Episode six of Amazon Prime Video’s Original Series The Boys kicks off with Antony Starr’s Homelander panicking due to his worry about the public thinking he cannot run Vought. For the first time, the viewer sees fear in the eyes of Homelander when he sees Jensen Ackles’s Soldier Boy as he is considered the best of the best superhero. And he just sees himself as fake when compared to him. After all, Soldier Boy is what made Vought the big-time company it is in the world of The Boys. Considering he murdered Laz Alonso’s Mother’s Milk’s family just because they were black means he is not a good person. In fact, he could be quite capable of doing horrific acts. Which means that he very well could be worse than Homelander. He even scares Nathan Mitchell’s Black Noir enough to run away and hide. This is saying something since he does not shows any sort of emotion.
Nine minutes into the episode, and the viewer sees Erin Moriarty’s Annie and Mother’s Milk have a debate. Understandably, they both are mad at their friends for choosing to work with Soldier Boy. However, this is a great debate on whether it is time to give up on a friend if they lose their way. Mother’s Milk does not want anything to do with anyone anymore. He does not care what happens to Jack Quaid’s Hughie. Arguing that he is a grown man who made his choice to work with Soldier Boy. While Annie argues that they need to help their friends no matter how wrong a choice they have made. What is interesting is he seems to forget that when he needed help back in season one Hughie risked his life to help him. Hughie could have easily left him to meet his end with the same argument. Knowing that Hughie is not like that is why Mother’s Milk decides to help him in the end.
What is interesting about Soldier Boy is that he is a man out of time. Being gone for so long he no longer fits into the time he currently finds himself in. As he sees a commercial for a baby sling for dads, he chuckles as if it is funny. He is an actual representation of old-time values from the past era. He has those toxic masculinity values on what makes someone a man. He believes that a man is not supposed to carry their baby around in a sling. In his mind caring for and carrying a baby around is a woman’s job to do. While the man is supposed to be in charge as well as provide for the family. Another surprising aspect about him is he thinks America is still friends with Afghanistan. He cannot believe that America is not as he left it with it being number one.
Further into the episode, the viewer sees Hughie and Jessie Usher’s A-Train have a moment. In this moment A-Train finally apologizes to Hughie for killing Jess Salgueiro’s Robin. During this apology, the viewer can see the actual remorse in A-Train’s eyes. Having gone through an event where his loved one got hurt, he now knows how it feels. In this instant, Hughie has a look of utter shock. For the entire series run he has been waiting for him to hear him say sorry for Robin. Finally, when he gets to hear those words, it has an opposite effect on him. This is due to how Hughie has been using his pain as motivation to keep going forward. His obsessive need to save those he cares for comes from his loss of Robin. Having the cause of his loss say sorry, takes away that pain that he has been feeling. He feels as if he is empty without that pain to keep him going. That is why he lashes out at A-Train when he apologizes for everything. This could be argued as a villainous action to take with someone. Or it could be argued as a demonstration of how Hughie needs to forgive himself for not saving Robin.
At the end of the episode, the viewer is treated to an amazing fight between Homelander, Soldier Boy, Hughie, and Karl Urban’s Butcher. At the beginning Homelander and Soldier Boy fight each other. The interesting part is that the viewer can see that difference in how they fight. Homelander is just throwing punches without any tactics in how he fights Soldier Boy. While Soldier Boy is completely different in how he fights. There is a tactic in the way he moves around and the way he strikes. This is where the military background comes into play in this fight. An example would how right as Homelander is about to laser him, Soldier Boy headbutts Homelander to disengage his lasers. This shows how he has tactics when dealing with the enemy. Eventually, Homelander becomes too much for Soldier Boy to handle. That is when Butcher joins in the fight. Again, the viewer sees how a well-trained military combatant fights his opponent. At the end with Hughie’s help Homelander nearly dies at the hands of the three characters. The part that surprises the viewer is when Homelander lets out an animalistic scream as he flies away. In that moment Homelander experiences a true fear of death. That is why he runs away in a quick manner with nothing but a scream. This could be the first time he has ever felt human in any situation. The fight was a genuinely great superhero fight scene in the series.
Rating: 8.5/10