@glennganges Published April 8, 2026, 9:00 p.m. ET Where to Stream: The Boys Powered by Reelgood A-Train deserved better than to be exalted by his murderers. But in a fashion typical for a dangerous fucking idiot like Homelander, the supposed king shit supe outsources A-Train’s eulogy to Oh Father. In a chilling reverse on any Christian ceremony you’ve ever witnessed, the speedy reformed supe’s casket bears witness as the super-preacher wails about open bibles, ballot boxes, and ammo boxes. About how the Vought true believers are here to do war. A-Train’s murder is pinned on the “jezebel” Starlight. And when the gathered execs and evil supes praise Jesus right in front of Homelander, his features go twitchy in that way Antony Starr has totally mastered. Even if you’re dead and this is your funeral, even if you’re actually God, nobody should be getting more of the spotlight than Homelander. His mind is such a familiar toolkit of vengeful jealousies.
“I guess the strongest men are the most alone.” People’s hearts shudder with terror in his presence. He kills random Vought staffers like he’s knocking over anthills. From Seveners like Deep to vice presidents like Ashley, everyone is a patsy who fears being lazer-eyed. Which he brought on himself, and which only makes him alone on his fascist throne. Solution? Thaw out Soldier Boy!
This is not a solution, of course. Sage calls him out. Is warming over the disgraced first-gen supe a tactical maneuver to capture Billy Butcher, or a preening play to Homelander’s own insecurities, so he can be less lonely on his mountain of cruelty? For his part, Soldier Boy delivers insults without a lot of questions. Which could be an issue, because of what his biological son didn’t mention. Finding Butcher will put his Soldier Boy daddy and the supe-killing virus in direct proximity.
What drives Billy is total Homelander eradication. A dark decision from the depths of his tumorous brain, it doesn’t account for harm to other supes, or especially to Boys supes like Annie, Kimiko – even his own damn self. With former Vought scientist Sameer Shah (Omid Abtahi) he’s cooked up a new viral batch; the plan will be to assess its strength. And so the Boys triangulate on a propagandizing cadre of young supes known as Teenage Kix: Countess Crow (Maitreyi Ramakrishnan), Sheline (Emma Elle Patterson), Jetstreak (Dylan Colton), and Rock Hard (Andrew Iles), whose granite form and molten jizz will be a test case for their hopefully Homelander-killing “dose of kill juice.”
But first it’s business time. Hughie and Frenchie were locked in a Freedom Camp for a year, and while Annie would rather get busy than talk out her guilt over getting Starlighters in the resistance killed, Kimiko and Frenchie are making up for all that time they spent in a two-way platonic zone. In dueling supe-human love scenes set to “Never Tear Us Apart” by INXS – “We all have wings, but some of us don’t know why-y-y-y” – Hughie pledges to protect Annie from Butcher while Kimiko and Frenchie commit to each other, and to fight. Saving supes, saving humans: it’s how they’ll make amends together for a life full of murders.
When Soldier Boy attacks, complete with a soldered-together version of his eagle shield, he is surprised to discover Butcher has gone full supe. (Billy: “If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em. Then beat ‘em.”) Their fight occurs as Kimiko faces the catlike reflexes of Sheline and the virus is prepped for administering to Rock Hard. But in typical Boys fashion, the plan is a scattershot mess of improvisational violence. In the ensuing mayhem, Mother’s Milk takes pity on Countess Crow, who reminds him of his own teenage daughter. She whispers “Thank you” as she flees, taking her magical crows – Cameron and Russell – with her.
Jetstreak and Soldier Boy are in the room when the virus to kill Rock Hard is unleashed. This is the contingency Homelander didn’t warn the OG supe about, and in Butcher’s words, he becomes “The sacrificial cunt. Again.” Black blood oozes and putrid boils appear on the supes’ skin as the virus takes effect – it’s similar to what we saw happen to Thomas Godolkin in Season 2 of Gen V – and the Boys crew watch from behind gas masks as their operation for once brings promise.
But if you’re thinking The Boys would kill off Soldier Boy/Jensen Ackles after bringing him back for this series finale season, you’re as naive as the Boys crew, who don’t bother to check any bad guy vitals. Sure, they look gross and dead. But in this show, that means less than human life does to Homelander. He’s on scene as a Vought hazmat team cordons off the area and starts removing bodies. And in his haste to return to his self-involved ruminations on the state of poor Homelander, lonely king of the fascist super dorks, he turns away from Soldier Boy’s body bag as it’s being loaded into an ambulance. Which is exactly when his OG supe daddy sits up. Looks like Billy Butcher’s anti-supe virus is still in its beta stages.
Johnny Loftus (@johnnyloftus.bsky.social) is a Chicago-based writer. A veteran of the alternative weekly trenches, his work has also appeared in Entertainment Weekly, Pitchfork, The All Music Guide, and The Village Voice.
