The Boys Episode 4.05 Review – “Beware the Jabberwock, My Son”

After the previous bleak darkness, I was hoping that this next episode, “Beware the Jabberwock, My Son,” would deliver something more watchable.  Luckily, that did happen and much of it is due to the return of one of my favorites, Stan Edgar.  Not that Hughie’s story hurt either.  It was quite amazing.  Finally after 4 episodes of handwringing over his Dad in the hospital, the tale of the senior Hughie came to a twisted yet very emotional conclusion.  

You’re My Hero Hugh…and Hughie

Once it’s revealed that Hughie’s Mom was the one that injected the Compound V into the IV after it fell from Hughie’s pocket, the situation spiraled from relief that Hugh Sr. recovered to the revelation that Compound V doesn’t do a great job of healing someone that’s technically brain dead.  Every wonder what happens when a supe has dementia?  It…isn’t pretty.  

However, before everything went south, the family did have time for a sweet and honest conversation.  It was nice to see these three get this moment together, something that I’m sure never seemed possible for Hughie.  He really needed this.  Hugh Sr. explained he gave Daphne power of attorney because Hughie sucks at letting things go, like being unable to put down Jar Jar the cat many years ago. Hugh and Daphne also reminisced about their honeymoon, and Daphne gave Hughie her engagement ring to use for Annie one day.  Aww, as heartwarming as this is, you know it’s not going to last, because, you know, this show. 

The elder Campbell got confused very fast and disappeared from his room, walking around lost in the hospital in a gown moving through walls, and then through other patients (yeah, it’s as gross as it sounds).  Eventually Hughie and Daphne found him, but he didn’t know who or where he was.  Leave it up to all heart Hughie to get through to him: 

I’m Hughie, Dad. I’m the one you took to the Vought Store to buy the Tek Knight doll. Remember, I-I was, I was short eight bucks, even though I saved for weeks. And you said, “Anything for your number one hero.” But that’s the thing, Dad, he-he-he never was. You are. You’re my hero. And that’s why I-I needed you to wake up, so that I could say it, and I, and I, and I know that you heard it. You’re my hero, Dad.

When the heartbreaking decision was reached by Hughie, Daphne, and Hugh Sr. that it was time for him to die, any weirdness about being a supe fell away and it became a real, powerful family moment.  Hughie used one of Frenchie’s drugs to stop his dad’s heart, giving them all a last few minutes together as a family.  The three there together, saying their ‘I love yous” had to be one of the most real moments this show has ever done.  Hughie even gave his dad permission to go, and there is one big fat shoutout to the Supernatural finale.  It worked here too!  Gets me misty each time.  

For a season that is meant to be bleak and sobering, it’s good to see it’s not all about Homelander’s twisted psychosis.  Poignant family dramas can play out effectively too.  If I do my math correctly, this was all filmed before Eric Kripke lost his own Dad earlier this year, so this story really had to hit home.  Ditto for any of us caring for aging parents.  Bravo to Jack Quaid, Simon Pegg and Rosemarie DeWitt for their brilliant acting.  

Expo No No

I’ll tell ya what wasn’t powerful.  The cringeworthy V52 Expo. Just terrible.  I get it’s a slam at the Marvel Universe and their yearly presentation of their half baked projects, but when it’s real supes doing these crappy stories (43 movies in 4 phases?), it just becomes a big waste of time.  Plus, as quickly as members of The Seven and those around them die, how can they commit to any of these?  Bringing out Cate and Sam from Gen V for their ham handed comedy was too much, and that was after Firecracker’s eye rolling religious drama preview.  Even The Deep and Cameron Coleman’s backstage barbs at each other after being all smiles on stage was weak.  This has been done before in prior seasons, and by now, it just isn’t funny anymore.  Dawn of the Seven was funny.  Satire at its finest.   I’m assuming this is a hint with sledgehammer intensity to Marvel that they need to stop.  

Ei-ei-ohhhhh!

The rest of this episode mostly focused on another area that Kripke had yet to ruin, barnyard animals!  I cannot gush enough over how much I love Stan Edgar.  Giancarlo Esposito is a freaking national treasure when it comes to evil, and his return to the role of Stan was brilliant.   

The latest plan is all about getting the supe virus, which is in the hands of Victoria Neuman.  So, Mother’s Milk plan had a plan to go to Stan Edgar for intel on how to find her, and where she might be keeping the virus.  His assistance would be in exchange for a prison release, which Stan didn’t accept until he found out that Vicky shot up his granddaughter Zoe with Compound V.  He had a good idea where the virus was, his countryside vacation home.  

It doesn’t take long once they arrive there for Vicky to show up.  She’s been tracking Edgar.  They band together and start looking for Sameer, a trusted servant of Edgar’s who is the scientist that is testing on the virus…on barnyard animals!  Turns out Sameer is also Vicki’s lover in secret and Zoe’s father, a relationship Stan didn’t approve of.  Needless to say, he still doesn’t.  Stan did expose an interesting theory as to why Vicky wanted the virus, to control Homelander.  It’s very obvious she’s been playing with fire and you know what they say about those that do that (foreshadowing!).  

There was plenty of behind the scenes drama between characters as they started the search for Sameer.  Vicky and Annie particularly exchanged a few barbs, with Annie responding by punching Vicki.  Although, Vicki did hit a sore spot for Annie right now, her struggle for identity.  The world needs Starlight right now, not Annie January.  Then there are words between Vicki and Edgar, a long needed father/daughter discussion about all the shit that has gone wrong between them.  Edgar is horrified by Vicki shooting up Zoe with Compound V and turning her into a monster.  Vicki claimed it was for protection, but I’m with Edgar on this one.  Being a supe hasn’t done Vicki any favors, and now Zoe is doomed to that same fate as well.  

Speaking of bad fates, Butcher, who has been getting some very harsh talk from Kessler about going soft, freed a bunny who was loaded with Temp V when they first arrived.  He found it later in a dying state, only to watch it die when tentacles exploded from it’s midsection.  It’s a stark piece of foreshadowing, and to say that Butcher was spooked would be an understatement.  Based on what happened in the prior episode with Ezekiel being obliterated to bits (a murder blamed on Starlight BTW), that’s a huge clue that there’s some sort of monster inside of him, trying to take control.  

Then of course Vicki had to spill to the entire team that she and Butcher had a deal, but he reneged.  Everyone got mad, setting up a great Stan Edgar line. “It’s an absolute wonder to me that you all managed to live this long.”  I love this guy!  Unfortunately, any hard feelings ended fast when they were attacked by a fleet of suped up barnyard animals.  Yep, another trademark Boys bonkers moment coming!  This sequence was both completely nuts and totally awesome, a reminder of why I watch this show.  You never know what’s going to happen.   

We knew that the bodyguards that were there would all fall to the vicious attacks from the V chickens and flying V sheep, because well, red shirt syndrome.  The most spectacular scene, and kudos to the VFX crew, was the attack by a wild eyed flying bull, who was then eviscerated into tiny bits by the rival flying sheep in the air, trails of blood spraying down every where. Somehow all of the principal characters made it into a barn with just a few scrapes, and that’s where they found Sameer.   

There was only had one dose of the virus left.  With V sheep pounding away to that barn sure to get in eventually, the only plan was the use that dose on one of the dead bodies, throw it outside and let the sheep eat it.  That way they would ingest the virus and they would be safe.  The question was, how long would it take the virus to work?  They found out pretty quickly.  It worked right away.  

In the total mayhem afterward, Sameer went missing.  Then they had a clue what might have happened to him, part of his leg was left behind.  The conclusion was clear, he was sheep food.  Except, next scene, Butcher and Kessler held a chained up Sameer elsewhere, minus his lower leg.  He was essentially their prisoner now, and his job was to make more virus.  Ah Butcher, giving into those burn it all down tendencies again.  His human decency was always on shaky ground, but he is clearly losing what little he had left.  

Some other minor things happened, like Ryan learning from Homelander to shake down a misogynistic director who was offending a female employee, and Frenchie turning himself into authorities for the murders he’s done, but those were more filler scenes.  The big thing worth mentioning came at the end, a huge sign that Ashley is losing her soul. 

A-Train came to Ashley for help, because he knew it was a matter of time he’d be revealed as the leak.  Ashley, who was spurned by lover Cameron Coleman earlier because she wasn’t a powerful CEO anymore, created some evidence that he was the leak.  That resulted in Cameron being delivered like a prize ready for slaughter to The Seven boardroom, where he was mercilessly beaten to death.  Ashley sat in the wings, listening in on the horrific act, and did nothing.  Not to say that Cameron didn’t have a beating coming for his rhetoric, but that was pretty harsh for a guy who had been nothing but loyal.  

On what I call a happy note though, Mother’s Milk sent Stan Edgar back to jail because he didn’t live up to his side of the bargain. He didn’t get them the virus.  A shit move by MM, but no one was weeping for Stan, until the guards delivering him back to prison had their heads explode.  Vicky opened the door, and Stan is now free.  The look between them told their entire story; disapproval, betrayal, hurt feelings, but still plenty of love.  I really hope this means we’ll see more of Stan going forward.    

Overall grade, a B+.  Hughie’s family drama, as well and the wildly entertaining sequences on the farm more than overcame the terrible crap happening at Vought Tower.  In the future, can the entertainment division of Vought be totally blown apart in some way?  It’s tiresome and needs to end.  That would be nice therapy for Kripke and his Marvel universe hangups.  Let’s stick to the real stories.