Welcome to the Man of Recaps. This is The Boys, Season 3. At the end of season two, The Boys stopped Stormfront’s evil Nazi plan. Though the true story was changed quite a bit for the movie about it, “Dawn of the Seven,” and generally, life has gone back to normal. The Superhero Corporation, Vought, got off with basically no consequences. But Homelander, at least, is under control because Maeve has the blackmail video of him crashing the plane, so they're all in an uneasy truce. And with The Boys no longer wanted criminals, life is great for Hughie Campbell, who can now openly date his girlfriend Annie, “Starlight.” He's working at the newly formed Bureau of Superhuman Affairs, where he can stop bad supes from the safety of his desk. But out in the field working for Hughie is his old team, The Boys.

led by Billy Butcher, whose general vibe is an R-rated Captain Jack Sparrow. They hunt down bad supes like the shrinking hero, who kills someone in a wildly graphic sexual accident. The old Billy Butcher would have squashed that supe, but he's trying to be a better person these days. Yeah, he's in dad mode for Ryan, his wife Becca’s son by Homelander, and Billy Butcher is trying to be a good role model. Over at Vought, things are also going well, Starlight is now more popular than Homelander. They name her co-captain of The Seven, and Homelander has to just accept it. But unfortunately, the good times don't last when Hughie discovers what we learned at the end of last season... His boss, Congresswoman Victoria Newman, is a secret supe herself! The “Head Popper” that killed a lot of Congress!

Turns out she grew up in a superhero orphanage for Supes with dangerous powers like her that accidentally killed their parents. But she was adopted by Stan Edgar, CEO of Vought! And they have a loving family relationship, so Vought and its biggest opponent have been secretly working together. Meanwhile, Homelander has been nonstop apologizing for not realizing he was dating a Nazi. But he doesn't actually feel bad; he still likes Stormfront, who, by the way, is still alive, barely. When she dies on his birthday, he finally cracks, and on live TV launches into an unhinged rant about how he's not “just human.” He's a freaking superhero! and he's tired of apologizing for being better than everyone. But turns out some people like unhinged rants, and overall his numbers are up. So Homelander realizes he doesn't have to please everyone. Some people will love him for being himself.

he can do whatever he wants! And he starts by calling Starlight’s bluff, “Go ahead, release that plane video.” “If you do, I'll finally go full evil Superman and conquer the world.” And we get a deeper look into Homelander's mind; he's kind of got a Gollum split personality. In some ways, he’s still a sad little boy who was raised in a lab without parents and so desperately craves love and affection, but he has a dark side that doesn't want their love. “You're better than everyone, you don't need them.” So finding a way to kill Homelander just became top priority again. But that was always top priority for Billy Butcher, who's secretly been working with Queen Maeve. She's been looking into the death of the first Supe, Soldier Boy, who was the leader of the original team, Payback. He was supposedly also invincible,

whatever killed him could kill Homelander too. And so it's time to get The Boys back together! Hughie’s in, now disillusioned trying to do things the legal way. M.M. quit the team to spend time with his daughter, though it's awkward because of his ex-wife's new boyfriend. But now he's back in because Soldier Boy was the supe who killed his family. Frenchie and Kimiko never left the team, and they still have their funny sweet romance going on. So Soldier Boy was a Captain America type who fought in World War Two, then apparently died in the 80’s in a nuclear reactor meltdown. His longtime girlfriend was Crimson Countess, So Frenchy and Kimiko try to get the real story from her. She doesn't want to talk though, and as tends to happen, the whole thing turns into a bloody mess. So Butcher tracks down his old sidekick, Gunpowder,

who, of course, immediately shoots him. But Butcher had a secret weapon Maeve gave him... Vought’s new temporary Compound V! Yeah, this is Stan Edgar’s big plan for the future. Supes in the military is a bad idea because most superheroes are wildly dysfunctional. But Temporary V they can give to trained soldiers, and the government will always need to buy more. So Billy Butcher juices up, now he's bulletproof! Goes full Homelander and lasers this guy! But he learned that Soldier Boy actually died in a secret CIA op in Nicaragua, led by none other than The Boys’ friend, Grace Mallory. It was the government's first attempt to put supes in the military, led by none other than a young Stan Edgar. They were at best, completely useless, and at worst, a massive liability. They ended up revealing the camp's location, and apparently in the fight Soldier Boy was killed.

by a mysterious Russian superweapon. Frenchie knows someone who can sneak them into Russia; it's his old boss, Nina, from his criminal days. In fact, Frenchie gets a big subplot overcoming the abuse from his former boss and recognizing how it’s similar to his relationship with his current boss, Butcher. So, Nina will get them into Russia if Kimiko does a hit job for her. But Kimiko hates that she's become a killer, and she has a big subplot not wanting to use her powers for violence. So, she and Frenchie both decide, after this job, they're done. So, The Boys find the secret Russian science lab; it's well guarded, but Billy Butcher's on that Temp V, Laser eyes! “Diabolical.” Earlier, Hughie learned about the Temp V, so he took some too, and whoa! He's got teleporting powers! So now they discover the Russian supe-killing weapon... does not exist!

Soldier Boy is, in fact, still alive! Yeah, they've had him this whole time, doing experiments on him. In fact, they blasted him with radiation, which gave him a new explosive power. And being hit with it seems to take away superpowers; Kimiko’s healing does not kick in. And Soldier Boy ran off; he's in the wind, so The Boys come home empty-handed. Starlight’s been busy with the reality show to pick the next hero to be in The Seven. And Starlight picks Supersonic, who is in a superhero boy band and, in fact, was Starlight’s teenage boyfriend. He's an old friend and a real good guy that will have her back if it comes to a fight with Homelander. But Homelander's pick is a returning hero... Yeah, The Deep is back in The Seven! He's had a huge boost in popularity after escaping that Fresca cult. Though it's actually his new wife-slash-manager who's doing all the work.

But Homelander doesn't like The Deep; he just wants a loyal lackey. And to prove his loyalty, he wants The Deep to eat a live octopus! Which for The Deep, who speaks to marine life, that's his friend Timothy! And in a show full of disgusting graphic violence, somehow this scene is the most disturbing. Another member of The Seven is the speedster, A-Train. But with his heart problems, he can't run anymore. To stay relevant, he tries to rebrand, but he doesn't successfully end racial tension; he just makes a new energy drink commercial. And so The Seven has seven members again, but unfortunately, it doesn't last. Homelander heard Starlight and Supersonic plotting against him, and so he killed him! Stan Edgar doesn't like this new Homelander off his leash, so he wants Victoria Neuman to start an investigation. But instead, she announces an investigation into Stan Edgar!

“Sorry, Pops, but I gotta do what's best for me.” She made a secret deal with Homelander, who gave her some Compound V for her daughter because the best way to keep her daughter safe is to give her superpowers. So Stan Edgar has been pushed out; Homelander gets to be in charge of Vought. But it’s like, “OK, congrats, you win...” “Good luck running a mega corporation.” And Homelander runs it very poorly. His first step is to fire anyone competent and replace them with his own loyal lackeys. He makes Ashley Barrett the new CEO and now hires her own assistant, also named Ashley. And the constant stress of worrying about being lasered has made her pull out all her hair. Meanwhile, Soldier Boy made it back to America, and it soon becomes apparent he's hunting down his old team because they were the ones that betrayed him to the Russians.

So, Billy Butcher approaches him with a deal. They'll help him hunt down the rest of Payback; in exchange, he'll help them kill Homelander. Now, Soldier Boy is a hilarious play on the Captain America man out of time. Steve Rogers was a really good guy, but it's more realistic that a man from the ‘40s would be a wildly intolerant mega asshole. Next on his hit list are the super twins, and everyone shows up at their house, which is not unexpected because they're hosting a party. In fact, today is the annual epic superhero orgy, Herogasm! It is an absolutely wild scene... that I just can't show any clips from. Long story short, he finds the super twins, then loses control and destroys the whole house. Which is an unfortunate end to an orgy. Now, Homelander arrives, and Soldier Boy is ready to fight him. “You're just a cheap knockoff of me.”

“Oh no, I'm the upgrade.” Oh, yeah! Superhero fight! Homelander gets the upper hand, but he's not expecting Billy Butcher to have laser eyes of his own! Hugie’s there too with his teleporting powers, and all three together, this is it, they're going to blast him! But no! Homelander gets away. Now Butcher and Hugie’s plan did just get a bunch of innocent people killed. And Hughie's been generally a huge dick this season, so he and Annie have a blowout fight. So Annie decides to fight Homelander a different way, on social media with her millions of followers. She tells them the truth, that most superheroes are terrible people, and Homelander’s maybe the worst of them all. Of course, Homelander doesn't like this, but Annie catches him on live stream explicitly threatening her and admitting to murders.

But Homelander is able to brush it all off, calls it “fake news,” and makes up his own truth. And unfortunately, a lot of people believe him, like M.M.’s ex-wife's new boyfriend. And so, in general, there's massive unrest, and the country is more divided than ever. Now back to Butcher, Hughie, and Soldier Boy. Next on their list is his old teammate Mesmer, who traps Butcher in a nightmare about his own abusive father and how he protected his younger brother Lenny, who Hughie reminds him of. But now Soldier Boy gets this guy, and before he kills him, he tells him a secret... “Hey Homelander, you know how you were made in a lab?” “It was my DNA, I'm kind of your father.” But Butcher convinces him, “He's not really your son.” And so, killing Homelander is next on the list.

Meanwhile, Kimiko’s powers never came back, but she's happier than ever. In fact, she almost speaks again! In her mind, she burst into song for a hilarious heartwarming hospital musical, and she and Frenchie have their first kiss. Just then though, Nina comes for revenge, and without Kimiko’s powers, they barely survive. So, Kimiko makes a difficult decision: to protect the people she cares about, she wants her powers back. While Annie's in there stealing some V, she reads about this new Temp V... Turns out it's not ready for human use yet. After 3 to 5 doses, it's always fatal. “Hey Butcher, how many doses have you and Hughie taken?” “Somewhere between three and five.” But Butcher is willing to sacrifice himself; he's not willing to sacrifice Hughie though. And so, before the final mission, he knocks him out.

So Hughie apologizes to Annie for being a dick all season, and The Boys are back together! They need to stop this Soldier Boy - Homelander fight because the collateral damage might kill a lot of innocent people. So Homelander knows Soldier Boy is coming for him, but his current super team is completely useless. A-Train reconnected with his brother, who told him about a supe that's been killing innocent black men in the name of stopping crime. A-Train gets him to make an apology, which goes about as poorly as any apology can, and A-Train’s brother gets paralyzed. And Blue Hawk gets off with no consequences, just like A-Train himself did after killing Huey’s girlfriend at the beginning of the series. So A-Train goes for justice himself, uses his speed to kill Blue Hawk, which brings on a massive heart attack. But A-Train survives, they replaced his heart... with Blue Hawk’s!

And with a fresh new super heart, A-Train can run again. But he's got some soul searching to do. The Deep, meanwhile, had sex with an octopus. Then wants to bring it in as a third in his marriage, which his wife is not okay with, and she now becomes famous with her own exposé. The one member of The Seven Homelander can always count on is Black Noir. Turns out he was a member of Payback. We get to see him unmasked when he could still speak. And in fact, he's just decided he's not going to wear his helmet... which, ironically, led to his brain injury. He has a chat with his imaginary friends, who help him process the trauma of when Soldier Boy was abusive to him. So he's fully down to help kill Soldier Boy. But Homelander's mad he never told him Soldier Boy was his father.

and so he kills him! Oh, no! R.I.P. Black Noir. And so it's time for the final showdown. But Homelander's like, “Hey Pops, I don't want to fight.” In fact, he's got a surprise here... “Meet your grandson, Ryan.” Yes, Homelander finally found Ryan's location. And earlier, Butcher tried to push Ryan away; he blamed him for killing his mother! So when his super dad tells him, “That wasn’t your fault,” he runs right into Homelander's arms. So it looks like these two might forget their fight and instead live as a happy family. But Soldier Boy is like, “Wow, you're a pathetic man-baby.” “Wait, what?” Oh, yeah, he's happy to kill him. But when Ryan steps in to protect his father, now Soldier Boy is going after him, so Butcher steps in to protect Ryan,

and he and Homelander put their beef on hold. But Queen Maeve still wants to kill Homelander, while Butcher is busy fighting Soldier Boy. The rest of the team comes to help him out, but Soldier Boy is very strong. A powerless Hughie is watching in the control room, he's thinking about taking that Temp V... But instead he turns up all the studio lights, which gives Starlight a massive power boost, blam! Meanwhile, Frenchie was making the super knockout gas, and Kimiko puts on her headphones, she's got her powers back and is willing to fight for a good cause. So they got the gas to knock Soldier Boy out, but oh no, he's going to explode! There's no time to leave, they're all going to die... But Queen Maeve sees her opening, runs up and tackles him out the window! Massive explosion!

But because of Maeve’s sacrifice, they're all okay. Except Homelander is still around and should take this opportunity to laser them all. But he doesn't want to kill them in front of his son. And so once again, Billy Butcher and Homelander find themselves in a temporary truce. And so the world goes back to normal, with the details of this fight mostly covered up. Soldier Boy survived, he's back in a tube, just now in America instead of Russia. And good news, Maeve survived too! And now with no powers and presumed dead, she's free to live a happy normal life. Starlight officially leaves The Seven, going to join The Boys as just Annie. Frenchie and Kimiko, having gone through their arcs, have decided to stay with The Boys too. And so the whole team is back together, including their leader Billy Butcher. The Temporary V did not kill him!

...Yet, anyway. He is definitely dying. But until then, there's more bad supes to take down, like Victoria Newman, who is now running for Vice President. Earlier, she realized that Hughie and Annie figured out her secret, but she tries to explain, “I'm not a bad guy.” But she gave Homelander Ryan's location in exchange for him having The Deep assassinate the previous Vice Presidential nominee! So, we don't yet know the extent of her plan, but it's probably nothing good. Homelander is not currently running for President, but he's developed a cult-like following. And now he publicly introduces his son, but a counter-protester throws a drink that hits him. And Homelander's not having that; he lasers this guy! Right in public! But just when he thinks he's gone too far... Nope! His supporters cheer him for it! And Homelander's realized he really can do whatever he wants.

And that’s where The Boys Season 3 comes to an end. If you liked this recap, hit that Subscribe button for more of the best recaps of TV and movies.

The Boys RECAP: Season 3

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