As a long-time fan of both Supernatural and The Boys, my anticipation for this week’s episode has been off the charts for what seems like forever. I’m definitely one of the fans who would love a Season 16 of Supernatural or a feature film or an 8 episode streamer or pretty much whatever, but I’m also happy to see “my boys” onscreen together in anything else in the meantime. Witnessing how they talked about filming together and how much fun they had (and how much chaos inevitably happened) only made me more excited – they filmed a year ago, so it seems like we had to wait an inordinately long time to actually SEE it. But guess what? The episode, and what I’ve been calling the “Supernatural Reunion”, did not disappoint! I found myself either yelling “oh nooooo” or just laughing my head off during the entire sequence, which was full of surprises.
Some fans of The Boys were skeptical about all the fuss being made about the Supernatural reunion, fearing it would take away from the final season of the show (which only has 3 more episodes) but the episode was also the most highly rated by press viewing the early screeners – and I think deservedly so. It definitely moved the plot along in multiple ways, and it lived up to the calendar blood-splatter warning that some main character(s) would die. Spoiler alert, lots of people (and supes) die in this episode!
It’s also a genre departure as a pov episode, in that it devotes a chunk of time to many of the characters, exploring their perspectives on Homelander as God, on where their loyalty lies, and on some of their struggles with what it’s cost them to keep going along with Homelander no matter what.
SPOILER ALERT – MAJOR SPOILERS FOR EPISODE 5 AHEAD
FIRECRACKER
Spoiler alert, the main supe to die is Firecracker. Valorie Curry outdid herself in this episode, making the character nuanced enough so that you feel for her even as you loathe what she’s doing, and what she’s refusing to see. Kripke told TVLine that Firecracker is an allegory for all the loyalists who go along with a dictator demanding allegiance, compromising their values, and then end up “hoisted on their own petard” anyway. There’s really no pleasing someone like Homelander, on the show or in real life, as we’ve seen time and time again. As Kripke put it, “nothing will ever be enough, it doesn’t matter how much you give up.” In Firecracker’s case, it’s everything she once sincerely believed in.
At first, things seem to be going well for Firecracker. She makes her case to Homelander and the Seven with an advertisement full of cowboys and horses and guns and the stereotypes of Americana, presenting the “massive growth” in popularity of their new religious movement, led by white men and women of course.
Soldier Boy (looking down at his crotch while giving her a smirk): I’m seeing massive growth myself…
He is so massively gross it sometimes circles back to oddly endearing. And he really likes to talk about his dick. And other people’s dicks, for that matter. Homelander does not miss that interaction though, and he doesn’t like it. He also isn’t happy about being called a prophet when prophets are servants and he is the saviour. His delusion is getting to the point where even his followers keep making missteps, misjudging just how deranged and grandiose he’s become. Most of his accolytes go along with everything he says, each of them trying to out-pander the others. Firecracker wins him over, though, kneeling in front of him worshipfully and handing him something physical that will appeal to his ego – the Homelander Bible, complete with a raised gold figure of himself right on the cover.
Homelander (impressed): It’s heavy…
Soldier Boy (eyeroll)
It is, of course, AI written. Two years ago Kripke and company sure saw that coming!
It seems fitting that this is who has it now…
Homelander agrees to do it her way. Sister Sage reminds them that their plan will generate widespread civil unrest (does this seem familiar??) – no worries, Homelander says, they’ll just recall all the supes stationed overseas. After all, “American heroes should be protecting America, not Whogivesafuckistan!”
Fresh from her victory, Firecracker goes back to her hometown in Florida to meet with the reverend of her childhood church (who happens to be the marijuana growing grampa on Sheriff Country…) He was a support to her as a child, making sure she got at least one hot square meal a day, but now his church is losing people to the Democratic Church of America and the supe Praying Mantis is intimidating them by spraying acid out of his butt to melt their stained glass windows.
She asks why he doesn’t just pay the franchise free and join them; he says they can’t even afford their water bill. The reverend reminds her of what she doesn’t want to recall – Homelander isn’t God and the things he can do aren’t miracles, and she’s still the same Misty Tucker Gray.
Cut to a grunting, naked Soldier Boy on top of Firecracker, and now every Jensen Ackles fan has a gif (or 3) of his “O face”.
Firecracker: We ain’t doin’ that again.
Soldier Boy: That’s what you said the last six times.
He lights a joint which is so very Soldier Boy, and hotter than anyone wants it to be. He senses she’s a little out of it and is worried, though I’m not sure if it’s because he’s a considerate lover or it threatens his ego if she didn’t.
Soldier Boy: Did you nut? Because you usually nut…
The answer appears to be no, since she changes the subject and asks if he was baptized. He says yes, in front of half of Chestnut Hill by Gov. Sproul, and then his family kept up appearances but never set foot in church again.
(I got distracted by the fact that Chestnut Hill is right down the road, having forgotten that Ben grew up nearby. Didn’t they need some on location filming for Vought Rising??)
Anyway, she asks if maybe Homelander might go easy on the reverend who practically raised her.
Soldier Boy: So you didn’t nut.
