The Boys’ latest episode is being described as "one of the most unhinged in television history" and, honestly, they’re not wrong

Homelander and Ryan in The Boys season 4 — (Image credit: Prime Video)

Just when you think The Boys can’t top itself and – bam – Homelander shows up and takes the cake. Literally.

John’s return to the Vought lab that 'raised' him was the focus on ‘Wisdom of the Ages’, a tense, twisted hour that sees Homelander play with those who experimented on him in chilling fashion.

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Among the many, many acts of depravity committed by Homelander include forcing one of the lab’s leads into an oven to burn to a crisp, while another – having given him the unfortunate nickname of ‘squirt’ was forced to masturbate at laser-point. It didn’t end well.

"God. Homelander was the star of this episode. So unhinged. Straight up Joker laugh during THAT scene," a fan wrote on Reddit.

One Redditor summarized the episode succinctly, saying, "This episode gave me two moods: That’s fucking nasty, I’m going to bleach my eyes, and Fudgie the Whale actually looks pretty tasty."

"Well, in an episode that highlighted the awful cycle of revenge and abuse, I thought Hughie forgiving A-Train was a pretty cool and meaningful counter," another wrote, highlighting that the episode, which also saw two of Starlight's most personal secrets outed, wasn't all doom and gloom.

"I would just like to add that I was in [post-production] today, working on a season 4 scene that miiiiiiight be the batshit craziest thing we've ever done? Like I truly can't believe we got away with it," showrunner and creator Eric Kripke wrote on Twitter last year.

That’s backed up by Homelander himself, Antony Starr. "There has to be a ceiling, but we can’t seem to find it," he previously told Variety of one moment – and it’s unclear if we’ve already seen it.

"I was looking at the person I was opposite, and I said, 'What are we doing? I can’t believe this! I could have done anything else with my life, but here I am doing this?' It was truly the most bizarre thing I’ve ever done."