The Boys Season 4 Episode 1-3 Recap and Review

The Season 4 premiere of The Boys came with three episodes that quickly allowed us to immerse ourselves in the Supes' universe and all current events. While we saw our main cast return to the screen, we also saw some new faces that definitely added more tension to the show. Since Season 4 will consist of 8 episodes, those three that we saw already reveal a lot about the plot and allow us to guess what could happen by the end of the season.

Most of us binge-watched the first three episodes, so here is a quick summary and review of the most important moments so far to help us all be caught up before Episode 4.

Homelander is Entering His Mid-Life Crisis

Ever since his first appearance in the new season, we have seen Homelander obsess over the fact that he is aging. In his first scene, he notices that he is starting to lose hair. Not just any hair—he is looking at his fallen pubes. Later on, we see that he has been collecting them, which seems to be his way of coping with the fact that he is getting old.

Throughout the three episodes, Homelander's aging is mentioned on numerous occasions. For example, when he hears the film crew talking about how they have to remove his wrinkles with video effects for movies, or when Sister Sage addresses his mid-life crisis habit when they first meet. All this is making Homelander feel like he is losing his relevance and that he is not invincible after all. This will definitely affect his ego and behavior, which will most likely result in massive destruction caused by his short temper.

The New Characters

The New Black Noir

It was such a surprise for everyone that Black Noir is back, even though Homelander killed him in Season 3. However, as it turns out, the new Noir is a completely different person who wears the same costume (though the actor is the same). It seems like Vought cast a new addition to the team who has to pretend that he is the original Black Noir so no one finds out that he is actually dead.

This actually makes the new Noir super funny since he is constantly confused about what is going on. Oh, and of course, he talks now. A lot. The contrast between the last and the current Noir makes it super entertaining to see how he interacts with the rest of The Seven.

Sister Sage

Sister Sage is not only a new addition to The Seven but also Homelander's new personal advisor. After realizing that no one dares to tell him their real opinions, Homelander needed someone who could be straightforward and discuss his ideas with him. This is the reason why Sister Sage gained his respect very quickly.

As the smartest person on Earth, Sage is now like a puppet master who helps Homelander achieve his goals as she sees fit. However, her confidence might rub Homelander the wrong way later on, as he already seems to be annoyed sometimes when she disagrees with his actions.

Firecracker 

Firecracker is the second new addition to The Seven. Although her power—to create small firecrackers with her fingers—doesn't really stand out, what made her a suitable choice for The Seven was her opposition to Starlight. She has her own show named Truthbomb where she constantly shares her right-wing conspiracy theories, mainly framing Starlight as a child trafficker. We later find out that there is more to her hatred for Starlight. They apparently knew each other when they were young, as both of them participated in beauty pageant contests. At that time, it was none other than Starlight who spread a malicious rumor about Firecracker to prevent her from winning the contest, which ended up ruining her life. Their conflict will unfold a lot more later on.

Joe Kessler 

We are finally seeing Jeffrey D. Morgan's role in The Boys as an old friend of Butcher's. The two of them used to work together since he is a CIA case officer. From what it seems, Kessler will play a significant role this season. He is currently convincing Butcher to somehow bring Ryan to him so he can train him. His main purpose is to use Ryan to kill Homelander, which seems to be the only way to defeat him. However, we suspect this might become an obstacle in Ryan and Butcher's relationship, which has just started getting better.

What Everyone Is Up To

To keep things short and concise, here is a quick recap of what each of the main characters is doing right now:

• A-Train: Guilt is torturing A-Train, and after an argument with his brother, he decides to help The Boys from behind the scenes.

• Hughie: Hughie's dad had a stroke, which led to us finding out more about his past. We saw his mother for the first time; she left Hughie when he was little.

• Frenchie: Frenchie is back on drugs again. He has a new lover, from whom he is hiding the fact that he murdered his family in the past.

• Mother's Milk: Mother's Milk is the current leader of The Boys and is trying his best to keep the team together without Butcher.

• Starlight: Starlight was trying to avoid her Supe persona and lead the movement against Homelander as Annie January, not as Starlight. However, she realized people needed a role model to follow, so she resumed using her superhero alter ego.

• Kimiko: Kimiko is dealing with her past trauma, which makes her want to attack a group of Shining Light terrorists when she comes across a girl she knows.

• The Deep: The Deep is still in a relationship with the octopus.

Victoria Neuman Runs For President 

Neuman's candidacy is a major problem, primarily because it would allow her to implement Supe legislation that would put humans at a great disadvantage in all parts of life. We find out that she is highly likely to win the election, and Homelander also wants to benefit from her future powerful position.

Homelander and Sage try to strike a deal with Neuman: they will ensure her win in the election in exchange for her disbanding the Bureau of Superhuman Affairs and essentially giving all the important power roles to Supes. This would help Homelander achieve his ultimate goal of ruling over the world. Sister Sage has already created a step-by-step plan on how he could achieve this, which starts with him creating a sort of civil war between the Starlight supporters and the Homelander supporters. After that, he can stop the conflicts, becoming the ultimate savior and gaining everyone's trust.

Ryan's Hard Choice - Homelander or Butcher

In Season 4 of The Boys, we see Homelander in a father's role, which he is obviously not good at. He is eagerly trying to make Ryan despise humans as much as he does and become indifferent to killing and causing harm in general. Overall, his intentions towards his son are only based on his personal rewards. Homelander wants to make Ryan a public figure and use him to promote himself and his generous personality, but he refuses to let him take the spotlight as a "strong hero." His jealousy and competitiveness are evident even when it comes to his son.

Ryan seems to be slowly realizing that Homelander is not a good father. After reuniting with Butcher, he has even more reasons to doubt him. It is good to see Butcher and Ryan finally talk things through, as it might really help them to fix their issues. We think it is safe to expect that Ryan might choose Butcher over Homelander in the following episodes.

The Supe-Killing Virus

The Supe-Killing Virus was first teased in The Boys' spin-off Gen V. There, we saw how Dr. Cardosa was experimenting on Supe students, trying to perfect the deadly virus. This will remain a key plot line in Season 4, as it has already been mentioned that Victoria Neuman has it in her possession. The main purpose for creating the virus is to eliminate Homelander. We are yet to find out whether it will prove to be successful or not.

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