How far does one go in their quest for vengeance? It’s a question Hughie has struggled with since agreeing to go after the Supes — especially now that he’s murdered one of them. We’ll see how Hughie comes to terms with what he did in episode three, “Get Some”.
The Aftermath
An anxious Hughie (Jack Quaid) apologizes for the mess he’s made, referring to Translucent’s (Alex Hassell) splattered remains. He wants to go home and change clothes, so Butcher (Karl Urban) tells Frenchie to go with him. Frenchie (Tomer Capone) asks Hughie where they’ll hide Translucent’s body because it won’t burn. Butcher suggests they try to slow down Homelander (Antony Starr) from finding it. He packs up Translucent’s body and blows up their hideout, since it had a lot of blood in it.
Back home, Hughie is changing clothes when he notices the Supes merchandise and posters in his room. This sets him off, and he starts tearing, breaking everything in sight until he spots a picture of him and Robin together. Hughie’s father walks in, asking what happened. Hughie explains he’s going away for a while. Hugh (Simon Pegg) tries to get his son to talk, but Hughie says some pretty nasty things to his father. He apologizes for his choice of words and leaves.
Starlight Gets A New Outfit
At Vought’s headquarters, Starlight (Erin Moriarty) enters Madelyn’s (Elisabeth Shue) office and sees Ashley (Colby Minifie) is waiting for her. Remember the girl Starlight rescued in the previous episode? Well, she saw the video of Starlight attacking her assailants on YouTube, and came forward to thank her. Starlight’s stats are through the roof, and people from marketing pitch ideas on how to capitalize on her growing popularity. They unveil a bathing suit-inspired outfit that’s more revealing than her current mini dress. Starlight politely rejects the new outfit, but Madelyn makes it clear she will wear it. Starlight points out it’s her body, and she has a right to choose how much she wants to show. Madelyn agrees that’s true but also points out if Starlight wants to remain a member of The 7, she’s wearing the new outfit.
The Boys Spy On Popclaw
Butcher pays a visit to Mother’s Milk (Laz Alonso), who runs a boys’ correction center. Butcher reveals they killed Translucent, and the Mallory files are brought up again. MM asks if Frenchie was coming back, making it clear he couldn’t work with him. Butcher lies by stating he hasn’t seen Frenchie in years. MM agrees to help.
The two turn a truck into their makeshift headquarters, so they can spy on Popclaw (Brittany Allen), A-Train’s (Jessie T. Usher) girlfriend. Hughie and Frenchie walk in after knocking, and MM immediately gets into a fight with Frenchie. Mallory is mentioned again, but we don’t get any details on whom (or what) Mallory is. MM eventually makes up with Frenchie and The Boys come up with a plan to get inside Popclaw’s apartment. Hughie and MM pretend to be internet installation men to gain access to her IP address. Popclaw’s desktop wallpaper — a picture of A-Train kissing her cheek — triggers Hughie, but he succeeds in programming her webcam to record and phone back to their truck. Hughie bumps into A-Train as he’s leaving the apartment, but A-Train doesn’t recognize him, which infuriates Hughie.
Back in the truck, everyone watches Popclaw and A-Train have sex, but A-Train is distracted. He’s running against Shockwave (Mishka Thébaud) tomorrow, and Madelyn threatened to kick him out of the Supes if he loses. A-Train asks for some Compound V but Popclaw is reluctant because the last time he took the drug, he ran through Robin. Popclaw says she’d still love A-Train if he lost, but he’s afraid of becoming a washed up B-Squader, which is what Popclaw is. The two get into an argument and A-Train slips up by saying he’d see her AFTER the race. This causes Popclaw to lose it because she thought they were finally going public, and that her going was cleared with Madelyn. Eventually, she breaks down and gives A-Train some Compound V. The Boys watch A-Train take the drugs and discuss how they can get their hands on a sample.
Homelander Gone Wild
Madelyn is in her office with her baby and Homelander, who’s annoyed by the baby’s cooing. He heard about Translucent’s tracking device dying and fears he might be hurt. Madelyn is dismissive of Homelander’s fears — she’s more focused on getting the Supes into National Defense. The military bill is out of the committee and Corporate wants to capitalize on this new development. Madelyn gives Homelander the new talking points for tomorrow’s race, but Homelander crumples the papers, saying he doesn’t need them. Madelyn reminds him that Mr. Edgar wrote those papers and if Homelander has a problem, take it up with him. Pissed, Homelander takes the papers.
Later, Maeve and Homelander are assisting SWAT on a special assignment. He wonders why no one seems to care about Translucent being MIA. Maeve reminds him that he hates Translucent. Homelander said he cares because Translucent’s disappearance impacts The 7, which impacts him. Homelander compliments Maeve for being the only one willing to tell him the truth. When the duo catches up with the criminal, Homelander punches his fist through the man’s chest while looking him in the eyes. The scene is more than Maeve can take. “You know the drill. He shot us first”, he tells her. Then he grabs the criminal’s gun and proceeds to shoot Maeve multiple times (good thing she’s bulletproof).
“The things I let you do to me”, Maeve says.
“We’re not even dating anymore”, says Homelander.
A Race To Remember
The big race is finally here! Hughie talks with MM about what he felt when he killed Translucent. He felt alive. MM warns that everything comes with a price. Hughie said he’s willing to pay it. The last thing he said to Robin before she died was a comment about Billy Joel’s music. He has to live with that for the rest of his life.
A-Train’s brother Nathan (Christian Keys) gives A-Train a pep talk, saying everything will be just fine. All while their mother is sitting in the crowd, looking at them. Meanwhile, Maeve is doing the talking points Edgar requested when Homelander dramatically lands in front of everyone. He apologizes for being late, which was clearly planned to avoid using Edgar’s speech. Later, Homelander reminisces about his relationship with Maeve during an interview. In front of thousands of people, he declares they are together forever, which everybody loves — except for Maeve, of course.
Starlight is signing autographs in her new outfit. A young girl wearing her old uniform asks for a selfie. She’s saving her money to buy Starlight’s new uniform, which disturbs the young Supe. She covers her chest as she’s taking pictures with the girl, which prompts some guy to scream, “Starlight, show us your tits!” Ashley intervenes before Starlight can confront the heckler. Starlight tells the girl she liked her old uniform better and leaves, telling Ashley she needs a minute. She walks past Hughie on her way to the locker room, and Hughie recognizes her as Annie from the park. He strikes up a conversation with Starlight to prevent her from spotting Frenchie — who’s in the locker room looking for a sample of Compound V — and offers to buy her some food.
While they’re eating, Starlight says it’s nice to talk to someone who doesn’t recognize her. She admits she feels that Vought wants the Supes to look like heroes, then actually be heroes. Hughie turns off his microphone, so Butcher wouldn’t hear his response. He suggests Starlight quit her job, but she says she has to go. Hughie tries to ask her out, and she agrees to give him her number. This is different from Robin, who had to ask him out first. It’s surprising how much Hughie has changed in less than a week. Killing a Supe has that effect, apparently.
Frenchie fails to find any Compound V. We cut to A-Train, who’s obviously high — he’s wired and struggling to stay under control. He wins his race against Shockwave. Homelander is in the crowd when he notices Butcher looking at him, with his back to the field. The next time Homelander looks back at the field, Butcher is gone.
A Little Compound V to Cure a Broken Heart
MM returns to their truck/headquarters to spy on Popclaw, who’s watching the race on TV while she drinks her pain away. A reporter asks A-Train if he has special plans…with a girl. A-Train says he’s always in the game but is too fast to catch — in other words, he’s single. The alcohol isn’t strong enough, so a devastated Popclaw takes some Compound V to soothe her pain.
After doing some heavy weightlifting for over an hour, Popclaw’s apartment manager arrives, demanding she pay her rent. She starts flirting with him, and soon they engage in some role play. The manager pretends to rob her, and Popclaw ends up sitting on the guy’s face. Claws pop out of her wrists. High on Compound V, Popclaw loses control of herself and orgasms with such force, she crushes the manager’s head. Realizing something doesn’t feel right, she looks down and is horrified by what she’s done.
You know who’s also horrified? Hughie, who watched the whole thing go down on camera with Butcher, Frenchie, and MM. Hughie blames Butcher for the man’s death, since he wouldn’t let Hughie save him. Butcher points out that Hughie wouldn’t have gotten there in time, and there was nothing he could do to stop it. Also, they have the murder on tape and Popclaw is right where they want her. “Like you said. Whatever the price, you’ll pay it, right?” MM reminds Hughie.
It’s beginning to dawn on Hughie how much vengeance actually costs. Is he willing to let innocent people die in his quest to take down the Supes? This probably isn’t the last time this conflict will come up for Hughie throughout the season. He’s also realizing that, just like Starlight, he doesn’t like his new job either.
Frenchie and Butcher walk into Popclaw’s apartment. They offer to help her sort out her little “problem” in exchange for information on Compound V.
You’re Next
Back at Vought’s headquarters, Madelyn, Deep, and Homelander are in the conference room. They’re staring at a box that contains Translucent’s remains. Deep says his friend — which is a porpoise — found Translucent’s body buried in a zinc box at the bottom of the ocean. Zinc is one of the few elements Homelander can’t see through. Madelyn is in disbelief. Homelander berates her for not taking Translucent’s disappearance seriously. He warns someone is coming after the Supes. Madelyn is skeptical of this until she reads a message written on the inside of the top of the box: “Coming for you”.
