Spoiler: The Boys Season 3, Ep. 4, “Glorious Five Year Plan”
One thing that has always concerned me about The Boys is the shelf life of this brash, violent expose of superheroes in terms of both story and characters. The first three episodes of season three reminded us that the writers still have an excellent grasp of what they are doing, and in “Glorious Five Year Plan,” they expanded on that, giving us a peek at some things to come. It does indeed look glorious.
As it stands right now, the show has split off into two parts. On the one hand, you have the boys off trying to bring down Homelander (Antony Starr). Then we have Homelander, seemingly no longer afraid of anything, trying to take full control of Vought International. That’s a very simplistic way of looking at what’s happening, as there are many moving parts on both sides. How they are setting out to achieve these goals, well, that’s something else entirely.
Butcher (Karl Urban) leads the gang on a trip to Russia in search of the elusive weapon that could kill Homelander. Of course, it’s never that easy. Kimiko (Karen Fukuhara) is forced to assassinate someone, the price for getting the location where the weapon is being stored. Killing is no longer easy for her as she wants out, as does Frenchie (Tomer Capone), but these people all seem stuck in the incredibly destructive loop of doing what’s right and dubious loyalties. Watching the struggles and how they justify what they do is fascinating. They are always being led/pushed by Butcher, who knows exactly who he is and what he needs to do at any cost.
Meanwhile, Homelander continues his crusade to take complete and utter control of his life and Vought International. He finds a way to manipulate certain individuals. He puts his foot on the throat of the one man who always intimidated him, Stan Edgar (Giancarlo Esposito). It is a curious power play in that, as always, Homelander can’t see past his own ego and ambitions. Edgar knows this, telling Homelander that, essentially, he will be his own downfall. This is not news. Homelander is a psychotic sociopath and unable to see the truth or the big picture, thinking his power will win him the day. That’s not how it works, and it will be interesting to watch him when it all comes crumbling down.
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The mission to Russia leads to some interesting reveals in the team and what they find. The weapon is there, but not what they expected, and now they have even bigger problems. None of that might matter if Mother’s Milk (Laz Alonso) and Butcher can’t come to terms with what happened and keep everything together, especially after a team member goes down with a serious injury. It’s hard to say if the mission was a success or failure, as what happened on numerous fronts will have long-term consequences for everyone.
The duality of humans is always on display in this show, showing the struggle between good and evil among many characters. Butcher and Homelander continue to march toward futures that seem unclear at best, bleak and destructive at worst, and heaven help whoever is beside them when it all comes crashing down.
The Boys plays like a different spin on superheroes, yet the satire is beautiful, as is the deep dive into the psyche of people who, while flawed in many ways, are really all that stands between us and oblivion. Throw in some ridiculous humor, way over-the-top violence, and some great storylines this week, something you might say is there every week, and The Boys still shows us that there is a lot more story to tell this season and maybe beyond.
