Before we get into the fourth episode of Season 4 of The Boys, arguably one of the best episodes of the series, there’s other exciting news for the show – Jared Padalecki, who Eric Kripke cast as Sam in Supernatural, has finally said yes to hopefully joining The Boys in Season 5. If, as we suspect, Jensen Ackles’ Soldier Boy will also be back in Season 5, the entire Supernatural fandom will be sat and waiting impatiently (not that many of us aren’t already doing that this season, thoroughly enjoying SPN alums Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Rob Benedict (RIP Splinter) along with the entire stellar cast of The Boys).

I’ve been hoping Jared joined The Boys when his schedule allowed for a long time, so I’m thrilled to hear that might well be happening soon!

(You can catch up on all things ‘The Boys’, including deep dives into the characters and everything that makes the show special – plus exclusive interviews with Jensen Ackles on Soldier Boy and other cast – with that book Jensen’s holding, Supes Ain’t Always Heroes. Links at the end of the article fyi).

So, where are we now in Season 4?  The fourth episode of Season 4 of The Boys takes a dark dark turn – as in, things go very wrong for a lot of people.

It’s been more than a week, so I’m assuming you’ve caught up with all the insanity of the first three episodes (Spoilers for those episodes ahead). To recap:

Homelander and company have a plan for taking out poor Robert Singer and putting in fellow supe Victoria Neuman. On a personal note, Homelander is so obsessed with aging that he’s collecting gray hairs in a jar – gray hairs from anywhere he finds ‘em. He’s also sick of being surrounded by sycophants and imbeciles, proving it by demanding that The Deep give A Train a blow job and having them stand up and start getting to it (much to Ashley’s obvious excitement which was a touch I loved!).

That was a weirdly fitting counterpoint to Season 1 when The Deep forces Starlight to give him a blow job – and actually does go through with it. I love that the show remembers its own history.

Butcher’s having a crisis of conscience as he contemplates how much he’s willing to do to Ryan to “get him on our side”, personified in visions of Becca. Butcher’s new buddy Joe Kessler is not only played by Jeffrey Dean Morgan but has also traumatized the Supernatural fandom by channeling John Winchester (the character he played on that show) by insisting to Butcher that yes, he’d train his son up to be a 𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁er. (Which is just what John Winchester did to both his sons).

So far, Butcher is listening to Becca, agreeing to drug Ryan and hold him until he switches sides but then changing his mind at the last minute and apologizing for the hurtful things he said instead. Just when you think Butcher has gone so dark side that he’ll never come back, he plays foosball with Ryan and says he wants to make things right with the one part of Becca that’s still alive.

Homelander is also trying to win Ryan over, bringing him milkshakes and awkwardly comforting him when he’s upset but also pushing him to turn himself into the PR version of a supe complete with filming a scripted and staged “rescue”. Actual brilliant stunt coordinator John Koyama plays the Vought stunt man acting it out with Ryan, who gets so distracted by his dad’s interference that he forgets his own strength and poor stunt man actor goes splat. Well done, real life John Koyama!

One of the most chilling moments of this season so far was Homelander ordering Ryan through gritted teeth to “smile, right now” after that incident when Ryan is understandably distraught. Shades of Annie’s overbearing stage mother – and a real life parallel that rings true far too often.

Hughie’s story arc in this season is the most emotionally powerful so far – after ignoring calls from his dad and generally dismissing him as loving but not serious, Hughie finds out his dad had a stroke. Equally shocking, his long lost mom is back – and the one taking care of his dad. We find out a little more of that tragic backstory of how she promised Hughie she’d buy them Billy Joel tickets, dropped him off at school and never came back. Needless to say, their relationship is going to be rocky. And we really know why Hughie loves Billy Joel songs so much.

A Train’s arc gets even more interesting this season. The not-so-subtle racism that pervades Vought and the Seven is also taking a toll on A Train, the way a lifetime of microaggressions do in real life too. He’s “starring” in a movie but hates the way it portrays his imagined life in a drug infested and depraved urban neighborhood.  He’s “saved” from this life by his (white) coach, played to perfection by Will Ferrell of all people, who gets all the praise while A Train gets very little from director Bourke.

A Train: So the coach saves me from the ghetto? My brother wasn’t a fucking crack dealer!

Bourke: All the sensitivity readers agreed! And the script says “what I want don’t matter, not what I want doesn’t matter.”

We saw some of A Train’s longing to reconnect with his culture and family last season, with tragic results, but he still longs for it. He tries to play the hero for his young nephews, but his brother disputes it, saying it’s all staged. Hughie and Annie overhear but don’t call him out on it, and he actually expresses gratitude – and guilt. Which should be interesting…