The Boys continues to offer serious whiplash in its final season. In episode six, for every delightful high (all things Paul Reiser and the overdue weighty journey for Frenchie and Kimiko), there are depressing lows, none more than Soldier Boy switching sides to help his “freak” son. Yes, the same dude he’s been referring to as an irredeemable disappointment—the one been trying to kill since season three, and as recently as a couple of episodes ago. After all that, the ending of “Though The Heavens Fall” hinges on whether or not Soldier Boy will help Homelander become immortal. Unfortunately, the show hasn’t put in any work to make his actions make sense. So the terrifying event that closes this hour is emotionally unearned; a twist just for the sake of adding one.
It’s hard to buy into a shared love of Stormfront (Aya Cash) as the reason Soldier Boy spares Homelander. We learn that Soldier Boy had a decades-long relationship with Clara Vought, and he still hasn’t gotten over the Nazi villain. He’s moved, rather than creeped out, by his son falling in love with the same woman, and not even a video of a mutilated Stormfront being held captive by Homelander can change his mind. He’s briefly angry, but reconsiders at the worst possible time. So after he secures the vial of V1 from his old frenemy, he hands it right over to Homelander, who wastes no time injecting it into his veins. And just like that, the most horrifying Supe is also officially indestructible, casting a dark shadow over the remaining two episodes.
Hey, at least The Boys is finally looking forward instead of to the past. It’s been frustrating to watch this final season focus so intensely on Soldier Boy’s history with Vought, Stormfront, and now Bombsight. Jensen Ackles, Cash, and Mason Dye are set to lead the upcoming prequel Vought Rising, which explores how the titular company came into power—and took the Supes they created along for the ride. But spending time on Soldier Boy remembering his good old days takes away from everything important going on in the present. It’s one of the biggest flaws of “Though The Heavens Fall” that the climax is dedicated to Soldier Boy fighting with a brand new character while the established likes of Hughie, MM, Annie, Kimiko, Frenchie, Black Noir, and The Deep get shortchanged.
Bombsight drops into The Boys after Butcher and his crew kidnaps his ex-girlfriend and former actor, Golden Geisha. For all our sakes, we’ll call her Goldie. For several years, Bombsight has held onto V1, hoping Goldie will agree to take it so (like him), she won’t grow old and they can live together happily ever after. But Goldie has no interest in living forever. She’s been residing at a Vought retirement facility, while Bombsight has been living in isolation. When The Boys abduct her as a way to lure him (and the V1) out, the plan works well. But Soldier Boy also pops up at the same time, reigniting an old feud that we don’t know much about. It’s a set up for Vought Rising, sure, but for now, who cares?
The only good thing to come out of it is that, eventually, Soldier Boy does one nice thing: He uses his radiation to depower Bombsight in return for V1. So Bombsight is human now. He can grow old while spending the rest of his and Goldie’s years together. (Knowing their fate also dulls my anticipation of that damn prequel, by the way.) Does this mean Soldier Boy could have tried again to depower Homelander? Regardless, it’s probably impossible now that Homie is immortal and primed for a rampage. Sister Sage better watch her back. She also shifts allegiances in “Though The Heavens Fall,” getting the hell out of dodge and going straight to The Boys when she discovers from Back Ashley that she’s lost Homelander’s trust. How badly is she going to regret that she underestimated her superintelligence, miscalculating that Soldier Boy will find it in his heart to save his idiotic son?
I want to circle back to the highs of this episode, particularly Reiser, reprising the role of ex-Vought exec The Legend. Following the events of season three, he’s working as floor staff at VMC Theaters, and is recruited by MM to help The Boys once again, so he fills them in on all the lore about Goldie and Bombsight. Reiser is electric, clearly enjoying all the colorful dialogue and sexual innuendos. (The Legend can’t stop referencing all the times he banged famous people in his glory days.)
But isn’t it telling that a guest star is the best part of one of the final episodes of The Boys? One memorable scene this week is between The Legend and Homelander, because, of course, the latter seeks revenge on the senior vice president of hero management upon learning he helped The Boys. However, The Legend lives up to his name and actually bonds with the guy. Color me shocked. He doesn’t fear death, so he honestly gives Homelander advice and claims to feel bad about the hand he has been dealt, because The Legend saw Homelander grow up under Vought’s tight grip. It’s a surprisingly heavy conversation, and it leaves an impact because Homelander lets The Legend walk out alive. (Someone give Antony Starr an award for the incredulous, hilarious expression he makes when The Legend audaciously taps Homelander’s shoulder.)
And then we have Frenchie and Kimiko, who endure their own roller coaster while witnessing the turbulent love story between Bombsight and Goldie. Kimiko admits to her boyfriend that both she and Annie have discussed that they don’t want to take V1 because they don’t want to see Frenchie and Hughie waste away, while they essentially turn into vampires. Once again, I found myself thinking of how necessary it is to have heard the two women have that pivotal conversation, about the life-and-death stakes of what they’re planning to do (essentially a superhero genocide) with the virus and the long-term consequences of their actions. What is it worth to The Boys to go through with their plan? Having them deal with it as opposed to more Vought Rising buildup would have given this episode the gravitas it needed. But at least Frenchie finally gets it, and agrees to simply destroy the V1. It’s too late now that Homelander already has it in his system, though. Butcher put it best when he saw it happen: “Run.”
Stray observations:
- •Of course, The Boys parodies the Nicole Kidman AMC commercial by having Firecracker do an equivalent for VMC Theaters. “We come to this place for…a complimentary The Deep popcorn bucket.”
- •Speaking of, Chace Crawford doesn’t get enough appreciation for the frequently funny performance he keeps turning in as The Deep. His heartfelt attempt to give that oil-covered fish CPR had me rolling.
- •I’m sorry to relegate Black Noir’s ending here, but what an unceremonious way to take him out, huh? As revenge on The Deep, he causes an oil spill off the Alaskan coast that kills, ahem, a lot of fish in the sea. So The Deep simply chokes him to death.
- •I did like that Annie and Hughie get a genuine moment to connect: when they’re sitting on that car bonnet and discussing the shape of the clouds. It felt more honest than their reunion in episodes one and two. It’s too bad the show hasn’t given this central couple more development, considering the engagement arc in season five.
- •Do we think Queen Maeve will pop into the final battle against Homelander? Gen V is cancelled, but I assume Marie has to make an in-person appearance as well, right?
- •Grossest scene award: Poor MM has to keep battling Supes with extra-long genitals. In this episode, it’s an older superhero at Vought Villages who can extend his balls in what looked like a deeply weird anatomical situation.
- •Homelander: “Firecracker has moved on to a better place.”
The Deep, earnestly: “Orlando?”
- •Soldier Boy: “Buddy, the Queen sat on this face. It’s a national fucking treasure.”
Saloni Gajjar is The A.V. Club‘s TV critic.
