The Boys reveals Stormfront’s and Frenchie’s histories in the action-heavy “The Bloody Doors Off”
TV Reviews Recap
This post discusses major plot points of The Boys episode “The Bloody Doors Off.”
So, Stormfront is a Nazi. No coyness here, no semantics. She is an OG member of the Third Reich who left Germany and came to the United States after World War II as part of a wave of Nazi scientists who took their skills to other international powers. (The history of Operation Paperclip is pretty well-documented, if you feel like getting pissed off today.) She is, if I am understanding this correctly, the world’s oldest “superhero” (please read that as me doing sarcastic air quotes), having been her husband Frederick Vought’s first test subject for Compound-V. And she is a true believer, determined to convince Homelander that he is the superman for whom she’s been waiting. “He made me, and his genius made you,” she coos to Homelander. “We are in a war for the culture … You will be the man who will lead us. You’re everything that we dreamed of. Neither of us has to be alone ever again.”
That convincing doesn’t take very long, does it? More than anything else, Homelander wants to be loved, and here Stormfront is, promising just that. Yes, Homelander is a fascist and a murderer and a xenophobe and, most unrelentingly, an asshole. But that need to be loved fuels it all: His desire to please Madelyn and his help creating supe terrorists to secure her adoration. His frustration with how utterly unimpressed Stan Edgar is by him and his desire to secure the Seven under his control as a personal dig against the boss. His obsession with swaying Ryan away from Becca. I mentioned in a previous recap that Stormfront is saying the quiet part out loud, to cheers and applause and viral memes. Homelander wants in on that, and stepping closer toward Nazi ideology to get it? Yeah, I buy his narcissism fueling that.
What I’m more curious about, though, is again—how much does Stan Edgar know about all of this? Some commenters have voiced their confusion as to why a Black man would align himself with Nazi ideology, but I think The Boys has always been very clear about this: money over everything. Money. Over. Everything. The threat of supe terrorists, as we already saw with Kenji, makes Compound-V a necessary evil, which makes Vought a necessary evil, which keeps men like Stan Edgar rich. Remember that Annie says she saw tons of emails from Stan Edgar to Stormfront in her email inbox—he definitely knows what was going on at Sage Grove, and I hazard to say he doesn’t much care. Stan Edgar is a bad person, but he’s a good capitalist, and he knows what it takes to stay that way. Fear is a powerful tool.
“The Bloody Doors Off” examines how fear works as a motivating factor for practically every character featured on The Boys: Homelander’s fear of going unloved, Annie and Butcher’s fear of losing Hughie, Frenchie’s fear of repeating past mistakes. This makes for an episode with some impactful reveals, confirms what we guessed about Stormfront, and builds out Frenchie’s character arc most significantly, but I must admit that I struggled a bit with the scope of what happened this episode. Vought is the most powerful corporation in the U.S., if not the world; how is Sage Grove the only place where they’re doing experiments with Compound-V? Edgar knows Stormfront enough to trust her with this, and we know Stormfront is decades old; what else was she up to in those years after she was Liberty, and before she re-emerged? Her big speech to Homelander at the end of the episode is about how much she searched for him, and how now she’s finally found him. But if Stormfront stayed involved with Vought, since it was her husband’s company, wouldn’t she know Dr. Jonah Vogelbaum well enough to be involved with the creation of Homelander? I think it’s fair to take everything Stormfront says with a bit of side eye, but there are some continuity things in “The Bloody Doors Off” that didn’t quite add up for me.
But, back to that whole “fear is the mind-killer” thing: We see that in Sage Grove, where Stormfront is overseeing the experiments on teens and adults who are receiving Compound-V injections in order to further stabilize the compound. These are society’s forgotten people—runaways, former addicts, psychiatric patients—and Vought has essentially bought them, disappeared them, and repurposed them as unwilling test subjects. Cindy, with her Eleven-style shaved head and telekinetic powers (which include the ability to explode heads from afar; is this a clue to the identity of who killed Susan Raynor?). That guy with the acid vomit; the other guy with the super-long penis. I guess those are powers, too? But mostly what is going on at Sage Grove seems like abuse, and in a surprise reunion for Frenchie, MM, and Butcher, the person helping oversee the experiments and inmates is former Seven member Lamplighter.
The show has alluded to Frenchie’s trauma and self-hatred, and we here get the full story: Eight years ago, when Frenchie was doing a lot of drugs and robbing a lot of banks with Cherie and their friend Jay (Michael Ayres), he got picked up by Grace Mallory for weaponizing drugs that can kill supes. After working for her and alongside Butcher and MM for three years, Frenchie is tasked with following Lamplighter, who the Boys are blackmailing. But one night, instead of sticking to Lamplighter, Frenchie bails to be by Jay’s side after an overdose—and that same night, Lamplighter killed Mallory’s grandchildren. Frenchie has lived with the guilt ever since, while Lamplighter got shuffled off the Seven (opening up the spot that would go to Annie/Starlight) and is now doing cleanup work for Vought, including burning all the evidence at Sage Grove.
Can Lamplighter be trusted? He claims that he was supposed to kill Mallory, not her grandkids, but that’s not the moral high ground that he thinks it is, and I like that MM calls him on it: “So what, are we supposed to feel bad for you now? Fuck you!” He has been helping Stormfront deceive and kill the people at Sage Grove, which is, you know, also bad. And I’m not sure Lamplighter had any choice other than to go with the Boys once Sage Grove was destroyed—did anyone really think Mallory would order the Boys to kill him? He’s seen what Vought is doing, and Mallory is still sort of trying to play within the rules; I don’t think she would just order an assassination when she thinks she can use Lamplighter in a legal way to bring Vought down. Aside from that, Frenchie confronting Lamplighter five years of self-destruction later helps him realize that it might be time to retire at least a little bit of his self-hatred and guilt (encapsulated in “What makes you think I want to be let off the hook?”), which could help repair his relationship with Kimiko, too. “You never asked to be saved,” he admits, and that is personal growth! Let Kimiko make her own choices, with her BOSSY brass knuckles! Their friendship can survive this!
Speaking of survival, a life-threatening injury suffered by Hughie leads to a long-delayed heart to heart between Butcher and Annie, who (briefly, but successfully) put aside their hatred of each other to protect their favorite guy with the L’Oreal Kids Strawberry Smoothie shampoo and AXE body spray. Annie isn’t wrong when she compares Butcher’s bullying tendencies to Homelander’s, but like Lamplighter trying to absolve himself of killing Mallory’s grandchildren, Annie isn’t exactly innocent anymore, either. “Maybe once I would have cried over him, but now he’s just another person in our way,” she says of the man she accidentally kills when trying to rush the impaled Hughie to a hospital. In that moment, Annie, who asks Frenchie to dig Vought’s tracker out of her earlier in the episode, is exhausted: She’s tired of these powers, tired of being part of the Seven, tired of always watching her back. How long until Annie is like Maeve, keeping quiet on something astonishingly terrible because to be honest about it would put herself in danger? (Elena has to leave Maeve, right, even if Maeve plans to use this cellphone footage to blackmail Homelander into leaving them alone? I don’t know how a very normal person dates a member of the Seven, let alone continues dating them after watching a video showing how they were involved in letting an entire plane full of people crash and die.) Or—given everything that goes down at Sage Grove, and afterward—is Annie already more like Maeve than she would like to admit?
Stray observations
- I love the Boys’ fashion of five years ago: MM in skinny jeans, Butcher with that slicked-back hair, and Frenchie beginning to toy with his “I fell asleep at a rave and woke up like this” aesthetic.
- Shawn Ashmore, who played the heroic Iceman in the X-Men film franchise, showing up here as the absolute scumbag Lamplighter is casting I appreciate.
- The acid-spit power is unbelievably inconvenient. What if you have acid reflux? Would you just be burning yourself all the time? That seems terrible!
- Homelander and Stormfront having sex next to the guy whose head they busted open while flirting about “the deterioration of God-fearing American values” was very in line with their characterizations as astonishingly debased people, and the dopily pleasant “Happy Together” was a pretty perfect soundtrack to that moment.
- Related: Kimiko and Butcher don’t interact very often, but I laughed very much at their immediate and shared “They’re fucking” assessment re: Homelander and Stormfront.
- I would watch an animated show where the Deep just hangs out with his underwater friends, like halibut, those “rowdy motherfuckers.” Also, of course the Church of the Collective was going to use the Deep to try and recruit more supes like A-Train, another Scientology-like move (and one playing out in the HBO docuseries The Vow about the NXIVM MLM cult, too).
- Ashley saying “Isn’t it lit?” while listening to that cringe-worthy A-Train-inspired rap was incredibly embarrassing but also totally in line with how faux-hip she tries to act, and Colby Minifie is low-key a season MVP.
- “That’s how Vin Diesel must smell”—OK, have at it in the comments. What do you REALLY think is the fragrance of our favorite family man Dominic Toretto?
- Homelander’s inability to connect with anyone on a truly emotional level comes out in that note he writes for Stormfront to accompany his heart-shaped bouquet of roses: “Thanks for a great day! XO, Homelander.” That is not romantic in any way! And yet I truly buy that Homelander believed that it was. He put in that much effort for this surprise, and Stormfront didn’t even want to see it? He had to burn down his trailer in a moment of petty rage! Obviously!
- Keep Malala’s name out of your mouth, Deep!
- “The Church knows all kinds of things” feels very much like foreshadowing, does it not?
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“Maybe once I would have cried over him, but now he’s just another person in our way,” she says of the man she accidentally kills when trying to rush the impaled Hughie to a hospital. In that moment, Annie, who asks Frenchie to dig Vought’s tracker out of her earlier in the episode.Yeah, there was a bunch of stuff there that was pretty illogical.First of all, that this random dude didn’t recognize her, even though she (for some reason) keeps walking around without any disguise whatsoever, not even a pair of sunglasses and her hair tied up.
Secondly, that she had to kill him. He was pointing a handgun at Butcher. All she had to do was step in front of him, no? She’s stopped a 50-cal with not a scratch!And also, that Frenchie taking the tracker out of her didn’t flag Vought immediately. Wouldn’t they be a little worried that her signal hadn’t moved in several hours, and that she wasn’t wherever they left it after it was removed? Did someone cut out an extra scene, where they attach it to a pigeon or something….?Anyway, still a great episode. Not increasingly irritating like “Raised By Wolves” has been lately…
Secondly, that she had to kill him. He was pointing a handgun at Butcher. All she had to do was step in front of him, no? She’s stopped a 50-cal with not a scratch!It was pretty clear she didn’t intend to kill him. That was a pretty low key blast compared to what we’ve seen her do in the past. Unfortunately, it doesn’t take much when you crack your head on asphalt. Still, I also expected her to just step in front of the bullet.
Yeah, I wasn’t suggesting she killed him on purpose, that was obviously an accident.The point is there was no reason for him to be a threat all ALL. Step in front of the gun, and he might even be so shocked he lets you just take it right out of his hand.
She was panicking. Not everybody makes sound decisions all the time either.
Also, maybe because of the lack of power she knew she wouldn’t be able to take a bullet. But there was enough to do a blast.
Remember that a scene earlier they just got hit by that kinetic blast that sent them flying and rolled the van, injuring Hughie. She tried to cotourize the would right then and there but the blast seemed to have turned off her powers, hence why they were rushing to find a car to get to a hospital.
At the time they encountered the driver, she didn’t know if her powers were back on, or even if she was bullet proof at the time – this confusion also led to the accidental death of the driver.
I assumed that she had only injured him:/
I had too, until the blood started pooling out of the back of his head.
But she also referred to him as an idiot that just wouldn’t get out of the way.
It’s pretty clear that she killed him by accident…
Wasn’t suggesting she did, sorry if that wasn’t clear. The point is, his death could’ve been avoided easily.
Hughie being injured clouded her thinking. She wasn’t thinking strategically.
She also struggled to pick up Hughie…and her AND butcher just walked into a hospital at the end…I forgave it because the episode was so good…But I also think that disregard is going to have consequences next week.
this random dude didn’t recognize herCelebrities go unrecognized at times, and not everybody in the world knows every celebrity that exists. I, for one, am sure I wouldn’t recognize most pop stars, especially in everyday attire. Add to that the situation was stressful due to elements unrelated to Annie (the wounded man, the blatantly false FBI claim, the attempt to hijack his car).
Yeah, the tracker thing bugged me, too. In reality that move should have led Vought directly to the Boys’ hideout.
I don’t think they did it at the hideout. What I imagine they destroyed it at some other safe house or location, took it with them somewhere she would be, and disabled it somehow. Maybe they put it back in and hope she doesn’t scar at all. Note Ashley’s assistant said they couldn’t find her, not that she hadn’t moved in however long.. so maybe they feel like they can get away with it and be like “oh I guess it just died’ or something and hope they don’t get found out. But I could also be overthinking it to try to rationalize a plot hole.
Except weren’t they able to block the tracker of the invisible guy fairly easily in the first season? But yeah, Ashley should have been looking for the tracker signal instead of screaming at the PAs, so there’s a lot of hand waving around the tracker stuff.
IMO the secret identity thing is believable. Her secret identity disguise is in this situation is“I am not glammed up.” They do point out that this won’t hold up in general, but there are certainly people who just don’t follow certain fandoms. Like there are people who Tom Brady can bump into on the street and they will have no idea who that is.
She couldn’t step in front of the bullet or the guy would tell TMZ the story about how he met Starlight right around the time of the riot at Arkham Asylum. Either he had to give them the car or die. Oh well.
Random dude?That was Randy Disher! Survives 8 years of Monk’s OCD only to check out like this on the way home!
She didn’t know she that her powers had recharged. The EMP the kid did when he flipped the van also knocked out her powers, which is why she also had trouble lifting up Hughie. She probably didn’t realize she had them back when she instinctively let out the blast.
Not everybody knows everybody else, no matter how famous they are.
The secret identity trope was at play – she didn’t have her weave or suit on, so she was passing as normal.
2. Remember that she couldn’t use per powers a second ago because of the dust up with that runaway that hurt Hughie – she tried to cotorize the wound right then and there, but the kinetic blast had temporarily turned her powers off – so she didn’t know if she was bulletproof at the time they encountered the driver.
This confusion in her powers working also lead to the accidental death.
Yeah, there was a bunch of stuff there that was pretty illogical.First
of all, that this random dude didn’t recognize her, even though she
(for some reason) keeps walking around without any disguise whatsoever,
not even a pair of sunglasses and her hair tied up. I mean, her hair is in a ponytail and she’s wearing clothes, which is way different to her teased out hair and one-piece Starlight suit, plus the Seven are all supposed to be shooting a movie and not just out in the middle of nowhere, plus she’s still relatively new in the Seven and might not be as instantly recognizable to the public like Homelander.At the end of the day without the suit she’s just a white blond girl and unless she draws attention to herself or there’s a superfan around, her non-disguise is pretty effective. Wearing shades and baseball cap and other stuff might actually make her seem more shifty.
Really, the unrealistic thing is how often shows/films automatically assume that anyone remotely famous will be recognised (at the most dramatic moment, of course).In reality, most people wouldn’t recognise most celebrities, in brief encounters without any context at all. Sure, there are superfans out there. And sure, some celebrities do have really distinctive faces. And of course, once you have a reason to think someone might be a celebrity, you may be able to work out which celebrity they are. But 99% of people, a theoretically famous celebrity could walk right next to them, without entourage and in ordinary clothes, and they wouldn’t recognise them. At most there might be a “hey, do I recognise that person from somewhere!?” moment.
What’s even more contemptuous, is that even though the guy offered to drive them to the hospital – the exact place they wanted to go – Butcher and Annie still felt the need to violently steal his car and murder him. There was nothing ‘accidental’ about it. They wanted what the guy had, and used physical force to obtain it. And even as Annie said afterwards – she didn’t care about his death beyond being a stupid asshole.I know the show’s writers will continue writing Annie and Butcher as heroes that we’re ostensibly rooting for, but they can basically get fucked. Ironically, the only enemy that could make them seem ‘heroic’ at this juncture, is an actual genocidal OG Nazi…Which is what they got.
The guy’s death had a shade of plot contrivance. If he didn’t die, then he might have ID’d Annie (and Butcher? Is he still on the news or did the CIA stop that manhunt a few episodes ago?) no matter how the encounter had gone down. So, script-wise… he had to die.But, I’d also second what others have said, that with celebrities, if you catch one at the grocery store or pass them in a hotel hallway—especially with women—if they’re not made up, and when seeing their real height… shit takes a second to compute. Speaking on behalf of an average dude, seeing women on screen makes you assume they’re all at your height or just a few inches shorter. I know it’s stupid and unrealistic, maybe even a touch chauvinistic, but that’s how the brain processes. It’s projection and idealization too. You know that Reese Witherspoon is a shorty intellectually, because Entertainment News has told you so but if you see her in real life your brain scrambles a minute saying, “Did I just see what I saw?” I think it must be that TV screens and Medium Close-Ups make every human’s face the same size… so on some level, you sort of assume.
A moment of silence for acid vomit powered guy. The lamest power.
Exactly who i thought of the moment i saw tht guy in the cell.
I don’t know how he hadn’t burned himself before. It looked like he had vomit all over his lips.
I kinda wish there was a separate ward for supes with the shittiest superpowers and we’d get a spinoff series about that, Misfits-style.
I had an idea about that once, it would be like the help at the X-Mansion, all people with nearly completely useless superpowers…I bet somebody has done it
Philip K Dick kind of was along these lines, mutants might have these amazing superpowers but they invariably came with horrible crippling disabilities as well which made them more than not worth having them in the first place.
If you haven’t already, check out the one I’d mentioned above, Misfits. It’s a British TV show about teenage delinquents who got in a freaky storm and all got various superpowers ranging from pretty cool to completely useless or even harmful.I think AV Club covered at least some seasons of it.
I saw the first two or three seasons, it had highs and lows (the monkey episode was a low)…the superhoodie plotline was a little problematic restrospectively. I thought they did a pretty good job of replacing the lead when future-klaus walked away. The episode where a certain somebody changes sex was pretty incredible.
Mystery Men?
Fun fact: The guy with the long penis, or “love sausage”, is actually a comic easter egg. The guy’s a Russian super hero, and his role is much bigger in the comic. They added the stretching penis thing for the tv show, in the comics he was just really strong and happened to have a huge john thomas. For reference, and for the ladies:
They also referenced Malchemical as one of Frenchie’s victims.
Looks creepily like a fusion of David Harbour’s Hopper in Stranger Things and the character he will play in the new Black widow movie.
When I saw that Black Widow trailer and Harbour, Love Sausage is what I thought they were going for….but then I remembered that there is a Russian character like that in Marvel
“for the ladies”? We are in 2020 ffs XDAnyway, very on brand for who’s behind the comics
I’m contractually obligated to write that when referencing Garth Ennis’s work. In fact, they contacted me earlier and told me Garth Ennis would prefer it if my posts contained 75% more rape, whatever that means.
very on brand for who’s behind the comicsYeah, I’m pretty sure Garth Ennis sees Butcher as his own avatar.
“Yeah, I’m pretty sure Garth Ennis sees Butcher as his own avatar.”You read all the way to the end of the comics, yeah? don’t want to spoil nothing….
I figured it was Hitman, or Jesse, or… wait.
The Ennis character most like Ennis is probably Cassidy.
For all the improvements this show makes in toning down some of Ennis’s shtick from the comics, this one in particular seemed to do the opposite.
Maybe my favorite episode of the series. It hit almost every one of my sweet spots. Gave me more Frenchie, Kimiko, and MM. Gave me Starlight and Butcher interacting. Gave me some really good special effects. It was a good one.
Some commenters have voiced their confusion as to why a Black man would align himself with Nazi ideology, but I think The Boys has always been very clear about this: money over everything.
That’s as hand-wavey an excuse as anything else they do, so why not? But we know The Boys is very on-the-nose when it comes to themes. As it pertains to money, the company is very careful about public perception because it effects the money, so if money really is everything, this alignment is a foolish risk that still doesn’t make sense. So until this it outright adressed in-show, it’s feels like a plot hole to be ignored.
But I’ve been vocal about my issues with the Stormfront character, and it continues this week. I agree it’s weird that if what she’s saying about her connections are true, why is it that she’s been searching for and ‘finally found’ Homelander? And it’s weird that she wasn’t afraid of him before, but now is. Nothing has really changed between them, but her swagger and cockiness has disappeared. It’s weird that she would be her husband’s very first test subject, when Compound V could make her explode. (Did he not love her? Or is he a terrible scientist?) It’s weird she would arrive at a facility riddled in chaos, and take Lamplighter’s weak excuse at face value and walk away. As if she was born yesterday. When just last week she saw right through Starlight’s lie. Stormfront is written like she’s whatever the plot needs in the moment, and it’s inconsistent in a way that has kept me from connecting with these parts of the season.
Vin Diesel smells like motor oil.
I agree it’s weird that if what she’s saying about her connections are true, why is it that she’s been searching for and ‘finally found’ Homelander?
Homelander isn’t that bright and it’s been shown he’s pretty easy to manipulate. Also, her being Vought’s widow, probably means she’s way more involved with the direction of the company than the average supe. I mean, for all we know, should be the head of Vought. That could tie into the whole Homelander being raised in a lab thing.
And it’s weird that she wasn’t afraid of him before, but now is. Nothing has really changed between them, but her swagger and cockiness has disappeared. Maybe it was less her being physically afraid of Homelander and more she was afraid she was losing her influence on him? Or she was just manipulating him. Again, it’s been established that Homelander is kind of stupid and not that hard to manipulate.
It’s weird that she would be her husband’s very first test subject, when Compound V could make her explode. (Did he not love her? Or is he a terrible scientist?) Maybe she volunteered? The Nazis had a cult mentality, so it’s not too far out to think she would look at being a test subject as an honor.
It’s weird she would arrive at a facility riddled in chaos, and take Lamplighter’s weak excuse at face value and walk away. As if she was born yesterday. When just last week she saw right through Starlight’s lie. I’m not sure she bought it. They’ve been really beating us over the head with “Vought tags the supes”, so I wouldn’t be surprised if this comes back and we find out she’s using Lamplighter to track the Boys or something.
I like the show because most of the SJWing and Mary Sueing is kept to a minimum, but what is with the inconsistency. Original Compound
V only works in kids, yet Stormfront would have in her 20s when she met
Vought in the 40s. And didn’t Stormfront knock Skinhead Eleven the fuck
out, yet we see her escaping. And why would Storefront want to make millions of super soldiers as powerful as Homelander, when it looks like the 2 of them could take over the entire planet by themselves right now. You would just be making more people to stop you. And didn’t we already see a Vought facility were they experimented when Butcher used the baby with laser eyes to escape in Season one. Edger has to have something pretty powerful up his sleeve to stand up to Homelander like he did.
Was there moment in the series where we find that V only works on infants? I can’t recall. And, no, it doesn’t really make sense to create an army of supes who can’t be controlled (unless the chips can do that). Idk, perhaps the whole scheme is just a misdirection for some other form of domination?
It doesn’t *only* work in kids, hence the super terrorists. It just has a much smaller chance of success in adults
We’ll have to see as the weeks progress, but I definitely got the sense Stormfront was being sincere for the first time this week. Manipulation is all well and good, but it is coming at the expense of things like making Homelander a less interesting character.For all his faults as a Nationalist asshole, Homelander still read to me as an All-American guy, and there’s nothing more pro-USA than fighting Nazis. When they offer you their hand, you kick them out a window! She fed his ego, and it worked, but this would have been an interesting chance to differentiate how his sort of toxicity is different than hers- Perhaps even arguably a lesser of two evils… Maybe I was *hoping* there are some lines even Homelander’s right-wing ass won’t cross, but the show would rather play directly into everyone’s assumptions about what he represents.This, again, is an example of how The Boys isn’t exactly subtle, so at this point, I can only take Stormfront’s writing at face value. But maybe this is how the comic story was too. I’m just waiting to see where this goes.
For all his faults as a Nationalist asshole, Homelander still read to me as an All-American guy, and there’s nothing more pro-USA than fighting Nazis. Yea the show is definitely mirroring our real world “All-American” conservatives’ current embrace of Nazi-like policies, and their embrace of Russian interference and Vladmir Putin despite years of Red Scare hawkishness during the Cold War. Homelander, like the Republican party, doesn’t have any real values other than short-term self interest, and has a history of racism.This would have been an interesting chance to differentiate how his sort of toxicity is different than hers- Perhaps even arguably a lesser of two evils… I think the point is that there is isn’t a difference. I think you might be ascribing some sort of morality to Homelander that he has never exhibited. Going from casually murdering villages in the Middle East to embracing racist politics isn’t a giant leap, its the next step.
My guess is that the season ends with Homelander killing Stormfront, the All-American fascist saving the day from the European fascist. It’s a neat little thematic twist but it’s also one of the few ways they can redeem Homelander enough to keep him around the next few seasons.
The lie was believable. He said the doctor messed up again with the dosage. So there was precedent.
Yeah I’ve been wondering whether or not Vought has a contingency plan in case Homelander goes rogue, and now I’m realizing it’s probably just Stormfront. She shows up and joins The 7 as Homelander becomes more unstable, and begins with trying to control him emotionally, while showing that she’s not worried about him hurting her. I’m pretty sure she can handle him physically if necessary.
Wow I think you might have nailed it.
>Yeah I’ve been wondering whether or not Vought has a contingency plan in case Homelander goes rogue, and now I’m realizing it’s probably just Stormfront. Stormfront is probably there to be the new Madelyn figure to try to lead Homelander around by the nose again. Vought has an actual backup contigency plan, unless the show chooses to stray far from the comics, and… if you want that spoiler, just google “Homelander Vought contingency plan” – it’ll probably pop up.
A big company being ok working with Nazis who maintain a thin layer of
plausible deniability… isn’t even something that needs an explanation.
It’s just how big companies work now, in the real world.
I think you just defined IBM in the 1940’s as well, so yeah, not really hard to fathom.
Well, the company thing I totally buy, but it’s specifically about the black boss being ok with it without addressing it, that sort of feels like it’s being glossed over. At least put in a throwaway line saying he’s cool with it; It’s weird to just assume it’s normal.
Ben Carson. Tim Scott. Diamond and Silk.
it’s specifically about the black boss being ok with it without addressing it, that sort of feels like it’s being glossed over. At least put in a throwaway line saying he’s cool with it; It’s weird to just assume it’s normal.
fun fact: rich black people, like rich white people, think rules and sutuations for the poors don’t apply to them. a second fun fact: they are 90% correct.
Homelander still read to me as an All-American guy, and there’s nothing more pro-USA than fighting Nazis.
They how come you guys only joined the rest of us in WW2 after 1941? And how come about a third of the US had pro-Nazi ideals before the war? and how come so many of your leaders of industry were so cozy with Adolf before the war, when Adolf wasn’t hiding anything about What It Means To Be a Nazi?
There’s nothing more pro-USA than sidling up to insane disctators as long as it’s convenient, and forgetting unpleasant truths about one’s own history as needed.
I think you mean Britain and Edward the VIII
i am sure i do not, in fact
Well, maybe you should keep that in mind that all countries have skeletons
in the UK, a guy who had removed himself from the line of succession, was courted by the Nazis
in the US, approximately one third of the pre-Pearl Harbor population actively or passively supported some or all Nazi ideology
….false equivalency much, timmie?
You’re not wrong. Even then it was “money above all,” even if that meant cozying up to Nazis, for many of the people pulling the strings. And yeah that ideal continued well after the fall of the Third Reich to this day. But, big country with a lot of fault lines (not unlike India). Wartime jingo-ism aside, I’m going to go out on a limb and posit that Roosevelt had an ideological anti-Nazi streak as did a lot of people on the left.
None of the above contradicts Homelander’s behavior though which is spot on and totally in keeping with your points.
Well put. The America First movement in the 30s was a pro fascist group hiding behind ‘isolationism’ and were a major contributing factor in the US staying out of WWII until the end of ‘41. Besides historian’s accounts documenting the fascist ties and tendencies, Philip Roth’s novel “The Plot Against America” delves into this movement pretty deeply.
Vin Diesel smells like candy-ass.
>It’s weird that she would be her husband’s very first test subject, when Compound V could make her explode. (Did he not love her? Or is he a terrible scientist?) Two things you missed. She was the first successful V test subject. And they fell in love after she was injected and got her powers.
Ah! Just re-watched it. That covers that, thank you
I’d thought she said she was Vought’s 1st *success* with Compound V, not 1st subject.Also i figured they got married after she was super, the bad doctor loving his creation, as opposed to experimenting on his wife. (But i could be wrong.)
“so if money really is everything, this alignment is a foolish risk that still doesn’t make sense.”
Tell that to the Republican party, or the website literally called Stormfront. Plenty of folks seem to be doing fine on money being fascist adjacent while being openly hypocritical about it, or even blatantly owning it. The quickness with which humans accept easy and self-serving self-deceptions isn’t a plot-hole. Especially if it gives us an excuse to forgive a powerful white person in America.
Similarly for Stormfront’s acceptance of Lamplighter’s excuse. Why? Because his excuse was that a stupid normie did a stupid normie thing. Again, apparently. Sure, that something similar had happened in the past is fairly convenient from a writing standpoint, but even if she has contempt for Lamplighter, she has more for the regular humans around her, and there’s history to back it up. At least he seems to be able to follow orders, where the only time he fucked up is that he killed the wrong normies.
The Republican party…touche. I have plenty of thoughts about how big money moves in this country, and perhaps I’m too naive when it comes to the evil of corporations, but I’d still like to believe there are lines smart businesses won’t cross.
Hmm. I buy that “stupid normie” excuse. That tracks
She’s clearly his mom. Vin Diesel smells like a game store after a warhammer tournament.
Some commenters have voiced their confusion as to why a Black man would align himself with Nazi ideology, but I think The Boys has always been very clear about this: money over everything.I don’t know. Gus Fring? This is not as implausable as a black Chilean General serving under Pinochet during his right-wing dictatorship. This is especially true as there are VERY few black people in Chile even today.
So until this it outright adressed in-show, it’s feels like a plot hole to be ignored.This point actually simply makes sense, because it’s the way it is in real life.
Capitalism is a racist system
A person of color having a high up position in a corporation that’s at least okay with far right white supermacy is so realistic and common in the real world it scarcely bears even commenting on
It’s weird that she would be her husband’s very first test subject, when Compound V could make her explode. (Did he not love her? Or is he a terrible scientist?)Maybe I have to watch that part again, but to me it sounded like he first started experimenting on her and then she fell in love with him. And that love was only made stronger by the knowledge that he successfully transformed her into an immortal superhuman.
So, in the comic, Frenchie explains his origin story to Wee Hughie in French. Which Hughie does not speak.It eventually evolves into the fact that Frenchie can’t go home anymore because he injured or killed a man in a baguette bike joust, while dressed in berets with striped shirts.
Thats a stupid origin story, if only because that happens all the time in France and its now a misdemeanor, so he wouldnt have had to flee
Except that its hinted in the comic that Frenchie made it all up and that he’s really a Englishman cosplaying as a stereotypical Frenchman.
Given the actor is actually an Israeli, for all we know they could end up running with something along those lines.
That’s more of a casting thing. I mean, Karl Urban isn’t really English either.
Yes, both Karl Urban and Antony Starr are from my neighbour across the ditch.
I don’t get why they didn’t just make Butcher Kiwi in the show. Nothing about Butcher really changes by making him Kiwi instead of English and it’d be a lot better to just let Urban use his natural accent than how his accent for Butcher winds up being all over the place.
That’s not entirely right. His father was killed in the baguette joust, which was part of an annual town festival, and he retaliated by murdering the guy in a barn.
They did Love Sausage dirty.
Vought’s policy of cutting superheroes once they don’t fit the brand any more is opportunity to many. Clearly Vought should pay more attention to those they “retire”. Alistair is slowly collecting the rejects with promises of restoring their former glory. And Fresca.Both The Deep and A-Train show how easily you can be used if what you took for granted – and the money, power and easy life it brought you – is taken away. They both rejected Church of the Collective as cult at first but neither could resist the promises they dangled. And I loved the jab about passing the name to a new guy. It’s a brand. We all knew it – how many Flashes were there? A-Train just never had to think about it.And The Boys are also collecting their own super back-up. The ones hurt and discarded by the system but able to see past the glitter. The ones with a conscience like Annie who has not been on top long enough for it to corrupt her. But even she sees herself succumbing to the selfish appeal of powers and getting her way. Maeve is just further along the way. So far she can’t see the difference between blackmailing Homelander and getting justice for the people he killed. As long as it keeps yours safe.
The ones who saw and committed the atrocities it takes to stay at the top. Lamplighter tried to do stay on the top Homelander’s way but he lost everything. The last sherds of humanity slowly burned out by murdering people for Stormfront until all he has left is his enemies.
Lamplighter thinks he’s still working for Vought and he is right in a way. He is working for a Vought. But I think this is Stormfront’s personal side project. Her own supermen army. All white and only beholden to her. And maybe her golden boy Homelander. What I’m more curious about, though, is again—how much does Stan Edgar know about all of this? Some commenters have voiced their confusion as to why a Black man would align himself with Nazi ideology I don’t think Edgar is actually aligned with Stormfront. It’s just that, as the wife of Vought’s founder, she still has power in the company. I think this whole season will end up being a power play between Stormfront and Edgar for who control Vought. As much as the Boys like to think it’s all about their fight against supes and Vought as the main fight they may just be bit players in company politics and that’s why they are still alive.
Stormfront most likely have been pushed out of the board, probably after the Liberty fuck-up, as the times changer and such a clear racist looked bad to shareholders. She clearly wouldn’t approve of any non-white supes so the 6% black 1% Asian was not her idea. Not to mention Edgar getting to his position (even if he would work with her for money her treatment of A-Train clearly shows she would not work with him). But she still probably has her shares and can leverage them for her pet projects and with her social media campaign also into position on The Seven.
She probably was making moves in the shadows for a while but Stillwell’s fuck up and losing control of Homlander allowed her to gain upper hand and push herself back into public eye. She got her place on The Seven and public support.
But I’m pretty sure this will the perfect excuse for Vought to finally get rid of her (she’s bad PR). She’s the perfect scapegoat for their lie about rogue elements within the company. They can pin Homelander deeds with super terrorists on her since she basically did the same in that facility. I wouldn’t be surprised if letting her resurface is part of Edgar’s clean-up plan. He can kill two birds with one stone – get rid of her and put the Compound V scandal to bed – and make the stock rise again free of that dead weight.
The only question is if it’ll be The Boys and Lamplighter who will out her or if not killing Cindy may be the mistake that brings her down.
We got Frenchie’s backstory (or should I say Serge’s). He didn’t join
The Boys voluntarily be he clearly found his calling on that job. But
it pushed away the people he did it for and in the end he wasn’t able to
save neither them nor the children. Still, it was shitty of Lamplighter
to try to push the guilt on him. No one responsible of making sure you
don’t go around committing murder, dude.
Also were Serge,
Cherie and Jay together in like a throuple? The episode seemed to imply
it but I couldn’t tell if maybe it was just very co-dependent
friendship.
But I loved that facing Lamplighter allowed both
Kimiko and Frenchie understand each other better. He was able to
understand he can’t treat Kimiko like an object for his redemption and
apologised. Kimiko saw why he is the way he is and was able to forgive
him.
I also loved when Kimiko hugged Annie. I hope there’ll be
more of them interacting. In many ways they have a lot of in common and
this show could use some actual female friendships.I also liked
Annie and Billy finally bonding even though it was through recognising
they aren’t as different from each other as they thought. Still, Annie
was right that the war he is waging is only making him more like
Homelander. But as she admitted he is right about power corrupting. That
when push comes to shove the innocent are just in a way. And the guilt
doesn’t gives them life back. They may not fallen as far as Lamplighter
but the abyss is right there below their feet. At least they
can
also both count on Hughie being there to give them a hand if they slip. I
wonder if Elena can be the one to help Maeve out of her hole or is this
the end for them.I wonder if Stormfront let Annie of the hook in
the Compound V reveal because it helps her in the in-fighting within
Vought. Or is it just that Starlight is a walking, talking Aryan ideal
and Stormfront doesn’t want to break it. Either way I’m glad Annie got
the chip out.
I dont know if they were a throuple (unless im misunderstanding how it works),but both having a relationship with Frenchie and were also friends. Talking about Frenchie turning tricks, then about how he chose them for his family, then Cheri calling Jay the gay something definitely gave off those vibes.
I meant they were all together – all three. We only know for sure Frenchie and Cherie had sex but the way Frenchie whispers to Jay “You are my Dorothy” certainly sounded very loaded. And then Cherie says to Jay “’Cause you’re a little gay” which I took as implying at least some bisexuality (also she kisses him a lot). And then in the OD scene she says to Serge “Something more important than us?” and “You want to go, go. We don’t give a shit.” so she’s speaking for both herself and Jay.
They all seem super close until it falls apart, Jay dies and she distances herself from Frenchie emotionally. I mean they might be just very touchy feely with each other but it certainly implied sex was involved.
Also, Frenchie’s comment to MM about the super-penis, “Don’t be so close-minded”, was tongue-in-cheek, but not sarcastic, and might suggest Frenchie is bi.
Its a callback to the comics where he used to say the same things to MM and Butcher.
speaking of the penis as soon as I saw it wrap around MM’s neck I was like OH NOOOOO cuz I made the connection
I also loved when Kimiko hugged Annie. I hope there’ll be more of them interacting. Loved it too, but I wondered if I missed something, was there a specific reason for Kimiko to be so fond of Annie?Also, I don’t share the reviewer’s notion that Annie is becoming Maeve. Maeve’s main sin has been, so far, the passivity, the resignation, the inaction. Annie is actively fighting back since she has known the truth, and is now gone rogue, endangering everything she has achieved, whereas Maeve is still not willing to lose her status.
Well, Annie too seemed pretty surprised but I think it comes from a few reasons. One – Annie saving her – she may not remember but I’m sure she heard accounts of what happened. Two – Kimiko seems to love to watch TV and all the supes stufff so she for sure saw all about what happened to Annie and how Vought screw her too so she feels connection there. And three – it’s probably another middle finger to Frenchie – friendship ended with Frenchie – now Annie is my best friend.I don’t think Annie is on the same trajectory as Maeve now but she could’ve become her if she didn’t meet the Boys. We saw how her attempts at being her own self got squashed and she only can fight because she has other people who help her in that fight. Maeve’s only options were alcohol and resignation.
Still, there are certain similarities in how they both become desensitized to violence. Once accidentally killing someone would destroyed Annie now it’s fine if she gets to save hers. You can see how that could end if turning ones back to deaths of a plane full of people in wrong circumstances.
Maeve loves Elena and is absolutely terrified of Homelander because he’s been emotionally abusive and physically threatening to her for years.
It’s not about status. She’s basically just broken by this point. And in her mind the best she can do is protect who she loves. That’s all. She can’t imagine doing what Annie’s doing because of everything she’s been through.
Pretty sure they were in “Throuple”
I was pretty sure that’s what they were implying but it’s so unusual (at least two guys and a girl one) in a media that I wasn’t sure I wasn’t reading too much into it.
Definitely got the vibe that Serge, Cherie and Jay were a throuple, or at least Serge and Cherie were a couple who were very close with Jay. Serge emerged as a very sexually open person this episode, with his talk of transgender strippers and not being so close-minded about being strangled by a giant prehensile penis.
Frenchie and Kimiko are so damn adorable in a messed up way. Even though it’s strictly platonic at this point, I’m pretty jealous of Frenchie.
Stupid kinja
Edgar and Stormfront where in direct email communications about the experimentation at Sage grove. Also Edgar is the one who used the Vought guy in his speech when he sonned Homelander in episode 1. The thing with both Stormfront Homelander and in part Edgar is face. They would prefer to be seen as saviours and omnipotent beings. But if say Homelander was exposed what could the public/media actually do,(which is why Maeves plan is doomed) especially in this universe because I don’t think what they did with Black Noir in the comics is going to be the case here.
Yes, you’re right Edgar knows about Sage Grove being test facility. I looked again and there were a lot of emails from Edgar about drug testing but we don’t know what they were actually about. They looked like she was reporting to him but, as I sad I don’t believe she would ever care to work with, not to mention for, a black man. Since Stormfront was only one supervising it directly she could’ve made up the results to be whatever while making her own personal army. And sure Edgar mentioned Vought but his involvement isn’t a secret in a company that bears his name. But he also said that superheroes are just a side hassle. Their business is actually pharmaceuticals. I wonder if the testing was to be a supersoldier serum for the army as superheroes are unreliable and hard to control. He doesn’t like the hassle and Stormfront seems to think that’s her husband real legacy. All their beliefs make them such an unlikely bedfellows that I can’t really believe they are working together.
Also, you don’t hire Giancarlo Esposito to barley be on screen. We are being kept in the dark about his real involvement that almost always means there’s a twist coming.
Oh of course Edgar has alot more to reveal.
I like the show because most of the SJWing and Mary Sueing is kept to a minimum, but what is with the inconsistency. Original Compound
V only works in kids, yet Stormfront would have in her 20s when she met
Vought in the 40s. And didn’t Stormfront knock Skinhead Eleven the fuck
out, yet we see her escaping. And why would Storefront want to make millions of super soldiers as powerful as Homelander, when it looks like the 2 of them could take over the entire planet by themselves right now. You would just be making more people to stop you. And didn’t we already see a Vought facility were they experimented when Butcher used the baby with laser eyes to escape in Season one. Edger has to have something pretty powerful up his sleeve to stand up to Homelander like he did.
That’s what I thought to but they actually said in the episode it works best in infants, while injecting it into adults gets varied results from being lucky and getting a good power to just exploding which is what this whole place and experimentation was trying to solve. Stormfront wants her own master race which she and Homelander would command and lead. As much as I liked the episode there Were loads of inconsistencies that bothered me like Butcher and Annie just walking into a hospital but let them slide this time, I expect consequences next week.
Don’t feed this troll – the real Dr Emilio Lizardo would not be in greys. I know sometimes the things he writes are almost sensible but it’s never worth letting him out of the greys. I usually dismiss him (he wrote exactly the same comment to me – he always does that hoping someone would take the bait) and let the real Dr Emilio Lizardoknow so he can report him to get the account banned (but he always makes a new account).
Oh fuck I fucked that up too. I was a bit suspicious when he referenced “SJWs”. Sorry
If he ever replies to you you can just dismiss him. That’s what I do. For this one unfortunately only onslaught1 can do that. Or if the mods ever get to banning this version all these post will just disappear.
That’s not the real Dr. Emilio. That’s his troll account. Dismiss the reply and flag him.
1. They now know that Compound V (supposedly) only works on children. They probably didn’t limit it just to kids way back when Stormfront got it2. don’t know don’t really care3. Why does the US think it needs military bases in 180 different countries?4. Yes we did, so?
I like the show because most of the SJWing and Mary Sueing is kept to a minimum, but what is with the inconsistency. Original Compound
V only works in kids, yet Stormfront would have in her 20s when she met
Vought in the 40s. And didn’t Stormfront knock Skinhead Eleven the fuck
out, yet we see her escaping. And why would Storefront want to make millions of super soldiers as powerful as Homelander, when it looks like the 2 of them could take over the entire planet by themselves right now. You would just be making more people to stop you. And didn’t we already see a Vought facility were they experimented when Butcher used the baby with laser eyes to escape in Season one. Edger has to have something pretty powerful up his sleeve to stand up to Homelander like he did.
I don’t love the whole white supremacist spin the story is taking. Seems a bit too crazy and intense, and sort of uncomfortable. Also what they did with Lamplighter was a completely wasted opportunity. It would have been better if the flashbacks just showed him being killed in retaliation for what he did to Malorys grandkids, and the escape was just their attempt to get out on their own.
I also liked the jab about A-Train’s name being a trademark they owned. That was a nice touch. But the Deep got kicked out and was able to keep his name. Lamplight too. I guess those where their names before they joined. I wonder what A-Train’s was (because I was never in love with the name “A-Train” lol)
Well, we don’t really know they would take the name. As far as we know it could’ve just been something Alistair said to play on A-Train fears and rope him in. On the other hand The Deep still haven’t been officially replaced on The Seven so if they find someone with similar powers his name could be taken away too.
The Deep’s name is tainted.
Lamplighter’s was worth more to profit off his supposed death. They could always make a Lamplighter 2 or something later down the line.
Exactly – who would want to be ‘The Deep’ once The Deep brand is associated with sexual assault? Whereas A-Train is beloved and well-established as a brand.Also: I get the sense A-Train is basically retiring; whereas The Deep is off the Seven, but he’s still a Vought employee. He’s just been reassigned. So there isn’t a ‘brand opening’ in his case as there is with A-Train.
This season is going to end with Homelander poking his own eyes out, isn’t he?
No, they clearly set up his son is the only one that can kill him. Just like Kimiko is going to somehow kill Stormfront, with her just standing around when she kill her brother and the 5 minute glare at the end of EP 5.
What I mean is: unless there’s a huge last-second switch, it looks like the groundwork is being laid that Stormfront is Homelander’s biological mother.
Don’t reply to the comments of the over-the-top racist troll impersonating a normal contributor. Dismiss his comments instead.
As this season progresses, I’m wondering more and more if I’ve overestimated the surveillance power of Vought/Homelander.
The violence on this show is abrupt and brutal mainly for thrills but also to show that our heroes’ plans can go south at any time. Your enemies are always watching and ready to strike. Yet throughout this season the characters have been making moves with what seems like zero precaution. In this episode alone, Annie removed the chip with no plan for how to deal with Vought (can the chip be reinserted?). Ashley is frustrated she’s missing but there’s no alarm like there was with Translucent last season. Meanwhile, Annie is going on adventures with The Boys, out in the open with no disguise and no effort to establish plausible deniability. Butcher is hanging around in a hospital without a care despite having his face on TV as a wanted criminal. It gets in the way of truly enjoying what happening on screen because it feels like these characters are being way more reckless than I think their competence would suggest. The entire time I’m yelling at the screen “What are you doing!? That is a terrible idea!”
Yeah, I had that question also, Is she carrying it around with her and leaving it her apartment or something? They made it like she got rid of it, with Ashley not being able to locate it, but that would just piss off Homelander and he knows where her mother is.I like the show because most of the SJWing and Mary Sueing is kept to a minimum, but what is with the inconsistency. Original Compound
V only works in kids, yet Stormfront would have in her 20s when she met
Vought in the 40s. And didn’t Stormfront knock Skinhead Eleven the fuck
out, yet we see her escaping. And why would Storefront want to make millions of super soldiers as powerful as Homelander, when it looks like the 2 of them could take over the entire planet by themselves right now. You would just be making more people to stop you. And didn’t we already see a Vought facility were they experimented when Butcher used the baby with laser eyes to escape in Season one. Edger has to have something pretty powerful up his sleeve to stand up to Homelander like he did.
I do like this show but everyone’s ability to hide with each other without being found out by people with incredible powers to find people out is kind of bugging me. They’re filming a movie and Starlight’s not there and nobody seems concerned? Especially the two people most suspicious of her?
To be fair, Ashley’s yelling: “where is Starlight?!” every few minutes, but it’s surprising that she could just…leave like that, right? You’d think Vought would at least assign a tail for one of their biggest assets.
They’re filming a movie too so if she’s not there when she’s needed, that delays the filming of a movie which would be kind of a big deal. Just imagine if they’re filming one of those giant Marvel movies and Chris Evans just disappears for a few days
The Homelander Stormfront relationship ( so many shipping names) is so compelling and cringe inducing but I remain fascinated by the duo. Just look at their first date murder and blood sex next to a corpse in an alleyway. Stormfront is definitely using him but I also think she means what she says when speaking to him, Which will make this all the more hilarious when it goes wrong because they are both being as ‘real’ as is possible for them. Even in this episode there were a few moments where even Stormfront was thinking what the fuck have I gotten myself into with this dude. He is the ultra Simp with powers. Simplander. Stormfront is playing a very dangerous game.Iceman is now literally Pyro, that was cool and shout outs to Shawn Ashmore for somehow making a character that has burned innocent children alive sympathetic. The supes that were shown cramped and messed up in there cells was pretty tragic but i couldn’t help laughing at the dude who seemed to just be sitting by the toilet bowl and was extremely tiny. I personally thought it was funny how Kimiko killed the acid dude. Lame power deserves to be murked off like that, Straight chest stomp. Speaking of Kimiko thought the actress did great work as usual but even more so in this episode. She has the most emotive eyes.I want more interaction between Maeve A Train and the Deep with the other supes and the boys. Annie with Butcher was fantastic in the few scenes they had so im waiting to see more from the others, so many possibilities.Also anyone else thoroughly thrown by how the church leader looks like a discount Hugh Jackman.
Also anyone else thoroughly thrown by how the church leader looks like a discount Hugh Jackman.Him?
Not in this particular picture no.
I’ve enjoyed everything I’ve seen Goran Visnjic do, starting with “Euro Ross”.
Yes! I said it out loud that was Hugh. It couldn’t be though
I don’t think Homelander is simple. He just never had to be clever. Just like he never had to learn to fight. He is just so massively overpowered he can destroy anything he doesn’t like without bothering with any subtleties. If wants something he just takes it. He is a spoiled toddler because he never had to learn about delayed gratification or respecting other people feelings.
And everything else was snowplowed for him by other people. This is why he so completely fails at PR or even understanding why people react this way. He never before had to do it himself.
Also probably he is uneducated because who could ever force him to study anything. Or take tests.
‘Simp’ is how he is acting like a very creepy stalker overly loving clingy teenage boy in love for the first time. No that he is simple. And your analysis of him is exactly why he is acting like this with Stormfront as his girlfriend. Its like after Ryan pushed him over and got angry but Homelander couldn’t understand why. As much as he is a POS it shows just how much he is a product of the people who created him and raised him in a lab.
Homelander’s proven himself to be pretty smart at a micro level (if not the big picture stuff yet at least – Edgar had him over a barrel on that) at least as compared to his comic book counterpart (who was quite dumb). He worked out what Butcher and the rest were up to while the rest of Vought were twiddling their thumbs (over Translucent being missing for starters) and did piece a lot of what was going on as shown by that scene where he put that presentation together for the rest of the Seven in Season 1 to show them they were under threat and by whom.
Oh, think he’s not inherently stupid. He’s just very lazy. Because he never had to work for anything. This is why he just lasers whoever in his way – it’s the least work. And that’s why his speeches are full of the same trite responses – he never bothered to learn any others.
But he’s also incredibly paranoid about love and respect of others. He’s constantly suspicious of everyone so whenever there is an actual conspiracy he’s more likely to spot the lies.
I think he’s also got very, very poor impulse control which makes him easy to manipulate by turning his tendencies against him.
I don’t think Homelander is simple. He just never had to be clever. Just like he never had to learn to fight. He is just so massively overpowered he can destroy anything he doesn’t like without bothering with any subtleties.This reminds me of 30 Rock when Liz Lemon was dating Jon Hamm. He was so handsome that he never learned how to anything for himself. His last scene on that show was leaving Liz Lemon on a motorcycle that he clearly couldn’t drive. It’s off camera but you hear him veer into a car and crash.Jon Hamm is not evil though.
Simp has a specific meaning with the kids these days, not meaning simple. Basically it means a guy who, out of love or simply horniness, allows himself to be become subservient to a woman
Some real incel energy in that term their. Like, how dare someone love their partner and treat them well.
(I know there’s the subservient angle, but I’ve seen the term thrown around for basically any relationship when the dude does anything for the lady at all)
I know. I don’t much like it either
so many shipping namesI don’t think it’s shipping when they’re actually together in the show canon. But in terms of their couple name, I vote HomeFront.
Stormlander
Homestorm Runner
Homefront, surely?
Think that is the official name according to reddit.
The show did it so well by showing Homelander had no real childhood. That’s how they’ve explained why he’s so fucked up. And it fits.
Why he has 0 social skills. Why he has to fake acting like how he thinks everyone else acts. Yeah he’s literally a psychopath, but the show implies it’s nurture not nature with him.
They always say the best actors have expressive eyes. Look back at the most celebrated actors and it’s a pretty common trait.
Kimiko and Butcher silently realising there nemesis’s where fucking was my underrated scene of the week. Followed by Homelander stroking Stormfronts hair and her realising in that moment she fucked up.
Shawn Ashmore is two elements away from being the Avatar.
And only three from Mila Jovovich.
Amazing XD
Only a “B”?? For me this was the best episode of the season and very possibly the entire series. Was really nice to see Butcher and Annie finally warm to each other and have a bonding moment over Hughie’s hygiene routine. And that scene in the hospital was fantastic top to bottom. MM getting strangled by a prehensile penis is peak Boys.Though I’m sorta wondering if Cindy could blow open the other cell doors why she couldn’t do that to her own.
Though I’m sorta wondering if Cindy could blow open the other cell doors why she couldn’t do that to her own. Yeah, was wondering the same. When explaining to Stormfront what happened, Lamplighter implies a doctor is supposed to be keeping her sedated but gave her the wrong dose again, but it’s convenient her dosage wore off/she woke up when her door opened up.
Maybe her door is, like, extra strong or something.
He was obviously lying about that part. I’m assuming the doors were stronger or reinforced from the inside and that’s why she couldn’t get out from there.
This season isn’t doing it for me. There are good individual elements, but it just doesn’t have the propulsive narrative that season 1 had. A lot of the stuff with the 7 is great, but the show grinds to a halt when it switches to the boys, mainly because their motivation isn’t as clear as it was in season 1.But more than anything, the show is missing the Elizabeth Shue/Homelander dynamic of season 1. Shue was great in season 1 and the show shouldn’t have killed her off so quickly.All in all, the show isn’t awful, it just feels like it’s spinning its wheels. I was surprised to find there are only 2 episodes left as it seems like the season is just getting started.
I agree. I think this was a really strong episode and I’m surprised to see how negative the comments are. So much happened and in a really good way. The Boys style batsht insanity a la the penis guy, good action sequences, good character development, and the usual dark, sick satire
Not to make a big thing of it, because he clearly is a scumbag.. but there is a big difference between trying to kill the lady blackmailing you (even if shes a “good person”) and killing innocent little children who had nothing to do with it. Also I do and dont feel bad for the 7. Like its so clear WHY they are fucked up and its understandable.. but then they choose to do horrible things and then you are like nah fuck you I hate you. Like the deep, homelander, and A-train in particularly you know WHY they are fucked up and feel for them, but their actions are inexcusable.
One of the queasier, not-quite-effective moments of the show was watching Stormfront’s racism towards A-Train. Like, I get that she’s a bigoted piece of shit, but how bad am I supposed to feel for A-Train? He murdered his girlfriend.But generally, Kang approves of the nuanced approach to The Seven. Their vulnerabilities (even/especially Antony Starr’s Homelander’s) make them especially compelling foils. Since The Boys can’t possibly subdue them with physical force, it’s interesting to see how their own psychologies will be their downfall. Maeve and The Deep both manage to be sympathetic in their own fucked-up way. Kang was pretty impressed that the series introduced The Deep as a sexual predator and then, rather than cast him off, actually followed up on his story of humiliation and clunky attempts at (professional/spiritual/both?) redemption… and also somehow managed to make him the show’s most reliable source of comic relief? That’s a hard fucking needle to thread.Unfortunately, the show’s success at making people like the Deep feel nuanced also highlights the problems with Stormfront as a character. She’s not a satire of a standard superhero trope… She IS a standard superhero trope: Villain created via Nazi experiment who, wait for it, loves Nazism. All her snark and social media prowess doesn’t hide the fact that she’s got all the emotional complexity of The Red Skull.
I feel what you are saying but A-train didnt do it on purpose, he was taking steroids so that he could stay fast enough to be on the 7 and couldnt control his speed and killed by accident. Then he and vought had to cover it up, but even then he said he was sorry at the moment it happened. I cant remember anything else he did but his greatest sin is not apologizing properly for his accident.Also yea stormfront is pretty one tropey villian her only new dimension is the memes and seemingly upbeat but thats quickly fading away.
You either missed on don’t remember him sending Popclaw into “hiding”, then visiting her on the lam and straight-up murdering her with heroin.
Oh wow! I did forget about that yikes. I took the murdering his girlfriend to be Huey’s and not his own girlfriend. Thats after she popped the dudes head with her thighs right? That def increases his evil level, and that too was a cover up (his girlfriend murdering people) but yea not a good look for A-Train
Even if it wasn’t intentional he was really extremely callous about having killed Hughie’s girlfriend, just flippant about the apology and the whole thing
Yea The Deep is kind of hilarious now? Don’t know how they pulled it off. I’ve always had a soft spot for A-Train because he so clearly a commentary on athletes who get themselves into trouble. For whatever reason, I feel like there’s good in him. Besides Annie, he’s the other member who seems to show the most remorse when horrible things happen, including killing his own girlfriend.
Her big speech to Homelander at the end of the episode is about how much she searched for him, and how now she’s finally found him. But if Stormfront stayed involved with Vought, since it was her husband’s company, wouldn’t she know Dr. Jonah Vogelbaum well enough to be involved with the creation of Homelander? I don’t think she was ever searching for him, or anyone. That’s just what she needed to say in the moment to best manipulate him. As you said he’s all about his desperate need to be loved.
Everyone stay for the fully-produced A-Train rap during the credits?
It was so ridiculous I let the whole credits play out.
Yeah? I love spoilers, lol.
You’re reading the comments in the episode review, this whole page is a spoiler.
Lol, this site is so full of dicks.
I even watched the credits to see if it actually was Lil Nas X, but it never said.
Annie killed Lieutenant Randy Disher!Also, I spent all episode thinking Shawn Ashmore looked off from how I remembered him from Warhouse 13, and then I realized that was his brother (who, granted, is identical, but not entirely the same person).
Seriously I’ve just finished Killjoys and I was thinking “is that the same one or not…”
Dominic Toretto smells like a bar of Dial soap and Monster Energy drink
The original version of The Italian Job really is the gift that keeps on giving.“You were only supposed to blow the bloody doors off!”
So we finally got a proper origin story for Frenchie that we didn’t get in the comics, since the batshit story that we got is hinted to be made up.
So, Stormfront is a Nazi.
In the aftershow Aya Cash says “Isn’t it every Jewish girl’s dream to play a Nazi?”
The cast of Hogan’s Heroes had at least four Jewish people playing the Germans including the two main ones.
That included Colonel Klink, the actor revelled in making the Nazis look like idiots, and good on him for doing so.
Oy Vey
Possibly a dumb question but where do I find the aftershow? All I could find when I did a search was the Prime Rewind show about the last season.
Yeah, it says “Season 1″ and I was confused by that, too. But it’s new for season 2. The “Season 1″ thing is because it’s the first season of the aftershow. There wasn’t one for the first season.
Thanks for the clarification!
I like the show because most of the SJWing and Mary Sueing is kept to a minimum, but what is with the inconsistency. Original Compound V only works in kids, yet Stormfront would have in her 20s when she met Vought in the 40s. And didn’t Stormfront knock Skinhead Eleven the fuck out, yet we see her escaping. And why would Storefront want to make millions of super soldiers as powerful as Homelander, when it looks like the 2 of them could take over the entire planet by themselves right now. You would just be making more people to stop you. And didn’t we already see a Vought facility were they experimented when Butcher used the baby with laser eyes to escape in Season one. Edger has to have something pretty powerful up his sleeve to stand up to Homelander like he did.
It’s easy to underestimate Homelander’s intelligence. I don’t think he’s all-in on Stormfront’s plan, at all. I imagine that two facts are jumping out at him right now:If Vought has a formula to produce temporary supes on demand, he’s going to be a lot weaker in the new order.What could be more in line with his original plans than defeating a secret Nazi supervillain? Just before Stormfront revealed herself to Homelander, he was saying he had been thinking a lot about how she was hard to hurt. I don’t think that was a random threat. He obviously noticed that his choke hold did nothing to her and his laser barely scorched her skin. I think he’s already figured out a way to injure Stormfront, and now he just has to expose her publicly,
So Annie’s ability allows her to absorb electricity. Was that already established or did they just reveal it this episode? They showed TV’s and lights flickering when she used her powers but did they ever establish that’s where she gets the power for her light blasts? It could be a hint of how they’ll take down Stormfront.
She does say in an earlier episode that she absorbs power from her surroundings.
Ya she did mention it early on. In season 1 I believe. It might have even been during her audition, or maybe an episode or 2 later.
I love the scene where Lamplighter shows up, acting all impressive, and the rest of them can’t help but snigger at his costume and bravado. Very funny.
“Yes, Homelander is a fascist…”
Is he?
My main gripe was that I didn’t buy Stormfront’s apparent fear of Homelander. Even if it was fake (and there was no indication that it was), it seemed way out of character.
So I’m the only one who thought it was Aaron? 8D(I have two brothers who are twins so I’m allowed to make that joke!)Anyways, great performance by Shawn.
So I’m the only one who thought it was Aaron? You are not. I didn’t even realize the Ashmores are an identical set of twins until now; I thought it was all one guy.
Yep that was definitely the season’s best episode.I love how the show gave Lamplighter nuance. Thats when the show is at its best, not just settling for mustache twirling evil doer.
Add him to this list of former Seven that are going rogue in their own way. But even the combined efforts of Starlight, Maeve, A Train and Deep wont be enough to take down Stormfront and Homelander. We shall see. Also my poor sweet eff-up Frenchie.
One of the many ways it is better than the comic.
This and Netflix’s surprisingly passable Warrior Nun are my two current favorite examples for things that technically have existing sources, but said “you know what, never mind”, and are much better series for it.
I don’t know if I entirely trust Lamplighter even if he does have regret over killing the children.
It took good acting to pull of sympathy for Lamplighter, from Frenchie too.
The seven are mostly murderers and sex offenders who need to be stopped, but they’re doing a great job of keeping them pathetic and out of their depth enough that they’re recognizably human even as the show cranks up the ridiculousness. They are both victims and villains, truly the Megyn Kellys of superherodom.
I love how subtle this show is.And cosign the casting kudos for Ashmore. One of my weirder superpowers was winning the argument about if that was Iceman or not.
Vin Diesel smells like leather and olive oil…and family.
Very solid episode. Cindy’s power is a little basic but great casting, apparently she’s normally a stuntwoman (and contortionist!), she’s actually scary. I love how convoluted plotting has resulted in A-Train being one of the Seven in Dawn of the Seven right as he leaves the Seven and is replaced by a different A-Train plus at least three different members of the seven are already gone since the team was formed, but Dawn of the Seven. It’s good to see Ashmore have something to do as Fire Man. The X-Men movies really did him and Rogue dirty, their plotline where he forces her to get rid of her powers in Last Stand was disgusting. And they just never really let him be Iceman…Iceman was like one of the most important X-Men!Aya Cash really nailed the confession speech because she made it so disarmingly emotional and plaintive…she could have done it dispassionately…the fact that she tugged the heartstrings so hard in her big Nazi reveal makes it even more likely it was another manipulation—though I do believe she wants Homelander to run the super army. I thought he was going to walk away and say “I don’t like old chicks.”The guy Starlight killed had his baby seat facing front, deserved to die 🙂
Iceman literally never forced Rouge to get rid of her powers. She projected things onto him that he wasn’t saying or truly feeling. He also had a sweet night with Kitty that Rogue took the wrong way based on what she saw and made her decision by herself. He didn’t know she did it, was surprised that she did it and said he never wanted that. It was her choice.
So Alastair, the leader of the Church, is pretty obviously a telepath, right? That’s how he knows everyone’s secrets and how to manipulate them? Don’t think we’ve seen a telepath in the show yet.
If you’re over 30….seeing an Ashmore twin in any form of supporting cameo is a delightful surprise. also – Kid’s these days wont appreciate the irony of the Lamplighter / Iceman roles.
“The acid-spit power is unbelievably inconvenient.”-As long as he doesn’t drool in his sleep, I think it’s a cool one. I can think of maybe a million reasons why “tentacle dick” is MUCH more inconvenient power.
You hint at it in the stray observations, but all I could think about regarding Shawn Ashmore as Lamplighter was how he was exactly like his previous role Iceman’s nemesis Pyro (played by Aaron Standford), down to his mannerisms and habit of flipping open and closed a Zippo lighter in the X-Men movies.
I can imagine Vin Diesel (or at least his public persona) wearing some super-loud clubbing fragrance like Dior Sauvage or Invictus or 1 Million by Paco Rabbane.
That was a pretty good ep. Though they used up a character I was hoping for later. (Love Sausage, the Russian superhero), and I was hoping we’d find Lamplighter in the basement like in the Books. Too bad the 3rd banana from MONK only gets bit parts these days. RIP
The character beat that didn’t work for me was Stormfront suddenly being terrified of Homelander. Even if she realised that she’d pushed him too far, I can’t see her taking such a subservient stance. Okay, maybe it was an act, but it still seemed way out of character, even as a strategy.
Lamplighter was Iceman! I knew I recognized him from somewhere, that was bugging me all through the episode. Regarding the acid-vomiting guy, I got the idea that the asylum was a dumping ground for reject supes, people that developed superhuman abilities that were simply too ineffective (vomiting acid), weird (elongated penis), or simply not that impressive (the first guy Lamplighter killed, the one who could levitate a ball – not all THAT great a power), as well as supes who were just plain difficult (the shaved-head girl). I do find it interesting that there is clearly a hierarchy among the “supes” society. The Seven are all telegenically handsome and have effective and easily understood abilities (super strength, super speed, power blasts, etc.); and then there are the less charismatic types with weirder, sometimes creepy abilities (such as the Gekko); and then there’s the total washouts who wind up with powers that are simply impractical or can’t be merchandized (though an Elongated Penis Man doll would sell like gangbusters at any sex shop!)
Vin Diesel smells like Doritos, Mountain Dew, pizza farts, and 9 hours of basement DnD gaming.
I was watching the episode a second time, and since her invulnerable skin was a plot point, I couldn’t help wonder, how the hell did Starlight pierce her ears?
You know, I’ve been up and down on this show, but have adapted my expectations (thrown them out, really) to just watch and hopefully enjoy the show for whatever it is the creators are doing with the property. Mostly, I wished I could have seen a more straight-up adaptation of a truly nasty, horrific, and revolting comic book property. However…
…all will be forgiven if they make Stormfront Homelander’s biological mom. LOL. It would be amazing if the creators drop THAT on the viewers. THEN we’d be tapping into that really grotesque world of the comic book boys, but still manage to surprise and entertain people like myself, who know the original story so well.
I don’t know how a very normal person dates a member of the Seven, let alone continues dating them after watching a video showing how they were involved in letting an entire plane full of people crash and die.Except if they realize the quite obvious fact that she had no choice. What exactly was she supposed to do? Even if she could pull an Iron Man and carry all the people out, Stormfront wouldn’t let her. You’re being absurd.Also, Frenchie made a Xanax bomb that chilled out a rage-fueled supe; he didn’t kill one with it.
Not sure I got it well. They’ll go “Lamplighter is a good guy deep down because he regrets having killed two innocent children” and skip the years spent incinerating kidnapped human guinea pigs ?
Homelander and Stormfront continue to steal this season. I do think they are way to leaning on them though as the other superheoes are being “too” rehabilitated for me. The fun of last year was they were ALL pretty rotten people. A-Train did murder Hughie’s girlfriend and laughed it off. The Deeep was a perv. Translucent was clearly a monster jerk and Maeve was ridiculously complicit. If you rehabilitate all of them except homelander and a new character like Stormfront (with Black Noir, who does not speak), then I really think the whole message of this becomes lost and this is just Star Wars with an evil emperor and darth vader. Bringing in Lamplighter who is genuinely upset and remorseful just reinforces this. It is a decision that really does not seem to fit what this show was trying to say.I also think the Butcher and Starlight scenes were a missed opportunity. Yes, they bonded over Hughie, but I was hoping for a little more direct conversation by Butcher explaining why he hates all supes, even her, instead of just Homelander.
A debased, super-powered blond-haired man representing the very Identity of the United States of America having sex with an equally-debased super-powered woman who bears the same name as the most infamous White Nationalist website on the internet?
Huh, wonder what that’s trying to say
-The scene in the asylum after all hell broke lose (which was a lot of fun) reminded me of the end of Cabin in the Woods (which was a lot a of fun)-I think some credit for this series goes to the costume directors who make all the superheroes outfits to look like cheap knock-off versions of the outfits worn by the Marvel/DC superheroes. As befitting a bunch of heroes who are cheap-knock offs. It’s a good way of showing that there’s a fine line between super heroes looking cool and super heroes looking really dorky and lame-I do love Erin Moriarity and her wonderfully expressive face
Some commenters have voiced their confusion as to why a Black man would align himself with Nazi ideology, but I think The Boys has always been very clear about this: money over everything.-This is how you explain any minority aligning themselves with the Republican party, willful blind-eyed ignorance and greed.
I’m thinking Becca missed her shot for continued survival when she and Ryan didn’t leave with Butcher…
“Some commenters have voiced their confusion as to why a Black man would align himself with Nazi ideology, but I think The Boys has always been very clear about this: money over everything. Money. Over. Everything.”Just to drive this point home: Hugo Boss, Volkswagen, BMW, Fanta, IBM, Disney, General Motors, Ford Motors, Bayer, and Siemens all collaborated with the Third Reich in one way or another. Lotta ex-Nazi corporations out there, just going about their business. Vought is different, because Stormfront is an immortal who is still exerting influence on the company in a fictional contemporary world. But, you know . . . it’s not like Hugo Boss has changed their name or anything.
Regarding Edgar:I don’t think he knows the full extent of Stormfront’s plan (or maybe even her full history.He wants the Compound V to be perfected so he can sell it to anyone who wants superpowers (think about how much you could sell superpowers for? Especially if you need refresher doses?). He said they are a pharmaceutical company first and foremost. He knows the company was founded/involved with by Nazis, but presumably that is somewhat public knowledge (even if primarily ignored) and companies like this exist today.
Stormfront want the V perfected so she can create the master race. It’s entirely possible that Edgar thinks Liberty is her “original version” and knows nothing of her Nazi past. CIA lady did say it was a coup from the inside. Her role in the company absolutely has to predate his tenure.
Also, in addition to the whole master race, blonde hair blue eyes thing; it seems like Homelander is one of the few supes powerful enough to go toe to toe with Stormfront, and has some general status as “the most powerful”. Good for her he is SUPER easily manipulated. I would also wager that Starlight’s power could be a threat to her. But its hard to imagine how Deep, A-Train, or Mave could fight lightning person who can seemingly take eye-lasers to the chest mostly unharmed. Noir’s powers aren’t really fleshed out in the show yet
“I don’t know how a very normal person dates a member of the Seven, let alone continues dating them after watching a video showing how they were involved in letting an entire plane full of people crash and die.”I mean it’s definitely not a pleasant revelation to find out that your love interest left a plane full of people to die, but I’m confused as to what more Maeve was supposed to have done in that scenario? I guess refusing to leave and going down with the plane could have been an option. And maybe she should have gone public earlier, but it’s not like she had any evidence.I feel like it would be a stretch for Elena to blame Maeve for this somehow. But I could understand if she ends things because she just doesn’t want to be a part of this kind of stuff, sure.Also the irony is not lost on me that Hughie’s whole journey began because someone he loves was inadvertently killed by a supe who was in the middle of some other more important mission, and who couldn’t even be bothered to stop and help afterwards. Now this guy‘s family is gonna go through the same thing, for the sake of Hughie’s life.
“Lamplighter, who the Boys are blackmailing.”Was it explained how they were blackmailing Lamplighter in the first place? I know the Seven all have/had their dirty little secrets, but it also seems like they’d be tough to approach (without getting killed) without something really damning.
Love. This. Show
Strangers trying to carjack you is a reasonable moment to brandish a
weapon in self defense, especially if one looks like the top of the
nation’s most wanted list. The manslaughtered guy was going to help them until Butcher bollocksed
it up! Considering how the show kicked off over Vought covering up
civilian casualties, it’s odd how quickly the series & characters
shrug this death off. They had a better reason to be in a rush than
A-Train, but the dude didn’t need to die.