 are explored, the implications of which steer Butcher into uncharted territory.
Episode 2, “The Only Man in the Sky,” mirrors the cold open of Episode 1 with a trailer for the upcoming The Deep (Chase Crawford) biopic: Not Without my Dolphin. Starring The Deep as himself and co-starring Vought Studios veteran Billy Zane as Alastair Adana, the film documents The Deep’s “Church of the Collective” saga of last season. Airing on Vought’s VTV for Women, the film promises all the tropes, twists, and turns of a classic Lifetime drama. Homelander (Antony Starr) swoops in for a special broadcast advertising his “Annual Birthday Spectacular,” featuring appearances by such influential public figures as the cast of Riverdale, Dame Judi Dench, and Rascal Flatts.
The TV these commercials are airing on is revealed to be in Billy Butcher (Karl Urban)’s apartment, where Butcher grabs a vial of Temp V from a jar, contemplating whether he should inject it. Considering his first instinct in Episode 1 was to toss it down the drain, it is striking to see his attitude shift. Homelander’s challenge to Butcher in the previous episode also influences Butcher’s decision to keep the Temp V. His rumination process plays out on screen, with his TV acting as a conduit for his subconscious doubts and fears. He injects the Temp V… only to wake up from this foreboding dream.
Butcher meets up with Mother’s Milk (Laz Alonso), discussing his plan to figure out what killed Soldier Boy (Jensen Ackles) and use it to finally take out Homelander. Butcher, Frenchie (Tomer Kapon), and Kimiko (Karen Fukuhara) are investigating Vought’s '80s superhero team Payback, which includes Crimson Countess (Laurie Holden) and Gunpowder (Sean Patrick Flanery). Butcher tries to convince M.M. to join the fight, but he declines. M.M. doesn’t want to fall into the same trap his father did, dying hunched over a typewriter as he struggled to fight Vought. After Butcher leaves, M.M. spreads a collage of newspaper clippings across his bed, showcasing Soldier Boy’s collateral damage.
Butcher attends the Vought-sponsored 33rd Annual Firearm Convention and Exposition to speak to Gunpowder about Soldier Boy. Gunpowder is giving a Second Amendment lecture, opining that “if Dakota “Bob” Singer gets elected president, well, you say hello to left-wing socialism.” Butcher meets up with Gunpowder in the bathroom, and confronts him about Soldier Boy’s alleged abuse when he was his underage sidekick. Gunpowder dismisses the claims, but Butcher presents a document that quotes Gunpowder describing Soldier Boy’s “Habitual Abuse.” Butcher threatens to release the documents unless Gunpowder tells him what really happened to Soldier Boy. Gunpowder declines, insisting that Soldier Boy “never touched me like that.” Gunpowder follows Butcher to the parking garage and attacks him. Featuring a riveting, bullet-tracing sequence when Butcher gets his cheek scraped by a bullet, Butcher manages to escape by setting off some car alarms.
Frenchie and Kimiko visit supe-based amusement park Voughtland to see if Crimson Countess (Laurie Holden) can give them any intel on Soldier Boy. Continuing her development from the previous episode, Kimiko has a naïve, childlike wonder at all the colors and hoopla. Later on the episode, she reveals to Frenchie that she never really had a childhood, and this influences her demeanor at Voughtland. The two attend a presentation on Soldier Boy, which is closed out with a performance of “America’s Son” by Crimson Countess. Frenchie and Kimiko meet her backstage, and she shows them her new music video for “Chimps Don’t Cry.” They try to hold her down and question her, but she escapes out to the park and attacks them with an orb, missing them and exploding a costumed Homelander as chunks of blood and guts rain down on the park-goers.
At the rehearsals for Homelander’s Annual Birthday Celebration, Starlight (Erin Moriarty) is unexpectedly tasked with singing Happy Birthday, but Homelander says that he wants a more “J.F.K. just got rimmed out by Marilyn” version. Starlight declines, saying it’s demeaning. When Homelander continues to press, Stan Edgar (Giancarlo Esposito) comes out of the woodwork and gives Homelander a heavy dose of reality: that “76% of likely viewers will make every effort to watch tonight for Starlight. As for you, 53% might DVR… As for the PR hole you dug yourself into this past year, I’d say you’re lucky we’re putting on this farce at all.”
A-Train (Jessie T. Usher) and manager Seth (Malcolm Barrett) call a meeting with Ashley (Colbie Minifie) and Also Ashley (Sabrina Saudin) to discuss a “rebranding” of his image. The first in a series of proposed tone-deaf ideas is a docuseries on Vought Soul, titled A-Train to Africa, which will “trace his family’s journey from the plains of Africa all the way to Vought Tower.” In A-Train’s words, “I want to get back in touch with my roots…like in Roots!” The second is an “interactive learning experience” about the slave trade titled The Middle Passage. On the way out, A-Train is surprised that they didn’t buy it. Seth tells him, “She hated it. Look man, she didn’t buy it because it’s total bullshit. You couldn’t care less about your African roots. You know it, and she knows it, and frankly, Africa knows it.” A-Train’s reply of “Yeah? You don’t have a fucking dick” harkens back to the support group scene in Season 1, when Seth admits that he lost his penis while having sex with superhero Ice Princess.
Early on in the episode, Homelander visits Stormfront (Aya Cash). He tells her to blink if she wants to wish him a happy birthday. She doesn’t blink, and he turns and walks away. As he is walking away, she finally blinks and a tear falls down her face. As part of his Annual Birthday Celebration, Homelander is tasked with the yearly heroic duty of talking a suicidal girl down from the ledge. Chelsea (Nia Roam), Homelander’s “annual birthday save,” initially seems pretty indifferent to Homelander’s lazy attempts to get her to step back. However, Homelander turns around to see the breaking news: Stormfront has just committed suicide (she is later revealed to have bitten off her own tongue, Million Dollar Baby style). Homelander stops to process the news, and his lackadaisical attitude towards Chelsea shifts to anger. He delivers a monologue about how it’s not actually his birthday, that this day was just chosen for him by a marketing department. He doesn’t even have a birthday, because he was “just poured out of a fucking test tube.” He alludes himself to Jesus, and wonders why “You get saved, while a beautiful, perfect god gets killed?” He then encourages Chelsea to jump. When she says “Oh God no, please,” Homelander replies, “No God. The only man in the sky is me.” She jumps, much to the horror of nearby spectators, as well as Ashley and the camera crew waiting below to document the moment.
After the revelation that Victoria Neuman (Claudia Doumit) is the head exploder, Hughie decides to investigate the Red River Institute. He discovers that it’s a foster home for the super-abled. While there, he happens to encounter Madelyn Stillwell (Elisabeth Shue)’s son, Teddy (Declan Sheedy) who has the ability to teleport. After a TV spot comes on showing Hughie with Starlight, Vanessa (Alexandra Castillo) becomes suspicious. Hughie lies, claiming that he’s sterile and that he and Starlight are looking to adopt. This allows him to get into the computer room and extract files with a USB drive. He gets home and pulls up the files on Neuman (aka Nadia), which are laden with gruesome photos of her dead parents with their heads blown off. A recorded interview with young Nadia (Elisa Paszt) reveals that she was taken in by none other than Stan Edgar.
Earlier in the episode, Ryan asks Butcher to watch a video he sent him, titled “Running Late.” Butcher finally pulls up the video, and it is a stop-motion Lego film set to a voicemail from Becca (Shantel VanSanten). Her voicemail is simply informing Ryan that she’s running late, telling Ryan that she’ll be home soon and to not eat too many Oreos. It’s a haunting yet beautiful slice of life. Butcher calls Hughie, who informs him that Neuman is a supe. Hughie tells him, “If we have to take them down, we have to do whatever it takes. We have to do it your way.”
Butcher once again confronts Gunpowder, who shoots him, but Butcher is able to get up and the bullets slide off his body. He disarms Gunpowder and overtakes him, revealing that he. has finally made the decision to inject himself with Temp V. After a brutal beatdown, Gunpowder finally talks, telling Butcher that the “abuse” from Soldier Boy was hazing, and that the nuclear meltdown explanation for his death was false. He claims he doesn’t know anything more about Soldier Boy’s death, and that they were working with the CIA, specifically Grace Mallory (Laila Robins). Butcher then murders Gunpowder, activating his supe eye lasers to slice off Gunpowder’s head (as well as the car behind him!).
During the broadcast of Homelander’s Birthday Celebration, a heckler interrupts the proceedings, shouting at the supe about his connection to Stormfront and her subsequent death: “Your Nazi died!” Starlight tries to haphazardly defend him, but Homelander takes the mic to object and reiterate his God status to the audience. He reminds the audience that he’s not like them: He’s stronger, smarter, and better. This signals the apex of what has been building throughout the previous episode — the complete dissolution of Homelander’s public face and his true persona. He rails against the way people have tried to control him. When he mentions this, there is a cut to Monique’s boyfriend Todd (Matthew Gorman) who leans closer to the TV, seemingly transfixed by his message. Homelander appoints himself as the savior of humanity at the conclusion of his ranting speech, saying, “You’re not the real heroes. I’m the real hero.”
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