Summary
Episode 2, “Proper Preparation and Planning”, gives away Billy’s motive and a couple of characters are compromised in a stronger continuation.
This recap of Amazon’s The Boys season 2, episode 2, “Proper Preparation and Planning” contains significant spoilers.
We are recapping every episode weekly — check out the archive.
The opening
Billy remembers the events of last season, seeing his wife Becca and then the unfortunate news of Homelander claiming to be the father of the child — he wakes up in a car parking lot outside a fast-food restaurant. He enters the restaurant to try and gauge where he is; he starts writing down notes to try and figure out Becca’s whereabouts but then the news plays in the restaurant, stating that he’s wanted so he quickly departs. In the present day, Billy wants to head out to meet a “contact”. Hughie has an outburst that he’s leaving already. The tension is high between both characters. There’s plenty of bad blood between them at present. What’s interesting in Episode 2, “Proper Preparation and Planning”, is how Hughie is still battling with his existence within The Boys and he’s reduced himself to a single purpose.
Use your son
And The Boys season 2, episode 2 quickly flits to Homelander who continues to pursue his sinister plans.
Homelander is at Becca’s house, playing ball with his son Ryan. He tells him to use his powers. Becca intervenes in their conversation and asks Ryan to head inside. She tells Homelander that she wants her kid to be “normal”. It’s clear that Homelander has no interest in making his son “normal”. Episode 2 sees Homelander determined to create a legacy from his offspring and it’s eerily disturbing.
Finding his deep
The Deep is still with Carol and Eagle The Archer who are from the Church of the Collective. He’s written a few notes for Carol and he’s not sure what they want from him. Carol tells Eagle The Archer that she does not believe there’s a path for him. Eagle The Archer then takes over.
I may know who killed Susan
As Grace leaves Susan’s funeral, she’s met by Billy. Grace is not in the mood for talking and wants to bring him in for killing Madelyn. Billy tells Grace he thinks Vought International killed Susan for getting too close to the Super Terrorist information. Billy returns to The Boys and tells the team that Grace is going to help them. Hughie questions if Billy is telling the truth — the tensions between both characters continue to increase in “Proper Preparation and Planning”.
Tripping
The Deep has been given some hallucinogens by Eagle The Archer and he’s tripping. The trip feeds into his low self-esteem and accuses him of violating women because of it. The Deep is not enjoying the experience — the scene turns into a lesson of self-love. We can assume that The Boys season 2 is going to make The Deep a changed man after the events of last season.
Guess who is back
Stormfront officially joins the team and Vought International is promoting a trio of three leading females — Starlight, Stormfront, and Queen Maeve. Stormfront is a personality that does not appease to corporate needs as she’s loudmouthed and outspoken. In an interview, A-Train shows up which surprises Starlight. A-Train is acting thankful for Starlight but then he mentions how she helped Hughie escape. Afterward, Stormfront accuses Stargirl of being a Vought corporate bot.
Deco approaches Starlight. He gives her a sample of Compound V but she has no pockets and feels she cannot take it right now. But he leaves her with it. A-Train creeps up behind her and asks Starlight what Deco just gave to her. So while Hughie has issues with Billy, Starlight has similar tensions with A-Train — Season 2 is going to be explosive.
You promised me protection
The Boys season 2, episode 2 brings the theme that a few of the characters are compromised.
Scared for her son, Becca flees the house in a car. She tries to escape the area and asks them to open the gates. Becca speaks to the doctor and wants Homelander to leave and demands protection. She’s told that Homelander may get bored and move on but she doesn’t believe that.
Homelander tells Ryan that they are Gods and that no-one should stop them from doing anything. He wants to share everything together with his son. Ryan is clearly not enlightened by this chat and asks if he can go to bed — Homelander has to awkwardly ask Ryan to say “I love you” back. It’s sometimes easy to forget how insecure Homelander is as he seems easily impacted by simple trades of conversations.
Becca returns and asks Homelander to leave the house. Homelander tries manipulating her by claiming that Ryan will despise her if she lies to him his whole life. He also confirms he isn’t going to get bored and move on. Becca is in a precarious and dangerous position and requires Billy’s help sooner rather than later.
The address
Billy and The Boys head to an address that supposedly has a Super Terrorist inside. When they head inside, Kimiko instantly assassinates a man; Frenchie checks out the body and realizes the man is from the same group that kidnapped her. Kimiko then finds a man (unknown to the viewers at this point) and hugs him — it’s an emotional reunion. She calls the man “Mouse”. Frenchie then understands that he is her brother. Hughie then warns that the Super Terrorist is Kimiko’s brother. Billy tries to attack him but Mouse turns around and attacks The Boys and flees with his sister. Episode 2, “Proper Preparation and Planning” gives The Boys another emotional decision to make.
I need your help
After the commotion with Kimiko’s brother, Billy tells Hughie to “F*ck off”. The others in the group feel Kimiko is one of them and they want to find another way. Billy reveals that Becca is alive and that Vought is keeping her hidden somewhere. He also reveals that Homelander humiliated him and then he woke up in the middle of nowhere — he wants to find Becca and needs the group’s help. Grace has offered to give him the location of Becca if The Boys take down the Super Terrorist. This explains Billy’s sudden return and eagerness to find the Super Terrorist. He is emotionally compromised.
You won’t do sh*t
A-Train finds Starlight’s sample of Compound V. He threatens to turn her in. Starlight tells A-Train that he’s not going to do sh*t because he killed his girlfriend. She then starts describing how his girlfriend died and gets into his face and threatens to take it to the media, claiming they will both die if their secrets are revealed. Starlight takes back the sample of Compound V — they both now have an understanding. A-Train is so comically evil in comparison to Homelander that he comes across as naive in these situations — he’s very easily swayed.
The ending
Mouse tells Kimiko that she doesn’t seem to care about all the violence that they’ve witnessed in his country and states that America is their enemy now. Kimiko tries stopping him from walking away but he punches her into the car and runs off. As she chases him, her brother elevates Kimiko into the air and throws her into a building. But she returns and puts her brother into a sleeper hold. The Boys turn up and find them both. Billy punches Hughie and tells him that if he gets in between him and his wife again, he’ll kill him. This scene provides context to Hughie’s mind who hesitates slightly in getting back into the van — but again, he feels he has no life and has reduced himself to this single purpose in his life. Episode 2, “Proper Preparation and Planning”, gives away Billy’s motive and a couple of characters are compromised in a stronger continuation.
Additional points
- Queen Maeve goes to the hospital to see her ex Elena who still has her as the emergency contact. Elena’s appendix has burst. She asks Maeve why is she here if nothing has changed and asks her to leave. Maeve tells Elena that she doesn’t want Homelander to hurt her and can’t find out that she exists — “I don’t want you to hate me anymore”.
- Starlight tells Stormfront that she’s not a sell-out and suggests that they may not be safe from Vought International. Stormfront ridicules the idea that they are not safe because they have powers — she believes they can say whatever they want: “Be a b*tch if you want”.
