One of the main thematic elements of this season seems to clearly be about the characters’ breaking point. First with The Deep, then Hughie, and then on to pretty much all the other characters. This episode continued to delve into that idea, specifically when it came to the parallels between Hughie’s and Butcher’s journeys. It’s a very strong parallel that I quite enjoy. With Butcher having to help Hughie, and then in turn needing help out of that very same low point–it just does a great job at deepening the emotional connections that these characters share. It seems like everyone may be finally leveling with each other–cooler heads prevail and all that.
While it was great to finally see Terror, the real star of Butcher’s plot this episode was Black Noir. Getting to go toe-to-toe with a Super is always a daunting, but terrifyingly exciting, experience to see unfold–especially when that Super happens to be one of the big ones. Still as mysterious as ever, Black Noir continues to prove to be a fearsome foe. Thanks to Butcher’s quick thinking (and lies?), their lives were spared. Not only that, but we were treated to some new information: Stan is controlling Black Noir and using him as his personal hit man–or at least that’s what we are being led to believe.
Outside of the gang dealing with Black Noir, there was Frenchie and Kimiko. Instead of helping out Butch, Frenchie was worried about Kimiko, who has herself reached her own breaking point. Being a hit woman is one thing, but I mean what she did to that poor evil man’s face was just diabolical. The story the two of them shared this episode felt far more substantial in this installment than the last. Their last scene in the church was fantastically performed by both Karen Fukuhara and Tomer Capon.
When it came to our resident Supers, Stormfront continued to just walk over everyone…in all sorts of ways. I mean, Homelander and Stormfront are into some kinky stuff. I mean they’re literally going to have to get a new room every time they hook-up. But I digress. From trying to mess with Starlight, to not so subtly insulting A-Train, to helping Homelander: Stormfront is just all over the place, and I really don’t know what she’s up to. If I didn’t know better, I would guess that she was deliberately sent into the Seven to tear it apart from the inside. Why? Well that’s a great question, something that’s even more of a mystery if the intentions are coming from head honcho Stan himself (who hired her in the first place). I mean, what else could she be doing? She has gotten under nearly everyone’s skins, and in some form undermined them all–except for maybe Maeve. Her vague comments towards Starlight certainly allude to something big in the works. Needless to say, Stormfront is living up to her name.
Maeve’s passive aggressive torment at the hand’s of Homelander continued this week, as Elena actually became involved. In a weird twisted way, it’s almost satisfying to have Elena thrown into the situation, if only so she can see and understand what Maeve has been dealing with on a constant basis. Even better, it looks like we have one more person aiming to take down Homelander. That person is none other than Queen Mauve. While it should have been more obvious, for some reason I didn’t expect her to take a stance on her own against Homelander–at least not so soon. Yet here she is, uninvolved with any of our other Homelander hunters, weaving together a plan to not only take him down, but also keep Elena safe. Oddly enough, it seems to involve The Deep. His involvement is something I think is great for the plot because it keeps him from only being relegated to the sidelines. At the same time, I can’t help but be really intrigued as to what she may possibly have planned for him.
“We Gotta Go Now” continued moving all of the many moving pieces in intriguing ways. Stormfront continued her mysterious yet destructive ways; we got a badass standoff against Black Noir; and Maeve has declared war on Homelander. On top of all that, we got our first glimpse of Shawn Ashmore as Lamplighter. I don’t think he’s going to make anything easier for anybody, especially since he’s also in kahoots with Stormfront.
Bonus Notes:
- My jaw was on the ground when Homelander tore through that entire crowd of protesters. I thought for sure he had just snapped–especially when the idea of one’s breaking point is such a current focus. That would have been one hell of thing to happen, that’s for sure.
- Holy hell, what Kimiko did to that man’s face was something else. Brutal.
- Frenchie and Kimiko’s separation from what the other three were doing was a bit strange–but I don’t think that ended up being a bad thing. Maybe questionable at worst.
- I found myself wondering why Stormfront hadn’t made any comments against A-Train before this episode, you know…given her intense racism and all.
- Aya Cash continues to be a blast as Stormfront. I certainly was having a hoot with how she reacted to Starlight powering up.
- Props to the show for actually portraying a film set pretty damn accurately. It’s odd, but most shows and movies that do the same shtick end up being anything but close to the real thing.
- I guess A-Train is not safe, despite my theory from last week. Him being forced into saying his farewell lines was very well done, and delivered in a delightfully meta way. Homelander may be making yet another enemy. Soon it’s gonna be The Six vs. Homelander.
