If you were disappointed by the fact that Billy Butcher only made his entrance towards the end of the first episode of season 2, then you’ll be glad to know that this episode is all Billy. With most of the episode’s storyline revolving around him, the pace slows down a bit. This is probably to mirror Billy’s thought patterns – slow, ruminating, and dark. But, before we get into the analytical portion of the article, lets go through everything that happened in The Boys Season 2 Episode 2.
The Boys Season 2 Episode 2: A Quick Recap
The episode begins with answering a question that’s been playing on every fan’s mind. What happened to Billy after he realized Becca’s alive? Well, the truth is, he doesn’t fully know. Butcher wakes up in a chain restaurant and immediately jots down everything he remembers. As he asks the waitress where he is, the television begins to play the reconstruction of Madelyn’s death. Butcher realises that he’s a wanted man, and leaves.
Billy and The Boys attend Rayner’s funeral. Butcher reconnects with Grace, his mentor, and strikes a deal. He’ll bring her the superterrorist from the video The Boys uncovered and in return, she’ll tell him how to find Becca.
The scene shifts to Starlight, Maeve and Stormfront at a press junket, promoting the fact that The Seven has three women. Stormfront snaps at reporters, vouching for equality over the female-centric approach of the junket. Starlight bonds with her over the lack of pockets in their uniforms. Maeve, on the other hand, bails as soon as the event is over, citing a family emergency, when, in fact, she’s visiting her ex in the hospital.
The episode takes a moment to show Homelander attempting to bond with his son. The two play catch, and Homelander tells his son that he’s a God. Becca drives to Dr. Park who tells her there’s not much that he can do. He advises her to let the situation continue, much to her chagrin.
Meanwhile, the Church of the Collective advises The Deep to take magic mushrooms to access his trauma. The Deep engages in a conversation with his gills about rejecting his body. The gills begin to sing “You are so beautiful to me” in what appears to be a breakthrough moment for the character.
We finally see some action as The Boys uncover the superterrorist, who’s revealed to be Kimiko’s brother Mouse (real name – Kenji). Kimiko and Mouse escape and we’re treated to a compelling discussion between the two (which we will cover in the top moments section). Kimiko subdues her brother and The Boys load them in their van. Butcher punches Hughie in the face and warns him never to interfere in his business again.
This marks the end of The Boys Season 2 Episode 2.
The Boys Season 2 Episode 2: Short Review
While The Boys Season 2 Episode 2 is centered around Billy Butcher, the biggest drawback of this episode is the slow pace. As mentioned earlier, this is possibly done on purpose to mirror Butcher’s temperament. If that’s the case, the episode missed moments of explosion that also characterize Butcher’s communication style.
On the whole, we do learn a little bit more about the world. However, in terms of showing the larger picture, the episode isn’t as good as its predecessor.
The Boys Season 2 Episode 2: Top Moments!
1. Kumiko and Mouse’s conversation
When Kumiko learns that Mouse has been fighting for Shining Light, the same organization that tortured her, she asks him why. Mouse tells her about the mysterious American Supe who destroyed their village. He talks about infants burning in their cribs, schools crashing in on themselves, old people dying. The imagery brings to mind Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
The conversation rationalizes why Mouse would join a “terrorist” organization. This makes it one of the top moments because being able to relate to a villain’s point of view always makes the story more interesting. Of course, we’re not saying terrorism makes sense. What we’re saying is – being able to understand why someone would fight for “the other side” is always a treat.
This is also something that made Marvel’s Thanos so compelling as a villain.
2. Homelander trying to parent Ryan
Another great moment from The Boys Season 2 Episode 2 was Homelander trying to parent his son, Ryan. What makes this a great moment is that it again feeds into the notion that being evil is not synonymous with psychopathy. Homelander is many things. Ego-centric. A villain. Possibly a megalomanic. A Hero (for all intents and purposes – he does occasionally save lives). And adding his vulnerability to the list only makes him more real.
Of course, let’s not rule out the fact that Homelander’s probably only interested in the boy’s powers. So far, it’s strongly hinted that Ryan isn’t a Supe. However, there was one stray comment by Becca that got our spidey senses tingling. She says something along the lines of – we believed it would be best to raise him with a normal life. Perhaps he’s being fed suppressants by his mother and the mysterious Dr. Park?
This adds another question into the mix. Was Becca a part of an experiment to see whether the effects of Compound V can be genetically transferred? Was she raped? Perhaps the show with delve into these later.
3. The Deep’s Mushroom Trip
When the Church of the Collective feeds The Deep magic mushrooms, the Supe ends up having a heart to heart with his gills. “You can’t accept your own body, so you violate women’s bodies” they tell him. This moment definitely ranks as one of the top ones from The Boys Season 2 Episode 2. This is because it sheds light on the psychology of The Deep’s criminal behaviour.
In our earlier article, we had talked about how making The Deep a sympathetic character would be a bad move. With this scene, the show allows us to look deeper into … er… The Deep, without feeling sorry for him. It’s moments like these that transform a character into a 3-dimensional one. In other words, the Deep is no longer a cardboard cut-out of a bad guy.
4. Stormfront confronting Starlight about being the “Voughtiest Vought”
Ok, to be fair, I find Stormfront a little irritating. The character seems to be on a high-horse about “thinking for herself” without truly knowing the extent of what goes on behind the scenes at Vought. So, I find her judgement of Starlight quite annoying.
Having said that, though, her outburst about Pippy Longstocking being a feminist superhero was one of the good moments of the show. “Pippy would bite a D” she says, which, interestingly, is probably what Starlight wishes she had done.
Vought’s indulgence towards her openly bad-mouthing the company feels a little suspicious, though. Perhaps she’s a spy for Big Brother and reports back everything the other Supes say. Again, this is only something that will be revealed with time.
5. Starlight overpowering A-Train
A-Train learns of Starlight’s mission to steal Compound V and tries blackmailing her. Starlight asserts her dominance by blackmailing him right back. She reminds him that he killed his girlfriend and she’ll do what it takes to spill the tea on him.
This deserves a spot in our ‘The Boys Season 2 Episode 2 top moments list’ simply because of the character growth it hints at. There’s a grim determination in her that wasn’t there before. There’s also a sense of jadedness. My theory – Starlight’s arc will take her from being a goodie-two-shoes to a character that’s okay with sacrificing morals for the greater good. If that’s the case, the journey will be an interesting one to watch.
All in all, the season is shaping up quite nicely. All the pieces are being set in motion, and it’s going to be an interesting ride.
What did you think of the The Boys Season 2 Episode 2? Comment and tell us!
