There has been a lot of discourse about this season of The Boys not having enough action or “not enough happening” while I’ve been eating up the deep dive into characterization every week. To the extent that showrunner Eric Kripke had to address it in interviews wondering if people are expecting them to just constantly blow things up – and adding if that’s what the expectation is, you’re watching the wrong show.
I wrote a whole book about the complex characters and deep themes in this show, that’s how much I appreciate its depth, so I am not watching the wrong show. And not surprisingly I liked this episode, “Though The Heavens Fall”.
WARNING – SPOILERS FOR EPISODE 5.06!
Golden Geisha and Kimiko and Hanging Onto Humanity
The Legend is back, hiding out in a movie theater working the concession stand (I love that they have a The Deep popcorn bucket – wasn’t this written long before all those memes about the Dune popcorn bucket and what teenage boys might actually use it for? Is this Kripke prescience again?? It also made me snort that The Deep has his mouth wide open and just waiting for people to shove their hand in there, which was oddly reminiscent of what he did to Starlight way back in Season 1. Also the recently deceased Firecracker does a spot on parody of Nicole Kidman’s ultra sincere “the movies will save us” advertisements for it.
The Legend is hiding from Vought due to all the intel he has, fondly reminiscing on who he’s fucked and who he’s been fucked by (Marlon Brando…) but when MM tells him Bombsight has the V1 he’s convinced to help (tho he points out that MM sounds like Butcher now, threatening to cut his balls off). Homelander’s new church crusade messed up his sweet life too.
Hughie is still arguing that they wait longer to try get V1 before they set off the supe killing virus Frenchie completed to kill Homelander (and the rest of the supes, as in Annie and Kimiko). The Legend suggests they can get Bombsight to bring it to them by going after the love of his life, Golden Geisha, who now lives in Vought Villages supe retirement home (because of course it’s The Villages…). They find her but Kimiko is reluctant to hurt her or the others, saying she doesn’t want to hurt a bunch of old people. Butcher insists they’re not people, and MM agrees. The Legend again questions what’s happened to MM, saying it’s like he’s gone crazy. This is a theme of the episode – what does it mean to be human and how do we hang onto that humanity in the face of unspeakable horrors?
They kidnap Goldie, escaping after a fight with some of the old supes who nevertheless still have powers. One guy has giant balls that he can whip around to fight with because of course he does, we need our nod to twelve year old boys. I felt for the guy. Butcher chokes him out with his own balls, but Kimiko stops him from killing the guy.
Golden Geisha claims she doesn’t know where Bombsight is. Butcher wants to torture her but Kimiko is kind to her, helping put her slipper back on and apologizing for what they’re doing.
Kimiko: I watched every episode of Undercover Geisha even though those were racist stereotypes – it meant so much to see someone like me on TV.
A little nod to the importance of representation in media.
Kimiko realizes that Bombsight stole the V1 for Goldie so they could be together forever, but she didn’t take it. For him, watching her get old would be too painful, but for her? To live forever would be torture. Golden Geisha gets the most memorable line in this episode – Summer is only beautiful when you know winter is coming.
Well written, David Reed. (I enjoyed his work on ‘The Magicians’ too).
Frenchie realizes that Kimiko feels that way too. She tells him that she and Annie don’t want to die but they don’t want to be vampires either – but they’ll do it for him and Hughie anyway.
Hughie and Annie and the Rare Good Dads
On the way to the church where they’ll let loose the virus, Annie and Hughie pause to lie on the car hood and cloud watch, like Sam and Dean stargazing on the Impala. Hughie insists she’s not dying, that they’ll have plenty of time to look for filthy things in the clouds, and Annie marvels at his unshakeable hope and asks how he manages it.
Hughie: Whenever I’d get upset as a kid, which was a lot, my dad would say life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react. I spent a year in an internment camp and had no control over anything. So fucking angry, hearing my dad’s voice in my head. I finally understood what he meant — the only thing I had left was hope. And it is really fucking hard to hang onto but I, I’m trying.
Annie: I think you might be lowkey the strongest person I know.
I love Hughie so much, I will really miss him when this series ends. Jack Quaid did such a great job showing him as just quintessentially human, flaws and all. What he learned from his dad reminds me of Viktor Frankl, the psychologist who lived through being in an actual concentration camp, discovering while there exactly what Hughie’s dad did – if you can’t control anything else, you can control how you make sense of it and how you react to it.
Hughie’s dad was a good dad.
(I put together a whole book that tackles the theme of fatherhood, toxic and otherwise, in ‘The Boys’ if you’re interested in exploring more. Hughie, Butcher, Soldier Boy, Homelander… almost all of the complicated characters have daddy issues, and it was fascinating to take a look at them with psychologists, media experts and the actors portraying them. Link at end of article for more info).
