There was a lot less to the Butcher situation than I had previously thought. What we were witness to at the end of season one was all that Butcher saw as well. I certainly expected more to it, more than just Butcher getting immediately pulled away and only having snippets to remember where he may have been. Plenty of questions remain however. Why did Homelander even bring Butcher there in the first place? What did he accomplish in doing so? Not to mention all the lingering questions about Becca’s situation and how it came to be.
At the very least the show gave us a little more insight on Homelander’s end. Becca is not a willing participant in his presence, and that’s cause for at least a little relief. Though, it certainly isn’t any good for her seeing as she’s now prisoner in her own house with a manic, self-proclaimed God, who is trying to shape his Super son into his own image. What could be more terrifying? If anyone was holding out hope that having a son would give Homelander some shred of goodness, I think you should probably stop holding your breath. Now we just have to wait for that horrifying moment when Homelander likely loses patience with his own son.
As for Butcher, well he really wasn’t saying much about it all to the rest of the gang–which was just a little odd. Even knowing him as a character, I don’t know why he would have hid it like he did, or for as long as he did. I figured it would have been one of the first things that he mentioned upon getting back. It’s not like his reasoning for hating Supes is a big secret, so this in turn shouldn’t have been as well. It was pretty satisfying to see the rest of the group stand up with Hughie when Butcher was acting reckless, forcing him to reveal Becca’s fate–and in turn the reasoning for his frantic behavior. Classic Butcher for going and punching Hughie, even though it’s not his fault for not being a mind reader. I really hope that Hughie has some satisfying comeback move against Butcher in the coming episodes, even if it’s just a big fat I-told-you-so-moment of some kind.
Butcher’s quest led the show to giving Kimiko a bright spotlight as the hunt for the Supe terrorist turned into a reunion with her brother. It was touching seeing her actually be open and close with another person, and more so seeing her properly communicate with someone. That made it all the more tragic when her brother was revealed to have sided with those that killed their parents. It’s great to see Kimiko not only get more development, but also solidify her place among the group. Hopefully this is the start of her being able to open up to those around her more often.
Speaking of someone solidifying their place in a group, let’s talk about Stormfront. She is already a brilliant addition to the Seven. Stormfront is a breath of fresh air, and the way she handles her situations is hilarious. Her personality is off-the-charts–Aya Cash is owning the role. In a cast filled with incredible performances and presences, she fits right in. Stormfront certainly wasn’t having any of the girl power marketing that she was being dragged through. From the looks of it, not only does Stormfront not give two shits, she also isn’t much of a team player. Let’s be honest though: Stormfront won’t be able to act like this forever. There is no indication that she will be able to stand-up to Homelander one-on-one, and someone will eventually attempt to put her in her place (at least from Vought’s perspective). I can’t imagine she’ll take that very well. I have no idea where her journey is going to lead us through the season, but I’m extremely excited to find out.
There was at least one fan of Stormfront’s antics, and that came in the form of Starlight–not that Stormfront believed her anyway. Stormfront is an interesting mirror of Starlight. They both seemingly have the same opinions and viewpoints on what Vought is doing, but they have very different ways of coping with and reacting to it. To be fair though, Starlight has been put through the ringer, where it doesn’t seem like the same can be said for Stormfront. It was interesting to watch the two of them form a weird (and someone antagonistic) connection. To make matters more interesting, we also got the surprise return of A-Train! He wasted little time in holding what he knew over Starlight. It was awesome watching Starlight stand up to him and put him down while succeeding in retrieving the Compound V sample. I enjoy seeing Starlight getting a big win, and I can only wonder if her next mission may be to recruit Stormfront to her cause.
This episode was really juggling quite a few things. On top of The Boys themselves, six out of the Seven (sorry Black Noir) had fairly substantial plot threads. We also got The Deep fighting his own profound disgust for his own body image–including that amazing Patton Oswalt cameo. Then there was Queen Maeve. She is another character we only get bits and pieces from, and it’s always nice when the show gives her something substantial. In this case, we got to see her finally open up to her ex-girlfriend Elena. I’d be lying if I said that her line “I don’t want you to hate me anymore” didn’t hit close to home–something I imagine would be the same for a lot of people out there.
“Proper Preparation and Planning” had a lot going on, and it handled the many plot threads well. Nearly everyone had something going on, so watching both the plot and so many characters moving forward was a treat. The only negative I could attribute to this episode was how out of place it seemed for Butcher to hide his wife’s fate–but it didn’t hurt the episode that much, especially as it wasn’t drawn out for very long. On a different note, I find it really interesting that Vought is slowly unwinding, now that even Queen Maeve is starting to turn against them. Somehow I don’t think that the Seven will be quite whole by season’s end.
