Fifteen Inches of Sheer Dynamite
Attention, freedom campers: escape attempts will be met with deadly force. Have a super day.
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Attention, freedom campers: escape attempts will be met with deadly force. Have a super day.
#TheBoys
#TheBoys2026
#TheBoysfullepisodes
#TheBoysepisode1
#TheBoysfullseriesondailymotion
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Short filmTranscript
00:00The final season of The Boys has begun and the fight to bring down Homelander and Vought once
00:04and for all is nearing its brutal end. Hey welcome back to Screen Crush, I'm Colton Ogburn and these
00:09are all the easter eggs references and little things you might have missed in the season 5
00:132 episode premiere of The Boys. We are going to be breaking down episodes 1 and 2 and we will
00:20remain spoiler free for episode 2 until we get to that section of the video and we have got that
00:25all
00:25chapter marked for you down below. So, last season we saw the newly elected vice president,
00:31secret soup head popper and adopted daughter of former Vought CEO, Stan Edgar, Victoria Neumann
00:37get ripped in half by a souped up Billy Butcher in his scorched earth approach to winning the war.
00:46With Neumann dead and the president framed for said murder, the Republican Speaker of the House and
00:51Homelander supporter Steve Calhoun is now a puppet president under Homelander's control.
00:57So, we open with the sound of a tea kettle steaming.
01:03This is an audible cue to the boiling point that this war has reached and how the political arena
01:08and the rhetoric surrounding it has reached an all time high both in this series and in our own
01:14real world politics with the political temperature being dialed to 11 and Americans being at each other's
01:20throats. Now, this commentary is something that this show has done since its first season,
01:24mirroring and playing out what American politics looks like and could morph into if we kept going
01:29the direction we were going. And unfortunately, this show has reached a similar challenge as shows
01:35like Saturday Night Live with trying to parody the unparodyable. And guys, look, The Boys is a very
01:41political show. They take big jabs at both sides of the aisle, but it's no secret that the creators
01:47behind the show are super critical of the political far right and the current presidential administration.
01:53And I know this kind of came as a shock to some fans who only began to catch on in
01:57season four.
01:57Wait, is this f***ing Clay about us?
02:00But again, that's the show. That's what they're doing. That's what they've been doing. Now,
02:04this is not a channel where we bombard you with our own personal political opinions,
02:08and it's still not. You can find me on Twitter for that. But I would not be doing my job
02:12correctly if I
02:13did not point out the comparisons, the details, and the opinions that the creators of the show are
02:19intending to convey with the allusions to the real world and our current politics that the creators
02:24are making as they see them. So there's your warning that we will be pointing out the politics of
02:29it all. And if that offends you or it's just not your speed, you don't want to hear about that,
02:34I'd go watch something else. I hear Landman is good. So we open at the Vought International
02:38Meeting of Shareholders, and they are parodying right-wing conferences like CPAC and Turning
02:43Point USA, as well as the rallies of President Trump with chants of USA and Red Hats. Granted,
02:49the DNC had chants of USA as well in 2024, but these chants are indeed a staple of a Trump
02:54rally.
02:55Now, while they are mimicking a right-wing conservative family value-style conference,
02:59they are also showing us the hypocrisy that can be found at the same events among their organizers
03:04and attendees when it comes to how they view and treat women. And this is shown here with
03:09their sexualization of these showgirls. Now, not that there's anything wrong with these girls showing
03:14what they got in their firecracker-inspired costumes, they look great, but there is that hypocrisy that
03:19comes with it when this political side of the aisle preaches things like modesty and abstinence, yet
03:24simultaneously they have these girls running around with their asses out. And a few minutes later,
03:29we even hear Homelander call Starlight a bitch and a whore. So it's clear that the creators are
03:34commenting on the hypocrisy here, the exploitation of women, and the Manosphere's disrespect for women
03:40and how they view them as objects. And this point is later emphasized with Homelander's disgust of
03:46firecracker and his lack of remorse for her heart being all screwed up from taking these medications
03:51to make her produce breast milk for his fetish in the absence of Stilwell. And this all of course
03:56amplifies how this naive crowd may be unintentionally hypocritical and just not smart enough to see the
04:02conflict and beliefs that they are holding. While Homelander on the other hand is just a straight
04:06up con man. He has the morals of an alley cat, but he's able to put on a show and
04:10appeal to a crowd
04:11that would call themselves evangelical conservative Christians. And this is yet another comparison the
04:16creators are drawing between Homelander and President Trump. Many argue that President Trump
04:21holds no true political ideology and that he is far from being an evangelical or even a conservative.
04:26Yet, Trump was able to appeal to the evangelical conservative base, but he was able to slowly let
04:32his mask slip over the years without losing his grip on that base. In fact, that grip became even
04:37tighter. President Trump nowadays acts more like his true self from his pre-president days, openly cursing
04:43and saying more crude and vulgar things than usual, and all without apology. Things that once would have
04:48heard a candidate's poll numbers with this same group of voters now seem to be overlooked and even
04:53admired. Thus making President Trump feel all the more emboldened and untouchable, especially following
04:59his reelection and court case dismissals. And I tell you all of this because that is exactly what
05:04we're seeing happen with Homelander. He feels untouchable. He feels free and emboldened. After
05:09coming out of his murder trial unscathed and receiving cheers for murdering a man and saying
05:13the cruel things that he says, Homelander is no longer afraid to show his true self. Well, at least part
05:19of
05:19that true self, the vitriol, the anger, but never the weakness. Now, Homelander, he did this whole
05:24act early on, going back to season one with his appearance at the Believe Expo, where he really laid
05:30it on thick and pretended to be something he wasn't. Wasn't I chosen to save you? Is it not my
05:36god-given
05:37purpose to protect the United States of America? Now, we also hear Homelander call the U.S. a god-fearing
05:44nation, but that's ironic considering that he views himself as a god, and he rules the nation
05:49now through fear. Now, I also wanted to mention that when Homelander takes the stage, we see him
05:53descend from a single spotlight, which is very Christ-like imagery. This season is going to draw
05:58multiple parallels between Homelander and Jesus, since his goal is to become a god and pose as
06:04mankind's savior. Happy Easter. Happy Easter, Jesus. Hey, Doug, buddy, why did you buy 300 Blu-ray copies of
06:10Balto? We don't even have 300 customers. Balto saved the children, even though no one believed
06:16in him. They even built a majestic statue. You see, this is why you're in debt. Well,
06:20I'll always be in debt. There's no way out. I'm just going to buy 300 more Balto's. Well,
06:24you know, buddy, I've had my own experiences with debt, and I know how overwhelming it can be.
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07:23pdsdebt.com slash screencrush. Now, back to what I was saying. Now, among the firecracker
07:27showgirls is Annie January, Starlight, in disguise. And she is there to play the Flight 37 video for
07:33the entire crowd, hoping that it will persuade even Homelander's staunchest supporters to see him
07:37for the monster he is. Remember, this is the plane crash from season one, where Homelander and Maeve
07:42went to save this plane, but they were unable to do so, and Homelander refused to save even one of
07:47them
07:47because it would shine a spotlight on their failure. And when people approached for help,
07:51even these two little girls, he did this. Now, as we see Starlight walking down the hall,
08:02we see this poster for The Seven, which really no longer exists. And it was really always just a
08:07team that was never really a true team of heroes, like, in the first place. And instead, it was
08:12really just all for show and made up of these self-obsessed, unheroic celebrities. Now, as Homelander
08:17continues his speech, he talks about how they will be ushering America into a new golden dawn,
08:23which is a reference to President Trump's claims of America having a new golden age in his second
08:28term. Homelander then calls starlighters terrorists, a political tactic found on the right,
08:33where anyone who challenges their ideology is labeled a terrorist or antifa.
08:37A what?
08:38We then learn that a soup, General Mayhem, has been appointed the chairman of the Joint Chiefs,
08:43a reference to the Trump administration putting TV hosts and podcasters into positions of power,
08:48despite having little to no experience. Next, we get this fun nod to X-Men Days of Future Past.
08:53I should also mention that Days of Future Past, both the comic as well as the film,
09:01do feature people, or in the X-Men's case, mutants and the humans that help them,
09:05being rounded up and put into internment camps. Now, the G-Men are an actual X-Men parody in the
09:11Boys universe. We see John Gadolkin use his mind control powers to abduct kids and turn them into
09:16super weapons through abuse. All of the kids were parodies of other X-Men, like Cyclops, Iceman,
09:22Jean Grey, and Wolverine. And it would appear that they borrowed from this comic storyline for the
09:26Thomas Gadolkin mind control powers that we saw in Gen V. Now, next we see Starlight successfully play
09:31the Flight 37 video, showing us that despite Homelander's threats of what would happen if she did this…
09:37I mean, sure, I'll lose everything, but then… I'll have nothing to lose.
09:42They really have just reached their breaking point, and they have to be willing to risk it all.
09:46Now, after the video finishes, the violin picks up,
09:52which has become an audio leitmotif for when Homelander is about to go crazy.
09:57His eyes light up red with anger as he is about to cut down the crowd for having seen this
10:01video,
10:01and for a brief moment, it's as if he believes that there is no coming back from this video's
10:06release, and that he too is about to go scorched earth, which might have been true a few years ago.
10:11Had this video leaked then, the entire public may have turned on him,
10:14and Homelander would have had to go that route. But now things are different. They have successfully
10:19manipulated the minds of many, many Americans and the globe. And Sage was a big part of this
10:26mass manipulation, and she easily covers up this whole Flight 37 video by calling it
10:31an AI-generated disinformation campaign period.
10:34And this is yet another reference to, well…
10:36One of the problems we have with AI, it's both good and bad. If something happens really bad,
10:41just blame AI.
10:42Now, the Flight 37 video is then leaked to the press and online, and now everyone has seen it,
10:47and the audio has even become a TikTok trend showing how desensitized the world has become.
10:52You're all laser every f***ing one of you!
10:54And you'll notice that the account says,
10:56At Real Teenage Kicks, which was the super team that Popclaw and A-Train used to be a part of.
11:01Looks like the media age has turned the teen superheroes into TikTok influencers.
11:06And I have to say, I love the nice touch that this guy's suit is covered in sponsored ads.
11:10Now, at the White House, we see the press briefing room, where now Vice President
11:14Ashley is taking the podium. Remember, last season, she was on Homelander's kill list, so
11:19before she was got, she injected herself with Compound V to protect herself,
11:23and we saw her head begin to pulsate, and she now has the ability to read minds.
11:28He was love at first sightseeing, I knew he was going to say that. Try marrying a mind reader.
11:33Now, in the press room, we see a cameo from real-life MSNBC reporter Chris Hayes.
11:38Chris Hayes.
11:39Vice President Barrett.
11:40Look, Chris, I know exactly what you're thinking.
11:43Ashley quickly deflects with standard scare word talking points, calling the Flight 37 video a
11:47quote, deep fake by Marxist starlighters.
11:50She also then goes on to play victim and pretends that she's been a suit for years,
11:54yet was in the closet about it because of anti-suit propaganda.
11:57And then comes the all-too-real freedom camps mentioned,
12:00which we get a much closer look at a little later in the episode.
12:03I mean, who doesn't love freedom? And camp?
12:06Now, these are the camps that starlighters, or anyone who is anti-Homelander,
12:09are being rounded up and placed within.
12:11They market these freedom camps as nice places to be, when in reality,
12:15they're modern internment camps with very poor living conditions.
12:18We even see the prisoners being forced to wear Homelander merch.
12:21Now, over in Sage's office, we see that she is enjoying her newfound wealth and admiration
12:26from others, actually feeling appreciated for her smarts for, like, the first time in her life.
12:30She mentions that this Gutenberg Bible was sold to her by Martin Shkreli, also known as Pharma Bro.
12:36What's this?
12:36That is a Gutenberg Bible. Martin Shkreli sold it to me at discount.
12:40He was released from federal prison in May of 2022 after serving most of a seven-year sentence for fraud,
12:46and he has been permanently banned from the pharmaceutical industry.
12:49So, I mean, yeah, of course he's working with Vought.
12:52Now, Homelander mentions Peter Thiel, a far-right guy and former CEO of PayPal,
12:56as well as the Obamas, as powerful individuals looking to sage for counsel
13:00after seeing what she's been able to do for Homelander.
13:03We then get this line,
13:04higher the share price, happier the billionaires.
13:07Showing us once again that even in a world of superheroes, with a man as powerful as a god,
13:12the true ruling class still isn't Homelander or even the Supes. It's the billionaire class.
13:17We then get a mention of Ryan, which Homelander recoils at, not wanting to hear his name.
13:21The last time we saw him, he accidentally killed Grace Mallory when she cornered him and tried to
13:26force him to agree to train to kill his father. And it is now clear that Ryan has been taken
13:30by
13:31Homelander or Vought or the government and he has been locked away and they're just calling it
13:35boarding school. Now, Homelander brings up Sage's relationship with Godolken, which we saw in Season
13:402 of Gen V, and he asks her if she has been giving herself lobotomies to numb the pain. Remember,
13:46Sage's brain is the one part of her body that can regenerate, self-heal, and she sometimes stabs
13:51herself in the brain to take away her super smarts and to just feel normal or even a little dumb.
13:57And when she was shot in the head last season, Homelander was quite embarrassed.
14:01A Crunchwrap Supreme and a Sidney.
14:03Hey, hey, hey, look at me.
14:06Get a grip on yourself.
14:08So everything appears to be going well for Homelander and Vought and the conservative
14:11movement in this universe, but Homelander just can't get past his own ego.
14:16He is still obsessing over things like memes.
14:18Have you seen the memes?
14:20Have you seen the memes about me?
14:22And this is yet another comparison to President Trump.
14:25President Trump is a man who has been elected to the presidency twice,
14:28survived an assassination attempt, got off scot-free from multiple criminal trials,
14:33and is a billionaire sitting on the most powerful throne on the planet,
14:36yet still gets in petty pissing matches with people making memes about him.
14:40So next we get mention of Homelander having high polling,
14:43and this tells me two things.
14:44One, even with an approval rating in the 90s,
14:46Homelander still just cannot stand that anyone would dare to dislike him and simultaneously have
14:51the freedom to do so.
14:52But I think he may also kind of be aware of the fact that the polling is fear-based.
14:56Polling can be inaccurate because of people's fear to share who they're actually supporting,
15:01simply from an embarrassment perspective.
15:02But nowadays that fear can be of retaliation,
15:05so I could see someone being scared to share with a pollster if they dislike Homelander.
15:09We then get this call back to last season with mention of Caesar.
15:12You promised me Caesar.
15:13Sage then reminds Homelander that Caesar was stabbed by his friend,
15:17and Homelander says that's something he can relate to,
15:19a reference to his fell betrayal by the real Black Noir knowing his father was Soldier Boy and not telling
15:24him.
15:24We then see what Homelander does best, make everyone around him fear him,
15:28and we can see that fear on Sage's face as we then transition to an ad for her Bitcoin.
15:33Once again, a commentary on our modern politics,
15:36the bro-cast connection with Bitcoin as well as right-wing politics,
15:39and it's all just meshing together.
15:41And this ad is of course at a freedom camp for some reason.
15:44Okay, so now we get an up close and personal look at these so-called freedom camps.
15:48Now, if you even remotely follow the news,
15:50you get the relevance and the commentary that they are making here.
15:53We see Frenchy listening to a song called Hiageophone, I think I'm saying that right,
15:58by Telephone.
15:59Now, this song is in French, but some of the lyrics roughly translate to mention
16:02an end of line and caught in wood, which describes what is essentially an internment camp.
16:08Now, Frenchy is distributing contraband using a copy of Deeper,
16:11which was the Deep's book from season 2.
16:13We see how this freedom camp has changed our characters.
16:16Frenchy is more or less the same, he's thriving in a prison setting,
16:19but it seems like he's taking care of a few people's needs,
16:21like the people that he trades with, and the information that he gets to Huey.
16:25We then see Huey knock this guy out to protect Frenchy,
16:28which is not something he would usually do.
16:30But Huey isn't usually the physical violence type.
16:33But that has changed more and more as each season has passed,
16:36and with Huey's hands getting dirtier and dirtier.
16:38Now, the most drastic change I think we're seeing is in MM.
16:41He is taking part in prison fights, which is the complete opposite to how he was introduced
16:46all the way back in season 1 when we saw him breaking up a prison fight.
16:49Now, outside we see giant penis dude using his namesake to beat a prisoner,
16:53and MM looks on in disgust.
16:55Remember, MM hates this dude from their previous encounters,
16:58and it was this dude that apprehended MM in the season 4 finale.
17:02So, later in the episode, when we see MM get his revenge on this guy, it's a good moment.
17:06Next, we see Butcher visit his dad, reminding us that Butcher truly is going scorched earth,
17:11and getting revenge on everyone who has hurt him, and people that he loved, such as his brother.
17:16Butcher's father was very abusive of him and his brother, Lenny.
17:19Now, on set of Firecracker's news program,
17:21we see Homelander on as a guest for some state media propaganda,
17:24and he can hear everyone's heart racing around him,
17:27because they all know that that Flight 37 video is very real.
17:31As Firecracker walks to set, we hear her name drop Elon Musk.
17:34Move that Elon interview to Thursday.
17:36And this new segment is just such a sham.
17:39They explain away the Thomas Gadolkin incident from Gen V with AI,
17:42and they appear to have edited or purposely mischaracterized motion blur as extra AI fingers
17:49to discredit the Flight 37 video.
17:51And the bottom tagline of the screen also reads that President Calhoun claims parts of the Constitution
17:56are, get this, unconstitutional.
17:59We then pick up with Kimiko, who is in the Philippines.
18:02We see from her corkboard that she is trying to find a way to break Frenchy out of the freedom
18:06camps,
18:06and then Butcher arrives with a golden opportunity for her to do so.
18:10They're after Frenchy.
18:11What's gonna do him?
18:14Huey and him.
18:15And send me two hours.
18:16Now, after Butcher and Kimiko talk, and Butcher begins to leave,
18:19we see a framed picture advertising a musical titled South Pacific.
18:23Remember, Season 3, Kimiko, she's a big fan of musicals.
18:26She had a musical dream sequence twice that season,
18:29which was technically the first time we got to hear her speak, albeit within her mind.
18:32Now, back to the camps, we get a scene of Huey talking with Ivy,
18:35where he mentions several of his near-death experiences at the hands of Supes from throughout the series.
18:40Ivy says,
18:41None of the FBSA people are ever getting out.
18:44Now, the FBSA is the Federal Bureau of Superhuman Affairs.
18:47They were the legitimate government agency that employed the boys in Season 3,
18:51until Huey found out that Victoria Newman was also a Soup.
18:55So next, we see this poor bastard attempt at Jesse Pinkman,
18:58and he winds up getting exploded by Cindy, a Soup who we first met here in Season 2,
19:02and who we saw helping round up Supes at the end of Season 4.
19:05We then catch up with the Deep and New Black Noir, who have their very own Manosphere podcast.
19:10Cuddling, kissing, that's beta male shit, bro!
19:14B-b-b-b-freege!
19:15The set is decorated, sort of like a submarine.
19:18The table is a sonar, the chandelier has a lookout point in the center of it, like a scope,
19:22and there's an octopus in the back, probably reminding the Deep about Ambrosia,
19:26the octopus, played by Tilda Swinton in Season 4, which was his love interest that he betrayed.
19:31So now, Kimiko, she talks, we only saw this, remember, in Season 3, when she dreamed of
19:35singing with Frenchie, so it is odd seeing her talk, like now for real, for real.
19:40Now, you can see in the background here, a skull with a straw hat on top of it,
19:43which is the logo for the Straw Hat Pirates in one piece.
19:46Now, since Annie is hiding out in what looks like an elementary school,
19:50it makes sense that this is there.
19:51And this also parallels the two factions.
19:53The Resistance uses an abandoned school as a hideout,
19:57and the Fascists are holding people and treating them like children and emulating camp.
20:01It's like poetry, it's sort of, they rhyme.
20:03Now, here in Homelander's apartment, we see that he's still fucking insane,
20:07in case anyone forgot, and he just killed their stage manager,
20:10Gavin, for liking some Starlight post.
20:12And to hear Homelander talk about the Flight 37 video,
20:15as if he's almost convinced himself of the lie that it didn't really happen,
20:19it's just rich, because that's what pathological liars do.
20:22Now, after he sends Dumb and Dumber out on their mission,
20:25we see Homelander then walk over to his father,
20:28Soldier Boy, who is still in cryosleep, as teased last season.
20:31Now, over in DC, we see that Ashley is in a fake political marriage with O Father,
20:36an evangelical megachurch pastor parody who is also a soup,
20:40and who preaches far-right extremism from the pulpit.
20:43We hear silly things in this interview between Ashley, O Father, and Firecracker,
20:46such as you can't spell devil without DEI, and how white is a color too.
20:51We then get a moment of candor between Ashley and Sage,
20:53who are both power-hungry, yet simultaneously terrified.
20:56They don't believe any of the bull they're pushing,
20:58and they know that they're all just playing a role.
21:00We then cut to the apartment of a screenwriter-slash-soup who goes by the name Worm,
21:04because he can tunnel through dirt like a worm.
21:07We see that Worm is writing a script for Reacher, and on his wall,
21:10we can see some movie posters with Crimson Countess and Popclaw,
21:14both female soups from this universe who were brutally killed by their boyfriends.
21:17We also see that Worm is wearing a Mesmer shirt, which is Haley Jo Osment's character from Season 1.
21:22And there's also this framed picture here with, I believe, Michael Bay.
21:25Worm also mentions that Vought replaced all their writers with AI,
21:28which is definitely something they'd do,
21:30but it also makes it ironic that they're saying the Flight 37 video is that bastard AI.
21:35We see A-Train meet up with Annie and Kimiko, and A-Train says to Annie,
21:39Fuck you, JonBenet.
21:40A reference to JonBenet Ramsey, a fellow pageant girl like Starlight.
21:45They then name-drop Marie from Gen V.
21:47She is now a part of the Resistance, and remember,
21:49A-Train was there for her recruitment in the Gen V Season 2 finale.
21:53You guys are fucking rebels now.
21:54And hey guys, be sure to check out our diabolical collection on screencrushmerch.com.
21:59We have got lots of great The Boys-inspired parody merch,
22:02such as this Laser Baby Nirvana-inspired shirt,
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22:07Shopping our merch store is the best way to support our channel.
22:10Thank you so much for your support.
22:12Now, back at the camp, The Boys are greeted by a room full of dead bodies and an awaiting Homelander.
22:16Now, Homelander threatens Huey, but he also asks a poignant question.
22:20Why would Starlight and Butcher piss away their lives to try and rescue you?
22:26And Huey gives him the answer that he's been searching for.
22:29Because I do it for them.
22:31Now, this cuts deep, because genuinely,
22:33Homelander would not risk his life for a single person on this earth.
22:38He seeks devotion from his lackeys, but he can't get that through fear.
22:42Essentially, Homelander, he doesn't understand friendship.
22:46And when he asked Huey that question, he was genuinely curious.
22:49And when Huey gives him the answer that he gave him,
22:52you can see on Homelander's face that it truly did stump him.
22:56Homelander knows that he would never do the same for someone that he loved,
22:59and therefore he can never really get that same kind of love back.
23:03Homelander, he's never, like, really been loved by anyone.
23:07He's just been used.
23:08And then that turned into him using people just the same.
23:13And as much as Homelander may think he is capable of love,
23:16he is really just incapable of it.
23:18He's a very broken individual.
23:20So Atrian meets and talks to his brother Nathan, and he mentions,
23:24You remember when we got into it at the park that day?
23:27And I told you that you had never really saved anyone.
23:31Now, he is referring to Season 4, Episode 2,
23:33when Reggie was sneaking around to hang out with his nephews.
23:36Now, when Starlight says,
23:37But nothing is more important than killing Homelander.
23:39Kimiko says that she sounds like Maeve.
23:42This is what Maeve spent the Season 3 finale trying to do.
23:45She ultimately decided to let Homelander live,
23:47but save everyone from the Soldier Boy explosion.
23:50Now, when The Deep arrives,
23:51Atrian points out how scared The Deep is, and he knows this,
23:54because they are acting the same.
23:56He admits that he said the same thing when Annie confronted him
23:59about Homelander a few scenes earlier.
24:01I know you're scared.
24:02No, I'm not f***ing scared.
24:04You're not f***ing scared.
24:05So here Wyrm complains about finales,
24:07and how making all the fans happy and having to tie up every storyline,
24:11and this is of course a meta line about how this is the last season of The Boys,
24:15and they are trying to wrap up this story.
24:17Now, it could also be a reference to Supernatural,
24:19Eric Kripke's other widely popular show apart from The Boys,
24:23that ran for 15 seasons.
24:25So, Kripke is poking a little fun at himself here.
24:27Now, Butcher cuts to the heart of Annie's problem here.
24:30He knows that she is bullshitting that Hughie is safer at the camp.
24:33He calls out how the dark s*** that Annie has done over the past year is haunting her.
24:37And in this way, Annie is becoming more and more like Butcher,
24:40but the central question for her is going to be,
24:42is that a good thing or not?
24:44When Wyrm realizes that he is being asked to dig into a freedom camp,
24:47he says,
24:48You said I got to stick a divot naked, it's leasered in half.
24:51To which Butcher replies,
24:52That's how worms get their rocks off, innit?
24:54And then Wyrm says,
24:55It's complicated, and I don't want to get into that right now.
24:58This exchange is a reference to the old playground myth that worms can grow into two worms if you cut
25:03one in half.
25:04Wyrm's response of it's complicated is because, well, it is complicated.
25:08It depends on the species of worm and where exactly you cut the worm.
25:11No, I've never done this, but I've heard about it.
25:13When Wyrm tries to run, Annie threatens him, and I love the smug smirk from Butcher.
25:18He knows that Annie is becoming more and more like him, and he approves.
25:21Now, back inside, we hear Homelander make a mother's milk joke.
25:26You never told me that this one's nickname is mother's milk.
25:32We then get this great line delivery from Kimiko before she, like a worm, is lasered in two.
25:37Suck my fat dick.
25:38Okay, and I really love this scene where Homelander looks inside of Butcher and sees
25:42his viper's nest of super cancer. And that is, of course, mirroring this scene from Season 4,
25:47Episode 1.
25:48Look at that big black mask curdling around your brain.
25:52Homelander finds it beautiful and takes it as a compliment that Butcher has allowed this
25:56to happen to himself all for Homelander. Granted, it is all in hopes of defeating
26:00Homelander, but nevertheless, it's about Homelander, and that is what Homelander craves.
26:05Obsession. Now, we then get the arrival of Starlight doing her best Spider-Man No Way Home
26:09Electro entry. Now, I may be reading too much into this bit, but we do see these double door
26:14gates open and it splits this picture of Homelander in two, like right down the middle,
26:19and I wonder if this is foreshadowing how we might see him die. Maybe Butcher rips him in two
26:23come the finale. We shall see.
26:25We then get the beginnings of this theme of distance between Huey and Starlight that carries
26:29into the next episode when Huey runs off to save Ivy, and then Starlight decides to
26:34prioritize the mission over her love for Huey and decides to save Frenchie first like she had
26:38agreed. Homelander then kills yet another person that Huey cared about, Ivy, and he uses Huey as bait
26:44to draw out Butcher. We then get to see A-Train, who had initially refused to help with this prison
26:49break, arrive just in the nick of time and get his quicksilver time in a bottle moment just like
26:53in X-Men Days of Future Past, which was referenced earlier in the episode. He puts on the headphones,
26:58the goggles, he moves things around. It's a great scene, and it was awesome seeing A-Train get this
27:03moment before, well, we'll get there. We see him save MM and Huey, and while he's running he passes
27:09an ad for Turbo Rush, which is the drink that they did the Kylie Jenner Pepsi parody commercial for a
27:14few
27:14seasons ago. The tagline being a drink for heroes, and this symbolizes how A-Train in this moment is
27:20finally becoming a hero, and it also represents just how far he has come. He was one of the most
27:25corporatized Supes in season one, and we have slowly seen him come back to the good side and
27:29become a true hero. Now, the look that Huey gives Annie here, ouch, this is exactly what Butcher was
27:35predicting. We then get this chase scene between Homelander and A-Train, which feels like they're
27:39kind of parodying the Flash racing Superman, except here it's A-Train running for his life from
27:44Homelander. We then see A-Train dodge this girl on the road, ultimately leading to his own demise, but
27:50again showing us how much he has grown since we first met him, and he ran straight through Huey's
27:54girlfriend Robin. Without even thinking, A-Train made sure that he did not kill this innocent
27:59pedestrian, and it ultimately led to his own defeat. Now, Homelander enters with a cheesy line,
28:04It's like someone can catch the A-Train after all.
28:07which is a reference to A-Train's crappy catchphrase from his Vought days. So, A-Train then
28:11laughs at Homelander, saying, What was I so afraid of?
28:14A-Train realizes in his final moments that Homelander is just a clown. A-Train says,
28:19Take away these powers. And what are you?
28:21Just like this exchange between Cap and Tony in the Avengers.
28:25Big man in a suit of armor. Take that off, what are you?
28:27Everything special about you came out of a bottle.
28:30Now, A-Train did the brave thing, calling Homelander out, but it cost him his life. But,
28:35let's face it, he knew that he was already dead.
28:37Alright, and that brings us into Episode 2.
28:40So, we start on A-Train's funeral, and there's a choir that sings,
28:44I think I should stand and fight.
28:48Which is exactly how A-Train died, standing up against Homelander.
28:52Now, even though it's been a year since A-Train went AWOL, Vought said that he was on an undercover
28:56mission overseas so that the public never knew A-Train was a traitor. And it's really not to save
29:01face for A-Train as much as it is to save face for Vought, not letting the public think that
29:06they
29:06had a traitor in their ranks, and this helps rile up the base over a dead soup and covering for
29:11Homelander's murder of A-Train. I should also mention that we learned about the beginnings
29:15of this cover-up story in a Truth Bomb segment that was made before this season came out.
29:20Godspeed, A-Train. You are in our thoughts, and most importantly, our prayers.
29:26This was the same excuse they gave for Translucent when he was missing,
29:29before he died in Season 1 and his funeral was the Season 2 premiere.
29:33Now, the camera focuses on Ashley a few times when she looks guilty.
29:37This is because she was about to run away with A-Train in Season 4, Episode 7.
29:46She is now watching as the fruits of her deceit sprout and she continues to climb in power.
29:52That coffin is a reminder of what would have happened to her if she had left with him.
29:56Now, speaking of that casket, it is decked out in an A-Train insignia.
29:59This is a subtle reminder that media publicity, branding, and image are everything in this world.
30:05Now, Homelander looks mad uncomfortable in this church setting because dude is not a believer.
30:10The only higher power he believes in is himself.
30:12We hear Oh Father lay out some standard far-right talking points such as how the left eats babies
30:17and wants to turn little boys into little girls with garden shears.
30:21Just standard trans panic fear-mongering.
30:24Oh Father also calls Starlight a Jezebel who is literally possessed by demons.
30:29And then he even goes on to list Homelander above God in the list of things that were important to
30:34A-Train.
30:34He loved his country, his God, but most of all his captain.
30:39Homelander, amen.
30:40We see here at church that Firecracker is fully bought in.
30:43Well, Sage is not impressed.
30:44And Homelander has this flash of memory to Stilwell.
30:49So, the boys, they are hiding out in another elementary school.
30:52This one is Butcher's hiding spot.
30:54Annie, however, was using a different one in Episode 1.
30:57And think about what these locations are telling us.
31:00In Gen V Season 2, the gang hid in an abandoned library.
31:03Now, Season 5 of The Boys begins with two abandoned schools.
31:06These are institutions that are no longer funded or needed in Homelander's fascist America.
31:12So, in the school we get reintroduced to Newman's scientist husband, Samir,
31:16who doesn't know that Butcher is the one who actually killed his wife.
31:19Now, their plan involves a soup named Rock Hard to test the virus on
31:23because he nears Homelander in sheer strength.
31:25And I would be remiss if I didn't mention that his name is Rock Hard,
31:29which is, of course, a euphemism for, well, you know.
31:33And later he shoots out lava that is, well, you know.
31:37Now, the Truth Bomb segment that MMM and the gang are listening to
31:40advocates for predictive arrest, aka incarceration, before a crime is even committed.
31:45And they hide behind a need for safety, but this is a clear-cut, dystopian, fascistic tactic.
31:51And this type of story was featured heavily in the controversial Civil War II comics,
31:55where Captain Marvel used an inhuman who could see the future to make arrests before a crime
32:00was even committed.
32:01This also reminds me of this scene from Captain America and the Winter Soldier.
32:04I thought the punishment usually came after the crime.
32:06I can't afford to wait that long.
32:08So we get moments between both Huey and Annie, as well as Frenchie and Kimiko.
32:11And I like this nod to Kimiko slipping back into sign when she got anxious.
32:15And since it's been a year since these couples have seen each other,
32:18it is only fitting that they have some sex.
32:20The song playing here as they all reconnect is Never Tear Us Apart by INXS.
32:25Back at the funeral, we see Homelander talk to A-Train in his casket,
32:29and notice that he calls himself the big brother that A-Train never had.
32:32This is a slight against A-Train's actual big brother that he very much did have, Nathan.
32:37However, it also shows Homelander's headspace.
32:40He wants a family in his own twisted way.
32:43In the previous episode, he couldn't even handle Ryan's name being mentioned aloud,
32:46and in the opening scene of this episode,
32:48he was hearing the voice of Madeline Stilwell call him Sweet Boy.
32:52So right as Homelander begins to crave this idea of family,
32:55he then seeks out Soldier Boy, his biological father, for help.
32:59Homelander, he is of course very delusional, and we are seeing him tear up in this moment,
33:03and it makes you wonder if he does hold any true remorse,
33:06or if he's just upset that he keeps getting what he views as betrayed.
33:10Next, we get more TikTok-like socials from the Teenage Kicks.
33:13They advertise diet water, which I don't even know what that means, how that works.
33:19Water is already zero calories.
33:22We also see Firecracker's Freedom Sticks, which are probably a Cheetos parody,
33:26and then there's this Vought-sponsored eyeshadow.
33:28We zoom out to then see MM watching these videos outside the Kicks crib,
33:33which is Teenage Kicks Hideout, a clear parody on influencer houses.
33:37These are usually big mansions rented by multiple content creators so that they can live together
33:42and constantly film themselves for internet clout.
33:45So we meet Sheeline, Jetstreak, and Countess Crow, who feels like a parody of Raven from Teen Titans.
33:51Now, even their house is sponsored, and it says they're sponsored by Vought Petroleum underneath this big sign.
33:57Now, there is a clear difference between how Huey and Annie are interacting in this episode,
34:02and how Frenchie and Kimiko are interacting in this episode.
34:05Both couples have been apart for a year, but we have to remember that with Frenchie and Kimiko,
34:09they were barely a couple when they got separated.
34:11They shared a first kiss in Season 4, but that was all.
34:14Annie and Huey, on the other hand, they've been dating for a really long time,
34:17and they've been through a lot.
34:19And there's also a lot of leftover tension from how things ended in Season 4,
34:23with the whole doppelganger situation.
34:25You put the ring on her finger, Huey.
34:28And we are seeing Annie and Huey grow further and further apart,
34:31because Annie is becoming more and more like Butcher.
34:33Back with Homelander and a now-awoken Soldier Boy,
34:35we see that Homelander, he's a terrible liar.
34:38Soldier Boy calls him on his bullshit almost immediately.
34:41But that just happens to be in your room.
34:43And it's interesting that Homelander's bargaining chip in this conversation immediately goes to fame.
34:47He promises to help Soldier Boy with his image problem.
34:50He says...
34:51Well, the whole world does think that you're a Russian spy.
34:54Which was Vought's doing in Season 3.
34:56Now, when Homelander says...
34:57Who knows, you might even fry the V right out of my blood.
34:59That is now the second time this season that they have made a reference to Homelander losing his powers.
35:05The first one being when A-Train mentioned taking away Homelander's power,
35:08and what would that leave him with?
35:10Now, while it has been theorized that this final season of The Boys will finally feature the death of Homelander,
35:15I personally am leaning toward them actually just depriving him of his power and making him a mere mortal.
35:20I think in a lot of ways, that would be an even bigger defeat for Homelander.
35:24So anyway, Homelander offers Soldier Boy his shield back as a peace offering.
35:28Remember, his shield broke in the Season 3 finale where M.M. delivered this great line.
35:33Get out!
35:34F*** you shield!
35:35I also really liked here how Homelander pauses and chokes up a little when he admits out loud that his
35:40father hates him.
35:40You hate William Butcher more than you... than you hate... me.
35:45We then get an ad for The Deep called Sigma Solarium where he is tanning his testicles.
35:51This is a reference to when former Fox News host Tucker Carlson said that it was
35:55manly to tan your testicles to increase your testosterone.
36:00Yes, yes, he said that.
36:03Now, when Huey compares Rock Hard to a whale, Butcher says...
36:06He ain't a first whale, is he?
36:07Which is a reference to Season 2, Episode 3 when Butcher rammed a boat into The Deep's whale.
36:12It's a cheeky joke, but you have to remember that that episode was a breaking point for Huey.
36:17He had had enough of Butcher's bullshit, and the same is true today.
36:21Now, back at Vought Tower, we learn that they are planning to round up active Starlight supporters,
36:2510,000 of them, using the Insurrection Act that can be issued by the President.
36:30They use this map to show that the more populated areas of the U.S.
36:33that tend to lean more liberal are the areas where the most vocal Homelander critics can be found.
36:38Coincidentally, the map is almost identical to where the most nut milks are consumed.
36:42President Calhoun says...
36:44People get twitchy at rounding up their neighbors, but they'll flat out revolt if we raise taxes.
36:49Which, I mean, it's getting to the point where it's not even parody.
36:53Now, when Homelander and Soldier Boy enter the meeting room,
36:56notice that the statue behind them is just Homelander and the American flag.
37:00This is another reminder that Homelander is all-encompassing.
37:03We saw his face become more and more prominent in Gen V Season 2.
37:07Just like a fascist ruler, he is putting himself in everything.
37:10Remember, in Season 1 of The Boys, this statue was of the Seven, not just Homelander.
37:14And later, when the camera pans up, we see Homelander alone in the sky.
37:18Again, more Jesus, God imagery, but also in Season 1, remember this mural?
37:23It had all of the Seven in it.
37:24But now it's just Homelander, and this goes to show how Homelander just keeps ascending,
37:28but he leaves his friends and minions behind in the dust, and he ends up making himself be alone,
37:34and he simultaneously feels lonely.
37:38Now, when President Calhoun says,
37:39Can I get you a glass of milk, sir?
37:42It clues us in that Homelander has asked for this before,
37:44and I love how Homelander is just bossing the President around,
37:47having him get him drinks, calling him by his first name.
37:50And this all impresses Soldier Boy.
37:52This woodcut soups teabag the President.
37:56Sents me.
37:56Now, M.M. is pacing around the house and taking their wine.
38:00Now, the M.M. from past seasons would never do this,
38:02so he's really at a low point in being careless, which is really uncharacteristic for him.
38:07When M.M. finds the Teenage Kicks wall of fame,
38:09we see multiple photos of characters from past seasons.
38:12There's Popclaw, Translucent, Mesmer, Sister Sage, and finally, A-Train.
38:17Now, M.M. takes a moment to pour one out for A-Train,
38:19and remember, in Season 4, it was M.M. and A-Train who got pretty close,
38:23and it was M.M.'s idea to turn A-Train at that time, and A-Train ended up saving M
38:28.M.'s life,
38:29which he said was the thing that showed him how to be a hero again.
38:33So, M.M. must be feeling a little guilty that A-Train is now dead,
38:36and that he was the one who wanted to recruit him.
38:39So, we learned that Annie was receiving text about other Starlight camps being raided.
38:43She's feeling guilty about these rebels' lives being taken, as well as A-Train's life.
38:47And I think it's sweet and poetic that Frenchie is the one who comforts her here.
38:50In Season 2, we learned that Frenchie was responsible for the death of Malorie's grandchildren,
38:55and he carried that guilt with him for all of Season 1 and 2.
38:58So here, we are seeing how Frenchie knows Annie's pain, and he can empathize with her.
39:02He even says,
39:03I am the heavyweight champion in torturing myself over lives lost.
39:08Now, She-Line is using this woman as a prop in her Turbo Rush ad.
39:12The music in the background is the same music used in the first Turbo Rush ad with A-Train from
39:17a prior season.
39:17Now, back in the car, notice that when Butcher grabs Kimiko, the cancer within him crawls around
39:22under his skin, reminding us that this cancer kind of has a little bit of a mind of its own,
39:26and it makes Butcher act not like himself.
39:29Now, back in Homelander's apartment, we see him standing in the cryo chamber,
39:32making me wonder if this is foreshadowing that he won't be killed in this season,
39:36but just weakened by the virus like Soldier Boy, and then placed on ice.
39:40We also get a look at the old MM for a brief moment in this scene,
39:43where he has a heart-to-heart with Countess Crow and drills her about her position at Vought.
39:48This is the soft side of MM that is about redemption, which is what he used to do.
39:52He corralled juvie teens all the way back in season one.
39:55We also get some reminders of MM's own anxiety issues, such as here with him clenching his hands.
40:00Now, when Butcher says,
40:02You gotta knock this wet cap and pussy shite on the head, mate.
40:04He thinks he's giving Huey tough love.
40:06However, this harkens back to the last episode when Billy confronted his dad about making him a monster.
40:11He told that story about Lenny being called names by their dad, which just made Lenny retreat from his interests.
40:17Butcher is doing the same thing here with Huey now.
40:19He's essentially saying stop being who you are and calling him a coward and weak.
40:23So then Soldier Boy arrives and he was able to track them down because Butcher used the same alias,
40:29Don T. Be a cunt, which is one of Butcher's favorite phrases.
40:33Running a truck under the name Don T. Be a cunt.
40:36Same alias when we headed to Herogasm.
40:38He even taught it to Ryan in the season two finale.
40:40Remember what I told you?
40:44Don't be a cunt.
40:45And we get this great line from Butcher that features the word diabolical,
40:49which is the name of the boy's animated series and of course one of Butcher's catchphrases.
40:52Now, right as Butcher sows doubt into Soldier Boy's new allegiances,
40:56Soldier Boy goes to pick up his shield and it immediately cracks.
40:59Yet another reason for him to hate Homelander.
41:01Now, MM starts to have a panic attack over Soldier Boy.
41:04Remember, Soldier Boy killed his grandfather and the trauma from that night is the source of MM's OCD
41:09and why he is in this fight with the boys against Supes.
41:12So, Jetstreak and Rockhard are both killed by the virus and Soldier Boy is really hurt by it,
41:17but as we'll later learn, he did not die.
41:20We see MM let Countess Crow go and notice that most of her makeup is gone,
41:24probably because she was crying.
41:26But it's also a nice piece of symbolism that she is wiping away her time at Vought
41:29and going back to being her true self.
41:31So then we cut back to the tower.
41:33Sage is eating Taco Bell.
41:34We know she loves Taco Bell and junk food.
41:35Me too, girl.
41:36And we also saw this in Season 4 as well.
41:38So in this scene, we learn that Sage has kind of given up.
41:41She's given in to the power that comes from her position with Homelander.
41:44And in Season 4, she shared this great monologue with Victoria
41:47Newman about how the rich, white doctors, they didn't listen to her,
41:50even though she is the smartest person on Earth.
41:52Jin-V Season 2 revealed that Sage had a plan to take down Homelander with Tom Skadolkin,
41:57but once he got too overzealous, she abandoned him.
42:00So now it looks like Sage doesn't have a plan.
42:02She has just damaged control for Homelander and doesn't really care as long as she can
42:06keep exploiting the rich, white businessmen and eating her Taco Bell and collecting the
42:10books in her office.
42:11We then get an up-close look at Ashley's true mutation and how her powers work.
42:15She has this weird back-of-head tumor that insults her and is actually the one with the
42:19mind-reading powers that then shares those revelations with Main Ashley like a voice in
42:23her head.
42:24And I think this is a really fitting power for Ashley because Ashley has always kind of
42:28been in her own head and constantly in debate with herself as to what she wants to do in this
42:33fight.
42:33And this is something we see a lot in The Boys where the superpower really does match the individual.
42:38A-Train, he was a coward for a long time, so his superpower was the ability to run away.
42:43Butcher was dying of cancer and is a metaphorical blight upon everything that he touches,
42:47so he gets monstrous tentacle cancer powers.
42:49So it makes sense that Ashley, who spent most of the show being two-faced and playing both sides,
42:54now there are literally two faces, and it seems that the back face is really just acting as her
42:59conscience.
42:59And in this scene, we got a really great reference to Martin Neumuller's First They Came speech,
43:04which is very relevant for the world that the boys find themselves in, as well as the world that
43:08we find ourselves in right now.
43:10First they came for the communists, and I did not speak out because I was not a communist.
43:14I don't need Martin Neumuller right now.
43:16This speech talks about how people turn a blind eye to when other groups are taken away because
43:20they're part of said group, but by the time that the state police come for you, the person who
43:25turned your blind eye, now when they're coming for you, there is no one left to help you because
43:30you turned your eye and they took everyone else, and now you're being taken as well.
43:34The point of the speech is that despite our differences, we all must stand together and
43:38fight against fascistic tyranny.
43:40So back with the boys, Frenchie, he suggests to Kimiko that they run away, but Kimiko points out that
43:44it is antithetical to what he was telling Annie earlier in the episode.
43:47He even says so here.
43:50Now once again, Huey tries to have this rough conversation with Annie, but she instead tries
43:55to initiate sex to shut him up because she doesn't want to actually have that tough conversation,
44:00but he refuses so that they can actually talk.
44:03And then we cut to Butcher, who is entering his room, and we see that he did indeed get the
44:07magic convention trophy from his dad's house so that he could remember his brother Lenny,
44:11and we also get the return of terror.
44:13And then back with Homelander, we get more violins to signal his cracking psyche.
44:18He cries and says,
44:19And in this moment, we are seeing Homelander react to yet another family member having left him.
44:26And this scene parallels the opening scene of the episode,
44:29Homelander mourning a death that he is responsible for.
44:32First A-Train, and now Soldier Boy.
44:34Except, Soldier Boy is not actually dead.
44:37Alright, well that is everything we caught in the first two episodes of The Boys Season 5.
44:41I want to give a huge shout out to my co-writer on this breakdown, Ethan Ng.
44:46Thanks so much for your help, man.
44:47And if you guys are new here, be sure to subscribe.
44:50Hit the bell so you get notified every time we upload a new video.
44:52We will be covering The Boys Season 5 in its entirety,
44:56so be sure to check back each week for our breakdowns.
44:58For Screen Crush, I'm Colton Ogbord.
45:01keep going.
45:02Bye, bye.
45:02Get startedidd市集!
45:02eh
45:15We'll see you next time.
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