[Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers for The Boys, Season 2, Episode 7, “Butcher, Baker, Candlestick Maker”]
So I feel the need to start this recap by talking a little bit about timing.We initially released our first review of The Boys on August 24, after securing screens for the entire second season. I wrote this review after watching all eight episodes the previous two weeks (while of course avoiding spoilers because I’m not a monster)
My review has been very positive, overall But looking back at Episode 7, “Butcher, Baker, Candlestick Maker,” I can’t help but wonder how it could have been different, if I wrote it two days later, after the alleged incident where a 17-year-old radicalized by social media gunned down two people on the streets of Kenosha, Wis. There’s no way to tell for sure But the opening of this episode, in which a young man living a routine life is radicalized by the social networks led by Stormfront to the point of killing a convenience store clerk because he could be a « super-terrorist » … It’s just much harder to watch now It’s no fun
But it’s also a time when The Boys proves it has the power to be a show far beyond the simple « superhero show where Karl Urban says the C word and people’s heads explode a lot « It’s premonitory, insightful and raw This show is a blunt instrument, and sometimes that makes it scary Even when it’s really, really hard to watch
After the opening streak, we’re back to business with Congresswoman Victoria Neumann sitting down with Lamplighter, who has now fully shifted to the boys’ side and is open to testifying in Congress on the acts Vought pervert It’s a tough alliance everywhere, and while everyone else sets off to implement their plans, Hughie is left to guard Lamplighter – which means watching superhero Vought porn and having depressing conversations about the way both feel unnecessary
Meanwhile, a runaway Starlight agrees to meet her mother, confessing that she feels utterly disillusioned now that she understands the truth about the cause she thought she was fighting for. « The good guys don’t win, the bad guys don’t get punished – it’s all for nothing, » she says, and trying to reconcile, Donna reveals that she got Vought’s permission to leave together, which means that Donna has been in contact with Vought, which means that moments later Black Noir rushes into the cafe to grab him
Speaking of parents, Billy has an unexpected reunion with his asshole from an abusive father, which only happened because his mother pushed him to come and Grace and Mother’s Milk are going to convince Dr. Jonah Vogelbaum to testify
By the way, it turns out it’s Alistair Adana’s birthday, so he’s throwing a very luxurious party, where The Deep and A-Train have a good bonding time before Alistair tells them that ‘he’s going to meet Stan Edgar to try to bring them both back to the Seven He also mentions that Eagle the Archer is now a « toxic personality » and officially blacklisted by the Church of the Collective, which shakes A Little Deep and A-Train Later it was revealed that Eagle the Archer had been excommunicated after refusing to cut his mother off from her life with a fairly intense life
Homelander and Stormfront are putting on a very patriotic and very positive rally for a massive crowd, calling for the cast of more Compound V to make more supers, and announcing that Starlight has been revealed as a mole and captured It’s a good time for them, but when Stormfront makes fun of a baby, Homelander decides to introduce her to his son Ryan As far as “meeting daddy’s new girlfriend” moments, it could be worse… Except when Stormfront begins tempting Ryan with the possibilities of the outside world, threatening to burst the safety bubble Becca tried to maintain for her son Becca pleads for Homelander to let Ryan continue to have a real childhood with her, but in the end Homelander and Stormfront literally sweeps him away, having told him the truth about where they lived and turning Ryan on his mother in the worst possible way.
Hughie and Lamplighter are supposed to stay put, but when Hughie learns that Starlight has been arrested, Lamplighter convinces him that they should go to Vought’s headquarters to rescue her. Lamplighter is able to get them inside the building due to outdated security protocols, but it turns out that the reason he wanted to go was because he wanted to self-sacrifice in front of his own statue. It’s a sad moment for the character, but it leaves Hughie alone in enemy territory, with nothing more than Lamplighter’s severed hand to help him escape
Thankfully, Starlight was able to regain her powers and get out of her holding cell, although she confronts Black Noir again almost immediately. It’s another super brawl to smash all the furniture, this time we can tear up the Seven’s conference room, and Noir almost suffocates Starlight to death. but then an angry and bitter Maeve shows up to push an Almond Joy down Noir’s throat, triggering her nut allergy (See, all of you almond joys are bad)
Maeve stays behind, but Hughie, Starlight and her mother step out just in time to watch the hearing with Jonah’s testimony It looks like the moment everything could change for the better and then heads literally start to explode in the courtroom, including Jonah’s. None of the series regulars go kablooey, and Neumann is safe, but it’s not a great result
Another episode in season 2! If this episode is anything to go by, I’m sure it will be very cold
The Boys season 2 episode 7
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