Carl Roberts 
With three episodes left – sit back and allow episode five to bring you back to where ‘The Boys‘ belong … loud, violent, graphic, and thoroughly entertaining!
Ok, last week, we were presented with a more quiet, reflective, and a slow build episode. This week, however, the show is back in its most insane and manic form. It is once again, the perfect tonic to get you in the mood for a good old fashioned entertaining Friday evening and weekend. Violence, strong language, and scenes that are not for the squeamish abound once more in an episode that is funny, moving, and ends with something that we never would have guessed at. No spoilers from me, just sit back and enjoy the ride, safe in the knowledge that this season ain’t gonna end well for many people!
‘The Boys’ Season 2 – Episode 5: We Gotta Go Now | Amazon Prime Video
We start this episode with what looks to be the aftermath of a battle in the streets of New York that reminds us of ‘The Avengers‘. It is done in such a way that we know we are looking at a terrific send-up and rip-off of the Marvel film, just as the makers of the show intended. Of course, its fake as the heroes are filming ‘Rise Of The Seven‘. Queen Maeve films her scene where she comes out as gay to a character in the film, something that has been added into the script on the orders of Homelander, something Maeve knows has happened, even though he denies it. A-Train has serious concerns about his final speech in the film as it will announce his departure, something that doesn’t go down too well with the film’s director and Ashley herself. Even though A-Train wants his final scene and dialogue to be open-ended, meaning he can return, he refuses to say the lines as scripted, something that leads Ashley to present him with a choice: Either say the words as scripted and leave the Seven with his reputation intact and with his severance package or refuse and get fired, lose his severance and be brought up on public charges of injecting himself with Compound-V and having a heart attack. Train decides to say the scripted words and to keep his head held high.
Billy Butcher is at a seriously low ebb after his rejection by his wife, Becca during last week’s episode. We finally get to see Butcher at his most quiet and human than we have ever seen him before. He is at his most vulnerable when we encounter him during the episode, something that leads him to have a quiet and normal conversation with Hughie for the first time. Hughie realizes that Butcher is at a loss and after discussing things with Mother’s Milk, both decide to go and find Butcher and bring him home. Butcher turns up out of the blue at his aunt’s house where he reconnects with his bulldog “Terror” that he has handed to his aunt to look after. Hughie and MM arrive unexpectedly at Butcher’s aunt’s where Butcher tells them to leave him alone and to leave, a request and demand that MM and Hughie refuse. Butcher decides he will leave instead-but upon climbing into his vehicle, he spots Black Noir hiding on a rooftop near his aunt’s home. Returning to the house, Butcher and the rest devise and set explosive traps for Black Noir and go downstairs to hide. Once Noir enters the house and sets off the traps, the crew runs for safety. Butcher stops, closes the door, and confronts Noir face to face. Even though his friends attempt to come to his aid, Noir defeats them and goes for the kill on Butcher, where Butcher delivers a startling ultimatum to Noir.
Homelander continues on his spiral downwards and finds to his horror, a video showing him killing a supervillain in an unauthorized mission and departing without realizing he has not only killed a villain but his eye beams have also caused the death of an innocent. The video was pulled from the internet after seventeen hours but the damage has been done. His approval ratings have dropped nine and a half percent. Although Vought and in particular, Ashley attempt a damage limitation exercise, Homelander unwisely attends a rally outside Vought Headquarters and delivers some ill-advised words to the crowd, sparking a protest against him. Flying away from the confrontation, Homelander does the unthinkable and asks Stormfront for help in restoring his public image.
Meanwhile, Starlight is sneaking around with the knowledge of Stormfront’s previous identity held in reserve. Starlight and Stormfront do have a face to face confrontation where both lay what they think is their Ace cards against the other on the table. The Deep has gotten married at the behest of the Church Of The Collective to a woman specially selected for him as the religion drags him further into their belly until Queen Maeve attends the church and asks The Deep for help in her ultimate plan: Bringing Homelander down once and for all. Maeve is being tormented by Homelander after he learned the secret of her sexuality and Maeve has had enough, especially after Vought attempted to bring her and her girlfriend into being the face of a campaign that has Homelander’s finger marks all over it. And finally, Frenchy confronts Kimiko face to face after her actions recently.
Verdict:
Once more, the show gives the audience and the fans a fantastic, enjoyable, and funny episode that brings us one episode closer to the series finale. The threads that started to converge last week are becoming even more intertwined as we go along and the reckoning and what we know will be an epic confrontation between Butcher, Homelander, and Stormfront. The smackdown between them all is on the horizon and it wouldn’t be a shock to see Starlight and Queen Maeve become involved in it. And it wouldn’t surprise me if we have to say a shocking goodbye to at least one character by the end of the season. I seriously hope not but it may be coming by the time the credits roll on the series finale.
If I was to call it, I would have to fear for The Deep, A-Train, or my pick as the shock casualty, Queen Maeve. Again, I hope I’m wrong but experience tells us that this is maybe incoming. However, Karl Urban, Jack Quaid, Antony Starr, Erin Moriarty, Aya Cash, and especially Dominique McElligott stand out this season and fill their roles with ease, all style, grace, humility, and extreme violence on occasion The rest of the cast too bring depth and enjoyment to their roles in a somewhat limited capacity this season but each is a vital cog in the workings of the larger machine. With three episodes left to go until we find out exactly how this season plays out, just sit back and allow episode five to bring you back to where ‘The Boys‘ belongs. Loud, violent, graphic, and engaging, and entertaining.
Episode Rating: 4/5
The Boys: Season 2 is streaming on Amazon Prime Video NOW.
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Carl Roberts is a Senior Entertainment/Books and Literature Correspondent for The Future of the Force. Aside from being our horror genre aficionado, he is also passionate about Star Wars, Marvel, DC, and the Indiana Jones movies. Follow him on Twitter @CarlRoberts2 where he uses the force frequently!
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