The boys are back in town.
Here’s what happened in the first three episodes of season 4.
With Starlights (Erin Moriarty) help, Kimiko and Frenchie barely escape.
‘Erin Moriarty’ as Starlight on ‘The Boys’ season 4.Jan Thijs/Prime Video
And just like that, their plan is kaput.
Butcher pleads with Ryan to run away with him, far away from his sadistic father Homelander.
He even reveals to Ryan that hes got less than a year to live.
Antony Starr as Homelander, Cameron Crovetti as Ryan on ‘The Boys’ season 4.Jasper Savage/Prime Video
Ryans clearly affected by this, but before he can react, Homelander enters and takes Ryan away.
Jan Thijs/Prime Video
Very quickly, we get the sense that Homelanders story this season is all aboutlegacy.
Over at Vought, the search is on for a new member of the Seven.
Claudia Doumit as Victoria Neuman, Karl Urban as Billy Butcher in ‘The Boys’ season 4.Prime Studios
Pretty quickly, we see Sages genius at work.
Homelander jets over to court, where hes declared innocent of the murder charges.
Outside the courthouse, Home Teamers celebrate while Starlighters prepare to riot.
Billy Butcher (Karl Urban), Frenchie (Tomer Capone), and MM (Laz Alonso) on ‘The Boys’ season 4.Jan Thijs/Prime Video
Just as she planned, a brawl breaks out between the two sides.
She thinks the pitch blows harder than Nancy Reagan on the MGM backlot.
Sage feels Ryan should stand on his own.
Jack Quaid as Hughie on ‘The Boys’ season 4.Prime Studios
The more distance they put between him and Homelander, the better for his image.
Meanwhile, the Boys regroup at their HQ, where Butcher finally tells them about his fatal condition.
But when they arrive, the Deep Blue Sea Room is empty.
The itch of the pink eye distracts Splinter, which gives the Boys an opening to fight back.
But hes not there to hurt them… hes there to help them.
This goes directly against Sages plan, but Homelanders become self-conscious about relinquishing his spotlight.
Later, we see that Ryan is traumatized by what he did, but Homelander offers no sympathy.
Humans are just playthings he keeps telling him… but Ryan doesnt seem to buy it.
Frustrated with what he perceives as weakness in his son, Homelander leaves him to his misery.
For a special someone Ryan.
CIA agent Joe Kesslers managed to get his hands on a powerful drug thats sure to knock Ryan out.
All Butcher has to do is get him to ingest it (hence the laced cookies).
Once hes unconscious, they plan on whisking him away to Graces supe-proof safehouse to keep him locked up.
But thats part two of the plan.
And the way Butcher does this is an absolute riot.
In Vought Tower, we find Ryan playing a supe-themed, Mortal Kombat-inspired video game online.
As Ryan annihilates Butchers player character, Butcher begs him to come by his place to chat.
Ryan isnt convinced, but hes clearly considering it.
Meanwhile, the other members of the Boys are each on a fairly separate track.
MM has recruited Hughie, much to his reluctance, to help him give a shot to flip A-Train.
Lets start with Starlight.
In a surprising turn, Firecracker reminds Starlight that theyhavemet, years ago, on the pageant circuit.
Starlight reels from the realization that shes not the hero in everyones story.
The girl tries to kill Kimiko, but Kimiko wont retaliate because she recognizes her.
Kimiko tries to talk to the girl, but she quickly runs off.
Frenchie asks Kimiko who she was, but Kimiko wont say.
MM pulls on whatevers left of A-Trains conscience and tries to convince him to turn on Vought.
Shockingly, it works.
Hughie crawls through air vents,Mission Impossible-style, finding Neuman and recording her conversation with Homelander and Sage.
But thats not all Sage and Homelander want from Neuman.
They want her to come out as a superhero.
Immediately, Homelander identifies the scent as Hughies, and he starts blasting away at the vents above him.
Hughie scampers away as Homelander chases him.
When Hughie asks A-Train why he saved him, he just runs off without responding.
Instead, he just asks: Whyd you leave?
After that, she knew she had to go.
She tried calling Hughie, but his dad wouldnt let her speak to him for fear of confusing him.
Butcher tries getting Ryan to eat the drug-laced cookies hes cooked for him, but Ryan isnt hungry.
To keep him from leaving, Butcher challenges Ryan to a game of foosball.
Butcher, unlike Homelander, validates Ryans feelings.
And so deep is this moment that Butcher decides to throw the cookies out.
Of course, when Butcher tells Joe Kessler what he did, Kesslers pissed.
Butcher knows he did the right thing, but Kessler reminds Butcher of whats at stake.
The Boysseason 3 episodes 1-3 are streaming now on Prime Video.
Episodes will now be released weekly on Thursdays.
