‘The Boys’ Season 3 Ep. 5 Recap & Review: “The Last Time to Look on This World of Lies”

Spoiler: The Boys Season 3, Episode 5, “The Last Time to Look on This World of Lies”

As season three of The Boys marches on, the storylines get more complex and complicated, and this week is huge in terms of the show’s direction this year and where some of these characters are headed. It’s a full hour of chaos that only The Boys can pull off, so let’s dig into some of the things that happened in “The Last Time To Look On This World Of Lies.”

There is no doubt that with Butcher and Hughie now taking Compound V, things will change even if the doses only last 24 hours. Indeed, we see just that very thing with the two of them this week, both loving to be able to level the playing field, so to speak, but at the same time, really enjoying the feeling it gave them. Hughie admits this to Starlight, who is not impressed, but Butcher, while really liking to be able to go on the offensive, is still reluctant to admit he likes taking it. Mother’s Milk tries to explain to Butcher the line that he’s crossed, but it’s his conversation with Queen Maeve that is truly telling, that lets us know Butcher does indeed know the line he’s crossed and what he is willing to do to get rid of the all the supes.

Arriving back in the US after a long trip home from Russia, Frenchie finds some medical help for Kimiko after Soldier Boy almost killed her at the end of the last episode. However, the price for this is very high, and as always, Frenchie’s past comes back to haunt him, forcing him to make a decision that will radically change how things go forward between him and Kimiko and with his constant battle within himself. Frenchie and Kimiko have built a great bond, but Frenchie always seems on the brink of leaving the show via death, so we shall see.

And as always, then there’s Homelander. It’s a credit to both the writers and Antony Starr for creating what is one of the most insidious, evil, and downright scary characters in the comic book genre. Hell, he’s one of the scariest characters on television, period. His psychotic makeup and his sociopathic tendencies, wrapped up in all that power and naked ambition, are truly something to behold. This was another episode where we watched him, yet again, slowly begin to unravel, like another thread coming loose from a tapestry of crazy. The way he watched the television report about Soldier Boy and the destruction he caused was not about his concern for who died but all about what kind of threat Soldier Boy could be to him.

RELATED: Check Out Coverage for ‘The Boys’ Here!

Butcher, Mother’s Milk, and Hughie visit The Legend (Paul Reiser) to get some information about Soldier Boy. It’s a hilarious sequence where The Legend talks about famous people he’s met and past conquests with women whose names Hughie doesn’t even recognize. The Legend is also yet another person Butcher has a past with, but still. They get solid intel on where he is headed next and why he came to visit The Legend.

Ah yes, so what did happen to Soldier Boy after Butcher freed him from his confinement in Russia? He made his way back to the US, where he let loose on an unsuspecting neighborhood after being triggered by the sound of Russian voices on the radio. This was the carnage Homelander witnessed in the TV reports. Butcher, Hughie, and Mother’s Milk lay a trap for Soldier Boy, using his former love Crimson Countess as bait. Beyond the death and destruction that follows, it leads to an uneasy alliance, something Starlight disapproves of but that ultimately Hughie chooses to be a part of.

This episode has so many moving parts it’s ridiculous, and while it is definitely used to set up the final three episodes, it stands on its own as some great television. Characters get more attention, more choices are made, and it’s all set up for some to make sacrifices and some to outright die. (A-Train’s part in this episode and what he did prior is not looking good for him moving forward). “The Last Time to Look on This World of Lies” is a fantastic hour of TV that flew by with the promise of some all-out bedlam and chaos to come.