Season 5, episode 3 of The Boys quickly explains away how Soldier Boy survived the virus, citing his older version of Compound V. Access to more of this original Compound V, V1, is the primary goal for both Homelander and The Boys in this episode. The Boys find their way to Stan Edgar’s bunker, looking for more evidence on how they could beat Homelander in the race for more V1. On that note, Homelader spends the episode mostly cooped up in his penthouse, going insane and seeing religious visions of Madelyn Stillwell. Additionally, The Deep, Black Noir, and some lower-level villains hunt down Stan Edgar. The Deep, however, sabotages Black Noir and takes Stan Edgar to Homelander himself. The most unique element of this episode was Ryan’s return. At first, Butcher convinces him to sacrifice himself as bait to infect Homelander with the virus. Eventually, Ryan tries to face Homelader on his own after learning the truth of his conception. From there, Homelander beats him up and, in The Boys’ corner, Sameer and Zoe Neuman destroy the virus.
A concrete solution to both improve Homelander’s strength and make him immune to the virus was a great choice that heightened the episode’s tension. While the character work remains hit-or-miss, this episode certainly had some of the more engaging character choices, namely with Homelander, Soldier Boy, Firecracker, and The Deep. While some of Homelander’s strangeness comes across as shock value, his specific pseudo-religious insanity in this episode was a particular highlight of his character. Additionally, The Deep remains engaging in the lengths he goes to kiss up to Homelander, which feels far more honest than the supposed redemption set up in earlier seasons. Soldier Boy and Firecracker’s petty connection was also a fun addition to the season. However, some character work felt rushed or strange, with Starlight’s concern for Hughie causing her to fly away, seeming forced to create tension. Similarly, Frenchie and Kimiko being reduced to the butt of sexual jokes is a shame. Hughie’s tension with Translucent’s son, Maverick, was decently interesting, but it was wrapped up too easily to truly feel impactful.
Beyond the character work and plot setup, this episode had many other minor issues. This episode features three major fight scenes: one with Ryan in Russia, one with the attack on Edgar’s bunker, and one with Homelander fighting Ryan. Homelander fighting Ryan worked the best of the three, relying more on dramatic tension over pure fighting. Said pure fighting, though, was the main drawback of the other fight scenes. Notably, the climactic attack on the bunker was shot far too frenetically, with few creative uses of its characters’ powers or skills. The creativity of powers has been a considerable negative of the show for a while now, although Dogknott being overwhelmed with the Translucent body spray was a great choice. Finally, Homelander’s psychological tension being related to the bright flashes of cameras is a decent choice for his character, but it far too clearly sets up his being beaten by Starlight and her ability to shoot bright flashing lights. This episode had some interesting character moments, but ultimately wasn’t all that special, especially in the action department.
Rating: 5/10