My excitement was palpable when I saw that Starlight was back and going on a mission with The Boys once again—with even Butcher involved. I think it is worth noting that this whole situation undermines the decision made earlier in the season where she ends things with Hughie and goes back off on her own. That choice seemed odd and frivolous at the time, and this chain of events only strengthens that opinion. Putting that aside though, we were treated to some quality Starlight and Butcher time. Nothing like the impending death of one of your closest friends to bring two people together. It was great seeing them form at least some sort of bond, even if there is still plenty of distrust between the two.
But let’s talk about the insanity of everything else that this episode held. I mean, we finally met our head-exploding assassin, got introduced to The Love Sausage, and learned the next terrifying step in Compound V’s legacy–and that was just the start of it. The biggest thing of all was surely our proper introduction to Lamplighter. The way that he was weaved into the plot was not only ingenious, but highly satisfying and intriguing as well. This Super that was responsible for the core emotional trauma within the group just randomly shows up, and instead of coming to a full-on brawl, we’re instead treated to a more intimate forced alliance ordeal. It was extremely unique, with so many complex underlying emotions that made every second all the more enjoyable.
With Lamplighter re-entering the fray, we also got a substantial first look at the past and the role that he played. This gave a ton of insight into Frenchie, and the unbelievable weight of the guilt that he shoulders everyday. I was happy to see Frenchie and Kimiko finally be able to meet on even grounds. However, Frenchie wasn’t the only one confronting this emotional trauma head-on. It was something that even weighed heavily on Lamplighter–which was likely one of the key motivating factors in his not killing everyone in the room to save his own ass. That heavy conscience even led Lamplighter to hand himself over Colonel Mallory herself, which gave us a brilliant and emotional sequence with Lalia Robins giving a standout performance as she confronted the man who burned her grandchildren alive.
Now Lamplighter may still be a terrible human being, but Stormfront is still doing a mighty fine job at vying for first place when it comes to being the worst. Not only is she a racist, but a Nazi to boot. Add on the fact that she was in love with Fredrick Vought himself and became his first successful experiment, then you have a big fat problem for everyone. I still can’t quite make out if the insane pairing between Stormfront and Homelander comes from any legitimate feelings on her end. I just get the sense that this is her way of controlling Homelander, while keeping her evil schemes rolling. Her final scene with Homelander seems to place some doubt on that theory though, because that looked pretty genuine for her. It would seem that to her, and her ideals, Homelander is the perfect image of a human being–which makes it seem like her connection with him may in fact be the real deal.
“The Bloody Doors Off” treated us to yet another insane and quality entry to the season. The installment provided us with some incredible material on all fronts: insanely tense and creative situations, gore gags galore, new endlessly interesting dynamics, and some strong emotional elements to top it all off. Not sure how Starlight is going to explain her absence to everyone at Vought, but I sure do hope we continue to have her working alongside The Boys more often. Not only that, but I hope that we get to see plenty more of Lamplighter in the mix–Shawn Ashmore already fits right in.
Bonus Notes:
- The team all of a sudden being back together was a bit odd, especially with Kimiko just kind of randomly stopping her Hit Man errands–guess it was just a brief phase?
- I’m curious why Queen Maeve doesn’t see that her potential solution to stopping Homelander is a problem. I mean there’s no way that it wraps up with a happy ending for her.
- Ironic that they brought Starlight for safety, but then when they needed a Supes help, she was occupied.
- Poor Homelander having to deal with simple problems, like a love interest not getting back to you as quickly as possible. Quite the human problem for a self-proclaimed god to have to deal with.
- The attack by The Love Sausage was one of the show’s best, hilarious, and utterly insane moments.
- A-Train is the last person I’d expect to see involved with The Church of the Collective. Though I guess it helps that you’re being strong armed into it. With two former Seven members in their ranks, I wonder what The Church has up their sleeves.
