The Boys season 4 episode 4 recap and Easter eggs: Homelander heads home

The Boys season 4, episode 4 – titled ‘Wisdom of the Ages’ – follows on from the bloody, action-packed batch of the three-episode premiere on Prime Video. With the clock ticking on Butcher, Annie locking horns with new Supe Firecracker, and Homelander becoming more and more unhinged (a scary thought), there are plenty of plot threads for The Boys to follow up on this week.

But with the fifth season set to be the show’s last and creator Eric Kripke lauding Homelander actor Antony Starr’s performance in this episode on Twitter as among his "very best" and "definitely one of his scariest", there’s plenty of peril in the air.

And so it proves. This week, secrets are revealed, blood is spilled, and there are several uncomfortable scenes for you to watch through your fingers.

Homelander heads home

After his breakdown in the previous episode, Homelander makes a house call to the Vought laboratory where he was experimented on. The skin-crawling scenes that punctuate the episode feature the leader of the Seven tormenting two of the leads on that program, Marty and Frank.

Frank meets a grisly end after a game of paper toss sees Homelander telling Frank to head into the oven that was used to test Homelander’s powers. Inevitably, he burns to death. Marty’s fate isn’t much better: after being forced to masturbate – a result of him giving Homelander/John a childhood nickname of ‘Squirt’ after a similar incident – he is lasered in the crotch and then killed after the leader of the program, Barbara, walks in.

In a heart-to-heart, Barbara says “Vought’s greatest success” was hard-coding the need for love and approval into Homelander. He responds in kind by massacring the rest of the staff and exiting the facility.

Elsewhere, Hughie and Kimiko head to a meet with A-Train. Hughie pleads with A-Train to get some Compound V so that his father – who is close to being declared legally brain dead – can live. A-Train agrees, and speeds off to Homelander’s HQ, where he is caught by Ashley. Upon discovering the Vought CEO has left a ‘floater’ in Homelander’s toilet, the two agree to not say anything – an agreement of mutually assured destruction.

Hughie and Kimiko, meanwhile, are attacked by Shining Light. After a brutal battle, which sees Hughie yet again caked in blood, Kimiko meets the young woman she saw previously. However, she doesn’t appear to want any help, and Kimiko walks off with an injured Hughie.

Hughie meets up with A-Train to take the Compound V – declaring their feud over. Butcher catches them, but Hughie shrugs it off. He then takes the Compound V to his father’s hospital room, but seemingly decides against giving him the dose. Instead, someone else – we’d wager Hughie’s mother, judging by the look she gave her son and her pharmaceutical background – has given Hughie’s father Compound V to save his life.

Fireworks from Firecracker

Firecracker makes her mark in a big way this week at the launch of her new show The Truthbomb – complete with an ear-splitting duet of Up Where We Belong with The Deep.

Butcher, now back in the fold, and The Boys do some serious digging, however. They discover Firecracker had sex with a 15-year-old. When confronting her with the attempted blackmail, she sends Butcher’s pre-prepared tweet out herself, and spins it on her show as the moment she was ‘born again.’

In response, Firecracker turns the tables on Starlight and reveals two secrets: one, that she blinded a civilian during her first ‘save’ and, two, that she had an abortion.

This sees Starlight fly into a rage, attacking Firecracker and beating her to a bloody pulp. Unfortunately for Annie, this incident is caught on camera and leads President-elect Singer to cut ties, effectively dooming the upcoming Supe Control bill before it reaches the Senate.

Secrets are spilled elsewhere, too, as Frenchie confesses to Colin that he was the one who killed his family, while we also see Sister Sage talk The Deep through her secret to staying sane: a frontal lobotomy. And to think that doesn’t even rank in the top 10 toe-curling moments in the show’s history.

The Boys season 4 episode 4 Easter eggs

Ezekiel: The reverend-like figure accompanying Firecracker during her simulcast television event is Ezekiel, the Christian Supe first introduced way back in the first season. Unfortunately for him, his comeback doesn’t last long as he was destroyed by Butcher’s superpowers.

Stan Edgar: Vought’s one-time chief (played by Giancarlo Esposito) gets namechecked by Barbara in this week’s episode. Just a trip down memory lane, or something more? While it’s unclear if Stan will return this year, expect him to have one last confrontation with Homelander before the show draws to a close.

Training A-Train: Will Ferrell appeared last week as himself in a role alongside A-Train, and Vought’s TV network promises a ‘sneak peek’ at the upcoming movie.

Gen V: During that same broadcast on Vought+, Marie Monreau and the rest of the ‘Godolkin Four’ (Andre, Emma and Jordan) are the subject of a TV show, The Whole Truth. It’s even hosted by Tek Knight, the Supe detective played by Derek Wilson in Gen V.

Crying Time: Ray Charles’ 1966 album is described by Colin as the legendary singer’s country-western phase.

Guy Fieri: The Mayor of Flavortown, restaurateur, and food personality. Guy Fieri is also a punching bag in this episode, with a ‘dumbed down’ Sister Sage being seen snacking on food from Fieri’s food chain, Flavortown Kitchen.

Speech therapy: It’s a blink-and-you’ll-miss it moment but, late in the episode, Kimiko is seen with a book on her desk. The title is Speech Therapy Aphasia Rehabilitation STAR Workbook, suggesting she’s working towards trying to speak again.

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